Chromentur
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Top 50 Favorites: #41
Base game:
Strong contender for most fluid, straight-up best combat in all of gaming. There are a lot of things to love about this one: Remedy's dependably batshit narrative, its sleek environmental mix of corporate and supernatural, the tremendous graphical prowess on display, etc. But I've always found it pleasantly productive that a game literally named Control has some of the most snappy and responsive controls in any game - and the fighting in particular is just leagues ahead of the rest, not only is the moveset/upgrading therein concise and effective but it just feels right, man. Like all of the history of video gaming - its evolutions, ideas, and all that - has led up to this particular combat system, as if I've been unknowingly waiting for it this entire time. The speed in which you can swap directly from beaming a telekinetic array of office supplies at an enemy's face to blasting a paranormal shotgun that auto-reloads ammo to just downright rocking some dude's shit with some ground-shattering melee attack is just... goddamn, it's bliss. Like, actual perfection. I see it as only a bonus that the rest of the game surrounding it is pretty cool, too. Severely underrated even by its endorsers imo.
The Foundation:
Drop-dead gorgeous colors, perfectly fair amount of content for the price, further intrigue about a key character from the base game, psychedelic platforming, a rad new environment, and more of - like - some of the finest combat video games as a medium have to offer. Just straight-up quality all around - has the exact off-kilter energy you would want out of this IP.
AWE:
Just as rock-solid as the other Control expansion, but twenty times as deliciously trippy. The way this seamlessly blends two different game series into an awesome mindfuck love letter to both of them should forever be remembered - never feels forced and never reaches for cheap fan service, everything here feels 100% totally authentic. Gives away so much while actually revealing so little, mesmerizing. And like the base in addition to its aforementioned other DLC, there's sleek graphical fidelity and a pitch-perfect combat system to boot. Needs to be required playing before Alan Wake 2
Base game:
Strong contender for most fluid, straight-up best combat in all of gaming. There are a lot of things to love about this one: Remedy's dependably batshit narrative, its sleek environmental mix of corporate and supernatural, the tremendous graphical prowess on display, etc. But I've always found it pleasantly productive that a game literally named Control has some of the most snappy and responsive controls in any game - and the fighting in particular is just leagues ahead of the rest, not only is the moveset/upgrading therein concise and effective but it just feels right, man. Like all of the history of video gaming - its evolutions, ideas, and all that - has led up to this particular combat system, as if I've been unknowingly waiting for it this entire time. The speed in which you can swap directly from beaming a telekinetic array of office supplies at an enemy's face to blasting a paranormal shotgun that auto-reloads ammo to just downright rocking some dude's shit with some ground-shattering melee attack is just... goddamn, it's bliss. Like, actual perfection. I see it as only a bonus that the rest of the game surrounding it is pretty cool, too. Severely underrated even by its endorsers imo.
The Foundation:
Drop-dead gorgeous colors, perfectly fair amount of content for the price, further intrigue about a key character from the base game, psychedelic platforming, a rad new environment, and more of - like - some of the finest combat video games as a medium have to offer. Just straight-up quality all around - has the exact off-kilter energy you would want out of this IP.
AWE:
Just as rock-solid as the other Control expansion, but twenty times as deliciously trippy. The way this seamlessly blends two different game series into an awesome mindfuck love letter to both of them should forever be remembered - never feels forced and never reaches for cheap fan service, everything here feels 100% totally authentic. Gives away so much while actually revealing so little, mesmerizing. And like the base in addition to its aforementioned other DLC, there's sleek graphical fidelity and a pitch-perfect combat system to boot. Needs to be required playing before Alan Wake 2
2013
Top 50 Favorites: #27 (Definitive Edition)
Games I Like That Everybody Else Dislikes
So rigorously, fundamentally garbage that it actually spins back into brilliance. I've always found something tantalizingly awful about this series, they're so fucking stupid and hilariously bad that it's a blast every time - I really don't think these get the meme treatment they deserve a la something like Knack does. Literally just an even lazier reskin of the original with bugged trophies, a wide array of laughable visual errors, and another disgusting showcase of the seventh generation's Play-Doh facial animations. Evokes such peaks of human emotion as you go from wanting to die to heights of side-splitting hilarity at its total incompetence that you reach some form of enlightenment. Have such fond memories with this one, objectively a huge disaster - imagine wanting your name attached to this in any way lmfao. "So bad it's good" has never been such a shrewd motherfucker, even better with friends.
Games I Like That Everybody Else Dislikes
So rigorously, fundamentally garbage that it actually spins back into brilliance. I've always found something tantalizingly awful about this series, they're so fucking stupid and hilariously bad that it's a blast every time - I really don't think these get the meme treatment they deserve a la something like Knack does. Literally just an even lazier reskin of the original with bugged trophies, a wide array of laughable visual errors, and another disgusting showcase of the seventh generation's Play-Doh facial animations. Evokes such peaks of human emotion as you go from wanting to die to heights of side-splitting hilarity at its total incompetence that you reach some form of enlightenment. Have such fond memories with this one, objectively a huge disaster - imagine wanting your name attached to this in any way lmfao. "So bad it's good" has never been such a shrewd motherfucker, even better with friends.
Games are totally fine, but three months has seldom ever felt this long - games started getting longer and more complex which led to maps such as Short Circuit and The Slimescraper (among others) feeling like a half century long when they're in constant rotation with each other. In addition to this butt-ugly, drab black and candy puke purple color palette (a theme that I feel SS2 improved upon aesthetically) it could feel very unpleasant. Still, we were yet to have seen its more annoying F2P practices here; and again... I truly believe this is one of the finest online multiplayer games out there, so even at its 'worst' it's still better than many similar games' best. So to me, this was only fine - and the start of an unfortunate decline for some time.
Genuinely a blast, a pretty sizeable improvement over its previous two seasons and not a single bad game in the entire lot this time around. The Swiveller? Awesome. Bounce Party? Love it. Volleyfall? So cool, dude. Speed Circuit? Track Attack? Really fun. So on and so forth. Still not a fan of its free-to-play shenanigans, but I get it - the switch over to this system totally revitalized the game as well as its playerbase, so speaking as someone who's been with this since OG Season 1 that's something you can't put a price on. I'm grateful for that (plus this is right before vaulting became horrendous anyway). The summery theme is a solid bow on top of it all, too. This seemed like the start of great things to come, fresh change and all that - until it began petering off with SS2 and SS3.
Forgettable but serviceable. Laughable when compared to OG Season 2, especially considering how this just rehashes OG Season 4's exact theme (which, to be fair, was one of its weakest seasons imo - so I'm not entirely opposed to a retry). And in this season's defense, it definitely isn't as fatiguing as its other space-season counterpart - this one knew its place and didn't overstay its welcome. However, you really start to pick up on the game's newly aggressive vaulting practices here. Starchart sort of sucks, and Pixel Painters would be infinitely better if it was a solo (or even duo) deal as opposed to 4-player teams. Frantic Factory is meh, though all the other games get a thumbs up - most notably Cosmic Highway and Tip Toe Finale, the latter serving as a very tense and creative final. Downgrade from SS1, upgrade from SS3.
Top 50 Favorites: #27
Peak of the game right here imo. I'm sure we can all agree that Season 1 - despite having easily the most iconic games - was stretched thin for content after a certain time, leading to its first big (unfortunate) fall off. But the first span of its three original seasons is where it really found its sweet spot: this only lasted a couple months so it didn't overstay its welcome like newer seasons have done; it felt way more rewarding than now in its F2P days; added classic masterpieces like Knight Fever, Big Fans, and Hoopsie Legends without overbloating the game with too much extraneous content (Wall Guys still mid sorry); introduced nicknames, banners, and the show selector; and honestly just felt like a downright good, wholesome theme all-around. I'm not at all against its bigger, more complex setpieces but I'll always say that this game shines its brightest in its simplicity - feels like they started sincerely expanding here without going too far with it. Plus it still retained all the original Season 1 maps, can't go wrong with this.
Peak of the game right here imo. I'm sure we can all agree that Season 1 - despite having easily the most iconic games - was stretched thin for content after a certain time, leading to its first big (unfortunate) fall off. But the first span of its three original seasons is where it really found its sweet spot: this only lasted a couple months so it didn't overstay its welcome like newer seasons have done; it felt way more rewarding than now in its F2P days; added classic masterpieces like Knight Fever, Big Fans, and Hoopsie Legends without overbloating the game with too much extraneous content (Wall Guys still mid sorry); introduced nicknames, banners, and the show selector; and honestly just felt like a downright good, wholesome theme all-around. I'm not at all against its bigger, more complex setpieces but I'll always say that this game shines its brightest in its simplicity - feels like they started sincerely expanding here without going too far with it. Plus it still retained all the original Season 1 maps, can't go wrong with this.
Considering that there's no such thing as a bad Fall Guys season, the fact that this is the relative 'worst' of them all isn't a huge knock, to be fair. But unlike OG Season 6, whose games were at least fun and always surprising, this batch of games are just way too mid to justify sitting with them over and over again (usually in the exact same order) for SIX MONTHS. Puzzle Path just became glorified follow-the-leader with zero skill, Speed Slider and Hoop Chute started off strong but eventually felt like going through the motions, and Blastlantis might be the most boring game they've ever added. Sliding doesn't add a whole lot to this either imo, and I don't care enough about Kraken Slam to even comment on it. Still - Fall Guys is Fall Guys, even with these specific mediocre games and surfeit of sadly-vaulted rounds you still can find plenty of fun to be had here in other modes. Plus, come on, SpongeBob and co. are worth the price of admission.
2017
Top 50 Favorites: #33
Games I Like That Everybody Else Dislikes
Genuinely fantastic action-platformer filled to the brim with heart, humor, personality, and - like its predecessor - exceptional graphical fidelity. Leagues ahead of the first Knack in virtually every respect, though if there's one thing the original does better it's how it utilizes size scaling - in the first game there were tons of levels where you start out really small and get really big, and all that jazz. But in this one, however, it feels like you're really just relegated to one size per level and the change is way less dynamic. For it being such a major selling point of this franchise, that's an admittedly large grievance. But it's just so damn fun, man. It's so lighthearted and sports such a heavy sense of "gee whiz!" childlike amazement that you really don't see as much of in games from its era. And its art style is, unsurprisingly, sublime. I know the first one was kind of lame or whatever and we all memed it back then, but the crummy YouTuber jokes were tired even when this released tbh - I am clamoring for this franchise to return because it really found its groove here.
Games I Like That Everybody Else Dislikes
Genuinely fantastic action-platformer filled to the brim with heart, humor, personality, and - like its predecessor - exceptional graphical fidelity. Leagues ahead of the first Knack in virtually every respect, though if there's one thing the original does better it's how it utilizes size scaling - in the first game there were tons of levels where you start out really small and get really big, and all that jazz. But in this one, however, it feels like you're really just relegated to one size per level and the change is way less dynamic. For it being such a major selling point of this franchise, that's an admittedly large grievance. But it's just so damn fun, man. It's so lighthearted and sports such a heavy sense of "gee whiz!" childlike amazement that you really don't see as much of in games from its era. And its art style is, unsurprisingly, sublime. I know the first one was kind of lame or whatever and we all memed it back then, but the crummy YouTuber jokes were tired even when this released tbh - I am clamoring for this franchise to return because it really found its groove here.
2001
Top 50 Favorites: #50
Games I Like That Everybody Else Dislikes
Breakneck pace - in a future where time moves so fast that its accelerated, fleeting nature is built right into the architecture/technology. Anyways that's a lot of gobbledygook just to say that this is a very unique, stylized, and - above all else - scorchingly fast racer. Like seriously, the speeds this thing reaches get so red-hot that it's often impossible to comprehend what's even taking place - requires superhuman reflexes and an element of precision that's much more turbo-charged than anything I'd expect out of a PS2 game that released hardly a year after the system itself did. Very admirable job, memorable and overlooked. If Nintendo ain't gonna do shit with F-Zero anymore then I vote for this to come back instead tbh.
Games I Like That Everybody Else Dislikes
Breakneck pace - in a future where time moves so fast that its accelerated, fleeting nature is built right into the architecture/technology. Anyways that's a lot of gobbledygook just to say that this is a very unique, stylized, and - above all else - scorchingly fast racer. Like seriously, the speeds this thing reaches get so red-hot that it's often impossible to comprehend what's even taking place - requires superhuman reflexes and an element of precision that's much more turbo-charged than anything I'd expect out of a PS2 game that released hardly a year after the system itself did. Very admirable job, memorable and overlooked. If Nintendo ain't gonna do shit with F-Zero anymore then I vote for this to come back instead tbh.
Top 50 Favorites: #31
Base game:
Such an amazing Souls clone that I honestly prefer this to any of those games. Frantic, darkly comic, neon-laced psychedelia that I never wanted to put down - beneficially removes all of the forced doom-and-gloom bullshit from the first game (of which I still remain a defender) in favor of letting the story take a side-seat while you get thrown into the ring with a murders row of colorful characters. Major General Ezra Shields is one of the most teeth-grindingly difficult (but fun!) bosses I've ever fought. It also irons out the kinks of the first's combat - giving us one of the most deeply satisfying block/parry systems in a video game and a vast array of weapons with their own snappily taut control setup. Incredibly inventive armor system and atmosphere, and the length feels just perfect (unthinkable for a Soulslike). Plus come on, just fucking look at this thing. It's a beautiful behemoth.
The Kraken DLC:
As fantastic, offbeat, and aesthetically playful as the base game - shame this was its only expansion, but understandable given its release smack-dab before the COVID pandemic. Genius move to throw this entire DLC on a massive retro-themed ship-turned-floating-town, it fits right into the already vibrant and freakish world the base so keenly crafted. As rad as any game with a boss named "Collective Incinerator" should be.
Base game:
Such an amazing Souls clone that I honestly prefer this to any of those games. Frantic, darkly comic, neon-laced psychedelia that I never wanted to put down - beneficially removes all of the forced doom-and-gloom bullshit from the first game (of which I still remain a defender) in favor of letting the story take a side-seat while you get thrown into the ring with a murders row of colorful characters. Major General Ezra Shields is one of the most teeth-grindingly difficult (but fun!) bosses I've ever fought. It also irons out the kinks of the first's combat - giving us one of the most deeply satisfying block/parry systems in a video game and a vast array of weapons with their own snappily taut control setup. Incredibly inventive armor system and atmosphere, and the length feels just perfect (unthinkable for a Soulslike). Plus come on, just fucking look at this thing. It's a beautiful behemoth.
The Kraken DLC:
As fantastic, offbeat, and aesthetically playful as the base game - shame this was its only expansion, but understandable given its release smack-dab before the COVID pandemic. Genius move to throw this entire DLC on a massive retro-themed ship-turned-floating-town, it fits right into the already vibrant and freakish world the base so keenly crafted. As rad as any game with a boss named "Collective Incinerator" should be.
2003
Games I Dislike That Everybody Else Likes
I gotta be honest, the premise of a fighting game composed solely of classic kaiju-esque beasts in destructible environments is a home run - but man, this thing is the definition of clunky. It feels more like you're fighting against the camera than your opponent, and the slow movement of these monsters is way too literalized here because the fights are a total drag. I get that this is an early PS2 game but this was already THREE years into the system's life, and there are countless games that came out before this which play infinitely better - ones that don't need the crucial precision of a fighter, no less (actually, some of those games include fighters). And on that note, I'm sorry but this thing is just kind of ugly.
I gotta be honest, the premise of a fighting game composed solely of classic kaiju-esque beasts in destructible environments is a home run - but man, this thing is the definition of clunky. It feels more like you're fighting against the camera than your opponent, and the slow movement of these monsters is way too literalized here because the fights are a total drag. I get that this is an early PS2 game but this was already THREE years into the system's life, and there are countless games that came out before this which play infinitely better - ones that don't need the crucial precision of a fighter, no less (actually, some of those games include fighters). And on that note, I'm sorry but this thing is just kind of ugly.
1996
Pretty awesome little DOOM clone for the first half until it falls prey to thoughtless, bullet-spongey enemy spam. Even still, it's just too easy to root for this thing imo - it boasts incredible graphics for 1996 and (despite having the type of pre-analog-stick controls that eventually start sanding your thumb away on the D-pad) has first-person PS1 movement that doesn't feel clunky (if anything, it's actually a touch too slippy). Despite being Insomniac's first game, their knack for idiosyncratic sci-fi level design and eccentric weaponry are already immediately apparent - you don't have to look too deeply to see the seeds of what would later become Ratchet & Clank, Resistance, and even Fuse being sewn here. Cannot believe I hated the - to quote 50 Cent - "legendary corny" FMV cutscenes the first time I played this because honestly they're a hoot and holler: totally tossed-off exposition being delivered dead serious in sets that resemble a Chuck E Cheese, how can you not dig it at least a little bit? Great game if you turn it off after the Reactor level.
Top 50 Favorites: #48
The perfect Tony Hawk experience, one last beautiful swan song to a revolutionary video game series before immediately crippling in quality for over 15 years. Takes a snapshot of the mid-00s carefree punk surface without wallowing in the actual ugly filth of it - providing some of the most evocative, sumptuous levels in the entire franchise (nothing beats busting tricks on the Santa Monica pier by the seaside Ferris wheel while "What's Up Fatlip?" plays real chill in the background). Texturally almost dreamlike, wrapped up in an enchanting haze and sure the 'open world' is connected by loosely-disguised loading areas but the combos you can crank out between each of them are unreal and feel great to pull off. The progression system feels nuanced by the series' standards, the customization is rock-solid, I still think the story rules way more than it has any right to - with no shortage of lovable characters, endless quotables, and engaging narrative beats. Then it just goes and has one of the most fucking elite, top five in ALL of gaming soundtracks ever conceived - partially comprised of covers of classic punk songs by then-current bands specifically for this game, which all surpass the originals imo; along with top-tier bangers like "Unconditional", "Like Eating Glass", "Holiday"... oh man, it snaps right to the game's world like a fucking magnet - creating this unstoppable energy that's impossible to defeat. I don't care how many dozens of times I replay this, it just never ages on me - one of the best games of the 2000s. Period.
The perfect Tony Hawk experience, one last beautiful swan song to a revolutionary video game series before immediately crippling in quality for over 15 years. Takes a snapshot of the mid-00s carefree punk surface without wallowing in the actual ugly filth of it - providing some of the most evocative, sumptuous levels in the entire franchise (nothing beats busting tricks on the Santa Monica pier by the seaside Ferris wheel while "What's Up Fatlip?" plays real chill in the background). Texturally almost dreamlike, wrapped up in an enchanting haze and sure the 'open world' is connected by loosely-disguised loading areas but the combos you can crank out between each of them are unreal and feel great to pull off. The progression system feels nuanced by the series' standards, the customization is rock-solid, I still think the story rules way more than it has any right to - with no shortage of lovable characters, endless quotables, and engaging narrative beats. Then it just goes and has one of the most fucking elite, top five in ALL of gaming soundtracks ever conceived - partially comprised of covers of classic punk songs by then-current bands specifically for this game, which all surpass the originals imo; along with top-tier bangers like "Unconditional", "Like Eating Glass", "Holiday"... oh man, it snaps right to the game's world like a fucking magnet - creating this unstoppable energy that's impossible to defeat. I don't care how many dozens of times I replay this, it just never ages on me - one of the best games of the 2000s. Period.
Top 50 Favorites: #44
Careful, confident horror about the incomprehensible and the lengths your mind will go to fill in the gaps. Far from perfect, even at its strongest still feels like a low-carb Silent Hill 2 - but I just can't help but admire how bold horror games were around this time. Stuff like this, Cry of Fear, Slender: The Arrival, hell even the first Five Nights at Freddy's were majorly innovating for a good solid 3 or 4 years straight - it's easy to laugh at now but there's something to be said about the effective simplicity of creating a horror video game for practically the express purpose of holding a place in the collective conscience simply for scaring your favorite YouTuber. I was never that into "Let's Plays" but there's an almost warm comfortability of a horror game that takes itself seriously but not too seriously (unlike, say, The Last of Us); one that is interested in crafting a good, tight, accessible lore without wanting to spin it into a disparate web of pointlessly convoluted bullshit for the sake of seeming deep on internet comment sections (Hello Neighbor and most of the FNaF sequels); and one that sets out to create good scares and a memorable atmosphere over being a cynical flash-in-the-pan meme to sell merch (Poppy's Playtime, Baldi's Basics). It's crazy to look back on how this era really future-proofed itself by doing what everyone at the time swore would make them dated - wills itself to life by going back to basics and asking how they can be done really, really well. Is way more concerned with leaving its own self-assured stamp instead of worrying about sterilizing itself so it won't have a single blemish and it's all the better for it. Filled with character.
Careful, confident horror about the incomprehensible and the lengths your mind will go to fill in the gaps. Far from perfect, even at its strongest still feels like a low-carb Silent Hill 2 - but I just can't help but admire how bold horror games were around this time. Stuff like this, Cry of Fear, Slender: The Arrival, hell even the first Five Nights at Freddy's were majorly innovating for a good solid 3 or 4 years straight - it's easy to laugh at now but there's something to be said about the effective simplicity of creating a horror video game for practically the express purpose of holding a place in the collective conscience simply for scaring your favorite YouTuber. I was never that into "Let's Plays" but there's an almost warm comfortability of a horror game that takes itself seriously but not too seriously (unlike, say, The Last of Us); one that is interested in crafting a good, tight, accessible lore without wanting to spin it into a disparate web of pointlessly convoluted bullshit for the sake of seeming deep on internet comment sections (Hello Neighbor and most of the FNaF sequels); and one that sets out to create good scares and a memorable atmosphere over being a cynical flash-in-the-pan meme to sell merch (Poppy's Playtime, Baldi's Basics). It's crazy to look back on how this era really future-proofed itself by doing what everyone at the time swore would make them dated - wills itself to life by going back to basics and asking how they can be done really, really well. Is way more concerned with leaving its own self-assured stamp instead of worrying about sterilizing itself so it won't have a single blemish and it's all the better for it. Filled with character.
2012
Top 50 Favorites: #6 (Definitive Edition)
"What if you don't feel at home anywhere?"
+
"🎶Run and break the chain I hope to get away someday.🎶"
The Thin Blue Line. Question your own existence while roundhouse kicking triad members in the face and listening to The Drums. 110% amazing. Deeply depressed individuals hiding their insecurities behind violent power structures - a police badge being worn with the same intent as a gang tattoo. Such richly complex characters on display, Wei Shen is an incredibly compelling lead in this and the supporting characters are all just as memorable. Strong themes of gender expectations, nationality/race, infatuation with tradition, oppressive hierarchies, thwarted masculinity, Chinese politics, etc. It's really impressive, plus the voice cast is stacked (Emma Stone, James Hong, Tom Wilkinson, Lucy Liu, and Tzi Ma among others). The gameplay is just as magnetizing - super content-heavy with tons of mission variety, fun minigames, rewarding collectibles, and one of the most exceptionally lively open worlds you'll ever play in. Driving through Hong Kong at night as Bonobo plays on the radio, drenched in the lights of roadside shops with a little bit of rain drizzle hitting... chef's kiss. Even the little number puzzles are a blast to run through. It's also (rightfully) totally inextricable from its kickass martial-arts-based melee combat system, which is a riot and a half to use. You can also jump from moving car to moving car!! Not just the best GTA clone, but one of the greatest video games ever made. Pork buns 4ever.
"What if you don't feel at home anywhere?"
+
"🎶Run and break the chain I hope to get away someday.🎶"
The Thin Blue Line. Question your own existence while roundhouse kicking triad members in the face and listening to The Drums. 110% amazing. Deeply depressed individuals hiding their insecurities behind violent power structures - a police badge being worn with the same intent as a gang tattoo. Such richly complex characters on display, Wei Shen is an incredibly compelling lead in this and the supporting characters are all just as memorable. Strong themes of gender expectations, nationality/race, infatuation with tradition, oppressive hierarchies, thwarted masculinity, Chinese politics, etc. It's really impressive, plus the voice cast is stacked (Emma Stone, James Hong, Tom Wilkinson, Lucy Liu, and Tzi Ma among others). The gameplay is just as magnetizing - super content-heavy with tons of mission variety, fun minigames, rewarding collectibles, and one of the most exceptionally lively open worlds you'll ever play in. Driving through Hong Kong at night as Bonobo plays on the radio, drenched in the lights of roadside shops with a little bit of rain drizzle hitting... chef's kiss. Even the little number puzzles are a blast to run through. It's also (rightfully) totally inextricable from its kickass martial-arts-based melee combat system, which is a riot and a half to use. You can also jump from moving car to moving car!! Not just the best GTA clone, but one of the greatest video games ever made. Pork buns 4ever.