Halo 2 is a weird one for me to talk about. I didn't dislike my time with it, by any means. Mechanically, it improves on the first in a lot of ways. The writing is fleshed out, expanding the races within the Covenant beyond just mindless fodder, and into actual characters. Visually, it feels impressive for an original Xbox title, and its hard not to respect that. You can tell Bungie wasn't just pushing out a sequel for profit's sake, and had an intent with moving the series forward.

One of my favorite things about Halo: CE was the level design within two respective missions. That is, Halo, and The Silent Cartographer. When I think of Combat Evolved, these chapters are the first thing that come to mind. They embody what I appreciate about the series, which is, evolving the pre-established non-linearity of FPS before it in its own unique way. Though it wasn't the first game to replace keycard hunts in walled mazes with complex objectives on sprawling maps, it did this in its own unique way, and I absolutely loved it during my playthrough.

Halo 2 has better feeling weapons, new and unique foes, cleaner enemy AI, slicker aiming, yet all of its levels really feel like straight corridors from point A to point B. With the occasional vehicle segment stapled on, which, to be 100% honest, is my least favorite part of Halo. So while the game mostly iterates on its predecessor, it completely slacks on the part that, to me, matters most. Which is the levels!

Extravagant cutscenes in between levels are going to catch me zoned out if the actual missions don't have me engaged. I don't think this was an impossible thing to pull off, either, but it does feel like the level director was more focused on set-pieces and geometry mapping than actually building on the first's level design ethos in any meaningful way. Of course, to say Halo: CE didn't have bad levels would be disingenuous, but in that regard, Halo 2 learns all the wrong lessons from its predecessor, which is disappointing.

That said, the dogfights are fun as always. It never gets old pulse-rifling an Elite's energy shield with a Plasma Rifle, before clocking them out with an SMG. Or shotgunning a Flood Carrier's infectants into dust. The vehicles are admittedly better to handle in this one, but I don't play first-person shooters because I want to drive long distances. The newly added weapons are all great additions, and I used every single one of them. Again, I didn't dislike my time with this game. There were moments where I caught myself having fun! I just feel like Bungie neglected a really crucial aspect of the game.

It's hard for me to hate on Halo 2. With each entry I play, I do understand more and more why people love this series so much. I was estranged from Xbox growing up, 360 included, and I never really understood the appeal of Halo. Playing these games now, there is clearly a lot more under the surface, and even if I don't really agree with the heart within the Halo series, it is admittedly well-crafted, and there is a ton of potential within its world-building. I don't think I could recommend Halo 2 in good conscience, but I didn't hate my time with it. If anything, it has me excited to hop into Halo 3.

Shady sleuthing through a nasty alleyway, a messy apartment, and an abandoned message board, as you try to solve a strange murder that's been thrown on your lap. This is a neat little adventure game with an alluring, familiar artstyle, catchy soundtrack, and some sleazy writing.

The obvious parallel here is Snatcher, which is a game I like, but didn't love. It was a game that was a little too pulpy, which held me back from falling for it, and this is pretty much the same case for me, here. That said, I still enjoyed Digital Exorcist. I think it does a great job at setting atmosphere, and visually, it is an absolute treat for fans of pixel art.

It took me about thirty minutes to complete this game, and I'm gonna be honest; I think it was the perfect length. I'm not exactly sure if I'd want more of this, as it pretty much succeeds in what it is setting out to do. Regardless, this is definitely worth experiencing for fans of cyberpunk and adventure games. I'm sure any future projects in this universe will be just as good.

An incredible rhythm-based character-action game. It's great to see this genre get a fresh addition in the form of a new IP. I feel like these sort of 3D action games generally have a reputation for being overly difficult, and I loved that throughout my playthrough, I had a really chill time, and mostly spent it soaking in the gorgeous artwork, and the catchy music. The writing could've used some work, and I don't feel its narrative comes together to present anything compelling, despite its fantastic premise. Which is a shame. Regardless, Hi-Fi Rush is a blast, and worth your time if you're a fan of the genre.

DOOM 3 is a difficult game to assess. It absolutely has its flaws, but not all of it is bad. Visually impressive for its time, and in some ways, still stunning to this day. Its atmosphere is consistently intimidating. Its combat is a neat push and pull of survival horror and frenetic action. Despite this, it does have its fair share of issues, more so than many of the landmark titles released around the same time. I wonder it its perhaps looked back on so critically, not because it isn't a good game, but because it isn't a great one, in a time where the bar was set so high.

In some ways, this game is ugly. Though overall, it looks fantastic, and still holds up to this day. Honestly, if they had just spent more time ironing out character models, the humans in particular, I wouldn't be complaining. The level design is admittedly average, mostly held up by the well-crafted environments. This game's cold steel corridors honestly reminded me of MGS2, of which I think both games do an incredible job with. Still, visuals can only do so much when about two-thirds of the game are just stretches of tech-base. Both Hell and the Excavation Site are a nice change of scenery, but they come and go so quickly. I don't even think this game needed more diversity in areas; if they had just expanded these segments, and cut out some of the repetitive stretches of laboratory hallway, it would've been enough.

The combat wont be for everyone, but I personally appreciated the way this game makes you take advantage of your entire arsenal. I made constant use of all my tools; even the slippery grenades. The shotgun in particular gets a lot of flack, and while its spread is unbelievably loose, it is honestly overpowered in the right situations. With proper usage, it even can make mince-meat out of Hell Knights. The weapons have their kinks, but since it is a horror game, I'm going to take these as deliberate decision, especially considering they aren't objectively terrible, just quirky. I will admit, there are way too many ammo types. They should've at least consolidated pistol ammo with the chain-gun.

I did appreciate the expanded narrative the game provides, and some of the flavor text is fun, but the pace of the game is so fast, it really demotivates me from reading any of it. Most of the time, I was skimming through logs, worried about getting ambushed by a monster closet (it doesn't seem like the game pauses while your PDA is out, though I may be wrong). When I'd have an audio log play in the background, half of the time, the loud combat would drown out everything that the characters were saying. My only other option would be stopping entirely listen to it for about one or two minutes. So, neat idea, but I don't think this game quite pulls it off.

As a horror game, it isn't necessarily scary, but it is undeniably tense. As mentioned earlier, weapons aren't always reliable, and this definitely adds pressure while playing. Having played through the original release, I had to deal with the flashlight, and while it was definitely stressful, it never felt unfair. This game is absolutely littered with monster closets, but they're always filled with fodder, and as long as you aren't going in guns blazing in the earlier areas, you shouldn't be seeing any unfair deaths. I felt like mentioning, Dead Space clearly takes a ton of inspiration from this game, but I think when it comes to horror atmosphere, DOOM 3 does it better (than the 2008 release; I haven't played the remake). I hate to say it, but I think the former mostly takes from this game's least effective scares.

It's hard to ignore the fact that future DOOM titles take so much from this game. I was completely surprised by this, honestly! In some ways, they definitely make it their own, but this game is where the foundation was built, in a lot of ways. DOOM 3 is a vital part of the series. It definitely doesn't feel like Classic DOOM, but in a lot of ways, Modern DOOM feels like 3. Love it or hate it, you have to respect the roadwork this game laid down for what was to come. Either way, not everything this game delivered is bad; this game surprisingly does a lot of things well. Though I came out with a good amount of complaints, I can overall appreciate it for what it is, and I'm glad I managed to get to this one.

Much like Pikmin 3 tries to iterate on the first title, Pikmin 4 presents an evolution of the fantastic sequel from 2004. It's definitely more Pikmin, and if you enjoyed the open-ended direction of 2, you're going to feel right at home, here. I do feel like the game bites off more than it can chew; I think I reached the true ending at about 20 hours, and probably only completed 40% of the total objectives. Though if you don't push yourself to do everything, you should have a great time with this one. It's also the perfect way to enter the series, with a ton of quality of life touches, though if that is your choice, be warned that it will make it difficult to revisit earlier entries.

An absolute classic. I often hear people recommend skipping this one, and going straight for REmake, but Resident Evil '96 hasn't aged as poorly as people would have you believe. For an early fixed camera game, a lot of thought and care was put into the controls. The tone is absolutely chilling, thanks to great world-building. The enemies are nasty and legitimately threatening. The game is also pretty lean, at about six hours for a first-time playthrough. The two big points people count against this one are the visuals, and the voice acting.

An outsider looking in might see the overly simplistic 3D rendered environments as amateurish, but throughout my playthrough, they hit me with this unsettling aura because of how uncanny they look. I'm not sure if that was intentional, but as a result, the Spencer Mansion and its surrounding environments are oppressive as hell. Regardless, the amount of details they packed into some of these scenes, for 1996, is impressive. Several rooms in the Mansion and Laboratory do feel as if they've been occupied at some point, with all the clutter.

The character models are also... shockingly good for the polycount restrictions! Texture and poly warping might hurt it, but Chris, Jill, and the rest of S.T.A.R.S. look like adorably stylized versions of their live-action counterparts. They are in perfect juxtaposition with the grotesque bestiary. The first time I got a real good look at a zombie's face, it freaked me out. Those things are fucking terrifying! Not because they're poorly modeled, either. The standard zombie's face is bizarrely close to the one from the infamous cutscene near the start of the game.

The voice acting is a little silly, but you can tell the actors aren't terrible at their job. To me, it felt like they didn't have enough context for the lines they were given. There's also a few moments of poor wording, which isn't their fault, either. They're just reading off the script, which may have been a victim of poor translation. As a big Lynch fan, I personally can get down with cheesy writing and voice acting, especially the more whimsical something is, so this is going to vary from person to person. To me, I think the off-kilter way everyone talks to each other just adds to the already unsettling atmosphere.

Overall, the game is surprisingly sturdy as hell. Tightly built, and perfectly paced. The tank controls are very serviceable, especially for the time. I think only Alone in the Dark predates this, and they figured it out so fast! Enemies are engaging, and are rolled out in a smooth difficulty curve. Hunters and Chimeras can be a little tricky, but they do have patterns that you can learn. I was steamrolling them by the end of it. Puzzles can bring the game to a halt, but you get a good amount of rations, so I never felt stressed to figure anything out. I had an overabundance of ammo and healing items by the last area, and I never felt concerned about having to start over from square one. Though based on footage I've watched, this may be an issue if you play above Original difficulty.

The original Resident Evil is an amazing game to experience for the first time in this day and age, especially if you're a fan of later games in the series. So many tropes started in RE1, some that I wasn't even expecting, and it's kind of wild to see how much of a blueprint this one was. If you're absolutely certain you're only going to play this game once, or are completely turned off by fifth generation visuals, I can understand skipping straight for REmake. As for me, I'm glad I sat down with it. It's a timeless game that is still influential to this day. I can't recommend it enough.

A sloppy, hard-as-nails arcade-style run-and-gun with a uniquely 2000's aesthetic that is absolutely charming. I remember playing the browser demo back when I was in my early teens, and itching to buy the Gamecube release, though never doing so. I didn't own a 360, so it's first re-release also evaded me. This is my first experience with the full package, and I have to say, I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected!

This is definitely more Contra 1 than it is Hard Corps. Despite clear homages to the latter, the gameplay is raw as hell, with little thought on player convenience. Hominid's movement is stiff with few mobility options, and enemy attacks have very strict tells. I grew up playing a ton of brutally difficult NES releases, so I'm tolerant to this sort of gameplay. I think it's charming and serviceable, but your mileage may vary.

My only real gripe with this game is attack visibility. On-screen chaos can tend to blend together. Particularly, enemy bullets. They flash several different colors, which is meant to catch your eyes, but depending on what is occurring in the playfield at the given moment, they can blend in with explosions or corpses. Next thing you know, Hominid's on the floor, and you're left with no explanation. I think a sharp outline, or bolder colors to contrast against the slightly-washed palette would've been enough to address this issue.

Alien Hominid feels like a game that would be hard to recommend. I think the appeal it does have is niche in this day and age. I'm surprised it took this long for us to finally see it again on modern storefronts, and I don't really expect even the smallest surge in its popularity, though I'd love to be wrong. Still, it's jam-packed full of charm. If the game ever caught your eye back in the day, and you've yet to experience it, I think you'll find something to like. Give it a shot.

EDIT May 17th, 2024: This is for the original itch.io release of the game back in January. I've yet to play the full release, and my work week just started. Give me a week or two and I'll update this accordingly.

A super simple concept supported by great aesthetic direction, and gameplay full of depth. It carries the same energy as the many experimental titles you'd see on PS1 and PS2. The dystopian backdrop, accented by its quirky script, had me completely engrossed. The grimy art direction, which manages to feel like a less restrained MGS1, complement this nicely. I also have to mention the soundtrack, mostly relaxing, and a nice compliment to the challenge of completing a meal.

Though despite the challenge, there is something mesmerizing about the gameplay loop. Mastering the flip is difficult, but when you get to the point where you're flawlessly juggling food on a stuffed pan, it is extremely satisfying. There's a method to the madness. Initial food placement is vital to finishing a dish. Also, the sensitivity adjustment, with the scroll wheel, is a great QOL addition (though to be honest, I ramp it up all the way). Food also doesn't cook when your pan isn't moving, which is super helpful when positioning for a flip.

Arctic Eggs is something special. After completing a couple of requests, I was compelled to see this one to the end. I clocked out at about an hour, and I was totally satisfied giving it my time of day. Not too short, but not too long, and I feel like it wraps itself up nicely. There is a more expanded version on its way; maybe hold off for that one, but this is definitely a game worth experiencing.

A eerily captivating horror point-and-click. Distant cousin to Hypnospace Outlaw; more railroaded than the latter, but still clearly related. Its roots are firmly seated within internet horror. Gemini Home being the clear inspiration, though genre staples like SCP Foundation also came to mind throughout my playthrough. Yet despite its inspirations, Home Safety Hotline manages to maintain its own identity throughout.

I went into this excited to dig into some neat world-building, but wasn't expecting the game to actually scare me. Some of the phone calls, especially those resulting from fail-states, sent chills down my spine. Absolutely stellar voice-work elevates the experience. Wonderfully creepy cryptid illustrations leave a lot to the imagination. The retro-PC UI allows for a couple of creepy moments through the removal of player autonomy.

We aren't even a month into 2024, and it's already started off with a stellar horror experience. Home Safety Hotline is a chillingly delightful surprise that doesn't spoon-feed you scares. Absolutely worth checking out if you're enjoying the current wave of independent horror.

Honestly, this has my favorite locales out of the entire reboot trilogy. I think I enjoyed this one more than Rise, though Tomb Raider 2013 is, I think, the best overall. Regardless, I can't deny that this figures out a lot of what the series was trying to do, mechanically. Probably the smoothest experience, and the most fun to actually play. It's also really beautiful. For a minute, I thought game visuals had plateaued, but between this and Final Fantasy 7 Remake, I realize now that I had spoken too soon.

I enjoyed parts of the story, but it does feel like a pastiche of several ideas stitched together. It was also a little funny that Lara is forced to consider both her privilege and behavior throughout both this game and Rise, uses her orphaned status an excuse, yet walks away from that conversation unchallenged. I don't really expect these games to have meaningful writing, though it's a bit hilarious how it's really close to having a great moment, but quickly crumples it and throws it in the bin.

A silly, cute, short character action game that feels really good to play! The story is all fluff, though the world and characters are entertaining. You've got over-the-top villains, clumsy, yet dedicated protagonists, and light jabs at workplace culture. I have to mention the fantastic voice work. It really carries the entire experience. Though I wish for an English dub, as it's hard to read captions in the middle of combat. There's a bit of jank with the enemy AI from time to time, but the combat itself is designed so fluidly, that it wasn't enough to hamper my experience.

Tomb Raider '96 has been on my bucket list for a few years, and it feels great to check it off the list! It's a thrilling cinematic platformer, with presentation I honestly feel still stands up overall, and still feels good to play! Platforming is the star, here; the combat is serviceable, though clearly an afterthought. This does sort of feel like Mario 64's estranged older sister. This is Core Design's answer to the "movement in 3D space problem", though with a d-pad, instead of an analog stick. It's honestly way too long for its own good, but other than that, I don't have any major complaints. Not a must play, though if you're curious about games from a historical perspective, I think this one is definitely worth checking out.

A cute, short Metroidvania. This feels like a love letter to both Monster World IV and Dark Souls, to be honest! Yet it's unique enough as to not feel solely derivative. It's got tight gameplay, pretty visuals, and a soothing soundtrack. It also doesn't overstay its welcome at a tight four hours. I will say, the story and world didn't really leave much of an impression on me. It's not bad, by any means. I wouldn't say this is a must-play, but if you're a fan of the genre, and you're looking for something you haven't played yet, Momodora is worth checking out.