palceu
1995
This is not a review of Knuckles Chaotix. I’ve never played that game and most likely never will. I’m using this page to talk about a game tangentially related to the 32x classic, but not deemed relevant enough to have a page on IGDB, and therefore here. A game that, even if on a subconscious level, ever since my younger years, shaped my feelings for video games and cemented them as an integral part of my life. I’m talking about Chaotix Universe, made in Macromedia Fusion 1.2, and released by Alexandre Martins or “lex” around 2002.
After many, many years, maybe two decades, I’ve reconnected with this game through an archive.org download, and immediately after that went searching for whatever information about it that I could find. The most I could get is that lex was a relatively prolific Sonic fangame creator in the early aughts, creating titles such as Sonic Universe 1 & 2 and Neo Sonic Universe, as well as the relatively more well-known Open Sonic as far back as 2009, and recently released the also open-source Open Surge, featuring his original character Surge the Rabbit. And among those was Chaotix Universe. Even in the fangame community, this is a pretty forgotten game, it’s absolutely no Before/After the Sequel or Robo Blast 2, and even in the flash game scene of the time there are games still frequently remembered fondly such as Ultimate Flash Sonic and the Final Fantasy Sonic X games.
The reason why I’m spending time running my fingers through my keyboard is to just put it out there how much this game, and non-profit fangames as a whole mean to me and countless others who frequently played games on theirs on their family’s personal computers. If I ever were to do one of those “formative games” lists people seem to be doing around here, i wouldn’t be able to include this one, and that doesn’t seem right. Playing through this game again, though, after 20 years and hundreds of games of experience behind me, I can see it’s obviously very rough around the edges; the movement and jump physics are weird, the stage designs are all over the place and can mostly be skipped by abusing Knuckles’ wall climb and glitching through platforms to the end. Even for a fangame, it’s absolutely nothing remarkable, I’m sure lex has other more polished titles under his belt for being in the game for so many years, but this is the one that came to me on a Digerati disc bought on a newsstand when I was still learning to read (so it was redistributed for profit after all, sorry lex).
The thing is that, besides the amateurish design, this blew my little mind back then. When you’re a kid and have absolutely no biases, muscle memory or knowledge associated with video games, why would you care if the jumps aren’t intuitive, or if the animations aren’t quite right, or if the levels are all basically sets of floors of flying platforms? What really matters are the beautiful, colorful sprites, the cool character designs in team Chaotix and the enemies, the incredible songs that all remained in my head 20 years later, the overall feel of adventure from the stage variety, all ripped from various Sonic games into one package. When it came to it, even if at the time there were more polished adventures for me to play, such as DKC on my sister’s SNES or later PS1 games when my aunt got me one, what drove me to this is a little magical thing called passion.
That sort of unadulterated passion is why stuff like the fangames, romhacks, mods, itch.io, gamejolt and newgrounds scenes were, and still are so exciting. It’s gaming at its most expressive; taking this game for example, through every choice made in it, shines pure admiration for the Sonic franchise and platformers as a whole, a purity only truer when doing it as a sole labor of love, without any pretensions aside from making something cool with the characters and world you enjoy and sharing it to the world. Meaning, those choices quietly reveal a little bit of the creator’s thought process and personality to the world. I guess that reminding myself of this game made me realize how much, at the end of the day, putting out something you care about and made with love is all it takes to touch someone out there. That sort of passion is, and always will be captivating for people of all ages. In my case, it led me to play hundreds of other games thereafter and even considering taking it on to create some myself. We’ll see what the future holds!
After many, many years, maybe two decades, I’ve reconnected with this game through an archive.org download, and immediately after that went searching for whatever information about it that I could find. The most I could get is that lex was a relatively prolific Sonic fangame creator in the early aughts, creating titles such as Sonic Universe 1 & 2 and Neo Sonic Universe, as well as the relatively more well-known Open Sonic as far back as 2009, and recently released the also open-source Open Surge, featuring his original character Surge the Rabbit. And among those was Chaotix Universe. Even in the fangame community, this is a pretty forgotten game, it’s absolutely no Before/After the Sequel or Robo Blast 2, and even in the flash game scene of the time there are games still frequently remembered fondly such as Ultimate Flash Sonic and the Final Fantasy Sonic X games.
The reason why I’m spending time running my fingers through my keyboard is to just put it out there how much this game, and non-profit fangames as a whole mean to me and countless others who frequently played games on theirs on their family’s personal computers. If I ever were to do one of those “formative games” lists people seem to be doing around here, i wouldn’t be able to include this one, and that doesn’t seem right. Playing through this game again, though, after 20 years and hundreds of games of experience behind me, I can see it’s obviously very rough around the edges; the movement and jump physics are weird, the stage designs are all over the place and can mostly be skipped by abusing Knuckles’ wall climb and glitching through platforms to the end. Even for a fangame, it’s absolutely nothing remarkable, I’m sure lex has other more polished titles under his belt for being in the game for so many years, but this is the one that came to me on a Digerati disc bought on a newsstand when I was still learning to read (so it was redistributed for profit after all, sorry lex).
The thing is that, besides the amateurish design, this blew my little mind back then. When you’re a kid and have absolutely no biases, muscle memory or knowledge associated with video games, why would you care if the jumps aren’t intuitive, or if the animations aren’t quite right, or if the levels are all basically sets of floors of flying platforms? What really matters are the beautiful, colorful sprites, the cool character designs in team Chaotix and the enemies, the incredible songs that all remained in my head 20 years later, the overall feel of adventure from the stage variety, all ripped from various Sonic games into one package. When it came to it, even if at the time there were more polished adventures for me to play, such as DKC on my sister’s SNES or later PS1 games when my aunt got me one, what drove me to this is a little magical thing called passion.
That sort of unadulterated passion is why stuff like the fangames, romhacks, mods, itch.io, gamejolt and newgrounds scenes were, and still are so exciting. It’s gaming at its most expressive; taking this game for example, through every choice made in it, shines pure admiration for the Sonic franchise and platformers as a whole, a purity only truer when doing it as a sole labor of love, without any pretensions aside from making something cool with the characters and world you enjoy and sharing it to the world. Meaning, those choices quietly reveal a little bit of the creator’s thought process and personality to the world. I guess that reminding myself of this game made me realize how much, at the end of the day, putting out something you care about and made with love is all it takes to touch someone out there. That sort of passion is, and always will be captivating for people of all ages. In my case, it led me to play hundreds of other games thereafter and even considering taking it on to create some myself. We’ll see what the future holds!
2022
Possibly one of the best games ever made specifically for smartphones. Netflix distribution model aside, this is a game that successfully delivers on that promise from years ago of mobile gaming being a potentially big market for premium games, threatening the then thriving portable consoles, with its huge installbase and pick up and play accessibility. Unfortunately, as we all know, the mobile market has only gotten worse ever since, which is why it's a bit shocking to see such a creative and tightly packed game as POINPY be realeased as late as 2022.
The main reason i believe this is such a successful attempt at game design for mobile phones is that it perfectly matches familiar phone game pacing and framework (i.e.: endless runner, or in this case, climber) with mechanics and a level of polish rarely seen on such games, manifested in its brilliant implementation of roguelite elements, which brings real progression to a genre otherwise known for having no end goal, and its art direction and soundtrack. Honestly, the core gameplay mechanics (most probably inherited from Downwell, which i haven't played) with its inspired touch screen controls makes me believe this wouldn't feel out of place in the Nintendo DS library, specially given its Kirby-esque aesthetics.
There are a few rough edges here and there, which are mostly felt only on the higher levels. I'm aware this is supposed to be a compact game — the overtly minimalist presentation tells as much — and having fewer options is kinda the point, but limiting the player too much can make gameplay feel too restrained, which definitely happens as soon as Poinpy's upgrades are capped at 20, making any progress you made that doesn't directly put you into the end goal absolutely pointless. Having no way of improving the janky yet crucial ground pound mechanic to be more accurate, or to increase the number of hearts, or to get more upgrade slots, is a trap most roguelites would rather avoid, since making the player feel a little "OP" sometimes is part of the appeal of the genre.
But i can't really damn Moppin for that stuff when THAT ending cutscene shows up in my phone screen. It's not like this game has a gripping narrative or anything like that, but there's a bit of a Katamari-esque wackiness going on that gives it a lot of personality, most evident in the late game, which is something would NEVER expect from a phone game. This breed of surrealist aesthetics and the little additions such as the postgame challenges and the puzzle mode make the NDS title comparison a lot more apt. Very recommended if you miss this era of portable gaming and want something decent to play on your phone with no microtransactions or ads or endless grindy gameplay (still requires a Netflix subscription though, nothing's perfect).
The main reason i believe this is such a successful attempt at game design for mobile phones is that it perfectly matches familiar phone game pacing and framework (i.e.: endless runner, or in this case, climber) with mechanics and a level of polish rarely seen on such games, manifested in its brilliant implementation of roguelite elements, which brings real progression to a genre otherwise known for having no end goal, and its art direction and soundtrack. Honestly, the core gameplay mechanics (most probably inherited from Downwell, which i haven't played) with its inspired touch screen controls makes me believe this wouldn't feel out of place in the Nintendo DS library, specially given its Kirby-esque aesthetics.
There are a few rough edges here and there, which are mostly felt only on the higher levels. I'm aware this is supposed to be a compact game — the overtly minimalist presentation tells as much — and having fewer options is kinda the point, but limiting the player too much can make gameplay feel too restrained, which definitely happens as soon as Poinpy's upgrades are capped at 20, making any progress you made that doesn't directly put you into the end goal absolutely pointless. Having no way of improving the janky yet crucial ground pound mechanic to be more accurate, or to increase the number of hearts, or to get more upgrade slots, is a trap most roguelites would rather avoid, since making the player feel a little "OP" sometimes is part of the appeal of the genre.
But i can't really damn Moppin for that stuff when THAT ending cutscene shows up in my phone screen. It's not like this game has a gripping narrative or anything like that, but there's a bit of a Katamari-esque wackiness going on that gives it a lot of personality, most evident in the late game, which is something would NEVER expect from a phone game. This breed of surrealist aesthetics and the little additions such as the postgame challenges and the puzzle mode make the NDS title comparison a lot more apt. Very recommended if you miss this era of portable gaming and want something decent to play on your phone with no microtransactions or ads or endless grindy gameplay (still requires a Netflix subscription though, nothing's perfect).
i can't wait for the 10 or so years from now when all the insufferable discourse around this game and how it destroyed the medium dies out
For a game i was really looking forward to playing, as my introduction to the series, it ended up pretty underwhelming, feeling like it missed more of a payoff, but still fun.
The brain teasing puzzles are mostly pretty fun, even though some of them are way too similar and some also give me war flashbacks from school. The game attempts to make the puzzles feel rewarding by feeding the player collectibles, such as the painting scraps and gizmos, and also the very flawed scoring system in the form of Picarats. The frustrating part about this is that most of the time the end result for collecting all the stuff and solving the most puzzles possible is very disappointing, even if it makes you feel like it would lead to something. Imagine if in Banjo Kazooie the reward for collecting all Jiggies was 3 extra puzzles and a still image, that's what it feels like.
The plot in particular is this game's biggest disappointment. First, it lacked focus, as it presented many interesting mysteries and characters, only to introduce others on a dim making the narrative a scrambled mess, which wouldn't be an issue if the game was able to untangle the web in a satisfying way, which it didn't even come close. Without spoiling too much, the final stretch is not only anticlimactic it also gives the wildest and most random explanations to the mysteries previously set up in a checklist expository manner, with little to no dramatic punch whatsoever. It honestly made me feel a little betrayed thinking all these plot points would be explained in a cool and clever way like in those classic detective stories, and instead we got...anyway, if you know you know.
Even if the game is just basically a puzzle box with a semi-coherent narrative attached to it, it is carried near solely by the strength of its charm and aesthetics. Narratively, as mentioned before, this game is a lot closer to Zac Power than Agatha Christie, yet the environments, the dialogue, the music and specially the characters evoke a whimsical old British literature feel, with great designs all around and some gorgeous animated cutscenes that are looking crisp in the HD remaster. Walking around town while talking to these weird and funny characters makes the constant barrage of puzzles more palpable and relaxing, while keeping your interest on what's going on in the village.
Overall, it's a decent start to what would become a very big franchise, to which i see a lot of pontential, perhaps these issues are ironed out in the later iterations.
As a sidenote, this is a perfect game for children, teaches basic logic and algebra concepts in a fun and intuitive way, and the plot being this dumb will hardly be a problem for them.
The brain teasing puzzles are mostly pretty fun, even though some of them are way too similar and some also give me war flashbacks from school. The game attempts to make the puzzles feel rewarding by feeding the player collectibles, such as the painting scraps and gizmos, and also the very flawed scoring system in the form of Picarats. The frustrating part about this is that most of the time the end result for collecting all the stuff and solving the most puzzles possible is very disappointing, even if it makes you feel like it would lead to something. Imagine if in Banjo Kazooie the reward for collecting all Jiggies was 3 extra puzzles and a still image, that's what it feels like.
The plot in particular is this game's biggest disappointment. First, it lacked focus, as it presented many interesting mysteries and characters, only to introduce others on a dim making the narrative a scrambled mess, which wouldn't be an issue if the game was able to untangle the web in a satisfying way, which it didn't even come close. Without spoiling too much, the final stretch is not only anticlimactic it also gives the wildest and most random explanations to the mysteries previously set up in a checklist expository manner, with little to no dramatic punch whatsoever. It honestly made me feel a little betrayed thinking all these plot points would be explained in a cool and clever way like in those classic detective stories, and instead we got...anyway, if you know you know.
Even if the game is just basically a puzzle box with a semi-coherent narrative attached to it, it is carried near solely by the strength of its charm and aesthetics. Narratively, as mentioned before, this game is a lot closer to Zac Power than Agatha Christie, yet the environments, the dialogue, the music and specially the characters evoke a whimsical old British literature feel, with great designs all around and some gorgeous animated cutscenes that are looking crisp in the HD remaster. Walking around town while talking to these weird and funny characters makes the constant barrage of puzzles more palpable and relaxing, while keeping your interest on what's going on in the village.
Overall, it's a decent start to what would become a very big franchise, to which i see a lot of pontential, perhaps these issues are ironed out in the later iterations.
As a sidenote, this is a perfect game for children, teaches basic logic and algebra concepts in a fun and intuitive way, and the plot being this dumb will hardly be a problem for them.
2009
I've been meaning to write something about the Skate franchise ever since i first started playing Skate 1, and now that I've mostly completed Skate 3 i guess i can put into words how much i enjoyed the way this franchise managed to use with mastery two concepts that the industry are still struggling to apply properly in their games: realism and the open world.
Let's start with the realism; a big selling point to the franchise in its early days, as it presented itself as a true skate sim, in contrast to the already declining arcade skaters from THPS, it provided an innovative control scheme which brought more precision and challenge to doing tricks, in a committed attempt to translate the feel of skateboarding to video game. Yet, in retrospect, was Skate even really that realistic? When you look at spiritual successors such as Skater XL and Session, you see a level of accuracy and skill needed to perform even the most 'pedestrian' tricks that the EA franchise always tried to avoid; a common experience with players of those bone fide skate sims outside of their main communities is frustration and alienation, with such a steep learning curve and wealth of mechanics with no real progression system it moves away from the video game world a bit too much while leaning over into the skateboarding territory. Skate, however, balances the best of both worlds, there's an at least serviceable progression system in every game, an arcadey score system just like Tony Hawk's, a variety of challenges of different types, difficulty options, and a few characters and story that attempt to bring a little life to the game. After the dunk on realistic skate sims and praising of the more 'gamey' aspect of these games one might think there's no point in the quasi-realistic mechanics, yet the magic happens when the difficulty, the physicality, the punch brought on by the realism makes progressing, exploring and expressing yourself all the more satisfying, successfully blending a process akin to that of real skateboarding to a feedback loop that's inherently tied to games. In short, it's realistic enough to be challenging, yet accessible enough to be fun (for non-skaters specially).
Arguably, not many genres of games fit so well with the idea of the open world than the skateboarding sim. An already tired trope of modern gaming, open worlds have been remixed in many different forms since the release of Grand Theft Auto III, with an obvious appeal tied to how effectively it sells the idea of freedom to the player, with endless possibilities for different sessions and playthroughs. Yet, unfortunately, as many have already pointed out, not many games have been able to live up to the potential of the open world, but the few that did – which includes this one – understood one key thing about what makes a great sandbox world: much more important than how detailed the world is, is how interactive it is.
And skateboarding, in essence, is all about interacting with the environment in creative ways, with this game coming with the premise of using the open world format to bring the feeling of spontaneously 'shredding' spots and places around the neighborhood into game, which again, it delivered brilliantly. The first aspect that makes this such a great open world game is how well the semi-realistic mechanics and physics fit with the also steeped in realism map; this way the game ditches the more gamey level design like that of the THPS games, with more obvious cues about what is and what isn't "skateable" and combo lines bouncing off each other in a pretty linear fashion, in favor of a much more freeform and intuitive approach: if i see something ressembling a rail or a ledge, i'm pretty sure i can grind it; if i see a ramp or elevation of sorts i'll try to use for speed or transfers; if i see a bump or object there's a good chance i can trick over it – and so on; not to say there isn't telegraphed information in the levels, but the developers were way more subtle with it. The fact you're not always sure when and how you can hit a spot or a line and the experimentation that comes with it is what makes this such and interesting open world to explore, where there's really a wealth of possibilities for tricks at every corner, but you have to put in the work to create them, by honing your skills, being observant and creative.
The main reason i chose this game to represent the entire franchise is its map, New San Vanelona, an enhanced version of the map from Skate 1. An amalgam of three of the cities with the most popular skate scenes (San Francisco, Vancouver and Barcelona), it's for me not only superior to Skate 3's Port Carverton, but one of the best designed video game maps I've ever played on. The key thing about it is, with the expert work of drawing inspiration from actual places, interconnecting different areas in a seamless way and even introducing a little bit of lore regarding the city's locals, their skate culture and the happenings that changed it drastically, it starts to feel a lot more like a lived-in real place than a video game world, which makes it so much more fun than the sterile world of Skate 3 that felt much more like some THPS maps stapled together than an actual city. The downhill gameplay in Skate 2 is specially amazing, with nearly no equivalent in Skate 3 since the map is split into different "districts". My only critique about how Skate 2 presents its world is basically how i wish it went further with the characterization of the city and its inhabitants, there's attempts at that of course, but they felt a little too shy in my opinion.
Another aspect that edges out Skate 2's predecessor and sequel are its challenges and the way they're organized and presented. My favorite ones, whose absence was felt in Skate 3 are the team film challenges and hall of meat challenges, which instead of placing you in specific places for a specific trick/line, they leave you free to explore and pick your favorite spot to achieve that goal, rewarding exploration like only the best open world games do (even if i wish there were more of them like in Skate 1). The other, more specific challenges are also a lot of fun, and i specially love how in this game they are grouped together into types as you unlock one after the other and are rewarded by unlocking a new place at the city, forming those neat little "questlines" that feel very rewarding knowing at the end you can open even more possibilities in the open world, instead of endlessly filling a bar like in Skate 3 while gaining only pointless props and accessories. The worst challenges, though, are by far the ones you have to hit specific difficult tricks, most likely in a line with other tricks, those are often way more frustrating than fun since the controls are not precise enough to for you to hit specific tricks consistently. It should be mentioned as well the many quality of life features, such as the brilliant session marker system, instant retry available for most challenges, and an elegant fast travel system; all seem pretty obvious but since i recently played a similar game (Burnout Paradise) which felt endlessly frustrating for the lack of those features, it must be noted how much of a difference they make.
With all that said...it feels sacrilegious to put that thought into the world, as a longtime THPS fan, but i feel like Skate 2 is probably, to this day, the closest we have to a definitive skateboarding video game. Its brand of realistic controls coupled with a highly interactive and interesting open world and tons of varied arcadey challenges brings it close to the skateboarding ethos and culture while managing to craft a very fun and replayable experience even for people who never were on top of a skateboard. Like Tony Hawk's franchise, though, no game is really flawless, and all of them have their own quirks and differences that set them apart from one another: Skate 1's San Van has quite a few spots that i dearly missed from Skate 2's iteration, and i preferred its blue sky summery aesthetic to the sequel's orange filter; Skate 3 has a robust custom park editor, much more varied and polished mechanics and some cool spots in its Port Carverton. But the middle child of EA Black Box's franchise, to me, balances out all of its best elements while having some great stuff completely unique to it. It makes me wonder if it's even possible for the much awaited Skate 4 to live up to it, if such a simple, small, yet highly charming and interactive map like New San Van can be done nearly 2 decades later. It's harder than you think, it's a beautiful thing.
BONUS: Favorite tracks from the OST'S
Band of Horses - The Funeral (Skate 1) classic
Booker T. & the M.G.'s - Green Onions (Skate 1)
Cheap Trick - Surrender (Skate 1)
Gang Starr - Now You're Mine (Skate 1)
N.W.A. - Express Yourself (Skate 1)
The Returntables - Teenage Imposters (Skate 1)
The White Stripes - Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine (Skate 1)
Oh No - Heavy (Skate 2)
Anubis - Anubis (Skate 2)
War - Low Rider (Skate 2)
McRad - Weakness (Skate 2)
Koushik & Percee P - Cold Beats (Skate 2)
Fujiya & Miyagi - Collarbone (Skate 2)
ELO - Showdown (Skate 2)
The Specials - Ghost Town (Skate 2) best song on the franchise
Money Your Love - For Kristoffer (Skate 2) so catchy
The Clash - Death Or Glory (Skate 2) just another storyyyy
Public Enemy - Harder Than You Think (Skate 2) underrated classic
The Riptides - Return to Blood Beach (Skate 2)
The Gaslight Anthem - I'da Called You Woody, Joe (Skate 2)
Sly & The Family Stone - Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (Skate 2)
Canned Heat - Going Up The Country (Skate 3) that fluteeeeee
Dinosaur Jr. - Almost Ready (Skate 3)
Dr. John - Right Place Wrong Time (Skate 3)
Dream Evil - Immortal (Skate 3) hated at first but its so cheesy i always have fun with it lmao
Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers - Born to Lose (Skate 3)
Joy Division - Disorder (Skate 3) nearly jumped from my chair when i first heard it in game
Neil Diamond - Cracklin' Rosie (Skate 3) like many others a weird pick for a skate game but somehow works
Ol' Dirty Bastard - Shimmy Shimmy Ya (Skate 3)
Pixies - Debaser (Skate 3) quintessential riff
The Thermals - A Pillar of Salt (Skate 3)
Them Crooked Vultures - Dead End Friends (Skate 3) recognized josh homme right away, was so confused this wasn't QOTSA
Let's start with the realism; a big selling point to the franchise in its early days, as it presented itself as a true skate sim, in contrast to the already declining arcade skaters from THPS, it provided an innovative control scheme which brought more precision and challenge to doing tricks, in a committed attempt to translate the feel of skateboarding to video game. Yet, in retrospect, was Skate even really that realistic? When you look at spiritual successors such as Skater XL and Session, you see a level of accuracy and skill needed to perform even the most 'pedestrian' tricks that the EA franchise always tried to avoid; a common experience with players of those bone fide skate sims outside of their main communities is frustration and alienation, with such a steep learning curve and wealth of mechanics with no real progression system it moves away from the video game world a bit too much while leaning over into the skateboarding territory. Skate, however, balances the best of both worlds, there's an at least serviceable progression system in every game, an arcadey score system just like Tony Hawk's, a variety of challenges of different types, difficulty options, and a few characters and story that attempt to bring a little life to the game. After the dunk on realistic skate sims and praising of the more 'gamey' aspect of these games one might think there's no point in the quasi-realistic mechanics, yet the magic happens when the difficulty, the physicality, the punch brought on by the realism makes progressing, exploring and expressing yourself all the more satisfying, successfully blending a process akin to that of real skateboarding to a feedback loop that's inherently tied to games. In short, it's realistic enough to be challenging, yet accessible enough to be fun (for non-skaters specially).
Arguably, not many genres of games fit so well with the idea of the open world than the skateboarding sim. An already tired trope of modern gaming, open worlds have been remixed in many different forms since the release of Grand Theft Auto III, with an obvious appeal tied to how effectively it sells the idea of freedom to the player, with endless possibilities for different sessions and playthroughs. Yet, unfortunately, as many have already pointed out, not many games have been able to live up to the potential of the open world, but the few that did – which includes this one – understood one key thing about what makes a great sandbox world: much more important than how detailed the world is, is how interactive it is.
And skateboarding, in essence, is all about interacting with the environment in creative ways, with this game coming with the premise of using the open world format to bring the feeling of spontaneously 'shredding' spots and places around the neighborhood into game, which again, it delivered brilliantly. The first aspect that makes this such a great open world game is how well the semi-realistic mechanics and physics fit with the also steeped in realism map; this way the game ditches the more gamey level design like that of the THPS games, with more obvious cues about what is and what isn't "skateable" and combo lines bouncing off each other in a pretty linear fashion, in favor of a much more freeform and intuitive approach: if i see something ressembling a rail or a ledge, i'm pretty sure i can grind it; if i see a ramp or elevation of sorts i'll try to use for speed or transfers; if i see a bump or object there's a good chance i can trick over it – and so on; not to say there isn't telegraphed information in the levels, but the developers were way more subtle with it. The fact you're not always sure when and how you can hit a spot or a line and the experimentation that comes with it is what makes this such and interesting open world to explore, where there's really a wealth of possibilities for tricks at every corner, but you have to put in the work to create them, by honing your skills, being observant and creative.
The main reason i chose this game to represent the entire franchise is its map, New San Vanelona, an enhanced version of the map from Skate 1. An amalgam of three of the cities with the most popular skate scenes (San Francisco, Vancouver and Barcelona), it's for me not only superior to Skate 3's Port Carverton, but one of the best designed video game maps I've ever played on. The key thing about it is, with the expert work of drawing inspiration from actual places, interconnecting different areas in a seamless way and even introducing a little bit of lore regarding the city's locals, their skate culture and the happenings that changed it drastically, it starts to feel a lot more like a lived-in real place than a video game world, which makes it so much more fun than the sterile world of Skate 3 that felt much more like some THPS maps stapled together than an actual city. The downhill gameplay in Skate 2 is specially amazing, with nearly no equivalent in Skate 3 since the map is split into different "districts". My only critique about how Skate 2 presents its world is basically how i wish it went further with the characterization of the city and its inhabitants, there's attempts at that of course, but they felt a little too shy in my opinion.
Another aspect that edges out Skate 2's predecessor and sequel are its challenges and the way they're organized and presented. My favorite ones, whose absence was felt in Skate 3 are the team film challenges and hall of meat challenges, which instead of placing you in specific places for a specific trick/line, they leave you free to explore and pick your favorite spot to achieve that goal, rewarding exploration like only the best open world games do (even if i wish there were more of them like in Skate 1). The other, more specific challenges are also a lot of fun, and i specially love how in this game they are grouped together into types as you unlock one after the other and are rewarded by unlocking a new place at the city, forming those neat little "questlines" that feel very rewarding knowing at the end you can open even more possibilities in the open world, instead of endlessly filling a bar like in Skate 3 while gaining only pointless props and accessories. The worst challenges, though, are by far the ones you have to hit specific difficult tricks, most likely in a line with other tricks, those are often way more frustrating than fun since the controls are not precise enough to for you to hit specific tricks consistently. It should be mentioned as well the many quality of life features, such as the brilliant session marker system, instant retry available for most challenges, and an elegant fast travel system; all seem pretty obvious but since i recently played a similar game (Burnout Paradise) which felt endlessly frustrating for the lack of those features, it must be noted how much of a difference they make.
With all that said...it feels sacrilegious to put that thought into the world, as a longtime THPS fan, but i feel like Skate 2 is probably, to this day, the closest we have to a definitive skateboarding video game. Its brand of realistic controls coupled with a highly interactive and interesting open world and tons of varied arcadey challenges brings it close to the skateboarding ethos and culture while managing to craft a very fun and replayable experience even for people who never were on top of a skateboard. Like Tony Hawk's franchise, though, no game is really flawless, and all of them have their own quirks and differences that set them apart from one another: Skate 1's San Van has quite a few spots that i dearly missed from Skate 2's iteration, and i preferred its blue sky summery aesthetic to the sequel's orange filter; Skate 3 has a robust custom park editor, much more varied and polished mechanics and some cool spots in its Port Carverton. But the middle child of EA Black Box's franchise, to me, balances out all of its best elements while having some great stuff completely unique to it. It makes me wonder if it's even possible for the much awaited Skate 4 to live up to it, if such a simple, small, yet highly charming and interactive map like New San Van can be done nearly 2 decades later. It's harder than you think, it's a beautiful thing.
BONUS: Favorite tracks from the OST'S
Band of Horses - The Funeral (Skate 1) classic
Booker T. & the M.G.'s - Green Onions (Skate 1)
Cheap Trick - Surrender (Skate 1)
Gang Starr - Now You're Mine (Skate 1)
N.W.A. - Express Yourself (Skate 1)
The Returntables - Teenage Imposters (Skate 1)
The White Stripes - Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine (Skate 1)
Oh No - Heavy (Skate 2)
Anubis - Anubis (Skate 2)
War - Low Rider (Skate 2)
McRad - Weakness (Skate 2)
Koushik & Percee P - Cold Beats (Skate 2)
Fujiya & Miyagi - Collarbone (Skate 2)
ELO - Showdown (Skate 2)
The Specials - Ghost Town (Skate 2) best song on the franchise
Money Your Love - For Kristoffer (Skate 2) so catchy
The Clash - Death Or Glory (Skate 2) just another storyyyy
Public Enemy - Harder Than You Think (Skate 2) underrated classic
The Riptides - Return to Blood Beach (Skate 2)
The Gaslight Anthem - I'da Called You Woody, Joe (Skate 2)
Sly & The Family Stone - Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (Skate 2)
Canned Heat - Going Up The Country (Skate 3) that fluteeeeee
Dinosaur Jr. - Almost Ready (Skate 3)
Dr. John - Right Place Wrong Time (Skate 3)
Dream Evil - Immortal (Skate 3) hated at first but its so cheesy i always have fun with it lmao
Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers - Born to Lose (Skate 3)
Joy Division - Disorder (Skate 3) nearly jumped from my chair when i first heard it in game
Neil Diamond - Cracklin' Rosie (Skate 3) like many others a weird pick for a skate game but somehow works
Ol' Dirty Bastard - Shimmy Shimmy Ya (Skate 3)
Pixies - Debaser (Skate 3) quintessential riff
The Thermals - A Pillar of Salt (Skate 3)
Them Crooked Vultures - Dead End Friends (Skate 3) recognized josh homme right away, was so confused this wasn't QOTSA
1999
Was pleasantly surprised when visiting this classic to learn this is an arcade port, since the later venture into metroidvania territory didn't sit so well with me, yet home console arcade gaming also comes with its own set of problems. Arcades weren't really that much of a thing in the place i live in, so i never grew accustomed to its coin-munching difficulty, so when an experience like this gets released on something like the Playstation it inevitably leads to an abuse of infinite continues to the point it trivializes the difficulty, while leaving a sour taste in the mouth when the low scores get plastered onto the menu screen. I get that these ports are a way to preserve these games outside of limited arcade cabinets and relive those older days, yet in my case there are no nostalgic arcade days to relive.
Yet, even with my modern sensibilities turned on, there's some sweet fun to be had here. There's a sort of purity in arcade game design that i'm actually really behind; the swiftness of Hiryu's slashes and his vast mobility feels immediately satisfying, whether you're playing for the 1st time or the 100th, an aspect surely important in a genre where most people wouldn't pay to see through to the end. Playing the Metal Slug series on console has a similar feeling, the gorgeous art style and catchy gameplay win me over rather quick, but taking that experience out of its natural habitat leaves some things lost in translation, to the point the experience, great as it is, becomes rather shallow.
Speaking of art style, there's really no denying the aesthetics in display here. Possibly one of the finest looking games on the PS1, it does its blend of 2D sprites and 3D environments to near perfection, lending a sense of scale to the amazing levels and enemies while enhancing the movement possibilities, masterfully playing around with gravity and space. The comic book style cutscenes are the cherry on top, making those great character designs pop out even more, even if i can't really follow the story.
It's very worthwhile to beat at least once, or even multiple times if you want to 'git gud' and get some juicy higher scores.
Yet, even with my modern sensibilities turned on, there's some sweet fun to be had here. There's a sort of purity in arcade game design that i'm actually really behind; the swiftness of Hiryu's slashes and his vast mobility feels immediately satisfying, whether you're playing for the 1st time or the 100th, an aspect surely important in a genre where most people wouldn't pay to see through to the end. Playing the Metal Slug series on console has a similar feeling, the gorgeous art style and catchy gameplay win me over rather quick, but taking that experience out of its natural habitat leaves some things lost in translation, to the point the experience, great as it is, becomes rather shallow.
Speaking of art style, there's really no denying the aesthetics in display here. Possibly one of the finest looking games on the PS1, it does its blend of 2D sprites and 3D environments to near perfection, lending a sense of scale to the amazing levels and enemies while enhancing the movement possibilities, masterfully playing around with gravity and space. The comic book style cutscenes are the cherry on top, making those great character designs pop out even more, even if i can't really follow the story.
It's very worthwhile to beat at least once, or even multiple times if you want to 'git gud' and get some juicy higher scores.
2006
Pushed through it in the name of nostalgia...i thought it'd be a bit dated but still with a retro charm but man, talk about a game completely obliterated by the passage of time.
Awkward aiming, spongy enemies, bad pacing, difficulty spikes...to add insult to injury, the story is so obviously done as an afterthought, doesn't even try to be engaging or even make sense; kudos for bringing a little personality with the live action cutscenes, but those are so unbearably boring and, worst of all, UNSKIPPABLE!!!
Score isn't lower because of a few worthwhile ideas, such as the destructible environments, that bring some punch to the firefights, and the few hidden areas and paths in levels, showcasing at least a bit of effort in breaking the linearity of the experience. But, overall, you can do much better than this if you're picking a military FPS, or any FPS for that matter.
Awkward aiming, spongy enemies, bad pacing, difficulty spikes...to add insult to injury, the story is so obviously done as an afterthought, doesn't even try to be engaging or even make sense; kudos for bringing a little personality with the live action cutscenes, but those are so unbearably boring and, worst of all, UNSKIPPABLE!!!
Score isn't lower because of a few worthwhile ideas, such as the destructible environments, that bring some punch to the firefights, and the few hidden areas and paths in levels, showcasing at least a bit of effort in breaking the linearity of the experience. But, overall, you can do much better than this if you're picking a military FPS, or any FPS for that matter.
2021
the idea that this game is evil and manipulative and poisonous for the medium or w/e is very foolish and short-sighted, but still i can't sit here and pretend this is a deep and thoroughly engaging game like so many youtubers seem to be doing either. it's just a little time waster game like hundreds of flash games from newgrounds or friv, only with a little more systems to play around with, it's baffling that it's being taken so seriously in gaming discourse
1994
"It will always bring back the fondest of memories"
Let me start this writeup by getting something particularly important out of the way: Earthbound, as a JRPG, is largely unpolished. From the combat system to the dungeons, its gameplay loop is as exhausting as can be, reproducing many design vices from the time such as excessively obtuse paths, repetitive combat, restrictive inventory, and slow progression. There are commendable attempts to make up for these shortcomings, like the rolling HP meter, the different fighting styles for every character, the hint system, among others, but they’re implemented in a flawed way themselves so they don’t make that much of a difference, making the nitty gritty of the experience, the moment to moment gameplay itself feel frustrating at times and, frankly, a bit boring, specially early on.
So why such a flawed game deserves a five-star rating? Earthbound is very comfortably a five-star game for me simply because it is one of the most affecting, detailed, and poignant depictions of childhood in any art form in history. First impressions about it are bound to how crazy and unpredictable its style and presentation can be; without spoiling too much, scenarios range from fighting hippies and balding men possessed by “evil energy” to getting ambushed into a beating by policemen and stopping a cult of worshippers of the color blue, all those happening only in about the first 1/5th of the game. That is not even mentioning the writing, which can range from hilarious to profound in a dime, sounding awfully close to random and nonsensical but you just know there’s something there.
In the freeform nature Earthbound tells its story and presents its world lies the very core of its brilliance; if there isn’t much of a traditionally told narrative or a thematic thread to the game’s many aesthetic elements it’s simply because, in a vacuum, the entire game is ‘just’ about four kids playing around. Do you, reader, remember how you used to play with friends in your early youth? Remember all the stories your imagination used to conjure up, where magic (or PSI?) was real and anything from aliens, to bigfoot, to dinosaurs could show up? Remember how, in your young mind, all those elements would add up to something that made sense? That is exactly what Earthbound is trying to convey, and it does so with mastery.
The leading example for that is the game’s foes. They may all seem random, but I believe there’s a strong argument they’re mostly a representation of the many seemingly arbitrary fears and antagonisms you can have as a child, or even stuff a kid can use to represent those and fight them. Giygas itself illustrates that perfectly, an intangible being that embodies nothing but evil in its purest form, is not given form nor shape nor personality because it transcends all that, it’s the traumatic event from your childhood you can’t ever forget given life, the irrational fear of the dark you couldn’t explain if you tried, thus being the source of all the evils in the game. The character of Pokey is even more indicative of that, as a stereotypical asshole kid that, no matter what scenario or situation, can always be there to bother you.
In another brilliant decision to enhance the immersion on this childlike adventure, the game is very economical when it comes to information, leaving a lot of gaps to be filled by the player’s own imagination and experiences. That aspect manifests itself greatly in the UI, which has very little visual information, but the item names and descriptions drive the point home and can make room for interpretation (ex.: are all the items even real or some of them are a product of the kids’ imagination? Jeff’s items come to mind, does the kid really carry a heavy bazooka around?), while the pixelated graphics themselves greatly contribute to that, with colorful and expressive sprites but not very detailed ones, in a way that creates a surreal and dreamy atmosphere in which your mind will fill in certain features from characters and environments for you, particularly when it comes to the mostly silent protagonists, which can evoke the player and/or many a friend, relative, neighbor or colleague from their youth, with the musical aid of a beautiful soundtrack that evokes nostalgia through every note.
Even the confusion the player gets to experience plays a significant role in presenting the game from a kid’s perspective. Take the dialogue, for example, the adults usually speak in kind of a rude and detached manner, some of them mentioning the fear of their spouse leaving them or drowning their sorrows at the…cafe, which could sound out of place but in a game with so much wacky stuff those moments blend in nicely with the game’s usual confusion, precisely how a child would perceive them. Ness’s parents’ relationship with their son stands out in this area, with their interactions mostly sounding trivial, like their boy saving the world is just another Tuesday for them, which it most likely is.
That exceptional work in the artistic direction of the game, which meticulously crafted every bit with exactly the right amount of visual stimulus and info, allows for every experience with the game to be deeply personal, and its story and elements to have many different interpretations, with the themes of early youth, in or out of its North American setting, tying them all together nicely. Then it all comes back to the RPG elements; much more than a pastiche of JRPG tropes, with the funny status ailments and puns or whatnot, Earthbound cleverly uses that format to illustrate just how much the crazy stories and adventures we all used to make up as kids mattered and could stack up to even the most epic fantasies such as the Lord of the Rings, Dungeons & Dragons or the Dragon Quest games. Sure, as I mentioned before, the RPG mechanics are not perfect, and would really harm a lesser game’s enjoyment and reputation, but in this game those flaws do not matter, and why should they? The games we played as children were far from perfect, and could be just as confusing and frustrating, but don’t we all get the fuzziest nostalgic feeling while remembering them? Aren’t some of our most cherished childhood memories tied so closely to them?
This game is more than a work about childhood or one that evokes childhood, it’s a celebration of the experience of living as kid in the 20th/21st century, and how much the memories and events lived through that period of our lives are grand and exciting and meaningful and beautiful and fascinating!!! The seemingly small battles of choosing what items to bring in the backpack, taking as close to the amount of money you will use as possible, making loyal friends and acquaintances and conquering your inner fears are, and always will be important, and for highlighting that with such beauty and nuance, Earthbound is absolutely a masterpiece in the video game medium.
Let me start this writeup by getting something particularly important out of the way: Earthbound, as a JRPG, is largely unpolished. From the combat system to the dungeons, its gameplay loop is as exhausting as can be, reproducing many design vices from the time such as excessively obtuse paths, repetitive combat, restrictive inventory, and slow progression. There are commendable attempts to make up for these shortcomings, like the rolling HP meter, the different fighting styles for every character, the hint system, among others, but they’re implemented in a flawed way themselves so they don’t make that much of a difference, making the nitty gritty of the experience, the moment to moment gameplay itself feel frustrating at times and, frankly, a bit boring, specially early on.
So why such a flawed game deserves a five-star rating? Earthbound is very comfortably a five-star game for me simply because it is one of the most affecting, detailed, and poignant depictions of childhood in any art form in history. First impressions about it are bound to how crazy and unpredictable its style and presentation can be; without spoiling too much, scenarios range from fighting hippies and balding men possessed by “evil energy” to getting ambushed into a beating by policemen and stopping a cult of worshippers of the color blue, all those happening only in about the first 1/5th of the game. That is not even mentioning the writing, which can range from hilarious to profound in a dime, sounding awfully close to random and nonsensical but you just know there’s something there.
In the freeform nature Earthbound tells its story and presents its world lies the very core of its brilliance; if there isn’t much of a traditionally told narrative or a thematic thread to the game’s many aesthetic elements it’s simply because, in a vacuum, the entire game is ‘just’ about four kids playing around. Do you, reader, remember how you used to play with friends in your early youth? Remember all the stories your imagination used to conjure up, where magic (or PSI?) was real and anything from aliens, to bigfoot, to dinosaurs could show up? Remember how, in your young mind, all those elements would add up to something that made sense? That is exactly what Earthbound is trying to convey, and it does so with mastery.
The leading example for that is the game’s foes. They may all seem random, but I believe there’s a strong argument they’re mostly a representation of the many seemingly arbitrary fears and antagonisms you can have as a child, or even stuff a kid can use to represent those and fight them. Giygas itself illustrates that perfectly, an intangible being that embodies nothing but evil in its purest form, is not given form nor shape nor personality because it transcends all that, it’s the traumatic event from your childhood you can’t ever forget given life, the irrational fear of the dark you couldn’t explain if you tried, thus being the source of all the evils in the game. The character of Pokey is even more indicative of that, as a stereotypical asshole kid that, no matter what scenario or situation, can always be there to bother you.
In another brilliant decision to enhance the immersion on this childlike adventure, the game is very economical when it comes to information, leaving a lot of gaps to be filled by the player’s own imagination and experiences. That aspect manifests itself greatly in the UI, which has very little visual information, but the item names and descriptions drive the point home and can make room for interpretation (ex.: are all the items even real or some of them are a product of the kids’ imagination? Jeff’s items come to mind, does the kid really carry a heavy bazooka around?), while the pixelated graphics themselves greatly contribute to that, with colorful and expressive sprites but not very detailed ones, in a way that creates a surreal and dreamy atmosphere in which your mind will fill in certain features from characters and environments for you, particularly when it comes to the mostly silent protagonists, which can evoke the player and/or many a friend, relative, neighbor or colleague from their youth, with the musical aid of a beautiful soundtrack that evokes nostalgia through every note.
Even the confusion the player gets to experience plays a significant role in presenting the game from a kid’s perspective. Take the dialogue, for example, the adults usually speak in kind of a rude and detached manner, some of them mentioning the fear of their spouse leaving them or drowning their sorrows at the…cafe, which could sound out of place but in a game with so much wacky stuff those moments blend in nicely with the game’s usual confusion, precisely how a child would perceive them. Ness’s parents’ relationship with their son stands out in this area, with their interactions mostly sounding trivial, like their boy saving the world is just another Tuesday for them, which it most likely is.
That exceptional work in the artistic direction of the game, which meticulously crafted every bit with exactly the right amount of visual stimulus and info, allows for every experience with the game to be deeply personal, and its story and elements to have many different interpretations, with the themes of early youth, in or out of its North American setting, tying them all together nicely. Then it all comes back to the RPG elements; much more than a pastiche of JRPG tropes, with the funny status ailments and puns or whatnot, Earthbound cleverly uses that format to illustrate just how much the crazy stories and adventures we all used to make up as kids mattered and could stack up to even the most epic fantasies such as the Lord of the Rings, Dungeons & Dragons or the Dragon Quest games. Sure, as I mentioned before, the RPG mechanics are not perfect, and would really harm a lesser game’s enjoyment and reputation, but in this game those flaws do not matter, and why should they? The games we played as children were far from perfect, and could be just as confusing and frustrating, but don’t we all get the fuzziest nostalgic feeling while remembering them? Aren’t some of our most cherished childhood memories tied so closely to them?
This game is more than a work about childhood or one that evokes childhood, it’s a celebration of the experience of living as kid in the 20th/21st century, and how much the memories and events lived through that period of our lives are grand and exciting and meaningful and beautiful and fascinating!!! The seemingly small battles of choosing what items to bring in the backpack, taking as close to the amount of money you will use as possible, making loyal friends and acquaintances and conquering your inner fears are, and always will be important, and for highlighting that with such beauty and nuance, Earthbound is absolutely a masterpiece in the video game medium.
1999
YA YA YA YA YAAAAHHH!!!! Just remembered i beat this on my phone, so why not review it? I remembered seeing a publication from a reviews site, i think it Gamesradar, that referred to this using the term "pure blue sky gaming", which i'm not sure what it means but i think it perfectly encapsulates the summery vibe these kind of arcade titles have, the wacky, playful vibes all around, with the super stylized graphics that still feed you a steady dose of reality, with some really clever product placement on the places you bring customers in, and an absurdly fun and memorable soundtrack, which, alongside the THPS games, singlehandedly made me interested in punk rock. The controls could be a bit more responsive, but really these kind of bite sized arcade experience is a perfect fit for a mobile device, there's not many 3D driving experiences more fun than these available for phone app stores, so bringing this classic back in a free to play model along with other games was a really clever move from Sega. And the gameplay itself is just irresistable, it may feel a little limited with only two maps, making me imagine the potential there would be for a sequel to introduce different ones, but it feels so satisfying to rack up points doing crazy stuff on traffic and completing a fare at just the right time, going at an absurd speed with that amazing presentation and the adrenaline pumping music in the background is an exhilarating experience even, encouraging the player to take risks with the varying degrees of difficulty and the bigger rewards for how high it is. All around a great slice of arcade goodness at the reach of your fingertips, with decent enough controls, just wish there was a bit more content introduced to make the experience not so short, but for the time it lasts, it's such undeniable fun.
As technological advancement came, arose the opportunity to streamline the format introduced in the first Legend of Zelda, attempting to replicate its penchant for exploration, all the while setting new standards for accessibility and world design, trying to keep the sense of wonder and adventure from the original but without the obtuseness and steep difficulty. All that seems like taking an already brilliant game and polishing it to perfection, introducing new ideas that improve the experience, yet, in the case of this game, that approach has diminishing returns. In a nutshell, the ideas introduced in this game would inevitably spread in the gaming industry like wildfire, all the while defining Zelda experiences to come, yet, this first implementation of said ideas is, while playing in present day, very lacking.
'Dated' is a very common adjective in gaming discourse, much more than with other mediums, as the standards for how satisfying and fun a game can be and how pristine it can sound or look are intimately tied with technological advancement, and consumers are even more picky for it being an interactive medium which demands many hours of time investment. Take the 80s as a reference point: for pretty much the whole of the 2010s there was a wave of 80s nostalgia, many movies, TV shows and music from that era are still considered classics to this day and the entire cultural ethos of that era is still being replicated in all sorts of media; except for video games – you don't really see titles from the 80s being talked about anymore, aside from rare exceptions like Pac-Man, Tetris, and the early Mario games from the tail end of the decade, and the design philosophies that were commonplace back then are comfortably considered a thing of the past, even the retro-est revivalist game won't try to replicate the cheap deaths, the password system, the chopped audio and the deeply limited color palette of that era. The point being that, while other mediums have so many enduring classics from many eras, games usually age much faster, and while classics like Chrono Trigger and Super Metroid have managed to remain a part of its canon, for every one of these there's a thousand 'Boogerman' and 'James Pond's completely lost to time.
With all that said, A Link to the Past is not dated. Not in the slightest even, its revolutionary ideas such as its progression system from which nearly every action RPG or adventure game since its release borrowed at list a bit, with stuff like heart pieces and item-specific quests becoming a staple, its dungeon design and puzzles, its narrative structure which places every beat around an objective being fulfilled, bringing a sense of cohesion with the gameplay, its alternate dark world map and the many ways it interacts with the main one, and, specially, the way it conveys information to the player through visual and audio cues, all still feel very modern, and its mechanics still could show up in a game released in 2022; Tunic is an obvious example. Definitely, age is not what brings this game down in my estimation, at least not in a direct way.
What does, though, is how all those brilliant ideas were implemented in such a staunchly boring way. Take the story, for example: princess gets kidnapped by evil wizard who needs her for magic shenanigans, Link goes to the rescue, is aided by a guy named fucking SARASRAHLA, needs to collect three thingys to find a sword strong enough to kill him, but unsurprisingly he's not the main villain, so Link goes to save more maidens in distress + Zelda, kill the true bad guy Ganon and restore peace to the world. I can't even think of a more unimaginative fantasy backdrop for a game, there's like one or two memorable characters in the game and they aren't even IN the main story. Without a strong narrative to engage the player constantly, there is an even greater need for the game mechanics to shine, and while they do, in parts, they're mostly every bit as uneventful as the storytelling.
The original Zelda, despite its severe limitations, was very successful in channeling a sense of wonder and adventure to the player, Hyrule really felt like a three-dimensional and mysterious land with secrets at every corner, the powerlessness of the player character and its handling of information surely helped in this, making the world feel huge and challenging to traverse, while keeping a cohesion that further made it feel like a true interconnected world. In a Link to the Past, however, i'm reluctant to even call the map 'open', since it's so restrictive and bound to a linear sense of progression it feels pointless to explore and take risks like in the original, ending up resembling the open worlds of today, and not in a good way; if the player wants to poke around the map looking for something interesting to do, the possibility is there, but there won't be almost anything to find, since nearly every area of the map is bound by some story beat you need to overcome first, otherwise it's either inaccessible altogether or just devoid of anything to interact with, and that's made even more annoying by how hostile the overworld is, just traversing from point A to point B is a pain in the ass since the game won't allow for any spot to not have relentless respawning enemies. In that sense, the moments where it rewards exploration the most are in the side collectibles, such as the heart pieces and items, specially in their interactions in the dark world, with some cool tests of spacial awareness, yet those are so telegraphed and simple they barely even feel satisfying, like they're not even an achievement to begin with, just something you have to go through to strengthen your character, essentially Zelda's version of grinding.
Speaking of the combat, well, it sucks. Sure, you can get used to it, and even get quite good at it, that skill is surely needed in some bosses down the road, but it's never really fun and absolutely not empowering in the slightest. The quirky mechanics applied to every enemy and the way there's a different strategy for every one of them is a very creative idea, one which surely influenced the Souls-like games, and should work beautifully to make the combat more engaging, but instead it just makes it frustrating and annoying, as it never really feels like you're fighting monsters as much as like you're solving puzzles, and not even the good kind. There's just so much about this combat system that i hate, like how the fighting itself feels iffy, with still no diagonal attacks like in the original – even though many enemies CAN attack diagonally –, the way so many attacks and offensive items are mostly useless, like the spin attack that has a veeery situational use and the boomerang which even fully upgraded i struggled to find any use for. There isn't a particular problem for taking a more strategic approach to a combat system that doesn't feel like just a power fantasy, but with this pace, this balancing, this presentation and this difficulty? It doesn't really work, a much simpler and shallower system would be much more welcome instead of an intricate one done poorly.
Admittedly, when i squint my eyes i can still see the sparks of brilliance this game has, and can definitely imagine how amazing it would have been to have played it in 1991, there truly wasn't anything like it back then; the Dark World stuff is specially compelling and cool, one of the most surprising aspects of the game. But playing it in 2022, i couldn't help but view it as just a blueprint for better games to come, which would take those ideas and make something truly special out of them. Even if all those elements it introduced are still modern and thus made it "age well", it lacks much of the charm, polish and uniqueness that would make this a truly timeless game; it's that extra oomph makes a game that's clearly dated, like Super Mario 64 with its sucky camera and unflattering graphics, still a masterpiece to this day – while equally influential, its singular feel hasn't really been replicated or done better since, which can't really be said for ALttP; a timeless game isn't about not being 'dated', it's about doing something special that resonates through all time. So, for all intents and purposes, the SNES cartridge for A Link to the Past documents a remarkable triumph of creative and innovative game design, which unfortunately makes for an unremarkable game that adds up to less than the sum of its parts. If anything, it makes me excited for the rest of the games on the franchise!
'Dated' is a very common adjective in gaming discourse, much more than with other mediums, as the standards for how satisfying and fun a game can be and how pristine it can sound or look are intimately tied with technological advancement, and consumers are even more picky for it being an interactive medium which demands many hours of time investment. Take the 80s as a reference point: for pretty much the whole of the 2010s there was a wave of 80s nostalgia, many movies, TV shows and music from that era are still considered classics to this day and the entire cultural ethos of that era is still being replicated in all sorts of media; except for video games – you don't really see titles from the 80s being talked about anymore, aside from rare exceptions like Pac-Man, Tetris, and the early Mario games from the tail end of the decade, and the design philosophies that were commonplace back then are comfortably considered a thing of the past, even the retro-est revivalist game won't try to replicate the cheap deaths, the password system, the chopped audio and the deeply limited color palette of that era. The point being that, while other mediums have so many enduring classics from many eras, games usually age much faster, and while classics like Chrono Trigger and Super Metroid have managed to remain a part of its canon, for every one of these there's a thousand 'Boogerman' and 'James Pond's completely lost to time.
With all that said, A Link to the Past is not dated. Not in the slightest even, its revolutionary ideas such as its progression system from which nearly every action RPG or adventure game since its release borrowed at list a bit, with stuff like heart pieces and item-specific quests becoming a staple, its dungeon design and puzzles, its narrative structure which places every beat around an objective being fulfilled, bringing a sense of cohesion with the gameplay, its alternate dark world map and the many ways it interacts with the main one, and, specially, the way it conveys information to the player through visual and audio cues, all still feel very modern, and its mechanics still could show up in a game released in 2022; Tunic is an obvious example. Definitely, age is not what brings this game down in my estimation, at least not in a direct way.
What does, though, is how all those brilliant ideas were implemented in such a staunchly boring way. Take the story, for example: princess gets kidnapped by evil wizard who needs her for magic shenanigans, Link goes to the rescue, is aided by a guy named fucking SARASRAHLA, needs to collect three thingys to find a sword strong enough to kill him, but unsurprisingly he's not the main villain, so Link goes to save more maidens in distress + Zelda, kill the true bad guy Ganon and restore peace to the world. I can't even think of a more unimaginative fantasy backdrop for a game, there's like one or two memorable characters in the game and they aren't even IN the main story. Without a strong narrative to engage the player constantly, there is an even greater need for the game mechanics to shine, and while they do, in parts, they're mostly every bit as uneventful as the storytelling.
The original Zelda, despite its severe limitations, was very successful in channeling a sense of wonder and adventure to the player, Hyrule really felt like a three-dimensional and mysterious land with secrets at every corner, the powerlessness of the player character and its handling of information surely helped in this, making the world feel huge and challenging to traverse, while keeping a cohesion that further made it feel like a true interconnected world. In a Link to the Past, however, i'm reluctant to even call the map 'open', since it's so restrictive and bound to a linear sense of progression it feels pointless to explore and take risks like in the original, ending up resembling the open worlds of today, and not in a good way; if the player wants to poke around the map looking for something interesting to do, the possibility is there, but there won't be almost anything to find, since nearly every area of the map is bound by some story beat you need to overcome first, otherwise it's either inaccessible altogether or just devoid of anything to interact with, and that's made even more annoying by how hostile the overworld is, just traversing from point A to point B is a pain in the ass since the game won't allow for any spot to not have relentless respawning enemies. In that sense, the moments where it rewards exploration the most are in the side collectibles, such as the heart pieces and items, specially in their interactions in the dark world, with some cool tests of spacial awareness, yet those are so telegraphed and simple they barely even feel satisfying, like they're not even an achievement to begin with, just something you have to go through to strengthen your character, essentially Zelda's version of grinding.
Speaking of the combat, well, it sucks. Sure, you can get used to it, and even get quite good at it, that skill is surely needed in some bosses down the road, but it's never really fun and absolutely not empowering in the slightest. The quirky mechanics applied to every enemy and the way there's a different strategy for every one of them is a very creative idea, one which surely influenced the Souls-like games, and should work beautifully to make the combat more engaging, but instead it just makes it frustrating and annoying, as it never really feels like you're fighting monsters as much as like you're solving puzzles, and not even the good kind. There's just so much about this combat system that i hate, like how the fighting itself feels iffy, with still no diagonal attacks like in the original – even though many enemies CAN attack diagonally –, the way so many attacks and offensive items are mostly useless, like the spin attack that has a veeery situational use and the boomerang which even fully upgraded i struggled to find any use for. There isn't a particular problem for taking a more strategic approach to a combat system that doesn't feel like just a power fantasy, but with this pace, this balancing, this presentation and this difficulty? It doesn't really work, a much simpler and shallower system would be much more welcome instead of an intricate one done poorly.
Admittedly, when i squint my eyes i can still see the sparks of brilliance this game has, and can definitely imagine how amazing it would have been to have played it in 1991, there truly wasn't anything like it back then; the Dark World stuff is specially compelling and cool, one of the most surprising aspects of the game. But playing it in 2022, i couldn't help but view it as just a blueprint for better games to come, which would take those ideas and make something truly special out of them. Even if all those elements it introduced are still modern and thus made it "age well", it lacks much of the charm, polish and uniqueness that would make this a truly timeless game; it's that extra oomph makes a game that's clearly dated, like Super Mario 64 with its sucky camera and unflattering graphics, still a masterpiece to this day – while equally influential, its singular feel hasn't really been replicated or done better since, which can't really be said for ALttP; a timeless game isn't about not being 'dated', it's about doing something special that resonates through all time. So, for all intents and purposes, the SNES cartridge for A Link to the Past documents a remarkable triumph of creative and innovative game design, which unfortunately makes for an unremarkable game that adds up to less than the sum of its parts. If anything, it makes me excited for the rest of the games on the franchise!
2021
Best co-op game ever made? Possibly so, but it's definitely the one to most deeply explore the concept, experimenting with countless different gameplay styles and building a narrative in order to always challenge and emphasize cooperation in way or another. With such a novel and ambitious project in hands, the team at Hazelight Studios, headed by Josef "fuck the oscars" Fares, could have found a multitude of ways to stumble upon itself and create yet another cute and interesting product that's too flawed to garner a lot of attention beyond its release month or so. Yet, they pulled off a near-perfect gameplay experience with buckets of creativity, attention to detail, and a lot of heart; so good that the mediocre story can't even prevent this from being a modern classic of couch co-op, that will certainly set the standard for the genre in the future.
I'll just go ahead and say it: to my experience, this game has the very best level design out of any platformer ever. The word here is CONSISTENCY, there isn't a single bad level, not even a single meh one, every single one is either great or straight out amazing; you can have your favorites, sure, but there wasn't a single moment where i thought to myself "i can't wait for this one to be over", all of them are enjoyable in their own unique way; which calls back to what i think is the game's biggest strength: variety. All of the levels have their own unique mechanics that bring a twist to the gameplay, but not completely change it, with all of the levels featuring roughly familiar 3D platformer controls yet with a new ability thrown in each one, brilliantly keeping the experience fresh while maintaining accessibility and familiarity, which does wonders for the game's incredible pacing. The diversity isn't the only thing these levels have going for them, though, there's an imaginative and creative concept around nearly all of them, playing around with childlike wonder and video game tropes to great effect, bringing out the child in you through both a nostalgic gaming and Roald Dahl/Mark Twain-esque feel, with adorable bits of exploration that further the immersion and worldbuilding, with many easter eggs and secrets that bring even more joy, such as the minigames, which cleverly stay out of the way of the actual game(!!!).
It's a shame that same level of polish and care didn't go for the narrative. It's not that it's terrible, it is still (kinda) well meaning, the writing can be witty and funny at times, and the ending has a surprising poignancy to it, but overall it's just not engaging and the themes of family and love are given the most shallow treatment possible, leading to some downright embarrassing moments, not to mention some narrative decisions that don't make any sense and make the story circle around itself in pointless and, sometimes, really unpleasant ways (seriously WHAT was the point of that disturbing elephant scene?). The plot itself being lazily written, constantly reminding us of the missed opportunity of having a closer connection between the gameplay and the narrative events, which would make the message so much more impactful, wouldn't be such an issue if the characters weren't so absurdly unlikable; they remain the most pathetic and malicious pair of idiots with their annoying dialog and disgusting attitude until the final third (fourth?) of the game where they finally get a scrap of character development. Maybe because me and my partner share a bit of a different view on the marriage/divorce thing that the story seemed so cheap and corny, but that still doesn't explain the questionable writing choices and the terrible protagonists.
It's obvious by now, but i don't think there are a lot of choices for games to play with your partner that could compete with this. It's accessible and engaging enough so that players of any skill level - from the 'casual' to the 'hardcore' - can have an enjoyable experience with it and share memorable moments together; the minigames alone can grant hours of fun. And depending on how close you are, you both can laugh off the the story and joke about it, or even maybe enjoy it! (No telling if it will save any marriages though). It's also pretty much the perfect game to get someone into the medium, with all the different allusions to different gameplay styles from the 3d generations of consoles that serve to showcase their appeal. One of the most deserved GOTY awards ever, if you ask me.
I'll just go ahead and say it: to my experience, this game has the very best level design out of any platformer ever. The word here is CONSISTENCY, there isn't a single bad level, not even a single meh one, every single one is either great or straight out amazing; you can have your favorites, sure, but there wasn't a single moment where i thought to myself "i can't wait for this one to be over", all of them are enjoyable in their own unique way; which calls back to what i think is the game's biggest strength: variety. All of the levels have their own unique mechanics that bring a twist to the gameplay, but not completely change it, with all of the levels featuring roughly familiar 3D platformer controls yet with a new ability thrown in each one, brilliantly keeping the experience fresh while maintaining accessibility and familiarity, which does wonders for the game's incredible pacing. The diversity isn't the only thing these levels have going for them, though, there's an imaginative and creative concept around nearly all of them, playing around with childlike wonder and video game tropes to great effect, bringing out the child in you through both a nostalgic gaming and Roald Dahl/Mark Twain-esque feel, with adorable bits of exploration that further the immersion and worldbuilding, with many easter eggs and secrets that bring even more joy, such as the minigames, which cleverly stay out of the way of the actual game(!!!).
It's a shame that same level of polish and care didn't go for the narrative. It's not that it's terrible, it is still (kinda) well meaning, the writing can be witty and funny at times, and the ending has a surprising poignancy to it, but overall it's just not engaging and the themes of family and love are given the most shallow treatment possible, leading to some downright embarrassing moments, not to mention some narrative decisions that don't make any sense and make the story circle around itself in pointless and, sometimes, really unpleasant ways (seriously WHAT was the point of that disturbing elephant scene?). The plot itself being lazily written, constantly reminding us of the missed opportunity of having a closer connection between the gameplay and the narrative events, which would make the message so much more impactful, wouldn't be such an issue if the characters weren't so absurdly unlikable; they remain the most pathetic and malicious pair of idiots with their annoying dialog and disgusting attitude until the final third (fourth?) of the game where they finally get a scrap of character development. Maybe because me and my partner share a bit of a different view on the marriage/divorce thing that the story seemed so cheap and corny, but that still doesn't explain the questionable writing choices and the terrible protagonists.
It's obvious by now, but i don't think there are a lot of choices for games to play with your partner that could compete with this. It's accessible and engaging enough so that players of any skill level - from the 'casual' to the 'hardcore' - can have an enjoyable experience with it and share memorable moments together; the minigames alone can grant hours of fun. And depending on how close you are, you both can laugh off the the story and joke about it, or even maybe enjoy it! (No telling if it will save any marriages though). It's also pretty much the perfect game to get someone into the medium, with all the different allusions to different gameplay styles from the 3d generations of consoles that serve to showcase their appeal. One of the most deserved GOTY awards ever, if you ask me.
2019
I've said before when speaking of Chrono Trigger that it would take something really, really special to debunk it as my favorite game of all time. Now, nostalgia's a bitch, since if it wasn't for it, this would have all the ingredients to be my ideal video game. The premise itself is like music to my ears: a game where exploration is the main mechanic, in which the setting is a miniature solar system full of mysteries and secrets, all packed in a profound narrative with a beautiful and important message? It sounds too good to be true, but it's exactly what this game is, it uses the uniquely interactive potential of games and their language to drive many points home that in other mediums it would be really difficult, if not impossible.
There's a variety of themes this game covers, directly or indirectly; human connections, the relentless search for understanding, the scale of the universe, the power of learning, the fear of the unknown, the meaning of life, but the one that to me stuck out the most and felt like its main point was about death and its inevitable nature. It's in gaming's inherent language built around the years to feature death in its many different ways, but i can't recall any that use it to make the player ponder upon their own mortality, of the ones around them and of the universe's itself; with an incredible ending that has an absurdly powerful message. At face value, the themes are unapproachable and complex, and in the case of mortality, pretty uncomfortable, but - and there lies the game's magic - they are actually really simple, and it's amazing once you can finally grasp these concepts through your experience interacting with the game and its microcosm.
This perceived simplicity and familiarity is arguably the game's biggest strength, its themes suggest a game that would be inherently inaccessible, pretentious and dark, which this game is anything but; its tone, instead, is whimsical, cozy and inviting, while cleverly balanced by a subtle sense of dread, appealing to humanity's inherent curiosity and a childlike sense of wonder, with weird characters that brighten up the experience with their silly dialogue, a suitably ethereal and emotional score, and a complete and utter freedom to approach the game in any possible way; no two blind playthroughs will ever be the same. In that sense, the game is brilliantly restrained in its approach to its themes, with a "show, don't tell mentality" that reminds me of Super Metroid in the best of ways, making its points through the interactivity and gameplay itself, in a staunchly effective way. And the fun of it is that, even if some of the messages I or anyone have gathered from the game are not intended by the developers, it doesn't mean they're "wrong" or a misunderstanding of the game, since it's depth and wealth of interactivity can make for many different interpretations, all of them valid, since everyone is getting something out of it; a quality shared by the best literary classics.
And even outside of the overwhelming beauty and poignancy of the themes, its core gameplay of flying around in space exploring stuff is pretty fun! Controls are suitably restrictive, which builds its suspenseful feeling, that even sometimes develops into horror, tapping onto our primal fear of the unknown, and the exploration is tightly paced to be constantly engaging, rewarding courageous endeavors and experimentation, with the knowledge you get opening up more questions in a really enjoyable loop that only gets old quite next to the endgame, since a bit of the information is redundant and some of the puzzles are kinda clunky, but the game's narrative and world are so interesting and charming that these faults are insignificant.
Admittedly, though, the game is not for everyone. If you view games mostly as a means of escapism and entertainment, and are looking for a thrill-ride with stuff like, y'know, combat, you will be very disappointed and quickly bored with this game. Yet, if a thought provoking experience that stays with you for a very long time and showcases the potential of video games is appealing to you, than this is your game. With that said, despite myself having loved it to bits and admired all its - and i don't use the word lightly - genius design choices and details, i don't wish for every game to try to be Outer Wilds or anything like that; sometimes games really can be just about seeing numbers go up, shooting guys in the head and jumping on top of creatures, and that speaks a lot on the medium's maturity and endless possibilities, when accessible products with familiar structures can coexist with ambitious and boundary-pushing ones, garnering similar levels of attention and influence one another, not one standing above the other. I'll entertain the possibility, though, that every open world game can learn a thing or two with its approach to exploration, with its open ended nature based on the player's own curiosity, making for much more satisfying and less restrictive gameplay.
Re-reading what I've written to this point it seems cheesy, but it's almost inevitable to fall into hyperbole, redundancy and vagueness while describing this game, because it really is unlike any other. I guess the last i can say about it is that one of the rare games that has real potential to change one's worldview and their life. To quote user @vodsel 's comment on glitchwave, "A video game that reminds you of what video games can be, but rarely are!"
There's a variety of themes this game covers, directly or indirectly; human connections, the relentless search for understanding, the scale of the universe, the power of learning, the fear of the unknown, the meaning of life, but the one that to me stuck out the most and felt like its main point was about death and its inevitable nature. It's in gaming's inherent language built around the years to feature death in its many different ways, but i can't recall any that use it to make the player ponder upon their own mortality, of the ones around them and of the universe's itself; with an incredible ending that has an absurdly powerful message. At face value, the themes are unapproachable and complex, and in the case of mortality, pretty uncomfortable, but - and there lies the game's magic - they are actually really simple, and it's amazing once you can finally grasp these concepts through your experience interacting with the game and its microcosm.
This perceived simplicity and familiarity is arguably the game's biggest strength, its themes suggest a game that would be inherently inaccessible, pretentious and dark, which this game is anything but; its tone, instead, is whimsical, cozy and inviting, while cleverly balanced by a subtle sense of dread, appealing to humanity's inherent curiosity and a childlike sense of wonder, with weird characters that brighten up the experience with their silly dialogue, a suitably ethereal and emotional score, and a complete and utter freedom to approach the game in any possible way; no two blind playthroughs will ever be the same. In that sense, the game is brilliantly restrained in its approach to its themes, with a "show, don't tell mentality" that reminds me of Super Metroid in the best of ways, making its points through the interactivity and gameplay itself, in a staunchly effective way. And the fun of it is that, even if some of the messages I or anyone have gathered from the game are not intended by the developers, it doesn't mean they're "wrong" or a misunderstanding of the game, since it's depth and wealth of interactivity can make for many different interpretations, all of them valid, since everyone is getting something out of it; a quality shared by the best literary classics.
And even outside of the overwhelming beauty and poignancy of the themes, its core gameplay of flying around in space exploring stuff is pretty fun! Controls are suitably restrictive, which builds its suspenseful feeling, that even sometimes develops into horror, tapping onto our primal fear of the unknown, and the exploration is tightly paced to be constantly engaging, rewarding courageous endeavors and experimentation, with the knowledge you get opening up more questions in a really enjoyable loop that only gets old quite next to the endgame, since a bit of the information is redundant and some of the puzzles are kinda clunky, but the game's narrative and world are so interesting and charming that these faults are insignificant.
Admittedly, though, the game is not for everyone. If you view games mostly as a means of escapism and entertainment, and are looking for a thrill-ride with stuff like, y'know, combat, you will be very disappointed and quickly bored with this game. Yet, if a thought provoking experience that stays with you for a very long time and showcases the potential of video games is appealing to you, than this is your game. With that said, despite myself having loved it to bits and admired all its - and i don't use the word lightly - genius design choices and details, i don't wish for every game to try to be Outer Wilds or anything like that; sometimes games really can be just about seeing numbers go up, shooting guys in the head and jumping on top of creatures, and that speaks a lot on the medium's maturity and endless possibilities, when accessible products with familiar structures can coexist with ambitious and boundary-pushing ones, garnering similar levels of attention and influence one another, not one standing above the other. I'll entertain the possibility, though, that every open world game can learn a thing or two with its approach to exploration, with its open ended nature based on the player's own curiosity, making for much more satisfying and less restrictive gameplay.
Re-reading what I've written to this point it seems cheesy, but it's almost inevitable to fall into hyperbole, redundancy and vagueness while describing this game, because it really is unlike any other. I guess the last i can say about it is that one of the rare games that has real potential to change one's worldview and their life. To quote user @vodsel 's comment on glitchwave, "A video game that reminds you of what video games can be, but rarely are!"
I don't think I've ever been as conflicted on a game as with this one. For it definitely took the original's premise and tone and made a far more engaging and thought provoking story, further exploring the theme of violence in very nuanced and interesting ways, with memorable characters and moments to spare, and even adding a bit more context to the first game's happenings. The variety in level design and gameplay modes made sense for the longer duration of the game and made the game feel a bit more immersive, with the way the story beats translated well to player input.
But all that came with a price, since the focus that made the first game so great is dearly missed here; with the story being needlessly convoluted and confusing, taking away a lot of the punch from the narrative and dampening emotional attachment to the characters; and the game itself playing...not great, since the constantly changing gameplay styles prevent you from mastering any of them, the large and inconsistent level design always puts you in a disadvantage, with enemies killing you from off screen at all times, and the AI is way more reactive and punishing, making bait and kill nearly always the optimal strategy; which are all ways to make the game more restrictive and frustrating instead of fun, which the first game, despite its extreme difficulty, never ceased to be.
Despite those severe inconsistencies, specially the unfortunate letdown that is the gameplay, the atmosphere, themes and, specially, soundtrack, that made the original iconic are amplified to their maximum potential, with that dreamy synthwave aesthetic coupled with the dark tone of the game making for a very unique combination that, coupled with the story beats, makes for a hypnotic and fascinating product, continuing the tradition of its predecessor in a satisfying way. Had this game been a bit more focused, maybe toning down the pretenses a little bit, i could easily see it surpassing the original in every way; in its actual state, it's still the one that actually stayed with me for some time afterwards, for the immersive mood and impactful story, but the original is the one i will be returning to the most.
But all that came with a price, since the focus that made the first game so great is dearly missed here; with the story being needlessly convoluted and confusing, taking away a lot of the punch from the narrative and dampening emotional attachment to the characters; and the game itself playing...not great, since the constantly changing gameplay styles prevent you from mastering any of them, the large and inconsistent level design always puts you in a disadvantage, with enemies killing you from off screen at all times, and the AI is way more reactive and punishing, making bait and kill nearly always the optimal strategy; which are all ways to make the game more restrictive and frustrating instead of fun, which the first game, despite its extreme difficulty, never ceased to be.
Despite those severe inconsistencies, specially the unfortunate letdown that is the gameplay, the atmosphere, themes and, specially, soundtrack, that made the original iconic are amplified to their maximum potential, with that dreamy synthwave aesthetic coupled with the dark tone of the game making for a very unique combination that, coupled with the story beats, makes for a hypnotic and fascinating product, continuing the tradition of its predecessor in a satisfying way. Had this game been a bit more focused, maybe toning down the pretenses a little bit, i could easily see it surpassing the original in every way; in its actual state, it's still the one that actually stayed with me for some time afterwards, for the immersive mood and impactful story, but the original is the one i will be returning to the most.
2010
When i first started playing i thought it could be some sort of underrated gem, as there's so much that this game gets SO RIGHT about how open world shooting games should be like it's honestly upsetting it is this unpolished and janky. Starting with the tone, it's brilliant; has the same feel as those dumb 80's action flicks, with the goofy dialog, the cheesy aesthetic, the story nobody cares about, and the self awareness of how stupid it all really is, doing its best to focus on what people really come to this experiences for: escapism (and cool stunts). That philosophy also applies to the game design, which has the controversial chaos system, which for me was a great idea, for it makes for one of the very few open world games I've known that openly encourages wrecking shit up and exploring the world, instead of shying away from it by making it optional, yet, for a number of reasons, it makes these activities feel more chore-y than fun.
The first one of these reasons are the missions, specially the side missions necessary to rack up chaos in order to advance the story missions; they're mostly just terrible, with dialog so inept you might as well skip it and uninspired structures with little to no variety: the slightly better ones, the stronghold missions, all have exactly the same "protect hacker while advancing through" motif, while the rest are just different flavors of assassination, destruction or dreadful tailing/escort missions (barring a few exceptions, like the honestly great 'Lost' pastiche), which feel like padding on better games yet make for the bulk of this one.
The world itself feeling so cold and uninviting doesn't make things better, if it had more noticeable landmarks, more diverse locales and just were more interesting as whole it would be such a joy to go around wreaking havoc, instead it's just too empty to even care about, with too many copy-pasted assets and a generic setting. It has still another great idea in the collectible boxes of cash and armor/health upgrades, which kinda reminded me of Zelda's heart containers, but it's yet another cool concept badly implemented, with way too many of the crates spread out, and not too much of a difference is felt by getting them.
Yet, what really saves this game from complete mediocrity is its moment to moment gameplay; it has pretty satisfying TPS combat, not cover based and ammo-wealthy like most games of this kind, which nicely creates tension, with a really cool dual-wielding system that lets you combine different weapons, displaying the knack this game has for stimulating improvisation and creativity in solving scenarios, that is exemplified in the wealth of vehicles and gadgets that can be used, with some even inside bases, waiting to be used against their own, and, obviously, the grappling hook/parachute combo is endless fun, adding a slew of traversal and combat possibilities and a sense of freedom and joy in movement that most open world games, specially of its era, can't even touch.
The possibilities are limited, sure, since the mechanics aren't really deep enough to make the game more than a poor man's Metal Gear Solid V, but the intent and ideas are there, some that even predate a lot of the games credited to "revamping" the open world formula, so it makes me think if it had a larger budget and a bit more polish in some areas, it could be one of the best open world games of its era, maybe all time. In its state, though, its still a fun romp that can still scratch an itch that not many games of its kind do.
The first one of these reasons are the missions, specially the side missions necessary to rack up chaos in order to advance the story missions; they're mostly just terrible, with dialog so inept you might as well skip it and uninspired structures with little to no variety: the slightly better ones, the stronghold missions, all have exactly the same "protect hacker while advancing through" motif, while the rest are just different flavors of assassination, destruction or dreadful tailing/escort missions (barring a few exceptions, like the honestly great 'Lost' pastiche), which feel like padding on better games yet make for the bulk of this one.
The world itself feeling so cold and uninviting doesn't make things better, if it had more noticeable landmarks, more diverse locales and just were more interesting as whole it would be such a joy to go around wreaking havoc, instead it's just too empty to even care about, with too many copy-pasted assets and a generic setting. It has still another great idea in the collectible boxes of cash and armor/health upgrades, which kinda reminded me of Zelda's heart containers, but it's yet another cool concept badly implemented, with way too many of the crates spread out, and not too much of a difference is felt by getting them.
Yet, what really saves this game from complete mediocrity is its moment to moment gameplay; it has pretty satisfying TPS combat, not cover based and ammo-wealthy like most games of this kind, which nicely creates tension, with a really cool dual-wielding system that lets you combine different weapons, displaying the knack this game has for stimulating improvisation and creativity in solving scenarios, that is exemplified in the wealth of vehicles and gadgets that can be used, with some even inside bases, waiting to be used against their own, and, obviously, the grappling hook/parachute combo is endless fun, adding a slew of traversal and combat possibilities and a sense of freedom and joy in movement that most open world games, specially of its era, can't even touch.
The possibilities are limited, sure, since the mechanics aren't really deep enough to make the game more than a poor man's Metal Gear Solid V, but the intent and ideas are there, some that even predate a lot of the games credited to "revamping" the open world formula, so it makes me think if it had a larger budget and a bit more polish in some areas, it could be one of the best open world games of its era, maybe all time. In its state, though, its still a fun romp that can still scratch an itch that not many games of its kind do.