I've been looking forward to playing Outer Wilds ever since it came out, I heard pretty much everyone who played it say that it would change your life and I didn't exactly go in with those expectations, but I thought it would be my kind of thing! I have played a good few hours of it now and bounced off it eventually each time, it's probably just not for me! I am not rating the game however because my issues with it are more to do with me than the game. I wasn't interested in reading the Nomai transcripts, I didn't feel like I had a reason to care about what happened to them, nor did I want to find out why it happened. I liked the little puzzles and discovering new things, but the reward was always a little bit more Nomai dialogue. I realised at a certain point that the game was reminding me of my job as a Tech Support wanker. I worked in a job before where each problem we were dealing with we had to resolve in 20 minutes or we needed to escalate it to a different member of the team, so naturally I got quite good at gleaning the relevant information I needed from an email or phone call about an issue as quickly as i could, discarding whatever additional fluff there was and then trying out a few ideas as to what might solve this persons problem, hopefully fix it somehow and then move onto the next one. A lot of the time it was systems I was unfamililar with and I'd just have to try and work it out during this timeframe, basically throwing your head against this alien technology until you can just about get it to work. It got to the point where you don't really care what the problem is or what is going on, just how to make it stop or go away. The outer wilds has a lot more going on than just seeing an email from Wendy again saying that the software she uses isn't working properly and then trying to work out what's going on (puzzle), while basically filtering out any superfluous information that she gives (plot) but it made me feel like I was at work enough to really grind my gears. It's clearly a brilliantly designed thing, of the stuff I found in my few hours with it I really enjoyed the statue workshop and the caverns on the planet that was slowly being filled up with sand. Unfortunately no matter how hard I tried I couldn't help but feel like I was just doing my day job and you know what, fuck that

late last summer I took a trip with my boyfriend, his younger sister and their extended family to an island. A very small island with basically nothing to do, just beaches and small tourist shops. Me and my boyfriend slept at the bottom of a bunk bed and his sister at the top. The three of us spent virtually every day together for a little over a week, we played mario party on my switch every night and every day we swam in the pool, we’d walk to grocery stores or dollar stores and buy candy or ice cream. It was such a beautiful place and I fell into a true routine there but eventually all things end and so I brought my paradise back with me. I had to get a job for the first time since the pandemic upon coming back from that vacation and I’ve fallen into a routine with that, replacing a warm sunny beach town with the cold artificial lights of working for a mega corporation. I’ve learned to live with that, with being fine working at a place like that, because ultimately it’s all work to provide myself with the future I want. A future that is a paradise I’ve carved out for myself, something like that sleepy beach town, replacing one routine with another.

I think FSR is a really special experience and reminded me every time I played it of how fleeting it all is. To not get caught up with stuff that does not matter to you, to make sure you don’t fall into patterns or routines that make you unhappy. I loved this perfect tiny handcrafted village and I enjoyed my entire time with it, walking from the beginning of the map to the end most days reminded me of how special and precious this life we have is. Ultimately I came away from this game with a very privileged outlook, no one is able to achieve true paradise and so the best we can hope for and the best we can do for ourselves is make our own idea of paradise with what we have and what we’ve been given.

Maybe, only maybe, after all said and done, I got rhythm after all...

I did feel a bit nervous going into Hi Fi Rush, because even tho I’m not hesitant to show my love and appreciation for the rhythm genre, that doesn’t change the reality that is the fact I’m complete ass at them, so when mixing that with a 3D beat ‘em up combat style which, wouldn’t you know, I usually suck balls at too, then I was scared I’d be facing a doom or gloom situation. Either it all clicked, or I failed to catch its drift and begin to even enjoy it, I only saw those two possibilities and was really scared of the latter. I really wanted to love it, I really wanted to enjoy what seemed like a game made from sheer love and passion for the craft, and the prospect of not ‘’getting it’’ felt like some sort of looming threat over my head... Only now after beating it I realize that, even if that were to be the case, it wouldn’t change my feelings about any other aspect.

There’s so much to enjoy in and about Hi Fi Rush that I don’t really know where to start with; perhaps I could (and will) begin by praising the outstanding visual style, a wonderful mixture of colors and design that made me reminisce of the kind of futuristic punk seen in games like Jet Set Radio or even deBlob, with the difference being that the Vandelay campus doesn't hold back when it comes to being stylish. The corporation may be rotten, but fuck man, whoever oversees decorations needs a raise! Everything pops up with the beautiful cel shading that made me feel like I was playing through a moving comic book at times; seeing cinematics flow together into and after gameplay was a mastery of transition I was not expecting to witness, and how in it to its entirely dances to the rhythm in such a satisfying way.

I could (and will) also gush about the characters; the crew of Chai, Peppermint, Macaron and the rest of the gang with is hunger inducing names is a set of characters I really, REALLY wasn’t expecting to be so fond of, and hey, it’s nice to see a main character I can relate to... a complete idiot! I say that, but Chai manages to walk in the fine line that its between being lovably cocky and completely insufferable and coming out positively from it, and for such a simple and free of conflict narrative, it still manages to give him and the rest some incredibly impactful moments. Hi Fi Rush strays away for what I thought would be predictable plot points and instead tales a relatively simple tale with the perfect cast of goofballs, to the point I found myself wishing to see a little bit more or Peppermint’s struggles, more of Macaron’s character wise in general or that CNMN had more stuff to do ‘cause holy hell I love that fact spitting metal head so much (tho he gets the single best most surprising moment in the game so hey, you lose some you win some!). The villains are also a home run, never mind this game’s whole plot is about defeating dastardly suits — I’ve always wanted to bash a cybernetic CEO’s hed with a guitar!— but they are all so into being the specific trope or character they are going for that it’s impossible to not love to hate them, and honestly the big bad ends up being a bit boring personality wise compared to the rest of them (tho now that I think about, that was the intent, in which case it’d be pretty fitting to be completely honest), because they really are a riot.

Tho the funny factor isn’t limited to the big bads. There are so many jokes and gags that and that I feel like I’m watching an airport; whether it’s just the energy that the characters interactions ooze or simply the way they act between each other, Chais’ stupidity at the beginning (seriously I was laughing my ass off during that dream sequence), the way not just the main villains but the damn normal enemies are introduced and how you can discover that NONE of them were originally designed for combat despite being literal killing machines, or just incredibly funny moments like finding a random log of a disgruntled employee that decided to mess the coffee machine firmware, and for that to be a recurring joke THROUGH THE ENTIRE ADVENTURE, that, that right there, and I don’t use this word lightly (or use it in general for that matter), is PEAK humor. And what’s this? Very spaced use and references to memes that actually work as jokes in the moment and aren’t recent??? Hi Fi Rush, if you wanted my heart, you just had to ask!

Even if you think you know what you are getting yourself into, Hi Fi Rush always finds ways to surprise you. When you think you got this game nailed and it’s just combat sections between platforming and exploration zones then BAM!, it hits you with a new idea, a new enemy that introduces a new design, a new boss fight that completely changes how you approach combat, a new partner, a new cool moment, spaced perfectly between each other so they don’t grow tiring while close enough to keep you engaged. It never presents you with never seen before ideas, but it always finds ways to create jaw-dropping situations and mix and match concepts to create something that feels new, a sort of ‘’yoink and twist’’, if you will. There’s a never-ending feeling of ‘’wholeness’’ in this game, where everything works incredibly well when looked independently, but also as whole; it’s hard to not notice how much the game’s systems and ideas sip into one another and some things wouldn’t hit as hard if there wasn’t te other, like the music! It sounds good, they are fantastic tunes, but something is missing from them in re-listens, even the licensed ones... it misses the ASS-WHOOPING!

Seeing so many accessibility options calmed me down quite a bit when I started, but after a while, after playing and beginning the fights and the dance of combat... I was getting it! Not because I was good, oh no, my tempo is still very much far from perfect, and yet, I was getting it. The music began to flow through the sounds of fight and diging, the enemies attacking with the music the same you do, hitting the right times as well as dancing, it was a slow dance at first, but by the half-way point, I wasn’t going along the music, it felt as if I was making it through fighting alone. The new moves you get, the special attacks and interactions of your partners (which also make for some extremely fun platforming challenges) and upgrades nudge little by little, they compel you to be more daring, to dance faster, to be more aggressive, to know where to defend, to dodge and parry through your riffs and hits. Failing is part of the process in a way, it’s still really hard to get a perfect or even high rhythm score at first, and yet it’s fun, it made me want to keep trying, to be a rockstar.

It’s like a story or battle you’d imagine while listening to an intense rock song, only made into a 10-hour game full dream-like joy, and even beyond that thanks to the meaty post-game and incredibly fun side modes. An adventure with so many things to love that I even at this point in the review I wonder if was truly able to express them fully, Hi Fi Rus is a simple game in theory, but in practice is a wonderful, beautiful and funny odyssey, always hopeful and excited to keep going even when facing the clear dangers of such a conglomerate, always finding ways to surprise, to be welcoming, to make you feel like you got rhythm indeed. I know that many couldn't get into it even with the extra help, and I totally get it, it’s still a game that might reject you simply because it’s combat system is not fun or doesn’t click, that makes sense and I’m happy you at least gave it a go, but if you still haven’t, I implore you to give it a try, and even if you don’t jam with its battle system, who knows, you might find something else to adore about it...

Moral of the story? Finances are cringe, lesbians always win, Deemon can’t parry and 808 is best cat, that adorable (goof)ball is so precious...

Are we so gullible? Do we as an audience not demand anything from our art? There's no story, no new mechanics, no real characters, no interesting or enjoyable visuals, no compelling gameplay, no original ideas at all in fact. Is a faceless strawman to antagonise really enough to get millions of people to play an Unreal Engine asset flip made as artlessly as possible? Is no one else actively disturbed by how blatantly and gracelessly this rips mechanics from every popular game of the last 2 decades, without integrating any of them together whatsoever? Has art ever felt this cynical before?

Feel free to discount my opinion. I am a 'salty Pokemon fanboy' after all, and I only gave this game an hour or so of my not particularly highly valued time. I personally just prefer the art I engage with to care for the art form it sits within, even a little bit. Palworld hates video games. It sees nothing more within them than a collection of things to do and hopes that by shovelling a flaccid farcical version of as many of them as possible into your mouth it will somehow constitute a 'video game' when all is said and done. It doesn't. I'm deeply saddened that so many gamers think so lowly of our art form that they genuinely think this is acceptable.

Equally compelling character and narrative direction. But succeeds more than the base game under the weight of smaller scope and tighter focus, sort of ala Witcher 2. Just the opening premise alone as an Escape from New York homage was enough to hook me more than the rest of the game. I think 3 years removed from the release hype does this justice. Gone are the expectations of it being a GTA killer. Welcomed are every other little thing it does well, namely the way it focuses on dialogue and character. It lacks the polish of a Rockstar game but it shines brighter with more heart and humanity. I also just think the city looks dope as fuck and in the years since I've grown to appreciate open world games more for using their locations as backdrops than fully interactive environments and Cyberpunk's world just kind of owns pretty much every open world game I've played since.

Good effort. Not unfairly maligned. It's still a game that tries too hard to be cool. It's still way too interested in impressing the wrong crowd. Cyberpunk 2077 shouldn't a showcase game for people who like shiny things and 'freedom in RPGs'. It should concern itself more impressing people who like narrative and human stories. That's its best assert. Hopefully the sequel improves on that.

Well fuck. I'm not surprised that I liked Venba, but I am surprised I liked it this much.

It does feel a bit strange that it took this long for me to find a narrative-based cooking game; most of the cooking video games I've seen are either arcade-scoring style minigame collections (your Cooking Mamas), restaurant management titles like Cook, Serve, Delicious!, or sandboxes that felt so simple and structureless that they basically turned into meme simulators for me past the five minute mark. Conversely, Venba more closely resembles what I expect of my idealized cooking game: it emphasizes the puzzle-like qualities of cooking via mastering techniques at the right time (something that no other game I'm aware of has really capitalized upon) while also using cooking as a narrative vessel to impart past memories of learning/executing recipes and thoroughly exploring culture via the medium of the culinary arts. Granted, Venba's puzzles are easy enough to navigate but still aren't free, and that does wonders in aiding its lean towards storytelling: without spoiling too much, entire sections of recipes are often missing, and thus part of the fun is filling out the gaps as the player to "correct" the dishes. You won't get penalized unlike a restaurant sim though, and that's the fun of cooking! Sometimes, you just want to experiment a little and try out new techniques, and if you mess up, that's just kitchen learning in a nutshell.

What I wasn't expecting though, was just how deeply I resonated with the narrative. My immediate family and I are immigrants, and quite frankly, I've inquired a little here and there about what they've sacrificed to move to the US, but I clearly haven't asked enough. While I've never genuinely felt ashamed of my own culture, I've absolutely felt the pressure to "fit in" and in many cases, felt a bit of the old embarrassment rise up again from playing this game due to how disconnected I've often felt from my old home city versus having now lived in the states for a while. English isn't my first language, but it may as well have been now given my difficulties writing and sometimes speaking my old language, and losing my grasp of all these things that were once more familiar to me has always been a sore point in my life. This game is a reminder to me that even if I may have grown up in an entirely different world than my parents, they're still my family at the end of the day regardless of cultural differences and it's still my past; I might have had years slip by where I chose to remain intentionally apathetic to parts of my family's heritage, but that doesn't mean that I can't start catching up now to try and make up for lost ground.

The game is only about an hour long with just six recipes included (and a couple near the end are a bit too guided), but I'm willing to overlook its brevity because this experience is going to sit with me for a while: it almost feels like it was written for me at times. Definitely one of the best surprises to come out this year. Thank you for the meal, Venba. Think I'm gonna go call my parents now and tell them how much I've missed them.

An overdue return to form for the series. The story doesn’t really have that air of finality due to the way telltale panic-wrote their way through their games, but they definitely made the most with what they could afford here.

Character writing is really on point and the voice acting (as always with Telltale) is really great, with Violet’s VA being a highlight to the point where her voice is so rawly charged at times, her character model literally cannot match the energy.

The overarching plot is decent with some interesting twists here and there (even if you can see them coming, which you probably will) and it definitely feels more concrete that Season Two’s story, which felt very stitched together. Everything wraps up in a way that feels emotional and satisfying for long time fans who love Clementine, and to a lesser degree, AJ. Tears were shed. A nice soft bed end to a rocky ride.

The only bad thing I can say about Night in the Woods is that it’s ending feels the tiniest bit rushed. But that grievance is so microscopic and pales in comparison to the rest of the brilliant things this game achieves. Other than that, this is a one of a kind experience that I often find myself wishing I could feel for the first time again.

Really good writing and dialogue that feels very natural, which is hard to pull off. Brilliant soundtrack and characters, all of whom have a sense of relatability to them. The game oddly has a vague sense of nostalgia/melancholy to it, which I think is a testament to how well it establishes it’s characters and their environments. Despite the bright colourful art style, it mirrors and acknowledges many of the mundane aspects of real life which is very interesting. It looks so escapist, but it’s actually really grounded to life.

A really great game with superb world building and a lot of relatability to offer for all kinds of people. It’s not afraid to get deep, and the writing is so well tuned that those moments always feel genuine and like they’ve come from a place of experience.

sweet, funny, and poignant all at the right moments. to me it captures the term visual novel beautifully. the visuals are more than words on a screen, rather they create a positive, relaxing atmosphere for what amounts to a small story to live beyond some pages or a computer app.

it's like textbook definition of what makes a game a game (and not a movie or a book).

also i cried at some nerd kid putting a stick away. gaming!