Trying my best to keep my recency bias in check but I also can’t shake the feeling that this is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had with a video game. Everything about it clicked for me from its grander narrative ambitions to its ability to let you improvise and experiment with combat and exploration any way you see fit. In the 50 hours it took me to hit credits I never once felt burnt out or ready to move on to another game. Even now I feel a strong urge to go back and finish more side quests and live in this version of hyrule a bit longer.

I don’t have a lot to say at the moment. My thoughts are still fresh and I’m high off the fumes of an incredible final stretch of main quests, but I can see this game resting in my top ten favorite games of all time easily. It’s just so fucking good.

Also, as a side note: during the first two weeks of Totk’s release, I was in the greater Chicago area for classes relevant to my career field. I had a wonderful time and saw so many amazing things. I also had nights where I felt increasingly isolated and homesick. While this game didn’t rid me of those feelings, it certainly acted as a balm - something to invest in to make those lonely nights a little more bearable. And I’m really thankful for that.

I played this at the Galloping Ghost arcade in Brookfield, IL. It was loud as fuck and if the cabinet wasn't free play I probably would've lost $6 easily.

But damn, what an experience. Easily my favorite Toaplan game, a strong prototype for the bullet hell genre as a whole, brimming with personality. The weapon leveling is cool, and what little bit of the music I managed to catch in that bustling arcade sounded great.

It's also tough, like tougher than a lot of the CAVE shooters I've played even. I could see myself learning its intricacies and improving my run in the future, but that might be in the distant future considering how much of a scrub I am even with the shmups I play regularly.

Anyway, arcades are cool! I played this Initital D racing game that kicked ass.

Super C definitely earns the “super” in its name. Everything feels amped up from the first game, whether it’s the number of enemies assaulting you from all sides of the screen or the general presentation being more detailed. I liked this one a fair bit more than the first game overall, though I think it fumbles a bit near the end, especially with an underwhelming final boss.

STILL, I’m excited to continue this brief little detour into Contra. I’ve never really given these games a fair shake despite being a konami fan and I’m looking forward to the 16-bit entries.

A substantial improvement to the first game on all fronts. Barring a few frustrating sections (seriously fuck the boobeam boss and those insta-death beams in Quick Man’s stage) I had a wonderful time all around. MM2 moves and grooves in a much more sophisticated manner than its predecessor and most of the intolerable bullshit has been ironed out in favor of snappier levels and satisfying boss fights. I’m excited to dive into the sequels and see what I’ve been missing this whole time.

Shout out to the metal blade weapon, gotta be one of my favorite genders

Me: Ugh, another remake.

Me after deflecting a stick of dynamite back at an enemy with my knife: Holy fucking shit this is the greatest video game I’ve ever played.

I had a longer review written out for this game initially, but I think I’ll save it for when I play through this a few more times. I absolutely adore it and I think it serves as a perfect companion to the original RE4. Both are absolutely worth playing, and it helps that Capcom were flat out addicted to porting the original game to anything that could run it so it’s easily available.

The remake builds off of what made the original so memorable and takes plenty of detours to beef up the atmosphere and touch up the story in some thoughtful ways. I think Ashley and Luis in particular receive excellent characterization changes, and Leon, though a bit more serious, still retains his trademark camp. It doesn't quite hit “YOUR RIGHT HAND COMES OFF?” territory but there are still plenty of cheeky one-liners to be had, and his relationship with Ashley throughout the course of the game is so much more organic and outright wholesome.

And the gameplay, my lord. I was initially worried that things would feel off; that the mechanical changes present in the recent REmakes wouldn’t work for the greater focus on combat. Once I unlearned my OG muscle memory, however, everything clicked into place and I fell in love with the gameplay loop. The knife in particular got a heavy glow-up with things like stealth kills and parries. The moment I blocked a whole ass chainsaw with my knife was the moment I ascended. It’s so good.

My thoughts are still fresh, and these are just rambles, but I genuinely can’t wait to replay this over and over in the same way I replayed the original.

It's been a year since this game released and I still regularly think about it, not to mention occasionally booting it back up to play a few missions when I'm not feeling anything else. I think it's time to bump that score.

This game just kicks ass. The combat is great, the story is utterly cracked, the music rips, but what makes this a 5/5 jarsh-core classic is how unabashedly sincere it all is. Jack could've been annoying, and yet somehow he became more and more endearing, all the way to the bitter end. He really did it his way omg.