looprider
2023
at first i was a bit put off by some of the design decisions - i'm a big fan of "hard puzzle games" (stephen's sausage roll, anything by draknek, etc.), as such, i've been spoiled by quality-of-life features like infinite undo and instant resets. this game doesn't have those, to the detriment of the initial experience - you have to trust that SE are doing something very deliberate here. as it turns out, they are.
to my surprise, i actually see recognize a lot of shmup DNA in the overarching design. this is a puzzle game with a risk/reward mechanic, with multiple loops and esoteric clear conditions. you don't just beat the game by solving all the puzzles, in fact, solving all the puzzles isn't even necessary to beat the game. there is so much lurking beneath the surface that i don't think anyone could confidently mark the game as "completed," but the superficial experience is strong enough that you don't need to go down the rabbit hole to have a good time.
this is the zeroranger of sokoban.
---
(vague, minor spoiler below)
an addendum of warning: like zeroranger, this game also has the "deletes your save file" gimmick at certain point(s). in that game, it wove into the narrative and systems of the game in a way that, to me, enhanced the experience, and crucially, the consequences were basically negligible. i'll defend it in ZR, but i'm not here for it this time. back up your save. it's not worth it.
to my surprise, i actually see recognize a lot of shmup DNA in the overarching design. this is a puzzle game with a risk/reward mechanic, with multiple loops and esoteric clear conditions. you don't just beat the game by solving all the puzzles, in fact, solving all the puzzles isn't even necessary to beat the game. there is so much lurking beneath the surface that i don't think anyone could confidently mark the game as "completed," but the superficial experience is strong enough that you don't need to go down the rabbit hole to have a good time.
this is the zeroranger of sokoban.
---
(vague, minor spoiler below)
an addendum of warning: like zeroranger, this game also has the "deletes your save file" gimmick at certain point(s). in that game, it wove into the narrative and systems of the game in a way that, to me, enhanced the experience, and crucially, the consequences were basically negligible. i'll defend it in ZR, but i'm not here for it this time. back up your save. it's not worth it.
2020
the strongest argument in defense of egregiously long games
a lean metroidvania with solid combat but not a whole ton of stuff going on, which is fine. a nice single-sitting playthrough.
2020
they made a game with a mech, where you can get in and out of the mech, and you have a grappling hook, and it's still boring
2023
Who needs a buster when you can just dropkick a dude and throw him like a giant pinball
a roguelike doesn't need to support 100s of hours of playtime to be worth playing
2017
Lean metroidvania with a bit more of an emphasis on puzzles; a welcome addition even if it's mostly simple puzzle platforming. Boss fights aren't great.
2019
Embarrassingly good. Story is whatever, aesthetics are goofy, but the combat is real stylish, halfway between musou and character action, with good parries and timing-based damage bonuses. The finisher is a bit finicky; it's mapped to attack+jump so when it doesn't register you end up bunny hopping around like a dipshit.
Most importantly, there is zero fat-- it's a remake of two games and it still wraps up in less than 4 hours.
Most importantly, there is zero fat-- it's a remake of two games and it still wraps up in less than 4 hours.
2010
In my head this game started out as a parody of the mid-2000s trend of western studios bastardizing beloved japanese franchises, but along the way they just couldn't help but make the game Actually Good. Like, I imagine there was a planning meeting where somebody joked, "If an American studio made a Metal Gear Solid game, there probably wouldn't even be any stealth. You'd just run around smoking cigarettes and shooting robots... wait a minute, that's sick as hell"
2019
Station theme is incredible, mixed feelings about the rest
You can rev your sword like a motorcycle and you expect me to have bad things to say about this game?
Underrated.
it doesn't even feel like a remake of an NES game until the mother brain fight, which is extremely NES. prior to that boss, it's just nice, lean search action, but it's all downhill from there, as it transitions into the tacked on naked snake samus section, and what previously felt like a Real Metroid Game is now back on its linear Fusion bullshit, but this time with Bad Stealth.
1994
yeah it's the best one
Great Value 3D World