CodeGorilla
2016
I don't mind games full of abstract puzzles with little to no explanation except via experimentation, but I prefer them in more abstract settings. The environment in The Witness is very nice, but tedious as heck to navigate, and searching for puzzles feels more like a chore than like rewarding exploration.
2021
Not a lot to say on this one. Super fun Metroid game, but also harder than any other game in the series that I've played. Not my favorite Metroid, but still extremely good.
A fun enough romp when played as 4-player co-op. Maybe I'd have a higher opinion if I'd been able to pay more attention to the writing, but that's kinda hard to do when playing 4-player co-op and streaming it on Twitch.
2020
This was an interesting first person puzzle-exploration game. It doesn't seem to have connected with me the way it connected with some of the other reviewers I've read, but that's okay. The soundtrack is great, the mood and ambience is also great. I wish there was a little more to the gameplay, but it's solid for what it is. My two biggest complaints are that post-processing the photos was tedious (using XB1 controller on Steam, if that matters), and since it didn't affect your score, I stopped bothering after the first level. Given that the entire game is about taking photos, and many of the upgrades you collect are just more post-processing sliders, I think making that mechanic less tedious would have been a good idea. Second, and this is more a personal anecdote than anything, this game gave me really bad motion sickness after playing it for 2, 2.5 hours. Thankfully it's a pretty short game, so I was able to complete it in about three of those sittings on stream.
All in all, solid game, but not an all-timer.
All in all, solid game, but not an all-timer.
I think this game, like most recent entries in the Paper Mario series, is going to get a lot of flack for how it compares to the first two Paper Mario games, and that's fair. The first two games in the series are both fantastic, with a lot of charm, wit, and character, and it feels like the series has drifted away from that. That said, this game is genuinely pretty good on its own merits. I actually enjoy the series leaning in on the whole "everything is made of paper" gimmick; it gives the series something all its own, something to set it apart from other Mario RPGs.
Mechanics-wise, it's got the same basic enemies on the overworld->turn-based fights in an arena in front of a cheering crowd formula that the first two games had, but that's about where the similarities end. The biggest draw - and the biggest detractor - to this game is the ring-sliding combat system. For normal combats, you start in the middle of a series of rings separated by panels, with monsters semi-randomly strewn about. You have a limited amount of time and moves to spin and slide the pieces of the rings to rearrange the enemies into nice patterns for your attacks. In theory, this adds a lot more thought and depth to the combat system, but as there's generally only one right answer in the moves allotted, it tends to get tedious by the end of the game. The bosses are where the system really shines; they flip the script and have you build a path for Mario, starting on the edge, to get to the center where the boss is located, powering up attacks along the way. Plus each boss introduces it's own gimmick, either affecting the tiles on the board, the way you move, or caring about where you hit it from. Boss encounters are easily the highlight of the game, and I would play a game of just boss encounters if they could all have as much creativity involved.
The writing is genuinely amusing at points, but is still lacking a bit in the character department. It's telling that the only new named characters are the main antagonist and your new partner character, Olly and Olivia. Every other character you meet is either an established Mario series character, or a Toad with a job title instead of a name. You even get a temporary companion who is a Bob-omb named - get this - Bob-omb. The game even hangs a lampshade on how generic the character is when you come across an entire group of Bob-ombs which you immediately mistake for your companion. Contrast with Bombette and Admiral Bobbery from the first two games, who were actual characters.
There's not much more to say on it; the music is pretty good, and there's lots of dodads and whatsits to collect, if you're the sort of person who enjoys that (which I am). Overall, decent, but not amazing. Worth playing, but maybe not for full price, and given how often Nintendo actually drops their prices, that may mean you never play it, which is probably fine.
Mechanics-wise, it's got the same basic enemies on the overworld->turn-based fights in an arena in front of a cheering crowd formula that the first two games had, but that's about where the similarities end. The biggest draw - and the biggest detractor - to this game is the ring-sliding combat system. For normal combats, you start in the middle of a series of rings separated by panels, with monsters semi-randomly strewn about. You have a limited amount of time and moves to spin and slide the pieces of the rings to rearrange the enemies into nice patterns for your attacks. In theory, this adds a lot more thought and depth to the combat system, but as there's generally only one right answer in the moves allotted, it tends to get tedious by the end of the game. The bosses are where the system really shines; they flip the script and have you build a path for Mario, starting on the edge, to get to the center where the boss is located, powering up attacks along the way. Plus each boss introduces it's own gimmick, either affecting the tiles on the board, the way you move, or caring about where you hit it from. Boss encounters are easily the highlight of the game, and I would play a game of just boss encounters if they could all have as much creativity involved.
The writing is genuinely amusing at points, but is still lacking a bit in the character department. It's telling that the only new named characters are the main antagonist and your new partner character, Olly and Olivia. Every other character you meet is either an established Mario series character, or a Toad with a job title instead of a name. You even get a temporary companion who is a Bob-omb named - get this - Bob-omb. The game even hangs a lampshade on how generic the character is when you come across an entire group of Bob-ombs which you immediately mistake for your companion. Contrast with Bombette and Admiral Bobbery from the first two games, who were actual characters.
There's not much more to say on it; the music is pretty good, and there's lots of dodads and whatsits to collect, if you're the sort of person who enjoys that (which I am). Overall, decent, but not amazing. Worth playing, but maybe not for full price, and given how often Nintendo actually drops their prices, that may mean you never play it, which is probably fine.
2020
I wanted to like this game more. I really enjoy most things relating to Sentinels of the Multiverse, and I genuinely love the long and storied lore. This, however, didn't feel like any of that. The story was mostly just generic super-heroics, and none of the individual characters felt like they got time to shine.
The gameplay seems fairly standard for a gridless turn-based tactics game. The biggest selling point is the game's character creator, which is fairly robust. That said, the encounters themselves aren't terribly interesting - they're mostly "here's a bunch of enemies, in waves; kill them all". The rock-paper-scissors attack and defense system is interesting in paper, but in practice more of a nuisance than anything else.
Also, it's a bit buggy at times. In particular, I hit a softlock in part 3 of a rather long mission, which would have forced me to restart the entire mission (which I had already spent an hour on). I decided to drop it and play something else instead, and haven't gone back to it.
The gameplay seems fairly standard for a gridless turn-based tactics game. The biggest selling point is the game's character creator, which is fairly robust. That said, the encounters themselves aren't terribly interesting - they're mostly "here's a bunch of enemies, in waves; kill them all". The rock-paper-scissors attack and defense system is interesting in paper, but in practice more of a nuisance than anything else.
Also, it's a bit buggy at times. In particular, I hit a softlock in part 3 of a rather long mission, which would have forced me to restart the entire mission (which I had already spent an hour on). I decided to drop it and play something else instead, and haven't gone back to it.
2020
An adorable puzzle game with some clever geometry puzzles. Tons of fun, cute theming, relaxing music. Would recommend
2015
It seemed like an interesting puzzle platformer at first glance, but the reactions required make it more tedious than anything. The music is pretty good, though.
This review contains spoilers
I love, love, love this game. It's 1:30 in the morning, and I should be going to bed, but I just finished this game, and I need to write about it while it's fresh on my mind or I won't be able to sleep.
Back in mid-2019, not long after this game came out, I picked it up and started playing it. Fairly quickly you get an idea of what the core gameplay loop is going to be: explore a 3D world, to find entrances to 2D Zelda-esque adventure sections. Explore the 2D sections to find dust and cards, and use the dust and cards to unlock new 3D sections. Pretty straight-forward. I got about halfway through the second (of five-ish) act of this before life got in the way, and I ended up abandoning the game. If this was all the game was, I'd be giving it about 3.5 stars.
Well, this week I revisited this game and decided to start fresh, and I am so glad that I did. At the end of act 2, the developers basically throw that core gameplay out the window, and the resulting game has some truly great moments.
The writing is easily the biggest strength of this game, as with the rest of the games this team has put out. This game manages to seamlessly meld the quirky and dark humor of Anodyne with the contemplative commentary on human nature presented by Even the Ocean. It manages both laugh out loud funny moments mixed with some real tear-jerkers, and even some moments of great tension, without any of it feeling forced or at odds with one another.
The gameplay is solid and dependable. It's not the main draw to the game, but neither does it get in the way of things. The 3D sections are mostly about exploration, with the occasional moment of platforming, but the double jump and automatic glide means the platforming never feels punishing, and the Ridescale ability (i.e. your character transforming into a car) makes the necessary backtracking not feel like a chore. The 2D sections use a similar engine to the prequel, but the use of a vacuum cleaner as your primary weapon (allowing you to inhale and spit out enemies) keeps the game feeling fresh.
The music does a fantastic job of setting the tone; the 3D sections all have an ethereal and somber feel to them, really giving you a sense that all is not well in the world. Meanwhile, the 2D sections (where more of the action tends to be) get themes that suit the moods of the individual areas. Highlights of the soundtrack for me include Upon Soaring Highways, Pastel Horizon, Stargaze Valley Night, and the theme for the last 2D section of the game, which I won't name because it's a pretty big spoiler.
The graphics are the kind of retro graphics that I love - the kind that makes you think "this could have been done on a 16-bit console, right?" Yeah, they could have, but no one did, back then. What's new to me is a game that captures that feeling but for early 3D graphics; the 3D sections of the game simultaneously look like they could have been on the Playstation and also better than anything the Playstation actually produced.
All in all, this game is fantastic. I'm so, so happy I came back to this game, as this is now genuinely one of my favorite games of all time. Would highly recommend for anyone who likes narrative-heavy games with a little action spread throughout.
5/5
Back in mid-2019, not long after this game came out, I picked it up and started playing it. Fairly quickly you get an idea of what the core gameplay loop is going to be: explore a 3D world, to find entrances to 2D Zelda-esque adventure sections. Explore the 2D sections to find dust and cards, and use the dust and cards to unlock new 3D sections. Pretty straight-forward. I got about halfway through the second (of five-ish) act of this before life got in the way, and I ended up abandoning the game. If this was all the game was, I'd be giving it about 3.5 stars.
Well, this week I revisited this game and decided to start fresh, and I am so glad that I did. At the end of act 2, the developers basically throw that core gameplay out the window, and the resulting game has some truly great moments.
The writing is easily the biggest strength of this game, as with the rest of the games this team has put out. This game manages to seamlessly meld the quirky and dark humor of Anodyne with the contemplative commentary on human nature presented by Even the Ocean. It manages both laugh out loud funny moments mixed with some real tear-jerkers, and even some moments of great tension, without any of it feeling forced or at odds with one another.
The gameplay is solid and dependable. It's not the main draw to the game, but neither does it get in the way of things. The 3D sections are mostly about exploration, with the occasional moment of platforming, but the double jump and automatic glide means the platforming never feels punishing, and the Ridescale ability (i.e. your character transforming into a car) makes the necessary backtracking not feel like a chore. The 2D sections use a similar engine to the prequel, but the use of a vacuum cleaner as your primary weapon (allowing you to inhale and spit out enemies) keeps the game feeling fresh.
The music does a fantastic job of setting the tone; the 3D sections all have an ethereal and somber feel to them, really giving you a sense that all is not well in the world. Meanwhile, the 2D sections (where more of the action tends to be) get themes that suit the moods of the individual areas. Highlights of the soundtrack for me include Upon Soaring Highways, Pastel Horizon, Stargaze Valley Night, and the theme for the last 2D section of the game, which I won't name because it's a pretty big spoiler.
The graphics are the kind of retro graphics that I love - the kind that makes you think "this could have been done on a 16-bit console, right?" Yeah, they could have, but no one did, back then. What's new to me is a game that captures that feeling but for early 3D graphics; the 3D sections of the game simultaneously look like they could have been on the Playstation and also better than anything the Playstation actually produced.
All in all, this game is fantastic. I'm so, so happy I came back to this game, as this is now genuinely one of my favorite games of all time. Would highly recommend for anyone who likes narrative-heavy games with a little action spread throughout.
5/5
2019
I'm a sucker for puzzle platformers, and Superliminal does not disappoint. The game revolves around a key concept - Perception IS Reality - which sounds simple on it's face but gets weirder and more complex the further along you get, both in the gameplay and in the story. Reminds me at points of Antichamber, which is high praise as far as I'm concerned. If you played and liked Antichamber, either Portal game, or The Stanley Parable, I would definitely give this a shot. It's a bit on the short side, but the core conceit is well-explored, so it doesn't feel like you're missing out. There's also an option for user-generate content on Steam, although I haven't messed with it much, and I imagine that comes with all the normal pitfalls of UGC.
2013
A short little Zelda-esque adventure game. I recently ran through this game again to refresh my memory before getting into the sequel, although from what I know of the sequel, that wasn't really necessary. While the thematic choice to give the main character a broom for a weapon is interesting, in practice it might as well be a sword. There's nothing groundbreaking here, but it's very impressive for a game made by such a small team over 9 months. Would recommend.
2016
A wonderfully atmospheric puzzle game. The gameplay and puzzles are nothing to write home about, but this game absolutely 100% nails the atmosphere. It's on the short side (I spent just shy of four hours full clearing the game), so I'd say it's worth picking up when it's cheap, but don't spend a ton on it.
This review contains spoilers
A wonderful Metroidvania style game. This game really nails, in my opinion, the most important part of a Metroidvania: the movement. By design, you're going to be trekking back and forth across the entire map multiple times, so making the movement feel good is super important.
The movement in this game is fantastic, especially once you have your full moveset. Your jumps are just the right amount of floaty and the mid-air control smooth enough to give an extremely smooth flow to getting around the world and exploring in general.
Both the art and the music for this game are stunning, doing a good job of making the world feel both ethereal and epic. The game does a great job of giving everything a sense of scale, making you feel tiny in a huge world.
The game is not without it's flaws. The combat is a bit uninspired, mostly involving mashing the attack button when you're near enemies, since there's no aiming to speak of. You do get an upgrade about a third of the way into the game that gives a few more options for combat, which helps, but doesn't salvage the system as a whole. The game doesn't put a big focus on combat, to be fair, offering zero boss encounters and relatively few enemies that must be killed. Early in the game you also have a bottleneck with regards to the game's energy system, which wouldn't be a big problem if you didn't also use that to save. That said, by the end of the game, you'll have enough energy to drop saves after even the smallest amount of progress.
The highlights of the game are the escape sequences, one after each of the three temples. These fast-paced sections really test your mastery of the game's movement options, which again, is the best part of the game. They're challenging enough to feel really satisfying when you complete them, but not so hard that it breaks your spirit, and respawn times are low so the punishment for death is minimal.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition, and I'm definitely interested in checking out the sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps. 4/5 stars.
The movement in this game is fantastic, especially once you have your full moveset. Your jumps are just the right amount of floaty and the mid-air control smooth enough to give an extremely smooth flow to getting around the world and exploring in general.
Both the art and the music for this game are stunning, doing a good job of making the world feel both ethereal and epic. The game does a great job of giving everything a sense of scale, making you feel tiny in a huge world.
The game is not without it's flaws. The combat is a bit uninspired, mostly involving mashing the attack button when you're near enemies, since there's no aiming to speak of. You do get an upgrade about a third of the way into the game that gives a few more options for combat, which helps, but doesn't salvage the system as a whole. The game doesn't put a big focus on combat, to be fair, offering zero boss encounters and relatively few enemies that must be killed. Early in the game you also have a bottleneck with regards to the game's energy system, which wouldn't be a big problem if you didn't also use that to save. That said, by the end of the game, you'll have enough energy to drop saves after even the smallest amount of progress.
The highlights of the game are the escape sequences, one after each of the three temples. These fast-paced sections really test your mastery of the game's movement options, which again, is the best part of the game. They're challenging enough to feel really satisfying when you complete them, but not so hard that it breaks your spirit, and respawn times are low so the punishment for death is minimal.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition, and I'm definitely interested in checking out the sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps. 4/5 stars.