A speedrunner's paradise intended to be replayed over and over for the most optimal movements, Neon White is an impeccably designed puzzle-platformer-shooter thing that never stops throwing the most fun gameplay ideas at you. Some of these levels legit blew my mind! The complaints about bad writing are so overblown to the point it's all I heard about the game till now, and I missed out on one of the best of last year. While yes the story is wildly different quality to the actual core gameplay, it should absolutely not put you off when it can be entirely skipped and isn't important at all. Love the character designs at least

This series has the most fun Metroidvania gameplay in my opinion and Dawn is simply more of that. The movement and combat are still sick, and so is the feeling of progression absorbing abilities from every enemy and becoming a total killing machine. Being able to switch between 2 sets of fused weapons and stats with a button press made those mechanics even more interesting. Sadly it's an early DS title which means there's some very forced gimmicks in there. Getting a boss to 0 health, messing up drawing the symbol and then dying after is the most frustrating thing. Also one of the worst art style choices I've ever seen... the character portraits are ugly and a massive downgrade from Ayami Kojima's distinctive look. At least the spritework is still really smooth and there are some cool 3D backgrounds. Aria is the better game but this is really worth playing.

A horror masterpiece and shining example of video games as art. After playing through it multiple times it's still so scary and fascinating to me.

SH3 is a non-stop ride of terror that moves from area to area quickly. I can point to so many memorable haunting setpieces in each but they're best discovered for yourself. The puzzles are less cryptic and the gameplay is generally much improved from previous installments. For a 2003 release taking a realistic style, the visuals have aged miraculously - character models still look lifelike and the environments are striking and rich with details. This version of the otherworld has a uniquely horrifying appearance that's unlike anything else I've seen, which the PS2 lofi aesthetic compliments well. That's not to mention the incredible sound design - every playthrough I hear new mysterious distant noises I've never heard before. A lot is left to your imagination like that making every location even scarier. I also think Akira Yamaoka's finest work is found here.

It gets overshadowed by 2 in all discussions regarding horror games today and I think that's sad. Both are very special but I think 3 actually did so many things better. It may not have 2's personal tragic story but for me it's balanced out by having one of the best gaming protagonists, and it still has all the symbolism and depth if you're looking for it. This is one of my favorite pieces of media ever and I'm sure I'll keep discovering things in it for years.

This was a one of a kind experience... It's amazing how far ahead of its time MGS2 was. Not just mechanically but in terms of its themes where it's almost prophetic and more relevant than ever in our current day, and also how it uses unique features of this interactive medium to tell its story. It's been a while since I've been truly excited to keep playing something and see what happens next. Played MGS1 and MGR and they were cool, but this was something else and I was really enjoying the gameplay now too. Raiden is an awesome character, I much prefer this iteration of him. I'm definitely a fan and I'm looking forward to playing 3 sometime

Expected to enjoy this more than I did honestly. Clearly made by a big fan of Sonic, Metroid, Rayman to name a few of the platformers its movement is inspired by, which is very nice. I can see why people liked its style so much. I kinda felt like I was forcing my way to the end after a while. Layouts are just too unorganised and sprawling for my liking, not to say that they're "bad". Clearly they are intentionally chaotic. It just didn't leave an impression on me to want to keep running the stages

Arthritis Simulator 2005 if you're playing on original hardware. The controls are a little less hand-obliterating on a 3DS. This was an essential multiplayer title in its time: a 3D Mario Kart experience on the go letting you race anyone with a DS and it had online play too. These days though I don't find much reason to go back to this. Even back then I found the tracks to be boring, with graphics so bad I sometimes can't make sense of the road ahead. Certainly not the best MK. (This is my first time actually finishing this, in the past I only played with friends.)

Easily the most well crafted Sonic game. SEGA hit a perfect balance between the speed of Sonic 2 and the exploration of Sonic CD with much better layouts than both. It was massive for its time and it still amazes me how much was packed into it.

3 playable characters experience the same zones in totally different ways with pathways only they can access, while also serving as different difficulties (Knuckles = Hard Mode). Everything is connected - each level is huge and branching with their own boss fights, transitioning smoothly into the next. Special stages are entered by finding hidden giant rings and are actually fun and worthwhile now, granting access to two super forms and an extra final fight as Sonic.

I particularly love how Sonic 3 tells two stories without any words, using only the character animations and changes in your surroundings. I also think the visual aesthetic and sound peaked here - wonderful parallax backgrounds and the more detailed threatening robot designs are so badass.

In all aspects the other classics just aren't in the same league. This is a masterpiece of 2D platforming and I credit it for really igniting my interest in video games as a child. It's depressing to think that since they perfected this formula 30 years ago, only one game used it again (Mania).

Woefully unbalanced and broken and that is precisely what makes it so chaotically enjoyable. Everyone gets access to the same ridiculous weapons of destruction to the point it becomes fair again, no two races are the same. The skill ceiling, mechanics and physics are so much more advanced than other MKs that everything else pales in comparison for me. There has never been movement as good as the bikes in this game since. It also has the best new tracks (which were all BUTCHERED in 8) and selection of characters. And of course, a thriving online scene that still plays the game every day and are creating custom tracks for it 15 years later. The GOAT Mario Kart no contest

Definition of a cult classic. Even with all its flaws this is an incredibly fun time made with genuine passion and ambition and talent that Sonic Team no longer has. The Pixar-esque graphical style and renditions of real world countries are stunning for 2008 and the sheer sense of speed as you're blasting through tearing up everything in your path is still insane. The day levels are the most well designed in the series in my opinion - they've never grown old for me after hundreds of runs with their crazy setpieces, high difficulty and perfect length. And after levelling up skills the Werehog has surprising depth to his moveset which I think people didn't give a fair shake. It goes without saying that the OST is god tier. This is my 11th time completing the story, I love just sitting down and running the whole thing in one afternoon. On Xbox Series in its full 60fps glory it's an immensely different more responsive experience and I truly believe it's one of the best 3D platformers of all time. Makes me happy that it's had a bit of a critical re-evaulation in recent years

I think this is a pretty underrated game. I wasn't amazed by the little I played of its Wii U port, but the original 3DS version is much more interesting. It pushes the handheld to its absolute limits despite being one of the first games on it, just really impressive to see it running so well on there all things considered. I much prefer the first person aiming of this version, shooting feels much better than I ever expected it to and the touch screen is used for a variety of things. It's way better to me with circle pad pro turned off because then it just plays like a portable RE4 (and the N3DS' nub is not suited for that movement at all). Enjoyed the ship setting and it ended on a good note with a challenging final boss. I had a lot of fun overall

Definitely more enjoyable and less frustrating gameplay than the first part, the bosses were actually really fun this time and the final dungeon didn't make me want to blow my brains out. It's still diet Nocturne - missing elements that made that gameplay so awesome and adding irritating random mechanics, like being ambushed in a weak human state or other limited transformation (which happens extremely regularly). But it's still got the press turn system, so still much more engaging and challenging combat than the average JRPG. The lore and world was the best bit of DDS1, and entering a brand new reality in the beginning of DDS2 and seeing the shift in tone was super intriguing. Unfortunately as it went on, they kinda lost me with the direction they took it. I still enjoyed the conclusion, visually and conceptually.

After finishing this duology, I gotta say I don't think DDS is Atlus' hidden gem masterpiece like a lot of fans seem to say. I was honestly really disappointed overall because it has some of the coolest story concepts I've seen, but there's so much that I think it fumbles. I did not care for the characters at all (especially the dude with the shit jamaican accent) which makes it harder to care about what's going on. There is literally NO reason for the protagonist to be silent in this particular story, with an extremely small amount of inconsequential dialogue options. The gameplay can be so bullshit and aggravating, it's not as fun as other SMT games. The encounter rate is still insane and there are still several roadblocks where you just have to stop and grind to unlock skills you don't have, because that's the boring replacement for demon recruitment and fusion. Dungeon design is also extremely basic in 2.

I just expected a lot more from this with everything I'd heard, but I did have a much better experience with 2 and came away from it thinking more positively. I don't regret my time spent playing them at all. And I have a lot of new songs for my playlists now, the soundtracks go insanely hard. I think Battle for Survival is my favorite random encounter theme ever

My feelings about EB are complicated. It's extremely grindy and slow, will often force you to survive with only one or two party members, and deal with all sorts of annoying ailments, massive difficulty spikes, a very cumbersome inventory management and revival system. Despite all that, it's still very alluring. The bizarre way the NPCs are written, the places you'll go and the overall otherworldly atmosphere are fascinating. Visual effects and animated backgrounds are striking and impressive for SNES hardware, as is the sample heavy soundtrack. I adore the creepy undertones that get more full on as Giygas' influence grows, and I'll never forget moments like going to Moonside, or the ending which is one of the best I've ever experienced. I even find myself enjoying combat in a masochistic sorta way. But overall this is an RPG that I love more conceptually, than actually sitting down to play it. I have a lot of respect for it.

Making a rhythm game out of a series with one of the greatest catalogues of soundtracks ever was genius. Hardcore fans get a lot more out of it with how much it pulls from the whole series history, spinoffs and all, but even with my limited FF experience I still found it addicting and got some new favorite songs. I appreciate how it just gets straight into things and lets you play whatever you want, and the art style and presentation is cute.

The devs clearly have a lot of love for the games represented and now I wish some non-Square series had their own Theatrhythm equivalent...