novalin
1987
Long story short, this is the arcade version of Castlevania, complete with familiar tropes such as the whipping vampire hunter, horror movie monsters, and Bloody Tears (the song). Each level is a unique experience, and each ends with a boss to battle with. Check it out if you want to dig deeper into the history of Castlevania.
2011
Dull and flavorless.
It's so much more than a remake. There's so much new content here ranging from the completely reinvented battle system to the story elements. It's a must play.
2019
Simple mechanics and a visual style done right. It's so much fun.
A classic that, until now, I had not played through to the end. The level design is expertly crafted such that a difficult scenario, at first attempt, feels impossible, and through some repetition patterns are unveiled, leaving you washed in the glow of solution discovering excitement. The soundtrack contains some of the absolute best the series has to offer.
I decided that for my second play through I should probably play the Japanese version, and mixed things up this time by doing Grant's path followed by acquiring Alucard. I had convinced myself I’d have a more unique and full experience by accepting Alucard over Grant. This resulted in instant regret, followed later by acceptance, and ended in a minor degree of appreciation.
I decided that for my second play through I should probably play the Japanese version, and mixed things up this time by doing Grant's path followed by acquiring Alucard. I had convinced myself I’d have a more unique and full experience by accepting Alucard over Grant. This resulted in instant regret, followed later by acceptance, and ended in a minor degree of appreciation.
Do you know that feeling when you spin up a JRPG and you convince yourself, at the start, that you won't do every little thing so that you won't be playing the same game for hundred of hours? That's exactly what I told myself, and the opposite of what ended up happening.
2018
The Forest is like Naked and Afraid but with cannibals. I found that the joy of exploration and building was too frequently interrupted by screaming maniacs. The at first intense, heart-pounding terror manifested into sheer annoyance.
BPM pays homage to Ghouls n Ghosts and the general look and feel of the Genesis. Yet unlike its predecessor, the muddy graphical quality makes it too challenging to see enemies, leading to frustrating moments. The long levels are painful, as starting over after a long run feels grueling and unfair.
2020
RE is one of my all time favorite series, and the RE2 Remake was so right on so many levels. Sadly the same cannot be said for the RE3 Remake. Simply put, it's far too short and linear. Linear doesn't have to be a bad word, but in the case of RE3R, linear translates to cheap action and instances of moving beyond an area before fully exploring it (when RE over-indexes on action over exploration the games tend to be less successful). Gameplay wise, RE2R laid an amazing framework, yet the dodge mechanic that was added to RE3R feels almost broken. In terms of replay value, it really is nonexistent, as having upgrades to purchase after completing the game is meaningless if the game is so short and straight forward that there is no desire to revisit. When it comes to Nemesis vs. Mr. X, I found running from Nemesis to less of an immersive impact because the situations are simply less scary and it overall feels way more scripted. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it. I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed.
I couldn’t help but play this game while thinking about how it was the last for Telltale. It was a bittersweet ending to a unique experience.
2018
A simple and fairly bland roguelike. While the town dynamic provides a sense of growth and purpose, it lacks a true sense of a unique hook to make it stand out from a sea of similar games.
1990
Big, colorful sprites pop, the levels have a smooth flow, and your character grows (gaining magic) as you progress. It’s a neatly packaged platformer that holds up well.
2011
A mild and overrated retro platformer. If there is a semblance of depth and substance later I won’t be sticking around to find out.
This is easily the cutest Zelda game to date. And with some of the best diegetic sound I’ve experienced in a game. It respectfully doesn’t change up much from the original, providing mostly a facelift, which is all it really needed.
2015
Silly, weird, playful, funny, odd, surprising, thoughtful, unique.