homefires
2019
The most tolerable game in the series just because it plays better and looks nicer. The story and dialogue is somehow even worse but it doesn't make a huge difference since I wasn't really a fan of it before anyways.
1994
Isn't it crazy that nearly three decades later people are still trying to recreate what this game accomplished flawlessly? It's just that good.
1999
Playing this for the first time I was shocked by how well it holds up. I used to take 5th generation 3D games for granted after hearing so many people say that they "hadn't figured it out yet" or "feel dated". I mean, talking to most people their interest in older video games caps out with whatever generation they started playing with when they were kids, and going beyond that is just not worth the annoyance. I bring this up because it kind of was my perspective as well for a long time. I grew up on PS2 and PS3. Why play anything older? I was convinced that it would bring nothing but tedium because obviously the later generations had "figured it out".
I credit this game a decent amount for changing my perspective. Convention doesn't necessarily mean perfection, and any gameplay traits that died out due to some kind of natural selection aren't inherently inferior.
Specifically I want to mention the camera and controls here. They're actually fantastic. Right from the start you're running down a tight alleyway as your perspective swoops and swerves in a way that I haven't really seen in modern games. Since you have tank controls, this doesn't even affect your movement. You can control your character independent of the camera, so the camera is free to do a lot more. The game exploits this heavily and it contributes a lot to how atmospheric the whole experience is.
So right from the start, a supposedly dated and inferior control scheme actually provides an advantage that modern games lack. For me, realizing this was mind blowing. I know for a lot of people this isn't anything new, but it genuinely shook the foundations of my views on one of my favorite hobbies. I kinda have a deeper connection to this game for that reason alone.
Beyond that personal revelation, this really is just a fantastic game. It's moody, it's tense, it has an interesting world, and it looks fantastic. I genuinely love it, and I don't think I have anything else to say that hasn't already been said by people that are much better at describing why it does all those things so well. The biggest mark against it is the weird emotionless voice acting and cutscene direction but everything else works so well that it hardly drags things down.
Anyways, I would highly recommend this to anyone that can appreciate a good horror experience, even if it's out of your personal comfort zone for "retro games".
I credit this game a decent amount for changing my perspective. Convention doesn't necessarily mean perfection, and any gameplay traits that died out due to some kind of natural selection aren't inherently inferior.
Specifically I want to mention the camera and controls here. They're actually fantastic. Right from the start you're running down a tight alleyway as your perspective swoops and swerves in a way that I haven't really seen in modern games. Since you have tank controls, this doesn't even affect your movement. You can control your character independent of the camera, so the camera is free to do a lot more. The game exploits this heavily and it contributes a lot to how atmospheric the whole experience is.
So right from the start, a supposedly dated and inferior control scheme actually provides an advantage that modern games lack. For me, realizing this was mind blowing. I know for a lot of people this isn't anything new, but it genuinely shook the foundations of my views on one of my favorite hobbies. I kinda have a deeper connection to this game for that reason alone.
Beyond that personal revelation, this really is just a fantastic game. It's moody, it's tense, it has an interesting world, and it looks fantastic. I genuinely love it, and I don't think I have anything else to say that hasn't already been said by people that are much better at describing why it does all those things so well. The biggest mark against it is the weird emotionless voice acting and cutscene direction but everything else works so well that it hardly drags things down.
Anyways, I would highly recommend this to anyone that can appreciate a good horror experience, even if it's out of your personal comfort zone for "retro games".
The fourth case is better than the fourth or fifth cases from the first game, which is kind of incredible. The game leading up to that point is a much more mixed bag, with some absolutely awful sections. It's a bit hard to rate a game with such higher highs and lower lows. Overall I think I'd give it the same score as the first game but that doesn't really give the full picture of how they compare to each other.
2009
why the fuck does this have an entry here I can't escape this shit
2022
The story is perfectly tolerable, but it's not what you're here for anyways. The gameplay is gripping and addictive in a way that can't be denied. Also this has legitimately one of the best soundtracks ever.
2014
Kino. Just play it with friends and let it wash over you. This is what real gaming feels like.
2020
No other minigolf game has achieved this high level of quality in courses and content. Not many VR games have offered such a variety beautiful worlds to explore, or provided such good reasons to become immersed and inspect them closely.
It's with full sincerity I tell you that this is one of the best games I've ever played. It's hard to justify from an outside perspective why this deserves 5 stars next to everything else I've decided deserves that rating, but in my heart there's no question.
It's with full sincerity I tell you that this is one of the best games I've ever played. It's hard to justify from an outside perspective why this deserves 5 stars next to everything else I've decided deserves that rating, but in my heart there's no question.
Maybe I'm just too attached to the PS2 era of this series, but I was pretty disappointed by this. The early weapon roster is very stock for the series and none of the weapons feel particularly unique, even if they're decent fun to use. There's hardly any platforming. All of the bosses feel very designed around this game's dodge roll equivalent, which I am not a fan of compared to the acrobatic staffing of the past. The writing also grated on me immensely, even more than the Future games, although it's admittedly been a while since I played those.
Maybe some of my complaints would've smoothed out over time, but I was only able to put around 3 hours into this before I had to tap out. It's missing too much of what defined the series to me, in favor of "next gen" features that leave it feeling more generic. Maybe I'll come back when I'm feeling less cynical. It doesn't really seem bad, but it's certainly not what I wanted out of a modern entry, and nothing I saw sold me on the modernizations.
Maybe some of my complaints would've smoothed out over time, but I was only able to put around 3 hours into this before I had to tap out. It's missing too much of what defined the series to me, in favor of "next gen" features that leave it feeling more generic. Maybe I'll come back when I'm feeling less cynical. It doesn't really seem bad, but it's certainly not what I wanted out of a modern entry, and nothing I saw sold me on the modernizations.
2005
I never even knew this one existed when I was a kid. Playing it recently I didn't have any expectations but I was shocked to find it's actually better than the original.
Better co-op, more level variety, better pacing and level structure, and it maintains everything that made the first great. Even the soundtrack lives up to the heights of the original. I really do love Katamari!
Better co-op, more level variety, better pacing and level structure, and it maintains everything that made the first great. Even the soundtrack lives up to the heights of the original. I really do love Katamari!
2004
Filing this next to the Little Big Planet series in "games that influenced my bizarre taste in music".
Also holy shit this is just so great. I have some minor reservations with it, but it's not even worth listing them because the game is just joyful and fun and doesn't need to be described as anything else.
Also holy shit this is just so great. I have some minor reservations with it, but it's not even worth listing them because the game is just joyful and fun and doesn't need to be described as anything else.
2016
I am so very conflicted about this game, maybe more than any other game I've ever played. I love the music, the dungeon gameplay, the combat, the art style, and the fusion system. I'm even a fan of the social link system in concept.
In practice I can barely stand playing this game because the writing is dull and that writing takes up most of the game. A game that's nearly 100 hours long! That's far too long for any game in my opinion, I start losing interest around 40-50 hours even in games I adore.
I don't even really hate the writing (usually). It's fun enough and tries its best to approach heavy topics. Characters develop over the course of their introductions, but unfortunately become effectively static afterwards. Even if I enjoyed welcoming a new character to the party and seeing their development leading there, it loses weight when they immediately morph into a caricature right after. The main character is treated as a key component of the story despite his silence and lack of personality or agency, which always came off as awkward to me. I was not engaged by the overall story and wasn't surprised by any of the twists. Overall it was fine when it wasn't being actively offensive, (which did happen a few times!) but was not nearly good enough to justify the game's length.
I wanted to love this game and in a way I really do! It ultimately feels like two games mashed together, one that I love and one that I tolerate. Together they're less than the sum of their parts. I got through the final buildup to the last dungeon, 90 hours into this monster of a game, and I stood at the entrance to the final area. I looked back on everything that had happened and felt nothing but indifference. I saved and closed the game and haven't returned to it since.
In practice I can barely stand playing this game because the writing is dull and that writing takes up most of the game. A game that's nearly 100 hours long! That's far too long for any game in my opinion, I start losing interest around 40-50 hours even in games I adore.
I don't even really hate the writing (usually). It's fun enough and tries its best to approach heavy topics. Characters develop over the course of their introductions, but unfortunately become effectively static afterwards. Even if I enjoyed welcoming a new character to the party and seeing their development leading there, it loses weight when they immediately morph into a caricature right after. The main character is treated as a key component of the story despite his silence and lack of personality or agency, which always came off as awkward to me. I was not engaged by the overall story and wasn't surprised by any of the twists. Overall it was fine when it wasn't being actively offensive, (which did happen a few times!) but was not nearly good enough to justify the game's length.
I wanted to love this game and in a way I really do! It ultimately feels like two games mashed together, one that I love and one that I tolerate. Together they're less than the sum of their parts. I got through the final buildup to the last dungeon, 90 hours into this monster of a game, and I stood at the entrance to the final area. I looked back on everything that had happened and felt nothing but indifference. I saved and closed the game and haven't returned to it since.
2023
I haven't played the original yet so this is kind of a strange experience. I feel like I'm playing something incredible and memorable, but mutated by current gen homogenized game design and Sony Stink. It's great fun but I can't help but feel like it exists because someone decided every game ever needs to be a PlayStation Game™ just like God Wars™ and Mushroom Dad™. Remember when games felt different from each other? That was a time.
2007
I actively hate some parts of this game but really loved other parts. I'm glad I played it and I think it was really memorable! I don't think I'd recommend it to most people though.
I've heard some people say that the horrible grindy "open world" helps build a contrast with the exciting and ultraviolent showdowns that you're constantly working towards. I think that's the game's intent, to an extent. I'm not a stranger to praising games for designing in metaphors like this, it's a key aspect of one of my favorite games, Shadow of the Colossus. I just really don't buy it here.
The game seems to have interesting ideas, I just have a hard time taking it seriously when it doesn't seem to be taking itself seriously either. It feels like a joke at the expense of the player, but not one that I find very funny. "Look at this poor bastard! He looooves anime and jerking off. The only thing that brings him joy is horrific violence! He's such a sucker! He's just like you haha. Now run along and do some boring ass work. Just like real life isn't that clever?" Yeah I really do feel like a sucker for slogging through the worst bits of this game while being made fun of the whole time. You really got me. Wow. I get what it was trying to say, I just don't really think it said it in a way that was interesting. I'm all for making fun of gamers, I just don't think you need to make a good chunk of your game shitty in order to do that.
Anyways despite all that, when it's good it's good. It does a great job of being goofy and stylish! I like the combat system, motion controls and all! Probably one of the best examples of a game being designed specifically for the Wii and pulling it off well without feeling dragged down as a result. I'd recommend it for that alone to anyone that cares about that sort of thing. Not much reason to go back to this beyond that though, even if I would say it's good overall.
I've heard some people say that the horrible grindy "open world" helps build a contrast with the exciting and ultraviolent showdowns that you're constantly working towards. I think that's the game's intent, to an extent. I'm not a stranger to praising games for designing in metaphors like this, it's a key aspect of one of my favorite games, Shadow of the Colossus. I just really don't buy it here.
The game seems to have interesting ideas, I just have a hard time taking it seriously when it doesn't seem to be taking itself seriously either. It feels like a joke at the expense of the player, but not one that I find very funny. "Look at this poor bastard! He looooves anime and jerking off. The only thing that brings him joy is horrific violence! He's such a sucker! He's just like you haha. Now run along and do some boring ass work. Just like real life isn't that clever?" Yeah I really do feel like a sucker for slogging through the worst bits of this game while being made fun of the whole time. You really got me. Wow. I get what it was trying to say, I just don't really think it said it in a way that was interesting. I'm all for making fun of gamers, I just don't think you need to make a good chunk of your game shitty in order to do that.
Anyways despite all that, when it's good it's good. It does a great job of being goofy and stylish! I like the combat system, motion controls and all! Probably one of the best examples of a game being designed specifically for the Wii and pulling it off well without feeling dragged down as a result. I'd recommend it for that alone to anyone that cares about that sort of thing. Not much reason to go back to this beyond that though, even if I would say it's good overall.
1998
This game has great gunplay, great level design, and an iconic aesthetic and sound design, but by far my favorite aspect of it is the brilliant pacing. Sure, it has a slow start and a somewhat botched finish. Beyond that, the escalation from surviving the aftermath of the resonance cascade, to surviving the military's cover-up, to beating the military's ass, to "saving" the world from an alien invasion is incredible. The escalation is perfect and it makes this the perfect power fantasy for weird nerds or just anyone that likes to shoot shit.
I even liked On a Rail. Sorry I guess?
I even liked On a Rail. Sorry I guess?