Now this is what I was looking for in a Pokemon game. A decent story that tries to have actual characters and themes, a cool region with interesting locations and a season system to add more visual variety, and an acceptable amount of challenge. It's not a major innovative entry, but it's a great effort in refining what the series was already working with. I also respect the game for forcing you to work with the introduced Pokemon, makes for a unique experience when you're not relying on the same staples between games, even if Unova does have one of the overall weaker Dex's.
It's alright. Unfortunately the extremely basic world design and content holds the Kanto region back, but it still has enough going for it to be enjoyable. Especially the music, that alone carried me through like half of the game.
Despite it's tiring level reuse, clunky menu and lack of tension later in the game, Eternal Darkness is pretty great. It's extremely flavourful and unique construction sets it apart from so many other horror games, even to this day. It's cosmic horror influences are captured wonderfully, both thematically and mechanically. Taking control of so many characters throughout the history of humanity, and the story managing to balance and tie them so well together was a real treat. The gameplay has also aged surprisingly well, with fluid controls and a limb dismemberment system that predates Dead Space's popularization of it. Such a shame that Eternal Darkness wasn't more successful and Silicon Knights later imploded in on itself, the game deserved so much better.
1993
Genuinely pretty fun and charming. I love the blocky visuals and killer music. If the frame rate and draw distance wasn't so bad, this'd easily be one of my favourite SNES games.
2018
I understand why most people like this. Depending on who you are, this game offers a great thrill ride with lots of cinematic splendour and enjoyable writing that tugs just right on your heartstrings. But I can't help but feel extremely frustrated by God of War's total lack of respect for my intelligence and agency as a player.
I can't be trusted to navigate the environments without running into invisible walls littered along every knee high obstacle and 5-foot cliff. I can't be trusted to platform and die of my own accord, instead being forced into button prompts you can't fail and frequent bland, rail-roaded climbing segments. I can't be trusted to show interest in the story and what's happening without being locked into unskippable walking sections every 10 feet. I can't be trusted to solve puzzles more complex than throwing axes at obvious bulls eye's with no more thought required.
Even the combat, the only gameplay element with any sort of skill expression, is riddled with problems. It's all style over substance, and this is yet again another action game that slaps an unnecessary RPG system on top of everything. The enemy variety is embarrassingly awful too, including its 2 "actual" bosses. The only thing propping it up are some of its set pieces, which helps to distract from how little you're actually doing.
I really think they could've done so much more with a God of War reboot. Leaning into Kratos' strength more to give him more personality, integrating Atreus more into the gameplay to elevate him beyond being an extra button you press in combat sometimes, coming up with at least one other kind of puzzle you can do, etc.. Unfortunately, I truly believed they took the most boring route possible here. It's hard for me to say GoW is outright bad, because it's not. I dislike it more out of a clashing of priorities of what I want versus what the game is going for. Yeah, I think it plays it too safe to its detriment, but that doesn't have to be as big of a problem if it just executed on its ideas better and didn't break my immersion as often.
Every kind of game deserves to exist, sure, but I should still feel like I'm actually playing the game instead of just watching it.
I can't be trusted to navigate the environments without running into invisible walls littered along every knee high obstacle and 5-foot cliff. I can't be trusted to platform and die of my own accord, instead being forced into button prompts you can't fail and frequent bland, rail-roaded climbing segments. I can't be trusted to show interest in the story and what's happening without being locked into unskippable walking sections every 10 feet. I can't be trusted to solve puzzles more complex than throwing axes at obvious bulls eye's with no more thought required.
Even the combat, the only gameplay element with any sort of skill expression, is riddled with problems. It's all style over substance, and this is yet again another action game that slaps an unnecessary RPG system on top of everything. The enemy variety is embarrassingly awful too, including its 2 "actual" bosses. The only thing propping it up are some of its set pieces, which helps to distract from how little you're actually doing.
I really think they could've done so much more with a God of War reboot. Leaning into Kratos' strength more to give him more personality, integrating Atreus more into the gameplay to elevate him beyond being an extra button you press in combat sometimes, coming up with at least one other kind of puzzle you can do, etc.. Unfortunately, I truly believed they took the most boring route possible here. It's hard for me to say GoW is outright bad, because it's not. I dislike it more out of a clashing of priorities of what I want versus what the game is going for. Yeah, I think it plays it too safe to its detriment, but that doesn't have to be as big of a problem if it just executed on its ideas better and didn't break my immersion as often.
Every kind of game deserves to exist, sure, but I should still feel like I'm actually playing the game instead of just watching it.
2019
I absolutely love the idea of Hypnospace Outlaw, and the presentation is delightful. But I don't think it really works well as a game. Puzzles become too convoluted and nonsensical to solve, where I got sucked out of the flow too easily. I also grew to dislike the story, especially the ending. At least the game as a whole is pretty novel, and lots of cool little details were sprinkled throughout for me to discover and enjoy.
2002
Adventures is one of the messiest games I've ever played. It has a lot of charm and is technically very impressive for its time, but the rushed development really shows through sometimes.
The pacing falls apart in its second half, with important encounters either being rushed through or slapped together. I also have a problem with how overly simplistic and repetitive both the combat and puzzles are. But it at least has good music, fun exploration, amusingly campy writing and voice acting, and isn't usually too frustrating (except for the staff aiming controls, dear lord they're atrocious).
It all somewhat balances out into a mediocre experience for me, and isn't essential to go out of your way to play nowadays. Unless you have a lot of nostalgia for it... or it was responsible for your furry awakening years ago... which is totally not applicable to me... cough.
The pacing falls apart in its second half, with important encounters either being rushed through or slapped together. I also have a problem with how overly simplistic and repetitive both the combat and puzzles are. But it at least has good music, fun exploration, amusingly campy writing and voice acting, and isn't usually too frustrating (except for the staff aiming controls, dear lord they're atrocious).
It all somewhat balances out into a mediocre experience for me, and isn't essential to go out of your way to play nowadays. Unless you have a lot of nostalgia for it... or it was responsible for your furry awakening years ago... which is totally not applicable to me... cough.
2023
Princess Maker games are pretty appealing to me on a conceptual level, but they've always had a hard time being compelling enough mechanically to work properly. Volcano Princess is almost there, but it still suffers from a couple of big problems, enough that I couldn't bring myself to finish it.
Biggest problem is that the English translation is incredibly rough. You can understand what they're trying to say, but it becomes very unenjoyable after a few hours. It makes it hard to tell how good the story and characters are, since the flow of dialogue makes them sound like weird robots regurgitating dialogue that only hints at their character traits. It seems like there's very little going on with the story as well, since it does a poor job of developing it in a way that the player can get invested in. Raising your daughter is all you can latch onto. Granted, it is at least pretty cute and your bond feels genuine enough.
The rest of the mechanics aren't quite compelling enough to pick up the slack. It's initially engaging, as you figure out how you want to raise your daughter and get familiar with the mechanics. Once you settle into a build, it becomes a tedious grind until you hit the end. There aren't enough wrenches thrown in your way to make the gameplay more interesting. While there are mini-games, they're very bland and don't add much. Not even the tacked on turn-based RPG section, which just feels bad to play.
Despite all that, it's not that bad of a game per se. It at least does an okay job at giving you the illusion you're raising a daughter. The art is very cute when the effort is put in. While the mechanics are generally lacking, there's still some fun to be had in an overall sense, planning out your run to be efficient and get the ending you want. There's some alright moments sprinkled throughout, even through the bad translation.
Which is my main problem here. I could be much more forgiving of what's here if the developers got a proper, professional translation. I'd at least be able to invest in what's going on and latch onto the characters easier. I can tell what's here isn't half bad, and I like what they're going for. But until then, I can't be bothered to finish it.
Biggest problem is that the English translation is incredibly rough. You can understand what they're trying to say, but it becomes very unenjoyable after a few hours. It makes it hard to tell how good the story and characters are, since the flow of dialogue makes them sound like weird robots regurgitating dialogue that only hints at their character traits. It seems like there's very little going on with the story as well, since it does a poor job of developing it in a way that the player can get invested in. Raising your daughter is all you can latch onto. Granted, it is at least pretty cute and your bond feels genuine enough.
The rest of the mechanics aren't quite compelling enough to pick up the slack. It's initially engaging, as you figure out how you want to raise your daughter and get familiar with the mechanics. Once you settle into a build, it becomes a tedious grind until you hit the end. There aren't enough wrenches thrown in your way to make the gameplay more interesting. While there are mini-games, they're very bland and don't add much. Not even the tacked on turn-based RPG section, which just feels bad to play.
Despite all that, it's not that bad of a game per se. It at least does an okay job at giving you the illusion you're raising a daughter. The art is very cute when the effort is put in. While the mechanics are generally lacking, there's still some fun to be had in an overall sense, planning out your run to be efficient and get the ending you want. There's some alright moments sprinkled throughout, even through the bad translation.
Which is my main problem here. I could be much more forgiving of what's here if the developers got a proper, professional translation. I'd at least be able to invest in what's going on and latch onto the characters easier. I can tell what's here isn't half bad, and I like what they're going for. But until then, I can't be bothered to finish it.
It's an alright game overall, though I will admit it's a bit of a guilty pleasure. Ratchet and Clank meant a lot to me as a kid, and Rift Apart scratched a certain itch I've had for the series after all these years. It plays and looks fantastic, with great performance and wicked fast loading times. They took advantage of the PS5's specs well, and the extra controller vibrations and features enhanced the experience for me a good deal. The guns and wall-running were especially satisfying.
Though the game unsurprisingly fumbles the writing pretty badly. These are the blandest hero characters I've played in a game in quite a while, with no real chemistry with each other, other than thanking and praising each other constantly. These are not remotely the same characters from the older games, which isn't inherently a huge issue, but this is just sad. The story is technically competent enough, but it's just chasing macguffin's around until Nefarious is beaten. Yawn.
There's also a problem with variety. There's only a small handful of planets, the same robot enemies show up constantly, each weapon can be used in every situation so there's no strategic depth, and so on. The hacking and dimension sections do help to break the repetition up, but the hacking is just another shooting section with a character we get no context for, so it doesn't go very far.
None of this surprises me, though. Rift Apart reeks of modern AAA game development ethos, and that tends to have some mixed results for me. Great production value, cinematic presentation and ease of play overtake any real serious artistic vision beyond creating a safe, inoffensive product to sell to your target audience (kids and teens in this case, I suppose). However, I think they've forgotten that the original games were also made for kids and teenagers, and they didn't feel like they were written for literal pre-schoolers.
BUT. That being said, it's still a fun game if you can get past all that. R&C 2016 was the last R&C game I played, and it was worse in most of these aspects. So it's at least a big improvement from where the series was a while ago.
Though the game unsurprisingly fumbles the writing pretty badly. These are the blandest hero characters I've played in a game in quite a while, with no real chemistry with each other, other than thanking and praising each other constantly. These are not remotely the same characters from the older games, which isn't inherently a huge issue, but this is just sad. The story is technically competent enough, but it's just chasing macguffin's around until Nefarious is beaten. Yawn.
There's also a problem with variety. There's only a small handful of planets, the same robot enemies show up constantly, each weapon can be used in every situation so there's no strategic depth, and so on. The hacking and dimension sections do help to break the repetition up, but the hacking is just another shooting section with a character we get no context for, so it doesn't go very far.
None of this surprises me, though. Rift Apart reeks of modern AAA game development ethos, and that tends to have some mixed results for me. Great production value, cinematic presentation and ease of play overtake any real serious artistic vision beyond creating a safe, inoffensive product to sell to your target audience (kids and teens in this case, I suppose). However, I think they've forgotten that the original games were also made for kids and teenagers, and they didn't feel like they were written for literal pre-schoolers.
BUT. That being said, it's still a fun game if you can get past all that. R&C 2016 was the last R&C game I played, and it was worse in most of these aspects. So it's at least a big improvement from where the series was a while ago.
My thoughts on Tears are pretty complicated, and there's lots I do like. But it ultimately comes down to what I was personally looking for in a sequel to Breath of the Wild. And what we got was very far off the mark of that.
I can't get past the feeling that Tears is a glorified DLC pack with a bad story and a clunky building/fusing mechanic stapled onto it, with few of the structural issues I had with its predecessor being addressed. In some cases, made worse. Too much of this game feels too familiar, with none of the new additions being interesting enough to pick up the slack.
As much as I can respect and enjoy Nintendo's games, their unwillingness to take risks or optimize player experience properly drives me nuts sometimes.
I can't get past the feeling that Tears is a glorified DLC pack with a bad story and a clunky building/fusing mechanic stapled onto it, with few of the structural issues I had with its predecessor being addressed. In some cases, made worse. Too much of this game feels too familiar, with none of the new additions being interesting enough to pick up the slack.
As much as I can respect and enjoy Nintendo's games, their unwillingness to take risks or optimize player experience properly drives me nuts sometimes.
Story driven games have a massive uphill battle to fight for my attention. I prioritize gameplay a lot, and usually see the story as a method to enhance the interactivity through the context it provides. If you're game is extremely story focused, then it better be the best damn story ever or I'm not going to have a fun time.
Thankfully, Ghost Trick engaged me all the way through to the end entirely on the strength of its story. It's fantastic, one of the best plots in a game I've ever played. If you're reading this and haven't played it yet, avoid any and all spoilers and do it. Trust me.
That's not to say the rest of it isn't good, far from it. The character roster is shockingly well developed and likeable (with some small exceptions). The music slaps hard and fits each scene perfectly. The art direction and animation are about as good as its story. The game play, while somewhat easy and has some minor issues here and there, is at least very creative and meshes with the story wonderfully.
It just hits so well on almost everything it aims to do. Ghost Trick is excellent, and that means a lot coming from me with this kind of game.
And, of course I must stress: Missile is the bestest boy.
Thankfully, Ghost Trick engaged me all the way through to the end entirely on the strength of its story. It's fantastic, one of the best plots in a game I've ever played. If you're reading this and haven't played it yet, avoid any and all spoilers and do it. Trust me.
That's not to say the rest of it isn't good, far from it. The character roster is shockingly well developed and likeable (with some small exceptions). The music slaps hard and fits each scene perfectly. The art direction and animation are about as good as its story. The game play, while somewhat easy and has some minor issues here and there, is at least very creative and meshes with the story wonderfully.
It just hits so well on almost everything it aims to do. Ghost Trick is excellent, and that means a lot coming from me with this kind of game.
And, of course I must stress: Missile is the bestest boy.
2019
Unquestionably the best thing about Blasphemous is its presentation. The pixel art is fantastic, and it does a lot with the exaggerated religious themeing. The gameplay is solid enough, but there is a level of clunkiness and frustration that can be hard to get past sometimes. But the enemy designs and solid world design do a good deal to prop up the slightly mediocre combat and platforming. Honestly, my biggest criticism is for the music. It's pretty flavourless and aimless, with only a tiny handful of tracks having any notable compositional elements to them.
A bit of a mixed bag, but Blasphemous is worth a playthrough for most Metroidvania fans.
A bit of a mixed bag, but Blasphemous is worth a playthrough for most Metroidvania fans.
2009
Despite some of its more aged mechanics, Demon's Souls is still unparalleled in its immersion, atmosphere and bold experimentation, even within its own series. It feels like an actual experience, an adventure into a brutal and unforgiving land where you have to think about how to approach situations, and to not trust everyone you meet. A game that manages to be mechanically unpredictable and engaging on a much deeper level than most. No other game has defined my tastes or surprised me as much as Demon's Souls has when I first played it around its release. I love this little bugger, even with its very rough edges.
2019
Genuinely an overall bad experience. Flat, lifeless, boring, and other such synonyms for a lack of excitement and creativity. Empty story with a dreadful "villain" and Leon literally hogging any of the excitement the player could've had. Hop. Empty, thoughtless level and world design. Braindead gameplay. Most of the new features like dynamaxing, raid battles and wild areas fall pretty flat. The somewhat substantial change-ups to the gym challenges are completely dropped in the latter half of the game. And on, and on.
Sword/Shield reek of a slap-dashed rush job tossed out to meet their 3-year deadline for mainline Pokemon games. It's not even like there's no fun to be had here. I can enjoy the base gameplay and fun of catching my favourite Pokemon, and there's some good stuff sprinkled in here and there, like the new animation work for the camps, character designs, and the music. But... come on. This series can do so much better.
Sword/Shield reek of a slap-dashed rush job tossed out to meet their 3-year deadline for mainline Pokemon games. It's not even like there's no fun to be had here. I can enjoy the base gameplay and fun of catching my favourite Pokemon, and there's some good stuff sprinkled in here and there, like the new animation work for the camps, character designs, and the music. But... come on. This series can do so much better.
2020
Note: This was written before the 2.0 update, so I've got no context for any of the changes.
This is not the generation-defining masterpiece that it was being sold to us as. CDPR deserved all the backlash they got for the disaster they put out at launch. But, despite all that, and after two years of patches, this is a pretty decent game at its core.
The base gameplay is serviceable, with a mixed bag of some fun weapons and abilities, decent quest design and shitty driving controls. It's enjoyable enough to get you through the experience, but the main draw is the writing and world. The story is engaging for the most part, with a healthy mix of action set-pieces, intrigue and slow character moments. A strong cast of characters greatly helps to connect you with the world and motivate you through the stories events. The real star of the show being Johnny Silverhand, his dynamic with V being the best part of the experience. I also adore the art direction of Night City and the soundtrack, really gives the game a colourful, cool atmosphere and punch.
Of course, there's plenty of issues that drag it down from reaching its lofty goals. As much as I like Night City, its interactivity is disappointingly thin. The story can be disjointed, especially in the first few hours. Choices that affect the overall outcome are also few and far between, primarily concentrated right before the actual ending. Side quests also screw with the pacing and urgency of the main storyline. The loot system is the same number and spam crap that infests every other big budget modern RPG, and the variety of weapons isn't very exciting either. Of course, there's plenty of bugs and a lack of general polish, but thankfully, little of it was game breaking for me personally.
Overall, I'm glad I came back top it after a few years to finish it up. I enjoyed my time with Cyberpunk fine enough, though it definitely taught me an important lesson about tempering my expectations, no matter who the developer is. No one is immune from missteps. If it sounds too good to be true, then it is.
This is not the generation-defining masterpiece that it was being sold to us as. CDPR deserved all the backlash they got for the disaster they put out at launch. But, despite all that, and after two years of patches, this is a pretty decent game at its core.
The base gameplay is serviceable, with a mixed bag of some fun weapons and abilities, decent quest design and shitty driving controls. It's enjoyable enough to get you through the experience, but the main draw is the writing and world. The story is engaging for the most part, with a healthy mix of action set-pieces, intrigue and slow character moments. A strong cast of characters greatly helps to connect you with the world and motivate you through the stories events. The real star of the show being Johnny Silverhand, his dynamic with V being the best part of the experience. I also adore the art direction of Night City and the soundtrack, really gives the game a colourful, cool atmosphere and punch.
Of course, there's plenty of issues that drag it down from reaching its lofty goals. As much as I like Night City, its interactivity is disappointingly thin. The story can be disjointed, especially in the first few hours. Choices that affect the overall outcome are also few and far between, primarily concentrated right before the actual ending. Side quests also screw with the pacing and urgency of the main storyline. The loot system is the same number and spam crap that infests every other big budget modern RPG, and the variety of weapons isn't very exciting either. Of course, there's plenty of bugs and a lack of general polish, but thankfully, little of it was game breaking for me personally.
Overall, I'm glad I came back top it after a few years to finish it up. I enjoyed my time with Cyberpunk fine enough, though it definitely taught me an important lesson about tempering my expectations, no matter who the developer is. No one is immune from missteps. If it sounds too good to be true, then it is.