First ninja game where you do ninja stealthing.

Game aged great when it comes to the stealth, pretty awful when it comes to combat.
I think it's a good thing that being sneaky gets you better ranks and more items. I'd say its one of those games that wants you to avoid the slow as molasses and stiff as a stick in the ass combat as much as possible..... or so I thought as most stages end with boss fights. But thanks to my good stealth abilities, I'd have more than enough bombs and landmines.

But I like how many things you can do when you stealth. Crawling, grapple shots, wall shimmying, gripping on to ledges, damn near anything a ninja should do.
Tank controls I didn't mind too much when it comes to running around. Combat combined with a camera that gets in the way of the action.... yeah, I mind a lot.

Great music and I like the overall vibe of the presentation. Awful english acting and all.

Overall, good stealth game.

Mega Man 11 is (original) Mega Man's 12th game. It consists of 8 main levels which are capped off by bosses, which are followed by an extra 3 levels (ok, in this game it's actually 2), which are then capped off by a boss rush and a final boss fight which will go through two phases. Stop me if you've ever heard this before.

Mega Man 11 is in the awkward position of being the revival game for a series that already had two revival games that preceeded it, so it's understandable that they wouldn't go the same route as 9 and 10, but at the same time their decision to stick to formula this strictly makes everything really bland. The level design is fine, even though I notice that in this game levels last a bit too long, and the basics of Mega Man gameplay are still fairly fun, just like they were 30 or so years ago, but considering that the only curveball thrown into the mix is the Double Gear gimmick, which is kinda interesting in theory but broken at best and a non-factor at worst, it makes the game feel very by the numbers, which is never a positive feeling.

At the end of the day Mega Man 11 is a game for the diehard fans that stuck through the complete drought in content that the series has gone through for almost a decade, and they will be satisfied to see that Capcom hasn't (yet) screwed up anything about Mega Man gameplay, which means that ultimately it does its job. I just wish they aimed for slightly more than "passable game that will be completely forgotten about as soon as we announce/release the next Mega Man game", but beggars can't be choosers. I guess.

Valfaris is an indie game made in the years between 2015-2XXX that is a 2D action-platformer without being some sort of metroidvania and/or roguelike. And it's pretty solid, making it even more of a rarity.

The game feels kinda like a combination between Contra and Ninja Gaiden (NES), with the frantic pace, above average difficulty, and emphasis on constant forward movement. There's some tricks of its own that the game pulls, like an interesting checkpoint system that can be tied to your HP/ammo gauges, and a parry system which can be finicky to use at first. Every level is generally well designed and telegraphed to the player, and if the player pays attention they'll see tons of subtle good design choices, like putting a more complicated enemy that you haven't faced in a while in a neutral area to refresh your memory before throwing lots of them in an upcoming platforming section.

There are some sloppily designed segments, mainly around the end, and for every boss that is a hit there's also another one that is underwhelming and/or annoying, but what I think holds back this game from being really good or even great is the actual variety in the level design. It's all of decent quality and gets progressively harder, but after about the first half of the game you've seen basically every enemy type and every obstacle and every object and they're not really mixed or shaken up much. It's fun, but how many times can the game make me climb a wall or grab onto a flying enemy while turrets are shooting at me before I notice?

If you're looking for a modern game that tests skills that are very different from its contemporaries, or if you're just missing games like the ones I described earlier, you can't go wrong with Valfaris. It provides a few hours of solid, pattern memorizing, violent fun, and if you're new to the genre it might even make you want to play the great ones.

This time around Final Zone 2 is a schmup Ikari Warriors style like the very first one, except it's one character instead of your squad in-game (thank god!) It plays fairly well, nothing too crazy or innovative but it's entertaining.

Now the game features anime-like cutscenes between each-level, with hilariously bad voice acting, if you play in english that is. You play as 5 different characters, which you can select depending on the level, all of them with their own theme song. This is by far the best thing about the game, the soundtrack is A+.

Final Zone 2 is 40 minutes to an hour. Big fun, would encourage anyone to check it out. One of the most memorable games on the Turbografx.

Final Zone is an isometric mecha shooter, the goal of the game is to kill every enemy on the level, then fight a Boss at the end. Some which are kinda cool.

You have multiple weapons at your disposal, however if you get damaged, they break and you can't use them until you heal up. There's not a lot of healing items, and you don't heal between levels, so you'll most likely only have access to a few ones for most of the time. It plays pretty stiff, you have to face a direction then shoot, which can be a bit annoying in some sections.

Fun and cool soundtrack, but nothing really stood out that much. I wouldn't know this was related to the other Final Zone games if the MC wasn't named Bowie.

I almost missed this one, I thought there was only Final Zone for the Mega Drive and Final Zone 2 for the CD Turbo. Turns out there's a game for the MSX and PC-88, the latter being more detailed, with more scenes and a cleaner sound.

In Final Zone Wolf, you play as 3 characters, one being Bowie, the protagonist and 2 other selectable characters from your squad. In classic schmup fashion, you move forward with your squad shooting enemies. There's an issue here, you control bowie and your squad follows a certain fixed formation, and they can get STUCK, which doesn't let you continue. This happened to me multiple times, specially on the PC-88 version which led me to finish it on the MSX (and it also happened once lol). So your best bet is to go solo or just go forward non-stop and avoid tight spaces.

Thankfully this is a 15 minute game and it's piss-easy, but there's not much to see here. The intro for the PC-88 has a funny newspaper introducing all the characters with broken english.

despite being a pretty big vn fan, ace attorney was a series i hadn't planned on getting into initially because i never found the premise of the games all too interesting and my only knowledge of it came from occasionally playing attorney online with a few friends. however given that two people who mean a lot to me in my life had previously recommended it to me, i figured it was high time to give the series a shot and despite not expecting much, i'm very pleased to say i'm glad i did ! what i've found was not only a compelling legal drama but also just an overall well crafted and often rewarding vn experience that i think will stick with me for quite a while and has only made me all the more excited to check more of the series out !

from its first case, ace attorney had such a great energy to its presentation and case premise that just drew me in pretty quickly. i always love when games contextualize their tutorials to fit within the game they're presented in and the tutorial here is great example of characterization for our main character phoenix and helps to ease in the player as well. the first case is phoenix's first as a defense attorney so it only makes sense here that someone would have to be there to help him figure things out as well as YOU the player ! it's tiny little details like this here that are largely the strength of this vn as a whole, from the way it recontextualizes the presentation of evidence in court and outside of court as a meaningful way to more properly immerse the player in the world of ace attorney and place you directly at the forefront of crucial gameplay decisions during the trials just makes for a continuously engaging experience !

the gameplay here, all things considered, is pretty simple but its that accessibility that makes the game all the more carried by the strength of its writing. the gameplay might be a little too straightforward in its presentation but maybe that's okay ! the real meat of this experience are the cases themselves after all with each premise being pretty well written and engrossing as a whole as each mystery while obvious at times still remains captivating. often at times in a mystery when i find out who the killer was i often at times either feel less engaged given the main intrigue of most of these mysteries largely centering on the identity of the perpetrator but ace attorney does a great job of making not only the " whodunit " of the cases interesting as well but the " whydunit " and " howdunit " all the more enticing given the enjoyable writing behind most of it. finding out how they did it and what connects them to the crime committed form the puzzle element of this particular vn and i feel the game does a great job of gradually amplifying difficulty given the gameplay loop being entirely based on spotting contradictions and connecting the dots with evidence. the game also does a great job at rewarding the player for thinking outside the box and making you feel smart for finding contradictions as most puzzle solutions never really feel too obtuse. the cases here for the most part are really consistent quality wise in being really enjoyable and even if one case in particular overstays its welcome towards the end ( looking at YOU turnabout samurai ) the writing here is simply too charming to be completely miffed with what is overall still a really enjoyable case as well. sure the gameplay loop is repetitive due to its simplicity but ace attorney does such a satisfying job of making all these elements click that the overall experience is what i can only describe as a series of " aha ! " moments back to back.

with that in mind, i'd also like to add that the soundtrack in this game goes ABSOLUTELY HARD !!!!!! oh my god are there a ton of tracks in here that i could gush about for hours but for the sake of this review already being pretty long i'll save you the music analysis and just say that the soundtrack does a great job at amplifying the intensity of some moments really well. needless to say, it gets pretty hype at times and even though the same tracks are all used pretty often their impact isn't really lost with the repetition and often amplify the enjoyment of certain moments because of what they symbolize within the experience. i don't think there's a single time where i didn't smile hearing " objection " play and rightfully so ! each of the tracks presented within are equally catchy in their own right and their repetition only adds on to the charm !

i'd also like to take this time to address the localization which i can only sum up as some of the best i've seen for a series in a while if not one of the best i've ever seen. as someone involved with translation i'd like to think i'm pretty well versed in the nuances and difficulties that come with localizing media it's really great to see such a respectful treatment that still manages to keep all the charm and humor of the series intact. the name changes are pretty similar in vein with the original japanese script as i played this cross referencing both and the way the jokes are preserved are pretty neat with a lot of the puns and jokes being equally as witty and funny in both versions i like to think the integrity of the game's original script is pretty well maintained here. also as someone who appreciates a good dad joke once in a while, it's pretty easy for me to say i'm a big fan of the humor in this as a whole and i found myself laughing pretty often due to the absurdity of the situations the game presented alongside the numerous quote worthy quips from its eccentric ensemble of characters.

anyways, did i like phoenix wright ace attorney ? nope, not at all. i couldn't do that much of a disservice to this game to simply quantify my feelings as just a simple emotion such as " liking it " because i LOVED it ! it's simple yet enticing and that's one of my favorite aspects of it. to think i put it off initially because of its outward appearance is something i deeply regret given how much fun i had with this title and how it's probably one of my favorite experiences i had so far this year and it's safe to to say i hope to make up for it with binging the rest of the series. despite having only played one game so far i think i'll be looking forward to seeing phoenix again time and time again. if i had to describe how the series has affected me since in " eight words or less " i'd simply say " ace attorney has saddled me with ... unnecessary feelings." i reckon that edgeworth guy would know a thing or two about them as well ;) stepladder / 10

i love code geass. in fact, i love it A LOT ! so it's no surprise when i found out that sunrise had partnered with bandai namco to make a visual novel i was already completely on board with playing it as someone that loves visual novels in general. now after having completed every ending and playing both versions, i'm glad to say it's pretty solid even as a standalone visual novel ! lost colors boasts a total of four different routes with a bonus route exclusive to the console it released on with the ps2 exclusive route being the blue moon route and the psp having a route for the japanese liberation front. due to the immense popularity of the show at the time of lost colors' release, the game's backing by sunrise certainly shows within its opening hours with full voice acting for pretty much everyone other than rai ( the main character ) and it helps that each of the performances throughout are on par with show as well, greatly bringing the events of lost colors to life all wrapped up in a nice and flashy presentation with some great visuals. however, i suspect that despite all the flashy cgs and nice animations, i can't help but feel like the full voice acting definitely took a toll on the overall budget as the actual sprites for themselves are most often static with very few emotions or poses that change but it's a small nitpick considering how well the rest of vn holds up. despite being pretty limited in its presentation in terms of sprite variety i can't help but love lost colors because of its strongest aspect, the writing.

now despite loving code geass, i wasn't expecting much from the story due to it being largely an anime tie in which have a trend of being pretty limited in what they have to offer and more often serve as fanservice-oriented cash grabs. however, i'm pretty happy to note that this isn't the case for lost colors. the character interactions while fanservicey at times ( cc my beloved ... ) are pretty well written and generally really in character for the cast. throughout most of my time playing this vn i laughed pretty often and i felt like the writers got most of the character dynamics between the characters really well and seeing lelouch and cc from a secondhand perspective was not only entertaining but makes for some really iconic moments within the entirety of lost colors. character interactions aside, the bulk of the actual narrative here is surprisingly good and ties in very neatly with the actual canon of the show. one thing i'd like to note here is that while it is non-canon, for non-spoiler reasons let's just say one route's ending ties in really well with the rest of the show to the point it could practically be considered canon and it wouldn't affect the show at all ! anyways, suffice it to say it's exceptionally well thought out ! ( i'd also like to mention that this show also introduces nonette and rolo from r2 show up here despite the original release of the visual novel being before r2 which makes for some really interesting interactions that offer nice glimpses into their character before r2 did.) the routes themselves all have a really nice variety between all of them and it keeps in tone with the series' tradition of exploring the perspectives on every side of the conflict. between the ps2 and psp exclusive routes i personally enjoyed the more romance-oriented blue moon route but i feel fans of the members of the japanese liberation front will definitely love the psp routes ! simply put, i'd say that lost colors largely feels like one of the ashford academy focused episodes but that's not a bad thing ! a lot of the nuance in the humor is really well represented here and when the story takes a more serious turn at times it handles the tone really well with easing you into the climax of each respective route. while lost colors doesn't reach nearly the same highs that the original show did it's a commendable effort for what is overall a pretty ambitious anime tie-in. i'd also like to yet again reiterate that the fanservice here is insane with how good it is. pretty much almost every single major or supporting character here has a specific ending that makes the whole experience pretty rewarding ( this game has a cornelia AND shirley ending !!!!!!!!!!!!! ) and overall a pretty respectful treatment of the characters themselves !

as for the extraneous details, i'll just say that visual presentation aside, the ost is pretty standard fare for an anime tie-in with a large amount of the tracks sadly being unmemorable and often serve as background mood indicators as opposed to being catchy tunes. it's a shame but considering the budget was probably spread thin due to the cost of hiring a-listers i'm not all too surprised and the tradeoff isn't bad considering the few tracks that do stand out are pretty neat and a joy to listen to !

so yeah i kinda love lost colors . while it doesn't reach the highs of the show at all it's a pretty awesome experience as a fan of code geass and a welcome revisit into the world of area 11 and beyond. despite the limited visual presentation in its lack of sprite variety and largely unmemorable ost, everything feels so tailor-made to appeal to geass fans that i can't help but appreciate what it has to offer in its roughly 20 - 30 hour-long package. the story is exceptionally solid for an anime tie-in of all things and it's a great examination of what makes geass so great to begin with. i don't think it's anything comparable to how fukkatsu no lelouch balanced character moments and fanservice overall but it's still a great attempt at the end of the day and i think most who are willing to give this a shot will find themselves pretty satisfied with the overall thing. it's an ambitious visual novel and lost colors doesn't stick the landing all the time but i had a lot of fun reading every route and ending overall. at the end of it all, lost colors is a game with a great story and a strong cast given the strength of their roots in the original show. lost colors has heart to it and and the end of the day that's what really matters. JIBUN WO / 10 !

NOTE: this is my 1000th game logged on backloggd which is pretty cool ! at the time of writing this, there is currently no english patch available for the game sadly. however, there is a full let's play of the entire game which i will link below for those interested. cc my beloved !!!!!!!!!!!!

DOOM is a game that needs no introduction or explanation. Everyone knows what it is, everyone knows the legacy it left behind, and it's one of those games that everyone takes for granted. Between mods, sourceports, sequels, reboots, questionable DOOM games with the number 3 on their title, there's enough DOOM to last anybody a lifetime, to the point where I wonder how many people even played vanilla DOOM and how long ago most people did.

The good news is, on its own DOOM is still a really fun, well designed game. It's impressive how not only did id Software essentially invented a genre here (Wolfenstein 3D notwithstanding), but also how much they knew of the strength of their own mechanics. It's very rare that developers figure it out this quickly, usually there's sequels that iron out whichever issues pop up, but what you get here are three pretty good episodes containing still some of the greatest layouts in FPS history, and generally great examples of how to design FPS levels (hence the countless WADS, lots of them even better than what's on display here). They're varied, well paced, there's tons of little things to discover, and you probably won't even notice you've been playing the game for 3 hours in a row. Not every level is a hit, especially a couple of later ones where the game becomes less a shooter and more a game of guessing which transporter will bring you where, but even in these lesser levels the strength of the movement, shooting, and basic design principles still show through.

Obviously, DOOM should be played at least once by every shooter enthusiast. It may be a game that's been bested since, both in terms of gameplay depth and level design depth, but the core fundamentals are so sound here that it's easy to see how this little game spawned an IP, a whole genre of clones that will later on oversaturate the market, and maybe most importantly a passionate community of modders, designers and just people that are still playing this game almost 30 years later.