jbu3
2000
All-time classic characters and an interesting setting aren’t enough to stop Shiki Tohno from ruining it. And damn, they did Akhia dirty in this game! Disappointing. Hopefully the remake(s) do better by everyone involved.
Pretty, storybook aesthetics and two relatively charming protagonists can’t save the miserable platforming on offer. The sort of narrative side-scroller that falls apart as soon as it gives you a jump button.
2021
Pleasant little game about going on a trip, completing goofy chores for others, and filling up your photo album with memorable moments. An ideal, chill time.
2017
This was our first time with any Blaster Master game, and damn, what a good time. Your tank on wheels controls like a dream, and the on-foot fighting felt better than we expected, especially when we had the opportunity to tote around the Wave Beam! Short but sweet. Can't wait to play the follow-ups.
This game really wants you to regret your murder spree, subjecting you to scenes that are downright grotesque at times. Yet they went out of their way to not only reintroduce, but refine the third person combat so it feels better than ever. Putting aside the story, it never knows how to reconcile the tension of those two desired emotions: you shoot an enemy and it gives that satisfying red “blink” on the cursor, only to listen to them scream in agony for a solid 30 seconds.
“Ludonarrative dissonance” was a popular topic around the time of the Uncharteds: much electronic ink was spent asking how Nathan Drake could yuk it up with his body count. But if The Last of Us Part 2 teaches us anything, it’s that a light-hearted pulp hero shooting an entire standing army is less disingenuous than a gratifying shooting gallery that demands you THINK about what you’re doing.
“Don’t you feel terrible about shooting this dog?” My brother in Christ, you put the dog in the game to be shot!
(We’d also like assurances that the people behind that one awful arm scene are doing all right)
“Ludonarrative dissonance” was a popular topic around the time of the Uncharteds: much electronic ink was spent asking how Nathan Drake could yuk it up with his body count. But if The Last of Us Part 2 teaches us anything, it’s that a light-hearted pulp hero shooting an entire standing army is less disingenuous than a gratifying shooting gallery that demands you THINK about what you’re doing.
“Don’t you feel terrible about shooting this dog?” My brother in Christ, you put the dog in the game to be shot!
(We’d also like assurances that the people behind that one awful arm scene are doing all right)
1996
Still one of the best 3D platformers ever made! Few things feel as satisfying as the movement in this game. That said, we're sending that bunny in the basement to hell
1996
Astoundingly impressive water physics for the Nintendo 64. Shame that it's so difficult! We also would've loved a few more tracks. Still, we have a great time returning to it every now and then.
We finally have a Gundam game with a story that plays out like one of the shows! We were skeptical of the focus on 0079-era Zeon, but we loved our all-girl squad, and it was interesting to watch them stuck in a war when you already know they're on the losing side.
We wish there was a little more variety to the missions, but as-is, it gave us the story-based Gundam game we've pined for.
We wish there was a little more variety to the missions, but as-is, it gave us the story-based Gundam game we've pined for.
2016
An excellent soundtrack, cast and setup are ruined on miserable dungeons and writing that always takes the least satisfying direction imaginable. And with the base game taking us close to 90 hours to complete, we can't even begin to imagine how miserable we'd be if we were playing the newer, extended release.
Again, Valve didn't exactly nail what made the episodic format appealing here. But this one felt far more significant than Episode One. Shame that it didn't receive a follow-up until Half-Life Alyx in the 2020s!
Damn, remember when episodic gaming was the next big thing? Even Valve took a crack at it! Of course, half of the appeal from an episodic game is that you get follow-ups faster than a full-on sequel, and that didn't exactly happen here. But hey, this was a fun, expansion-sized follow-up to Half-Life 2, even if Valve didn't quite know what to do with a smaller entry.
2004
As we said in our Half-Life review, hey, it's Half-Life 2! One of those games where we replayed it dozens of times, and it never, ever grew old. It's a shame that Valve doesn't make first-person shooter campaigns anymore, because they're one of the best.
1998
It's Half-Life. One of the greats, and it's never grown old, Xen levels be damned.
2013
Sometimes you just complete a game you hate five times because you don't like yourself. Our college years were rough!
2021
Nobody does it better. Top-tier stealth-action game presented with impeccable flair, the culmination of a 5-year redemption arc that turned 47 from a janky cult hero to the best in the business. We love this game to pieces, and thanks to a semi-frequent slew of updates, it just keeps getting better.