tantaclaus
2023
A really interesting fantasy world and magical combat system, held back by some minor open world gripes. The stats and exploration weren't very good, but I am a sucker for a game with a great sense of kinetic movement and complex action combat system. The story was even surprisingly interesting and touching by the end, with some truly suprising twists. A game definitely worth playing, but by no means a masterpiece. A more interesting open world to explore would elevate Forspoken into something truly special.
2023
Nothing about this boomer shooter felt special enough to interest me in finishing even the first episode. Music was cool though.
2019
A pretty complex and interesting colony/city sim, a ton of systems to dig into and enjoy. Gets a little too complex for my tastes near the end, but I want to keep trying. The completely "apolitical" approach to colonialism sucks, though.
2023
A masterful fighting game, oozing style, full of substance, and gives you the drive to get better. I haven't been this in love with a fighting game since Soulcalibur 2 or Smash Ultimate, and this one hits all the right notes. The incredible thing about good fighting games is that they're an exercise in self-mastery. When you're playing ranked, you're playing YOURSELF, working on developing your own skills and surpass your previous limits. Street Fighter 6 is the closest I will ever get to being a shonen protagonist. I can't stop thinking about this game, all I want to do is play and improve. On top of all of this, thanks to my lovely friends, it also happens to be an incredible party game. Street Fighter is fighting.
An unfortunately bare-bones rerelease of a game that deserves better. It's still one of my favorite games of all time, and I loved picking up on new story moments and using new techniques this time. I'll be playing more because I want to follow my dreams of 100%ing this game, but this port just makes me wish we got more.
2021
A nice art style can't save this boomer shooter from ever rising above "kinda fun" - long levels, uninspired encounters, a boring arsenal (a weak shotgun!), and dreadful voice acting keep this one in the "never finished" pile. Gave up halfway through Act 4 when I realized a checkpoint set me back half the level - why not let me save on my own? A thoroughly mediocre effort all around.
1997
Starting to get good now. Nice stages, a decent array of modes, and a good amount of unlockable characters. Still feels wooden more times than not, and it's strange how the damage calculations work. Some characters have fast 3-hit combos that do over a third of the health bar, and some have kick combos that do essentially nothing. I can see how formative this game was for the series, and I had enough fun with it to grind through Arcade mode and try Tekken Force a few times, but I think I'll be done with this one for now.
1995
A slightly more modern-feeling offering, it feels a bit more fluid than the first entry and you can start to actually do strategies like juggling, etc. However, it still doesn't rise above the threshold of being fun to play, and remains a historical curiosity, rather than something I would ever be tempted to bust out and play solo or with friends.
1994
An extremely rudimentary fighting game experience, I am unable to think of a reason why anyone should play it today aside from historical curiosity. No story, clunky movement, insane AI, and no secondary modes to speak of. Attempted Arcade Mode for about 30 minutes and had more than my fill.
1995
Way more interesting than it has any right to be. If you can look past the ghastly performance and combat, what lies beneath is an interesting RPG all about exploration and cool vibes. A genuinely interesting art direction, world structure, music, and item management bring this game a long way. I cannot imagine playing it without a guide however.
2022
A stripped-down, incredibly clever arena shooter roguelike with a surprising amount of depth. Using the secondary weapon for mobility, chasing high scores, and upgrading your weapon all feel great, and the enemies are just varied enough to keep things interesting.
The pinnacle of Ace Combat. A long meaty campaign, tons and tons of mission variety, branching missions, an interesting story that hooks into the others, and a few really challenging parts. Equipping your squad and outfitting them is an awesome layer of mechanical depth. Banger music and great visuals included as well. I will be revisiting this one to play some free missions and unlock stuff in the future.
Although it's not as ambitious story-wise as Ace Combat Zero, Shattered Skies still has a fun set of missions that act as a perfect playground for your planes. The aircraft selection feels more limited, but a fun variety of mission types and an immaculate early-2000s vibe really carry this one.
It was a lot of fun exploring the best map in a Forza Horizon, and the little things like off-cambered turns, road bumps, and surface changes all add up to make the driving feel different. The rally-lite mode is a fun novelty, and the game and map look gorgeous as ever. Not a barn-burner by any means, but absolutely worth tearing through each race at least once.
Tried to get into a Zelda to overcome my blind spot with the franchise, but got 2 dungeons in and the prospect of doing 6 more was overwhelmingly distasteful to me. Figured out I needed to trade 5 random items to 5 random people that the game didn't tell me about, so I decided to put the game down rather than do that. Wish I was having more fun, and I am definitely interested in trying a 3D Zelda someday down the line before I definitively can say "I'm not a Zelda guy".