Honestly this game gets away with a lot of shit that would really bother me in any other context, but Alan Wake really is just one of those games that's significantly greater than the sum of its parts. It boasts a style of presentation and an energy so infectious that it kept me hooked until the credits, just as any good thriller should.

A neat little side story that builds off of the original game. Mr. Scratch is really fun and the time loop narrative is pretty interesting. Besides that though, it's nothing particularly striking like the first game.

A very good experience, but it wasn't quite able to hit the same notes as the original for me. It's been stated before, but 2kki is a bit lacking when it comes to thematic cohesion, and the consistency can be a bit all over the place. Despite that, there were still some journeys I took in this game that left me feeling absolutely mesmerized. Abandoned Apartments, my beloved <3.

Beat this game on my 20th birthday!

A genuinely great game that lives up to its reputation regarding its stellar writing, Disco is an absolutely marvelous experience when it hits its stride but it has a few missteps towards the end that irk me quite a bit. Also worth noting that I managed to beat this game without getting the centrist achievement, unlike A CERTAIN SOMEONE! (Backloggd mods please dont get angry at me we're actually friends and they don't care I promise)

Episodes 1-4
I'm not afraid to admit that my relationship with Umineko had a bit of a rocky start, mostly due to me not having a lot of faith in it after my experience with the final stretch of Higurashi. But you know what? After four episodes, I feel comfortable saying Umineko is actually pretty damn good. A wonderful puzzle box full of emotionally complex characters and what-could-only-be fantastical situations. My friends say I have what it takes to crack the case, and I'm eager to find out with Chiru.

Honestly can't believe this one flew under my radar for so long, given how ridiculously important it was to the evolution of the genre. Now that I've actually played it, I think Quake kicks some serious ass. The gothic industrial setting backed by Trent Reznor's musical contributions create a palpable tone and atmosphere. This element is juxtaposed with its signature breakneck combat, resulting in a game that still feels fresh almost 30 years later.

A lighthearted examination about the way we're "connected" to videogames and the way we interact with them. Almost nobody has played this game, so I'm just going to leave it at that and let you all unravel this for yourselves.

No Players Online admittedly had a pretty neat premise that I thought would resonate with me a small bit. For context, I spent quite a bit of time as a kid walking around the multiplayer maps of Halo 2 (3 and Reach as well but to a lesser extent) in offline mode just looking around at stuff. It had this kind of strange feeling to it, seeing what were normally populated and chaotic spaces become lonely and quiet. Now, when I downloaded this game, I kind of expected to have a bit of a similar experience to that. What I got instead was some actual Sonic.exe level shit, topped with an overbearing visual style created by someone who has clearly never played an old multiplayer game before. "No dude please don't capture the flag my dead wife is in the game and you'll release her"
This game is stupid as hell

REPLAY
Rolled credits on this game like five minutes ago, and I'm honestly struggling to think of anything unique or meaningful I can say here. It's Half-Life 2. It's one of the most acclaimed games to ever be created, and you've heard why it's good a million times. Do I think it's flawless? Definitely not, but god damn I am so glad I replayed this game after nearly eight years of sitting on my initial experience with it.

A short and sweet experience meant to show off the capabilites of the Source engine, HDR lighting specifically. There isn't really a whole lot for me to say about Lost Cost besides that, but one last thing I wanted to mention was that I really enjoyed the inclusion of developer commentary. I'd honestly kill to see a feature like this implemented in more games.

REPLAY
After replaying Half-Life 2 on a whim and loving it, I figured I'd return to the original once again to see if I'd end up having a similar experience with it. And you know what? Yeah, Half-Life owns. Originally this was one of those games that I've always "respected" more than I actually liked, but on replay that's changed entirely for me. Some parts still frustrate me a bit (platforming in Gold Source kind of sucks) but for the most part I think this is a really good game that honestly outshines like most FPS games I've played.

Yep, it's a videogame alright. Cruelty Squad's reputation preceeds it as a gutteral biopunk trashfest, and fairly so. There's really nothing out there that looks or feels this way, and the amount of effort put into making it feel shitty and abrasive is nothing if not commendable. However, beneath its borderline deceptive exterior lies a genuinely delightful hard-as-nails assassination based insim hiding within.

Streamed this to my friends in VC because the name was funny, and it was actually surprisingly good? Ready Player Fuck is an effortlessly hilarious mockery of Ernest Cline's Ready Player One, a comically awful book I was unfortunately forced to read in high school. Genuinely don't think I could reccomend this game enough with how much it made us laugh.

Playing The Exit 8 reminded me of P.T. a lot with its cyclical premise, but where the two diverge is where their greatest strengths lie. P.T. has a palpable sense of build up that reaches a boiling point of terror. It's extremely well executed, and it's not difficult to see why it holds so much reverence to this day. On the other hand, The Exit 8's biggest strength is its subtlety. A large portion of the game's "anomalies" are small and meticulous changes within the environment that are easily missed. When stuff like this happens, it's pretty fucking sick honestly, but unfortunately that isn't really always the case. I think that The Exit 8 is severely undercut by a lot of its more overt sequences, and to be honest almost all of them fell flat for me. They don't really have the proper buildup they need, and I really can't help but feel like this game would've been much stronger if the emphasis was solely on those much more insidious elements.

The metroidvania subset of games is one I already have a really hard time enjoying, but when I realized I was pretty much wishing for this game to end after like 2½ hours of playtime I realized it was kind of over for this one. Kind of a shame too since I really like Touhou and there's some interesting mechanics that I admire here. Maybe some day I'll find one of these games that truly clicks with me. (For the record I do really like Symphony of the Night but that game has its issues)

I've seen Spartoi Meadow referred to as a "lost game" from the late 90's, and honestly I think it's a pretty adequate way to describe it. It's got a cozy nostalgic atmosphere, and a really simple gameplay loop. It's worth noting that my game bugged out and like 90% of the dialogue was in Japanese, but having to feel my way through it and use my imagination a bit was kinda awesome.

A few people might get mad at me for this, but I think Opposing Force is almost as good as the original Half-Life. The new weapons absolutely rip and it has a surreal edge to it that I absolutely adore. Gearbox peaked here.

A short and sweet (albeit safe) expansion to Half-Life that I honestly think is super overhated. After replaying the original Half-Life and checking out Opposing Force for the first time, Blue Shift honestly felt like a huge breath of fresh air to me. It's a small quaint side story where you play as a guy just trying to do his job, and that's all it really needs to be.

"Soulja Boy Provides His Thoughts on Interaction Isn't Explicit." would save the world.

Pretty sick endless shooter that's hard as nails and fun to master. The movement feels really good and the "hidden mechanics" at play offer an amount of depth that lends to a pretty enriching experience.

Genuinely don't think this game has anything remotely substantial going for it besides the premise of "look hey that's a popular character you know!" Also you can't play coop without using Steam Remote Play which uhhhh really stupid lol.

A wonderfully cohesive game in which every single element comes together to paint a beautiful picture. Not only is the movement system of Castlevania hella distinctive and unique, but it also sells the tone of this game effortlessly. Its deliberate and methodical nature compliments the gothic hell house vibes perfectly, instilling a sense of cautionary confidence in it's player. It's a game that'll kick you down in ways that might be unfair at first, but once you beat Dracula and grab that final orb for the first time, it's absolutely elating like nothing else.

Going to say something pretty controversial here, but I honestly think I like this more than the original Half-Life. Now, that's not to say I think Black Mesa is flawless. For the record, I think the AI of the HECU troops is much worse, and that Xen overstays its welcome for far too long. But besides that? Shit kinda owns. It's a really lovely companion piece to Half-Life, and a game that I think all fans of the original should play. Do I think you should play it instead of Half-Life and view it as some sort of replacement though? Definitely not.

Review here!

I'm not going to pretend this game is great or whatever, but good lord really does not deserve the vitriol spewed towards it lol. The Adventure has a purpose, and it serves it decently well. Even if it's super rough around the edges, I think there's quite a bit of stuff worth appreciating here.

Probably going to get beamed down or called snooty for saying this but like, for lack of a better term, I feel like Wanted: Dead tries too hard? I see all of this zany and quirky stuff thrown in my face but it kinda feels a bit forced and shallow. Like I dunno man this game kinda just doesn't make me feel anything at all, at least the gameplay kinda got some cool stuff going on doe.

(Played the Famicom version, just logging this one since I like the cover art way more and it stays consistent with the other two games lol)

A bigger, much more bombastic take on the style of the original Castlevania, but at the cost of its beautiful simplicity. I appreciate the maximalist mindset on show here (seriously this is one of the most technically impressive games on the system and the soundtrack fucking rips) but sometimes less is more.

"Hey Jamie, I see you're playing X7, how's that going?"

"Yeah."

Okay, so like, this game is kind of really cool. Choices for level order with really distinctive castles is something I fuck with a lot. They managed to use some of the unique mechanical elements of The Adventure like the flame shot whip while leaning closer to the core of the NES games. Honestly really cool game, but it's hampered a bit by the last two bosses kind of being really bad.

Kind of expected to feel lukewarm on Super IV but, like, I kinda really liked it? I totally thought I would dislike the changes to the jumping and whipping under the pretense of it "sanding the edges off" but honestly I thought it was super refreshing. After six games of the same control scheme, something mechanically distinctive like this is honestly really nice. One of the best things a long series like this can have is diversity, and I welcome it wholeheartedly.

Singlehandedly changed my mind about a subgenre I thought I had zero interest in. My favorite Castlevania game, I love you Soma Cruz.

Rolls the worst feeling movement in a 2D platformer ever

Asked to leave the Castlevania timeline

Takes a little too much from SotN for its own good, especially in the aspect that this game bites off much more than it can chew I think. Harmony's map design already feels a bit tiring with all of the long hallways and sparse teleporters, but once it double dips with the second castle (that's like borderline identical to the one you've already been exploring by the way) I think that's when this game really nosedives. It's kind of a shame too, since I think Juste is really fun to control and the spell book + sub weapon fusions are a really nifty feature.

Honestly? This game is really cool even if it has some notable strange and alienating qualities that are very apparent. The 8-Bit visuals and general roughness of the experience lend to a really tactile sense of tone and atmospheric design. Not only in an exploratory sense, but in a genuinely stressful and isolating sense as well. Honestly might revisit this game again for much more smoother and enjoyable experience.

Pretty much everything I praised for the original Metroid for, but done to an even greater extent. The zoomed in grayscale screen ups the ante in regards to the sense of isolation I mentioned in regards to the previous game, and the soundscape is notably hellish to match. The general premise of the game and its very minimalistic in-your-face approach with how its told is very punchy and I think it kinda rules. Don't skip the first two Metroid games just to play Super, they're kind of awesome.

One of those games so unanimously appraised and acclaimed that attempting to say anything new about it is a monumental task in and of itself. So, all I'm really going to say here is yeah, Super Metroid is actually just that fucking good.

Game & Watch for me can be characterized as coziness and comfort and hey you know what this collection has it in spades. What a cute little thing.

Not as good as Aria BUT still really good nonetheless. The shift in art style was notably jarring at first, but I was able to get used to it relatively quickly and it gelled pretty decently well with the lighter tone Dawn opts for. The castle design didn't really click with me as much as it did in Aria, and some of the soul drop rates and traversal abilities are kind of scuffed (like seriously what the fuck is up with this ice nonsense) Despite all of that though, I still honestly thought Dawn was a really good time. Like yeah I'm always down for another game where Soma Cruz and the Gang go chillax in a snowy castle to deal with some nefarious demons and other such maligned individuals.

Legends feels like a bootleg Castlevania game and I'm being so for real. Between the utterly bizzare music, the lifeless level design and the vapid presentation that is generally just a huge stepdown from Belmont's Revenge this game kinda blows! The one Classicvania game where you get to play as a girl and it sucks, Konami has truly been raw dogging us for longer than I've even been alive.

JONATHAN! CHARLOTTE! JONATHAN! CHARLOTTE! JONATHAN! CHARLOTTE! JONATHAN! CHARLOTTE! JONATHAN!

REPLAY
God dude, Rondo of Blood just has so much SWAG dude! It's easily apparent why this is such a fan favorite in this series, and after replaying it I totally get it. But, it's just not a game that fully "clicks" with me like it does most people. Still awesome doe.

God dude, Dracula X just has NO SWAG dude! It's pretty easy to see why this game has earned the reputation of "We have Rondo of Blood at home" but it'd be more accurate to say it's some shoddy licensed game wearing the skin of something else to make itself seem more appealing, and ironically enough I think it has the exact opposite effect considering it deprives Dracula X of its own unique sense of identity.

This shit genuinely has NO right to go as hard as it does. Less of a remake, and more of an ensemble piece bringing together concepts and fragments from games across the classic Castlevania titles. And fuck dude, it kind of owns insanely hard? Not only some of the most dynamic level design on offer, but easily my favorite boss roster in a Castlevania game. Also that whip SFX fuckkkkk!

A mechanical poem about the destruction of culture told in about 15 minutes. Concise and fantastical in concept, eerie in its true nature.

Whoever was responsible for the Clocktower + Werewolf combo should be drawn and quartered honestly

Deserves the "We have Rondo of Blood at home" reputation a lot more than Dracula X for the SNES does because, well, this is actually just a whole ass remake! And it's not a remake like Castlevania Chronicles or Super Castlevania IV where they spiced it the fuck up and pretty much made a new game with the original Castlevania as a backbone. Dracula X Chronicles is just straight up a stylistically kneecapped version of Rondo of Blood that also feels worse to play somehow.

Some of the most thick and pulpy sound design in the entire series (I love the Genesis!) and the aesthetic is killer. Generally not a fan of the whole "yeah let's just put a boss rush in our platformer" shtick they do here. I also think the limited continues thing is kind of pointless and deceptive as well because you can just like, put in a password at the start screen. It pretty much only serves to waste your time which is no bueno. Despite all that I still think this is a really solid game, I just happen to be more fond of other entries in the series.

Ecclesia represents a much needed change of structure after years of the Igavania format, but it's hard for me not to lament my experiences with the Sorrow games and wish this series went out on a note not too dissimilar to them. Good game though!

Going to preface this by saying I did not finish Metroid Fusion. And like, that kinda fucking sucks dude! This easily has one of the coolest premises I've seen in recent memory that appeals to a certain niche I fuck with, but the actual act of playing Fusion itself is just really boring to me. Between the excessive hand holding and elucidation by the game's hand amongst other things, I'm left with a game that isn't remotely tense or offputting at all when this should have been an absolute slam dunk.

Castlevania III for people who wash their hands

Played this with an oomf at an actual arcade cabinet like 20 minutes after picking them up from the airport! It's super janky and the balance is kinda doo doo, but like... It's SF2! Charming little iconic game that's a swell time.

Really solid ass game bogged down by having a kind of lame finale. The fights with General and Sigma kinda blow here which leaves a poor taste in my mouth but besides that this probably has the best on offer when it comes to the Mega Man games I've played.

KINETIC! EXPLOSIVE! SUPER!

Kirby Super Star kicks so much ass dude. I haven't played one of these games in like a decade so when I booted this up for shits and giggles it kind of blew my mind honestly. There's so much variety on display here and the amount of detail poured into every corner of this game is just lovely. The expanded moveset for the copy abilities straight up just turn this game into a brawler too sometimes, I love this shit so much it's crazy.

Yeah, so it turns out Kirby was just kind of awesome the entire time and I had no fucking clue. A 30 minute long GB platformer that's a breeze to go through that leaves me with a big ass smile on my face? Say less dude.

Okay, so they kind of fumbled the bag a bit here. I think the animal buddies are like the cutest shit in the world, but actually using them kind of blows? That and the collectibles are kind of hidden in ways that really annoy me. Normally this isn't a huge deal but you do kind of have to collect them all to see the true ending so... Lame!

Genuinely one of my favorite platformers on the NES along aside the first two Castlevanias and Mega Man 6 I think. Takes everything I like about Dream Land, irons it out perfectly, AND THEN adds copy abilities??? God and even besides that the techinical prowess here is fucking nuts, shit actually feels like an early SNES game sometimes.

Good, but its SO CLOSE to being great. Got that same dreamy-ness that Klonoa has and mannn mixing and matching copy abilities is so cool, BUT. They did an oopsie and structured 64 just like Dream Land 2 where you have to collect all of these magoobs to see the true final boss and ending and it's just guhhhhh... Admittedly it's not as bad as that game in this instance but the shards where you have to foresight to have the exact ability combo to break open a wall are just some real horse.

REPLAY
Okay, so, turns out that replaying a game in a clear state of mind without taking a multi month long break in the middle of it changes everything (This is actually one of the best games ever made and I was just an idiot the first time)

What the fuck do you want me to say honestly

My hispanic friend offered to play this game with me (someone who has never played an SNK fighting game in her entire life) and yeah things went okay

"No, I'm not a transfem stereotype I swear!" I proclaim as I lock in my team of Athena, Yuri and Mai for the twenthy millionth time.