Chowder
2023
This game really impressed me, especially for a game made in less than a year, it's really impressive that they managed to make the bones of this game feel so fantastic. I loved unlocking each power up and watching all my movement open up one by one. The movement captured my imagination, and when I was able to use it in fun and interesting ways, I had such a good time. The music, the atmosphere, the graphical style, it all clicked into a package that only got better and better as I got power ups.
Although that is the case, I found this game hitting all my weak spots when it comes to playing games. I get lost, a lot. Even in linear games, I seem to miss details that have me searching for 30 minutes looking for the one button I have to hit, or one box I'm supposed to attack. It's really frustrating and something that I experience a lot. I feel Pseuregalia really exacerbated this for me.
There were many times I was exploring, and I would get lost due to the pace of movement and the actual way the maps were designed. I would find a spot that I needed a power up for, and would keep it in mind. Once I found that power up, I went ahead and tried to retrace my steps back to the place I remembered, only to be left almost never being able to find it. It was a really tiring experience after a while, not ever being able to find out where I needed to go, and I spent a long portion of my time wandering around, hoping I would find the thing I needed. I would say I spent about 65% of my time playing wandering, and I think I took a lot longer on this game than many other people did because of it.
I think one way this could be alleviated is if there was more focused visual design and level design. In many ways, I think the maps are really excellently designed. I found myself pushing my moveset to the max and finding ways to get up ledges earlier than felt intended, which was really fun. It felt cool to 'break' the game in this way and be rewarded with early power ups and stuff. It made me really happy.
On the other hand, I feel as though the level design kinda melded together, many of the areas aside from the music kinda blended together, as there are 3 castle areas and the underground area is so expansive and samey looking you can get lost waaaay too easily, which led to me running in circles over and over again. I wish each level had more unique visual design and landmarks to help me orient myself more, it would be very very helpful and would make it so a map feature wouldn't even be needed.
I think a map would be an easier fix for it, but I appreciate it doesn't have a map atm. I'm pretty sure it's getting an update to add one, which I guess will fix my main hangup with the game, but I feel it's a bandaid on a bigger problem.
I think this game is an excellent start, and I hope it can be expanded on in a sequel, because the bones here are mindblowingly cool.
Although that is the case, I found this game hitting all my weak spots when it comes to playing games. I get lost, a lot. Even in linear games, I seem to miss details that have me searching for 30 minutes looking for the one button I have to hit, or one box I'm supposed to attack. It's really frustrating and something that I experience a lot. I feel Pseuregalia really exacerbated this for me.
There were many times I was exploring, and I would get lost due to the pace of movement and the actual way the maps were designed. I would find a spot that I needed a power up for, and would keep it in mind. Once I found that power up, I went ahead and tried to retrace my steps back to the place I remembered, only to be left almost never being able to find it. It was a really tiring experience after a while, not ever being able to find out where I needed to go, and I spent a long portion of my time wandering around, hoping I would find the thing I needed. I would say I spent about 65% of my time playing wandering, and I think I took a lot longer on this game than many other people did because of it.
I think one way this could be alleviated is if there was more focused visual design and level design. In many ways, I think the maps are really excellently designed. I found myself pushing my moveset to the max and finding ways to get up ledges earlier than felt intended, which was really fun. It felt cool to 'break' the game in this way and be rewarded with early power ups and stuff. It made me really happy.
On the other hand, I feel as though the level design kinda melded together, many of the areas aside from the music kinda blended together, as there are 3 castle areas and the underground area is so expansive and samey looking you can get lost waaaay too easily, which led to me running in circles over and over again. I wish each level had more unique visual design and landmarks to help me orient myself more, it would be very very helpful and would make it so a map feature wouldn't even be needed.
I think a map would be an easier fix for it, but I appreciate it doesn't have a map atm. I'm pretty sure it's getting an update to add one, which I guess will fix my main hangup with the game, but I feel it's a bandaid on a bigger problem.
I think this game is an excellent start, and I hope it can be expanded on in a sequel, because the bones here are mindblowingly cool.
2016
Imported from my Backloggery:
Beautiful, simple, and emotionally effective and moving. It's very light on gameplay, but the scenery and music more than makes up for it.
Beautiful, simple, and emotionally effective and moving. It's very light on gameplay, but the scenery and music more than makes up for it.
2017
Imported from my Backloggery:
This game is definitely my favorite of 2017. Though it may not be for everyone, the gameplay is simple and tight, yet surprisingly deep and challenging. On the story end, all of the characters are lovable and well designed. Though there is conflict in the plot, it never gets so caught up in the negative to ever stop being pleasant and lighthearted. My only issues are the poor combat animations and the sometimes generic art style. This game never stops being pleasant and happy.
This game is definitely my favorite of 2017. Though it may not be for everyone, the gameplay is simple and tight, yet surprisingly deep and challenging. On the story end, all of the characters are lovable and well designed. Though there is conflict in the plot, it never gets so caught up in the negative to ever stop being pleasant and lighthearted. My only issues are the poor combat animations and the sometimes generic art style. This game never stops being pleasant and happy.
2009
Imported from my Backloggery:
This game is so fast, fluid, and complex in its combat. The story is interesting, but very light, which serves the rest of the game very well. The QTEs add to the rest of the game and makes the game feel more exciting as a whole. Bayonetta's character is oozing with charisma and is so fun to watch shoot, slash, and kick her way through angels. Platinum nailed the action genre once again. The only complaint is that the loading screens were so short on PC, I didn't have any time to practice combos
This game is so fast, fluid, and complex in its combat. The story is interesting, but very light, which serves the rest of the game very well. The QTEs add to the rest of the game and makes the game feel more exciting as a whole. Bayonetta's character is oozing with charisma and is so fun to watch shoot, slash, and kick her way through angels. Platinum nailed the action genre once again. The only complaint is that the loading screens were so short on PC, I didn't have any time to practice combos
2016
Imported from my Backloggery: Beaten on Normal
Classic then, still worth playing now. The story and environment especially are stars of the show. Each environment tells a story about the world of rapture, and draws you in. For the first time in a while, I actually wanted to look around and listen to each individual audio log. The twists this game takes are incredible and got me super invested. That being said, the gameplay hasn't aged super well. Visuals were okay, but the audio was awful. This could benefit from a real remake.
Classic then, still worth playing now. The story and environment especially are stars of the show. Each environment tells a story about the world of rapture, and draws you in. For the first time in a while, I actually wanted to look around and listen to each individual audio log. The twists this game takes are incredible and got me super invested. That being said, the gameplay hasn't aged super well. Visuals were okay, but the audio was awful. This could benefit from a real remake.
2019
Imported from my Backloggery:
This is a tough one, because the story was so fun to watch unfold. The texting system, drinking mechanic, the alcohol trivia, the art, all of it is so great. The only issue is that the game itself is not fun to play at all. About 3/4 of the way through the game, (6-3) I gave up and changed the difficulty to easy. This made the game slightly more fun, except that the narrative relied on the game being difficult to work. If they made the puzzles less trial and error based, it would be better.
This is a tough one, because the story was so fun to watch unfold. The texting system, drinking mechanic, the alcohol trivia, the art, all of it is so great. The only issue is that the game itself is not fun to play at all. About 3/4 of the way through the game, (6-3) I gave up and changed the difficulty to easy. This made the game slightly more fun, except that the narrative relied on the game being difficult to work. If they made the puzzles less trial and error based, it would be better.
Imported from my Backloggery:
Crown of the Sunken King was definitely the best of the DLCs, and possibly the best part of DS2. Toward the beginning of the DLC, I loved the Zelda style switches that you had to hit with bows or swords. I loved all the bosses, Elana was my favorite gank fight of the whole series. It wasn't too hard and was never unfair. Just a great time save a few areas.
Crown of the Sunken King was definitely the best of the DLCs, and possibly the best part of DS2. Toward the beginning of the DLC, I loved the Zelda style switches that you had to hit with bows or swords. I loved all the bosses, Elana was my favorite gank fight of the whole series. It wasn't too hard and was never unfair. Just a great time save a few areas.
Still a great DLC, but never ended up fully finishing it, due to thinking Fume Knight was the final boss. I enjoyed the verticality of the map and loved fighting the fume knight. It was also a cool area, with the ash looking like snow. Great environmental storytelling, but not as fun as the Sunken King.
Imported from my Backloggery:
This one was my least favorite of the DLC. It was an awesome area, and had some great spectacle, and some great enemies, but didn't have any bosses that I enjoyed. I didn't like Aava, her hitbox lingered longer than my i-frames and was just unfiar. The Ivory king was fun once I got 3 extra summons. Without that, I wouldn't have enjoyed a 2v6 gank fight. There were great things about it, but plenty of things to sour it too.
This one was my least favorite of the DLC. It was an awesome area, and had some great spectacle, and some great enemies, but didn't have any bosses that I enjoyed. I didn't like Aava, her hitbox lingered longer than my i-frames and was just unfiar. The Ivory king was fun once I got 3 extra summons. Without that, I wouldn't have enjoyed a 2v6 gank fight. There were great things about it, but plenty of things to sour it too.
Imported from my Backloggery:
DS2 was a mixed bag. On one hand, it reached heights that may have even surpassed other FromSoft games, but has lows that are way below any of the other games. DS2 is way too reliant on inventing new, unfair ways to kill you. Many of the open areas are frustrating and have many enemies spammed in a location. Most of the bosses aren't memorable as well due to being either too easy or just unfair. There's some cool story and great NG+ mechanics as well. DS2 is really growing on me, idk why.
DS2 was a mixed bag. On one hand, it reached heights that may have even surpassed other FromSoft games, but has lows that are way below any of the other games. DS2 is way too reliant on inventing new, unfair ways to kill you. Many of the open areas are frustrating and have many enemies spammed in a location. Most of the bosses aren't memorable as well due to being either too easy or just unfair. There's some cool story and great NG+ mechanics as well. DS2 is really growing on me, idk why.
Imported from my Backloggery:
What a fun DLC! Throughout the entire journey, they find new ways to vary up the gameplay, and keep you on your feet. The environments are consistently interesting and beautiful, and the areas are fun to explore. I loved all of the bosses, and having Gael as the final boss of the entire series was insanely satisfying. This is one of my favorite pieces of Dark Souls, and was a great way to wrap up Dark Souls 3. Can't wait to play it again.
What a fun DLC! Throughout the entire journey, they find new ways to vary up the gameplay, and keep you on your feet. The environments are consistently interesting and beautiful, and the areas are fun to explore. I loved all of the bosses, and having Gael as the final boss of the entire series was insanely satisfying. This is one of my favorite pieces of Dark Souls, and was a great way to wrap up Dark Souls 3. Can't wait to play it again.
Imported from my Backloggery:
Despite having a great final boss (that granted may have too many fake out deaths) and some awesome lore, I didn't love Ashes of Ariandel as much as the rest of the game. The area leading up to the boss didn't really feel like an engaging area as much as a funnel to the boss fight with a few enemies. The enemies made an extremely loud sound that just got grating after a while, and enemy placements felt needlessly spammy and annoying. Still Souls though!
Despite having a great final boss (that granted may have too many fake out deaths) and some awesome lore, I didn't love Ashes of Ariandel as much as the rest of the game. The area leading up to the boss didn't really feel like an engaging area as much as a funnel to the boss fight with a few enemies. The enemies made an extremely loud sound that just got grating after a while, and enemy placements felt needlessly spammy and annoying. Still Souls though!
2016
Imported from my Backloggery:
Dark Souls 3 was a fantastic time, but nothing more than that. Compared to other entries in the Dark Souls series, I didn't have nearly as many 'woah' moments that really blew me away. That being said, the gameplay and combat is phenomenal, with so many options for you to use. It's crazy that I was able to tailor my build completely to my playstyle and have something that felt personalized and unique. The lore, atmosphere, and bosses were consistently awesome too.
Dark Souls 3 was a fantastic time, but nothing more than that. Compared to other entries in the Dark Souls series, I didn't have nearly as many 'woah' moments that really blew me away. That being said, the gameplay and combat is phenomenal, with so many options for you to use. It's crazy that I was able to tailor my build completely to my playstyle and have something that felt personalized and unique. The lore, atmosphere, and bosses were consistently awesome too.
Imported from my Backloggery:
This game was amazing. The level design was amazing, and it always subtly told you where to go and what to do. The voice acting, music, and atmosphere were impressive. The game has emotional moments, which are rare, but hit hard. This game is insanely replayable too. This game is a masterclass in game design and is a must play for anyone wanting to learn more about game design or even someone who just wants a good game to play.
This game was amazing. The level design was amazing, and it always subtly told you where to go and what to do. The voice acting, music, and atmosphere were impressive. The game has emotional moments, which are rare, but hit hard. This game is insanely replayable too. This game is a masterclass in game design and is a must play for anyone wanting to learn more about game design or even someone who just wants a good game to play.
2019
Imported from my Backloggery:
Despite having a convoluted plot and absolutely ridiculous dialogue at points, Death Stranding delivers a narrative and experience that I will remember for years to come. There are so many themes, so many moving parts to the narrative that could be picked apart and analyzed infinitely. The choice of music in the game is phenomenal as well. The graphics and sound design, as well as the mechanics that supplement the walking make the gameplay meditative, enjoyable, and magical at points.
Despite having a convoluted plot and absolutely ridiculous dialogue at points, Death Stranding delivers a narrative and experience that I will remember for years to come. There are so many themes, so many moving parts to the narrative that could be picked apart and analyzed infinitely. The choice of music in the game is phenomenal as well. The graphics and sound design, as well as the mechanics that supplement the walking make the gameplay meditative, enjoyable, and magical at points.