This... was very special to witness. It started off neutral but then descended - or ascended - into something else, something very intimate.
Davey's interest in the original creator Coda came off initially as innocent curiosity, but you'll see how did it end.

I don't like the definition (Outsider Art) because it tries to label something inherently tangled, it is usually more genuine and untainted by any contemporary standards or social, cultural or any sort of paradigms. It is Insider if anything. This is a very strong recommendation to anyone who believes that Games are more than a product.

A pretty fricking cool platformer.

I gotta say the writing took my by surprise. As much as I would have liked more world-building the dialogue specifically deserves commendation. Almost all characters have some depth and the way they interact was always a pleasure to witness, never was I bored through a cutscene.

Boss design was also a pleasant surprise, I wouldn't say it's a perfect cast but Iconoclasts has some of the best bosses I've fought in a platformer period, not to forget the narrative setup for some of them heightens it up even more.
I wouldn't call it a metroid-vania because it's too linear to be labeled so. Discretionary exploration is only for upgrades so no content missed here, and I have no qualms with well designed linearity.

I played because of a few name drops by YouTubers and I'm glad for that.

History repeats itself, and so does Ace Combat. I knew a generational leap was gonna be somewhat rough, but we emerged with some net positives despite being poorer than previous games.

It feels like an ace combat game with some changes. The first thing that felt off turned out to be the aircraft roll, planes with high mobility roll too quickly compared to its pitching which throws you off and required fiddling with the sensitivities and deadzones to balance out. Buying plans is back like AC2 but now you can also buy secondary weapons which brings a welcome variety to your standard gun and missiles.
A positive change is that the crosshairs are now clearer and with higher fidelity makes your Vulcan gun more effective and usable.
Better graphics came with strings attached, higher resolution helps dogfights as you can discern enemy positioning more quickly, but has the opposite effect on ground targets because it's a 2000s modern war game with muted colors.
Mission design is nothing new, on the contrary it regressed to being mostly get X points in Y time which gives credits to buy new planes and weapons. Special objectives are usually the 2nd half of missions after the point scoring.
Narrative took a strong hit compared to the jap AC3, now you just follow the narration of a young boy in some town that sometimes react to your missions instead of being a driving plot for your sorties.

To conclude, it is a jagged transition for the series, but it can definitely serve as a building block for later entries.

P.S. There are some issues with emulating it, if your CPU is strong enough use software acceleration for a smoother experience.

The game's two main halves are diving and managing a restaurant. The diving is based on Proc-Gen that changes everyday, you hunt fish and items for quests and running the restaurant. The restaurant is about supplying and enlarging your menu while occasionally handling special requests.

The loop fails to hide its repetitiveness except for ebbs and flows of showering you with side content and checklists then leaving you on your own for a few days.
It might be comfy for people who like occasionally picking up this type of games, but I found it too dull and honestly meaningless. I can take a dive and grab the item for the main quest and still have a lot of time left, I see the same types of fish back and forth and my kitchen is brimming with stock. Its last bastion is an index which fills up as you get new fish, but these completionist incentives don't work for me.

The art is beyond boring. This may sound like a personal ick but since this is a deep marine setting and they went for sprites that should've afforded them a better looking game. Yet it's bland, the characters, the "story", the art and the music. This isn't good at all for this type of game since you'll be staring under the sea for +20 hrs.

Gameplay-wise Signalis is akin to the OG Resident Evil in design, puzzles, and combat. You have a limited inventory with which you must juggle weapons, items, and puzzle objects. Enemies and their varieties are well placed and spread across the play time and areas, and you have a good variety of weapons at hand.
Enemies aren't much difficult once you get to learn fighting and avoiding them. Puzzles are fun as they're not too difficult but like old RE games, having a pen and paper nearby will do you good.

The narrative is simple but encompassing, but the presentation is especially well done. Very atmospheric and visually beautiful. It might lead you down different thoughts and interpretations but in the end it's simply beautiful. I'd strongly recommend a playthrough.

Thematically, Transistor had no right serving these perfect swings. From Gameplay to setting to style, it's conscious and masterful. It goes in the "must play" cabinet.

I went in blind not even knowing what genre it is, just the name and how it's acclaimed, and i'm grateful for it. I didn't fathom this experience coming from a tactical game, as i'm not the biggest fan of it. Although this mix of real/stop time loop accompanied by the vast number of combination keeps it fresh, and having this switching manner as a way of serving more of the world is brilliant.
If you feel it getting easier, you have limiters that buff enemies in various ways and in return increases your XP gains, allowing you to receive new skills and upgrades, and thus more writing.

I could go on for hours about the writing, the themes included and how tactful they were handled in Transistor. Art direction that accentuates familiarity and alienation simultaneously, and a lovely soundtrack not to forget.

There's a lot to say about it. A proper review would be a full blown essay IMO, so this will be a bit long yet only a brief overview.

I had taken issues with the game's pacing, I personally roamed a lot and a lot in earlier chapters and extending beyond what the game's narrative recognizes. I reach Rhodes or Saint Denis then only later does the story introduce each town implying that it's my first visit. This ludo-narrative dissonance occurred frequently in other elements like mission resulting bounties that I easily pay off, but the story still states that I ought to avoid that town etc...
This compounds with some filler missions that prolong some chapters way too long for its own good, which affected me with a degree of fatigue. Although if there was only one thing that made me soldier on through it, it would be the story.

Now this narrative easily walks and picks a prime pedestal in the hall of fame, a best of all time in media overall. The struggle against the misfortune carried by time and agents of chaos, how it gives at times a matter-of-fact and unceremonious resolutions, and all too human motives and actions. I binged some westerns to hype myself for the game beforehand but RDR easily beats most of them without a sweat.
The characters, some polar opposites and some similar, and with our beloved Arthur Morgan make a fantastic cast. It is not to be told but to be seen.

Sequences whether in missions or in free roam are some of Rockstar's best strengths, from early on to the very end.

Music is a blend of the best western music I've ever heard and then more.

What bothered me might not bother you, and even though I'm far from a completionist I went up and beyond to enjoy the minutiae that only a few studios can partake in the effort let alone pull off. RDR2 is a monument of gaming and that can't be disputed.

Chulip is one of those peculiar titles that make you wonder how did they ever see the light of day, and this sentence has many sentiments behind it. If I'm trying to pitch it to someone I say "It's a game about kissing and poverty" just to throw them off

First, time has not been kind to Chulip. PCSX2 is your best bet to try this, and its localization is very rough. There are mistranslations, missing lines, and mangled contexts. This ends up making you lean more on the game manual which is just a guide that spoils many puzzles that are inherently unfair because of the translation issues. I wish there was a proper fan translation or restoration project.

Talking about Chulip is exhausting becase finishing it was, the game starts with a set pace and a very strong introduction but the more you dig in the drier it gets. Characters and events follow schedules similar to Shenmue as an example, so time burning is something to expect, and you'll find it in spades. I almost spent the last two hours of play on double speed and it still felt laborious.

But yet I was prepared for something like this. If you're looking for a fun time this is not your cuppa, but if you're willing to try a unique game with good artistic direction then by all means go ahead.

This game is straight up E D G E. I always laugh at the way Japanese developers think about the American market, and every aspect of it enforces that idea. The art style, the character designs, down to every single line of dialogue written.

The reason decided to replay it is that I had fond memories of it as a kid with a PS2, but sadly the sparks go out once you're older. Some parts of the game is ridiculous for anyone who isn't a pre/teenager living in the early 2000s.

But mechanically the game is interesting, while it lacks the depth of other fighters it is considerable that every character in the blacklist (The roster of controllable characters) Has a fighting style with its respective move list.

This nit and grit can be re-treated today in a fashionable manner, this game did have potential but is too bare-bones to consider a playthrough.