1990
a bit jank, but that x68k music is delicious.
https://youtu.be/rMr_LqT1M6s?t=1185
https://youtu.be/rMr_LqT1M6s?t=1185
2003
i can't really say whether i'd love this now nearly as much as i did when i played it back then, but i'll always remember the part where (uh, spoilers?) the photos you've taken as jade are used in a big story event. this might not seem like such a novel thing now, but at the time it really connected me with the game's world and felt super cool.
it can be argued that there are better boss designs in other games, especially in sonic cd, but this is my favorite sonic. the peak.
i don't last very long with these games because the writing and tone grate a bit and the loop becomes a chore (i'm not all that into having to pick items for customers' requested styles), but for a while i really enjoy playing dress-up with the player character.
along with the 1987 film innerspace, this was among my earliest exposure to body horror.
folks who play simon's quest nowadays and dismiss it as some overly cryptic, obtuse relic of a game are really missing out on what made it cool. even back in the day without romhacks and internet walkthroughs, people beat simon's quest. people shared information on how to progress, whether they read it in the pages of nintendo power or discovered it on their own through experimentation (given the unreliable hints provided by town npcs). it's not unlike, as an example, learning of how to confront the deceptive yurt in demon's souls before he kills everyone—whether on your own or in conversation with friends. i think that's great stuff.
anyhow. it isn't my favorite of the nes castlevanias, but it is a good one and it still feels good to just pick up and play. come to it with some patience.
anyhow. it isn't my favorite of the nes castlevanias, but it is a good one and it still feels good to just pick up and play. come to it with some patience.
1993
i'm not all that into most fighters to begin with, but i think this one has perhaps the nicest color palette and dithering of any genesis game. too bad it's not very good.
1988
i'm not immune to the nostalgia, but this is mediocrity defined.
2006
lol what? this was id software's first new entirely original game since quake and it's a cool hack n' slash dungeon crawler based on the doom rpg engine. there's a dragon with a mood gauge. bring her gifts and win her favor.
1996
when the psx was new, before ff7 the jrpg choices were pretty much beyond the beyond, suikoden, and this. those two are totally decent, but this is the one i loved most. it may look sort of low-budget or inessential in hindsight, but the music is fantastic and the puzzle-y dungeon exploration is good. it's a totally solid early psx jrpg!
1994
i loved this as a kid, but it hasn't aged well at all. if we could see it running at 60fps while otherwise unchanged i feel this might be a whole other matter.
i wanna rate this higher, but its difficulty is CRUSHING.
if you like ys, you'll like this. its music is wonderful (and it has a sort of more... nostalgic fantasy feeling to it? compared to the all-out prog rock/metal of oath and origin). if you like this era of ys, you'll like this game. it commonly gets brushed off as inferior to the other two, but it's a good one.
2019
i don't get the hate this game gets! when considering this was made by a small canadian studio with aims to combine influences (morrowind, souls, breath of the wild, etc.) into something that feels fresh and compelling in its own right, i really think they succeeded. this is a game that gets more interesting the further you go, and its co-op is a joy.
i like this more than aria, soundtrack included. tbh i feel like it gets dumped on because it's a weird, dissonant take on 8-bit aesthetics with tons of atmosphere, and somehow the entire point is missed... in fact, i think this is the best and most interesting metrovania after symphony.