2021

I’ve really found my love for this genre again in the last year or so, so it was nice to try one of the OGs for the first time. I’m glad to say it holds up well, the level design was a bit different than what I was expecting compared to Doom or Blood, there were far less instances of wandering aimlessly because the pathing seemed a lot more straight forward, which I appreciated. The guns all feel good and there is a nice mix of enemies, definitely a classic of the genre for a reason.

This is easily one of my favorite Metroidvania games I’ve played, I was hopeful seeing the original trailers and it blew my expectations away. The movement in this game is amazing and just gets better as it goes, chaining together your usual double jumps, dashes, wall jumps with tons of other abilities you unlock as you go make the game feel incredibly fluid and allows for some great platforming sections. The collectibles are often in spots that require you to use all these skills so they feel super satisfying to get each time, as well as using a lot of them for leveling up weapons or buying perks/more potions/etc. The game does a great job balancing all these light RPG systems where you feel like you could beat the game without doing them all if you are skilled, but really making it feel rewarding if you take the time to find things in the map.

The combat is also quite fine despite not being overly complex, you have a few different combos you can do with your blades as well as a bow but really the skill comes from dodging or parrying at the right times. The boss battles all felt fair even some of the tougher ones later one and led to some really awesome moments. The way the map flows is also quite good, you pretty frequently find golden trees where you can restore your health and save, as well as finding fast travel points around the map which are super useful but also not game breaking. This allows you to jump around a bit but by limiting where you can initiate to only those spots it doesn’t take away the feeling of exploring. The areas themselves vary from pretty standard settings to a few that really stand out that I won’t spoil. The map also lets you place icons as well as a collectible you have that let’s you save screenshots on the map so you can easily remember a spot you want to return to later which is a great feature.

If you are a fan of the genre this is definitely a game I would recommend, it plays super well and the story, while not the most in depth hooking narrative ever, has a pretty neat concept that kept me entertained and led to cool gameplay moments.

For a game that took a week to make this is very impressive, it does a great job adapting the Celeste mechanics into a 3D space and works pretty great (minus some camera issues). The game is small (it only took me slightly over an hour to get 100%) but quite an enjoyable time, I definitely recommend it it is well worth the time and it is free as well.

This is a sometimes great, sometimes alright game that doesn't quite live up to my expectations but still is a worthwhile game to play if you are into the genre. The concept of the game is really creative, taking the yo-yo and making it the whole game mechanic is a neat idea. Rolling on the yo-yo, swinging from it, and using powerups with it is fun and it does a good job mixing things up as you go through the levels. The worlds do a pretty good job differentiating themselves, and I like the addition of collectables and mini missions in each stage. Bosses aren't amazing but they were each pretty unique, I really liked the last one especially. The issue I have with the game comes down to what I see as a lack of polish, I find that the controls don't always do exactly what you expect them to do and while the game wants you to chain combos together and go fast sometimes that is at odds with the level design and camera (this is a Sonic fan team after all....). I had multiple instances where I would get stuck in objects also and have to reload the game, which starts to take you out of the enjoyment of the game. I also never really grew to love the art style, I didn't hate it but it was just kind of meh to me.

At it's best I think this game has a lot of really great ideas and when you are really flowing it can border on a great 3D platformer, I just wish it was a bit more polished.

Setting aside the fact that this game is much too expensive for what it is, this is a wonderfully done remake. I love the GBA game and have a lot of nostalgia for it, and they did it a lot of justice. The new stages feel just as good if not better than the originals, and the art style and cutscenes have a wonderful look and polish. I always wished they kept this series in this puzzle platforming style, but I am at least glad this game back in this fashion with some new content sprinkled in.

This just felt like a game that should have come out a long time ago. The original 2016 Detective Pikachu on 3DS was a flawed but charming mystery/adventure game with a clever premise, and if this game came out a year or two afterwards it probably would have gotten a similar reception. Instead the gameplay feels dated and the presentation is just not up to snuff. The plot isn’t bad per say but it also has the problem of the Detective Pikachu movie coming out in 2019 despite the movie adapting material that would be eventually used in this game, so the release timeline for this franchise is all out of whack. The last case in the game makes up for a lot of the slowness in the rest of the game but I just wish the game was more dynamic in structure, it would be nice to feel like you are solving something instead of being dragged along with no agency. I did like how it all wrapped up at least and it did retain some of the charm of the original, I just sadly think this missed its window by multiple years… if it had come out right before the movie it would have felt much more at home.

After a very slow first hour I really enjoyed this game a lot, I played JSR and JSRF for the first time in the last year so I was looking forward to seeing what a much more modern version of that could look like. While I would say the vibes of this game aren’t quite on that level, the gameplay is much improved to me. The loop is similar: spray painting over rival gang’s turf to intimate competitions like score attacks or combo lines to ultimately take over the whole city. Having the speed boost from JSRF is great, and making it tied to combos instead of spray paint collectibles is so much better. The same applies to the spray paint itself, removing the requirement to find it in the environment makes the game just flow so much better. The aerial boost dash is also an amazing addition and allows you to stay in combos so much longer, though that combo system does take a bit of getting used to since it doesn’t function like it would in most other games like Tony Hawk for example. The game even has linear platform style stages that I would have a heart attack attempting with JSRF controls, but feel great in this game.

The story is a bit much in the beginning but it did grow on me by the end, it’s not overbearing but introduces a pretty neat world. My only real complaint with the game is the combat is quite bad, I’m not sure why they felt the need to add off board/skate/bike combat. Thankfully it doesn’t show up too much, but it’s a bit rough. Luckily the boss fights that are based around the riding are fine so it’s ultimately not a big game breaker. The soundtrack is also really good, quite a few of the songs will be stuck in my head for a while which is a key part to the game because of the clear JSR inspiration. I look forward to the possibility of a sequel, and it makes me really anticipate what the JSR reboot can be like with modern controls.

This game has great action sword fighting combat, it is simple to learn but tough to master. Once you do you will fall into a perfect zen state fighting off tons of enemies of different types at once, using obstacles in each room to help you. Add in a cool Robin Hood styled protagonist and a neat world and you have a short and sweet action game that I would love to see more of.

I used to be a big Assassin's Creed fan, but like many my interest waned post Black Flag for quite awhile until I jumped back in with Origins, which I enjoyed but the RPG system wasn't really what I wanted. As they went further and further in that direction I feared the series was done for me for good until this game got announced.

This isn't a perfect game by any stretch, but this is almost exactly what I wanted for many years. The stealth focus is back in a big way, I was able to play basically the entire game sneaking around assassinating from the shadows, utilizing multiple different tools to get the job done. The upgrades you got felt very useful and powerful also, by the end I was a true stealth assassin and felt like a badass. I really liked the investigation style of progression, where it just gives you a bunch of different directions you can go and you can tackle objectives in whatever order you want. While lots of the missions are pretty small scale there are also some big areas that allow you to find your own route to the objective which are really fun.

You can still see some of the RPG influence in this game, which isn't my favorite but honestly I was able to avoid it almost entirely. I played the game only upgrading my suit and weapons a few times each, so it does feel mostly like an addition if you want it. The story is totally fine, Basim was a solid protagonist but nothing really stood out to me in any strong way (I have no idea what is happening in the lore at this point so I was confused a few times but that ultimately didn't affect my enjoyment).

I think for me this is a great step back in the direction I would prefer for the series, I know the RPG games are well loved but I hope they continue to at least do spin offs in this style.

The game is incredibly simple in mechanics but man does it absolutely whoop your ass. You play as a red hair girl with a plunger bow which shoots arrows that stick to walls that you can bounce on twice each. The game never adds new mechanics but constantly throws more and more new enemies and obstacle patterns to avoid. The short levels make it less frustrating but I sometimes hit the point where I just needed a break to refresh my skills and think about how to tackle a level, sometimes they are deceptively complex in how you need to go about getting to the end. After dying 180+ times in the final stage I was just proud to finish the game!

This game makes you feel like a total badass, the lighting fast action combat with slo-mo and dodge roll what more could you want? The world and story are interesting as well, I didn't realize that was such a big focus of the game and I was pleasantly surprised. The graphics look great and the VHS video style cuts and presentation bring it to a whole other level. I look forward to seeing where the story goes one day.

This was a really charming Metroidvania with tons of great ideas, even if slightly flawed. To start you will immediately see just how beautiful the game is, it is full of vibrant colors and unique locations that make just seeing the game instantly fill you with a sense of adventure and fun. Quickly the game introduces the main mechanic that creates the metroidvania gating system: animal transformations. This is by far my favorite part of the game, each of the 6 forms feel unique with their own pros and cons, and each have wonderful animations to boot. While some like the Frog or Lion are much more useful on balance each form has their time to shine.

The Metroidvania part of the game really isn't too in depth, a lot of the time it plays just like a linear 2D action platformer. You aren't often lost on where to go next, but you do get to open sections where you have to problem solve to unlock the boss. The boss fights are a treat, they are all really fleshed out multistage affairs that keep you on your toes. The combat is pretty basic, but there is a light RPG gear system that is a bit underused but it isn't bad, I liked that it gave you options but didn't really require you to spend tons of time mixing and matching.

Ultimately I really enjoyed this game but the back third was a bit of a mess so I had to dock it a bit, the difficulty just spikes out of nowhere which leads to quite a bit of frustration and it gets a bit obtuse. As you near the end of the game it also doesn't tell you some collectables aren't actually optional, you needed them all along. If the game was balanced slightly better and was a bit more forthcoming with information in the final stretch this would have been a really amazing game, but even as is I had a lot of fun with it.

2018

This was a remarkably beautiful game, the colors (and lack of at times) really popped and created amazing environments and visuals. I found myself taking screenshots a ton so I could remember some of the amazing sight the game has to offer, I won’t spoil any but it’s worth experiencing for that alone. Gameplay isn’t as strong but it’s serviceable, it’s what I would call an artsy platformer where the focus is definitely on the visuals and music and less on the gameplay. It does get a bit more involved later on but nothing too crazy, I think it strikes the puzzle balance really well where you have to think a little bit at times but never enough where you get stuck for long. Worth playing just to see the creativity in design and all the wonderful art.

This game has really great fluid movement, the emphasis on speed running forces you to master your different moves to make sure you can get to the goal as soon as possible. Having every stage be 30 seconds or less is a neat idea and creates good tension, but it also didn’t seem to allow the developer much variety in the stages they feel very samey for the most part. Running, sliding, teleporting all feel really good, enough to make the game worth playing, but it’s definitely lacking in some key areas.

This was a really good challenging 2D platformer, I realized just before I started the game that this was the first game by the Tinykin developer and I can totally see the similarities/DNA. The game is full of bright colors and it has a great sense of progression with powers. You start only being able to shoot water, but over time gain the ability to make red slime that you can stick to as well as yellow slime you can bounce off. The levels get more complicated as they go, the last few really were breaking my brain at times trying to get to each checkpoint while saving as many scientists as I could.