A conceptually very interesting game that's a lot more enjoyable to play than the main game of the bundle. Bowser's Fury is more of a continuation of the more mission-based levels of Super Mario 64 or Sunshine. In this game, it's just one big world with zero loading screens, but the structure is more emergent, as the world opens up more areas to play in. On top of that, each area changes depending on how many of the Cat Shines (this game's Power Stars) are found. Essentially this means there's always something to do because there will always be another Shine to collect, that was previously unavailable until the player revisits areas from before.

The downside is that there are only like 6 types of 'levels' to get each area's specific Shine. Those are recycled throughout the entire game. However, it only has 100 Shines in general, which means the game can be completed on a weekend maybe. Also, the world is very drab and basic-looking. Remember Lethal Lava Land from 64? Yeah, like that, just self-contained obstacles with no rhyme or reason.

Now, I can't quite put my finger on it, but I believe I have seen this sort of gameplay before, where in-game progression also has visible alterations in the world itself, buuut... I can't remember. The closest I can think of is maybe Banjo-Tooie or Conker's Bad Fur Day.

However, I do believe this is can be seen as a Tech Demo of what is to come for another Mario game and I hope the emergent gameplay will be ramped up in bigger and more cohesive levels in the future.

That said, Bowser's Fury alone isn't worth the 60€ price tag. Super Mario 3D World is fine as it is, but Nintendo's stance on re-releases and price policy will forever be a thorn in my side.

This is Solid Snake, come in...

Wow, really didn't expect to like Metal Gear this much. Now I'm far from a Kojima-fanboy, in fact Metal Gear on the MSX is the first game in the series I've ever actually played and beaten, though I am aware of the broad overarching story. And thanks to the recent re-release on GOG I could get my hands on it. But man, when they labeled it as "the progenitor of the stealth genre", they weren't lying. This game's rough. Like, really rough. Like so rough it kinda pissed me off at times, but the good kind of rough. In a way, it reminded me of the first Metroid or Zelda game. It's clunky, sure, but also pioneering a genre that that wasn't really a thing yet, and still set the bar while they were at it.

I don't want to hail it as a GOAT, it's still a little too primitive, I'm just really impressed what they created - in 1987! Stealth is almost a non-issue, but the non-linear design, different kinds of gadgets and weapons, actual strategy how to proceed or beat a boss is great. Even the story, while basic considering the franchise nowadays, still has a few surprises up its sleeve.

It does has its downsides. Inventory management, especially the GODDAMN CARDKEYS, is a clusterfuck. The backtracking is obnoxious at times and the traps (both figuratively and literally) had me fuming. Anything else would just be nitpicky...

Honestly, give it a shot. For its age, it's impressive. Just maybe get a walkthrough or a map on stand-by so you at least now where you're going.

Since we're talking Monolith, then NOLF2 is to NOLF what F.E.A.R. 2 is to F.E.A.R.: not a bad game by itself, but a massive drop in quality compared to its predecessor.

--- Addendum ---
I don't particularly condone piracy, but since this game has been in legal limbo for (close to) two decades now with no way of buying this digitally: search for "NOLFrevival" to acquire a copy that works great out of the box, as this also comes with the NOLF Modernizer patch.

"How do I wear goblin mail?"

RuneScape is like THE one game I would love to experience for the first time again. The only reason I'm giving it just 1 star is because this is gamified crack-cocaine for me and I have quit the game and relapsed into it so many god damn times ever since I started playing it in 2006 it's not even funny anymore. As far as I'm concerned, I will most likely check it out again sometime, so I can see what they've added since I left. I do have to say, although it's grindy as hell, the quests in RuneScape are some of the best and most well-designed in any game I have ever played.

"What can I say? I'm full of surprises. And mostly good ones."

Good game that desperately wants to be a movie while simultaneously ripping off half a dozen of them in the process. While it’s not a mechanically very complex game, it was a thoroughly enjoyable and exceptional coop experience. Played this with one of my best friends and we were constantly shooting the shit by letting the story take a backseat and mess around with all the (optional, mind you) interactions the game offered, like playing arcade games, Darts, Banjo Hero™ and cracking jokes at Leo’s ENOURMOUS NOSE. I’m still docking one star because the story is stretched very thin and neither my buddy nor me really liked the plot twist and continuation of the story, thereafter, foreshadowing or not.
I’m so grateful there are still dedicated developers creating unique game ideas that don’t waste your time with a constant need for player engagement and let players have fun playing.
Game gets a total recommendation if you want to have a few hours of fun together.

"You have been in stasis for ... [16] ... days and ... [4] ... decades."

Supreme galaxy brain tier shit right there. Marketing this as a veteran's Portal player certainly wasn't a lie (unlike the cake, lmao amirite guise?), so I'm not faulting the game for the steep difficulty, because I'm definitely not the target audience for this. Yeah, the puzzles are doable, but a lot of the solutions felt more accidental than actually genuine and as far as I could tell, for example by lookting at the walkthrough (shut up), there doesn't seem to be a lot of flexibility or alternatives in getting out of the puzzle room. If memory serves well, this was never the case with either Portal or Portal 2, where the fun came out of trying to figure out things and knowing how to place the portals. Here, everything just feels very strict and sort of continues the tradition of adding a fuckton of walls that doesn't let you place portals.

Anyway, this is a free mod to one of the most interesting game franchise, and adding a third portal with time mechanics is a nice twist so it absolutely comes recommended, even if this is just not my cup of tea.