Classic Tomb Raider features a gameplay formula that is still appealing in its uniqueness to this day - I have no knowledge of any games that do this high-stakes platforming with an emphasis on exploration gameplay loop, and it's a shame because it's an idea with A TON of potential if you apply modern design sensibilities to it.

What we have here is definitely not modern, with tank controls and a clearly less than graceful dev cycle. I'm two games in, and I can already tell that Core's development pipeline for this franchise was absolutely insane (no doubt because of pressure from Eidos), and these games very much needed more time to breathe. Level design feels overtuned at times, with beginner's traps, and in the final couple of levels some incredibly awkward jumps, and I think it goes on for too long - It's 17 (big) stages plus an epilogue. The first level throws a trap gauntlet at you, that probably discouraged many players, the final boss requires you to do an action that isn't entirely clear, this game with fall damage thinks it's a good idea to have levels with springboards, among other things.

All of this is alleviated thanks to saving anywhere. I would have done that regardless with save states, because I've played TR1 as intended (i.e., you can only save on one-use crystals) and wow, what a fucking unhinged idea for this kind of game. I'm interested in revisiting TR1 with free saves now.

TR2's bigger emphasis on combat initially greatly annoyed me, but I just got used to it, and the game drowns you in ammo and health packs, and using Lara's arsenal is actually fun. Combat is mega clunky don't get me wrong, and armed enemies have god-like accuracy, but I didn't think it was a tragedy or a deal-breaker.

TR2 strikes an interesting balance between linearity, and key-scavenging exploration, and my biggest issue in solving puzzles actually ended up being the low quality of the graphics: multiple times, there was a switch that just blended into the background, or maybe it was too damn dark and underwater, and I simply didn't notice it. This game has some rather poor visual conveyance at times, the Floating Islands level is a great example of the clusterfuck pipeline behind this, it felt like a series of randomly placed platforms. It really is abundantly clear that Core Design did not have the proper structure to do annual releases for games like these.

And sorry to purist fans of the series, a game like this absolutely needs an in-game map, and it's mental that it doesn't have one - and I'm well aware that no game in the series has this feature. I can't stress how much better it would have been with a map, could even be a Hollow Knight-style map, where you fill it in as you progress through the level.

I've decided to go for the original PS1 release here, but when I get to TR3, I'll certainly just play the remake. The tank controls were kind of annoying at times, and the framerate dropped to some headache-inducing stuff.

Classic Tomb Raider is hella clunky and kinda rushed, but the still fresh concept and formula make the series interesting enough for me to continue my journey through the franchise.

This kind of a strange game, but its weirdness is appealing. It's notably the first game of the studio that would later develop Super Mario Galaxy, which is probably why Jungle Beat has such an appealing flair to it.

But ultimately, it ends up feeling more like a "prototype" to me. It's a fun idea, but I think DK is too heavy for this sort of free-flowing platforming the game is asking of you, the idea is to do tricks to build up your combo, which resets when you touch the ground, but it feels like a constant struggle to keep that combo counter running. I guess they expect you to replay it many times, which is fair, but not really my thing.

This was really apparent in one of the secret levels, this Asteroid Belt thing. I was gonna try to go for 100%, but this level in particular really disencouraged me.

Hey, now we're talking. An improvement on Returns on every way, Tropical Freeze is one of the most exciting 2D platformers out there. Levels are constantly changing it up, with frenetic setpieces, and unique and creative world themes, and the top-notch presentation is still here and even better - it is now a high-definition game of course, but that soundtrack man. Holy shit.

It does retain some annoying things from Returns though: I'm still not sure if I like only being able to control DK, and the other kongs just serving as power-ups, and fuck they are once again stingy with those kong barrells. The collection of bosses is so much better than Returns, but the last two bosses go on for sooooooo damn long... I like the polar bear, and DK's "are we the bad guys now?" reaction, but why. And the final boss, whyyyyyyy. There is a tiny window to hit them and if you miss, gotta go through another cycle motherfucker. I thought it was awful.

I also find bonus rooms to once again give me an empty feeling. They only reward me with bananas and puzzle pieces, which are completely worthless, not even counting towards 100% completion. Again. I don't get the point.

Speaking of which, I once again went for 100%, completing every level, which meant finding all the secret exits (a great addition) and KONG letters. Some of the secret levels were among my favorites, but I would ultimately say it's not worth it - the secret world is some trial-and-error do-or-die bullshit design, and getting some of those KONG letters in the last two worlds was a big oof.

DK again feels a little too heavy for my tastes, but the level design has such fantastic flow, for the most part, that I didn't care that much this time. Though being able to play as the other Kongs only in Hard mode (where you die in ONE hit, no thanks) is some bullshit.

I don't know if Tropical Freeze sits alongside Super Mario World or Rayman Legends as GOATs of the genre (I do have a feeling it'll end up growing on me in future playthroughs), but it's definitely a fantastic platformer.

What makes a game "retro"? Some people consider it's time, but that would mean that The Last of Us is retro, and that's just silly. No no, to me it all boils down to design and technology. Basically, if you release this game as is today, would anyone notice its age? And in DKCR's case, it screams "I AM A WII GAME!"

I've played it on Dolphin and mapped the waggle to a simple button press, but even then it never feels truly gracious. There is a strange weight and momentum to your rolling, doing a roll jump constantly overshoots my target. Bouncing off of enemy heads also never ever felt comfortable to me, in every 2D platformer I can think of, you just hold the button, but here you have to press it right before you hit the enemy. I never liked to control DK very much, even in the SNES - I always spend most of my time with Diddy, but here it's not an option, and I consider that a downgrade.

But even beyond the unnecessary motion controls, this game's level design has a lot of stop-and-go. You blow on shit, pound on crap, wait for the auto-scroller, wait for the moving platform, the further I got into the game, the worse the flow got. I don't recall the last game that lost as much steam as DKCR did for me.

Difficulty felt overtuned too, it's like Retro heard that DKC had a reputation for being a bit challenging, and felt like they had something to prove. Countless design choices and enemy placements that only felt were there to make things harder for no reason, and without any elegance, the SNES games were never this brutal. The game is also extremely stingy with the Diddy barrels.

And sheesh, I almost forgot to talk about the bosses... I consider the whole 2D platformer genre to be pretty mediocre about bosses, but DKCR fails to even hit that low bar. This is probably the worst collection of bosses I've ever faced in a platformer; they're boring, irritating, just waste your time a lot, or all of the above. There was only ONE boss that I actually enjoyed, that being the minecart boss.

I'm saying a lot of negative things, but I did do 100%, collecting every KONG letter, and beating all the secret levels, so I did enjoy the game. But it feels off. Not sure why include the puzzle pieces if they don't do anything though?

And I may think the game is a bit dated mechanically and design-wise, but presentation-wise, this is absolutely timeless. Visuals are very good (it looks particularly fantastic upscaled in 1080p) and take full advantage of being a 3D game, with tons of dynamic stuff happening during the levels, and the sound design is also very appealing. Definitely one of the best-looking games of that generation.

Everyone has that moment, where they're having a rough day/week/month/year, and maybe you even get some intrusive thoughts, and one question comes to mind: what's the point? Or perhaps, for some reason the thought of your and your loved ones' inevitable deaths crosses your head, and you start to (maybe obsessively) think about the implication of that, and what exactly is "death". Persona 3 is basically all about those moments.

The plot itself honestly felt very secondary, the focus is very much on the message and the themes, with the characters acting as the conductors, and the plot is merely the background. With one major exception (a very good one! One of the best, most effective tragic story beats I've seen), there aren't really any big plot moments, it's all a very standard JRPG affair in that regard.

But thematically, Persona 3 comes strong, there were multiple moments where I stopped for a moment, just looking at the screen and reflecting on what the game had just told me. Playing this during my formative years would have most likely been extremely impactful. The structure of the game also feeds into that, with characters having existential crisis and big life-altering moments in front of them, but being forced to do such mundane tasks as going to school because yes, life doesn't stop for you to recollect your thoughts and strength - it just keeps going, with all of its glamourless banality.

That structure also means the game is repetitive, since you are literally living one day at a time, and towards the endgame, there are multiple days where there is literally nothing to do. I think that repetition is ultimately the reason why this is like the Disco Elysium of JRPGs to me, in the sense that I'm not in love with the game - I "just" like it a lot, and consider it one of the most memorable narratives I've ever consumed.

There's a good chunk of the game where nothing is really happening, and the themes haven't shown themselves yet, it takes a few in-game months for it to get going, and until then, it's a very basic "gotta defeat the Shadows because they're evil and dangerous" thing.

Regarding the Social Links, I think I have mixed feelings. Some are strong, like Hanged Man, Sun and shockingly Moon (the ending of this one really took me by surprise). Then you have Magician, a story about a high school kid who wants to bang his teacher. That's it, really. And there are maaaany Links that I'd describe as just okay. They're fine.

But the payoff at the end is a very interesting example of gameplay and story integration, that I felt was very effective - though it also greatly annoyed me that I was a mere 3 ranks away from maxing every Social Link. I think that in a game where the bonds you form with people is such an important feature, making a 100% Social Link run a strict thing that is a bit difficult to achieve on 1st playthrough, isn't a particularly good idea. Despite maxing every Link but one, I still felt like I missed something, as if I was robbed of it.

And I'm not a huuuuge fan of ambiguous endings, so I have a personal nitpick with the ending here. I guess I'll get more closure in September.

Gameplay-wise, I just wanna say that I love Atlus' dungeon-crawling and UX design. The final boss was very uneventful to me, though I did go out of my way to try and do everything in the game.

Like I said before, I don't love the game, but I like it enough to want to eventually play FES and Portable, just so I can see the differences.

And I now want every RPG to have a dog as a party member. Aigis and Koromaru's interactions were always hilarious to me, though I can't believe they paid a person to do the dog noises. Atlus my dear, just google "dog stock sounds" ffs, are you kidding me. They clearly also had people doing cats, because there is one scene with cats that sounds like an extremely bad impression of a cat.

Unless you have nostalgia, are a kid with endless free time, or have a very specific kind of taste when it comes to challenging games, Rayman has nothing to offer beyond the very appealing presentation.

Design-wise, this 1995 game feels like a lost game from the late 80s, as the design philosophy of "fuck the player" is in full force. Rayman feels like it's difficult just for the sake of being mean - this is to me illustrated by the fact that you cannot run when you first begin the game. That's an upgrade you have to earn. I have never heard of a 2D platformer where running is an upgrade.

Absolutely and needlessly brutal, with nothing to offset the frustration. Did I mention that this 10-hour long platformer released only on consoles has limited continues, with no way of earning more unless you use cheats? Brilliant.

I feel a little bad giving this game a "bad" score, but I legit felt fairly miserable playing it. That satisfying Hitman gameplay loop of killing your targets in creative ways is kind of here - one of the earlier levels, I blew up the target's car with a bomb planted underneath it, in the sewers, which was incredible.

But none of it matters when the game is so damn brutal. Disguises are simply not that good in this game: if enemies look for too long at you, they see through your disguise, somehow. But even worse, if you dare to sprint, they will almost immediately trigger an alarm - no no, you're supposed to walk everywhere, and Agent 47 has possibly the slowest walking speed of any video game character I've ever seen. It all severely discourages experimenting and exploring the levels, which is the whole point of this series.

If you have far more patience than I do, I suppose you could get some enjoyment out of it. It is a highly regarded game, somehow. To me, it just feels like a prototype.

The only notable thing about this game is the little trivia of "wow, Disney animators themselves worked on the sprites!" - and yeah, the sprites look pretty damn good. That's it though.

Comparing this to the Capcom-developed counterpart on the SNES is frankly an embarassment - Mega Drive Aladdin has worse backgrounds, worse music (compare the Genie level on both games, holy shit) and exponentially worse controls and gameplay. Having a sword instead of jumping on enemies sounds cooler in theory, but in practice, the sword just plain sucks. On top of that, platforming feels clunky, enemies have questionable placement, level design is just kinda strange...

It's just not a good time to me, and it's mind-boggling that this game has a better reputation than the SNES one. How.

If you just want to finish this game, you can just rush towards the end without a care in the world, since you have unlimited continues, and just respawn on the spot. The rating system will tell you that you suck though.

This rating system is what makes this game brutal, if you decide that you want to A-rank or, God forbid, Star-rank it, which requires doing it very fast, getting as many points as possible, and not getting hit once.

Super appealing art style too. Very easy game to pick-up-and-play, and it's cool that it's as hard as you want it to be - you can change the strength of Strider's blade to a ridiculous level, just by changing a simple in-game option. Plus, when you finish the game, you unlock Strider Hien, who's incredibly satisfying to use.

My very first contact with Monhun was many, many years ago - I was looking for something new on the PSP, then I saw some absolute madperson pitch Monster Hunter (probably Freedom Unite) as "Pokémon for adults!". I tried it and obviously hated it, and didn't touch the series again until now.

And damn that crazy person with that non-sensical comparison, because this gameplay loop really got me, and I already have plans to play other games in the series. Everytime I'd fight a monster, I would take a look at the weapon upgrades, and then spend another few hours to craft something that caught my eye, because "it'll be helpful against this next monster!"

Then on my way to craft what I wanted, I'd see another thing and decide aaah why not craft this one too... it's non-stop and truly intoxicating, I think I spent an extra 10 hours just crafting shit to fight the elder dragons. It's true though that I don't know the extent of QoLs introduced to the series in MH, there's always the possibility that I'm a filthy casual that will be filtered by previous entries.

Monster Hunter World can be a very annoying game on occasion though, I grew to really dislike monster's roars because it feels like they are programmed to happen in the most inconvenient times possible. Seeing certain items on the ground is very difficult, I had to use a mod to highlight them (dropped monster materials for instance). Also used a mod to allow skippable cutscenes because *wow that's a choice.

And Zorah Magdaros is just a fucking bore.

But they got me. I'll check out previous gens eventually and see what I think, but at the very least, I plan to be there day one for Monster Hunter Wilds.

Extremely experimental, to the point where it's a detriment to the game imo. The idea is really cool, but it's so much to keep track of, and it never, ever feels comfortable to do it all. Crouching, for example, takes a double-tap of the d-pad, and is the only way to do the offensive dash.

The pacing is also off because Treasure interrupts the stages constantly with cutscenes and story.

This Saturn version features limited continues, which is completely unhinged for a 1997 console game. I've played it because the English version of the PS1 release is a harder game, courtesy of Working Designs.

Overall, not sure if I actually enjoyed this. It sure is unique and I'm glad I've played it, but I don't want anything to do with it again.

Wow, this game is a mess on the database, with each individual port inexplicably having their own page, except for a couple of the home computer ports for some reason? And IGDB declined my attempt to just put every port on the same damn page.

I've played the Supergrafx version, which doesn't even show up on the search because it's listed with the Japanese name, my god video game databases are a disaster.

Anyway, this is one of those games where I seriously question if it's actually "good", or if nerds have just been gaslit into believing that, Battletoads style. It's surely visually appealing, but this "fuck the player!" design philosophy of the 80s and early 90s is just... not good. It's a lot of memorization and trial and error and even RNG - not every weapon is built the same, and what weapon you get is completely random.

As much of a "beginner's shmup" as I have ever seen, but it's a little too much probably. I'm an almost complete beginner at shmups and it was too simple even for me.

It's incredibly lenient with a full health bar, incredibly generous money to buy a revival potion for instance, infinite lives, a shield that blocks most bullets... but also fails to change stuff up or just be very exciting. I think one of the appeals of the genre to me is the ever-changing arsenal/power-ups during the level., and the great feeling you get when you fully upgrade your ship and get a huge beam of destruction or something.

In Magical Chase, you just buy your beam from a shop, and can maybe buy another type in the next shop, which appear once per level I think? There are no "upgrades" to your shots really.

The last level also features a boss rush, which is one of the gaming tropes I personally detest the most.

The most interesting thing about this game is that it was developed by some GOATs of the JRPG genre - it was directed by Hiroshi Minagawa, with music by Hitoshi Sakimoto, art director and composer respectively of the Ivalice games, among other credits.

I tried. The Battle Network subseries has a strong cult following, and after hearing how much of an improvement this sequel is over the 1st game, I decided to give it a shot.

Boy I can't imagine how dreadful the first game is then. This features basically nothing that I enjoy in RPGs - your skills in combat are governed by RNG basically, there's no sense of progress or improvement, and the writing is basic with a localization that is clearly subpar, to put it mildly. I was just bored really.

Not for me at all.