The lack of analog control is really the game's biggest fault. It leads to more deaths than it does sick tricks. The character switch could have used some work too.

But what's packaged here is just unbelievably nostalgic. It's the game I loved back on N64 with new bells and whistles that I fell in love with in 2004 and then again in 2020.

Mario 64 no matter which version you play is still just a fantastic time.

I still can't believe this was a launch game for the DS... What a visually stellar first showing.

All these later and all these ports later, the game is still perfect.

The pacing, the combat, the controls, the level design. Everything is perfectly tuned to create a pretty flawless experience.

Just avoid the 2007 PC port and at this point you can skip the PS2 and GC port in favor of the Wii and HD ports.

I mean come on... It's Halo 2. Of course it's great.

That being said, I do have some misgivings about some of the new stuff. I'm still on the fence about some aspects of the redone cutscenes as well as some rather bizarre choices with re-recorded tracks. But you can always just play with the original graphics/sounds anyways... so It's not a big deal.

Really the biggest problem is the PC port is still pretty glitchy.

Total side note, but I still hate how this series balances for higher difficulties.

I think by the time I hit the credits, there was a certain nostalgia I had for the journey here. I had a lot of genuinely good fun despite some of it's rocky roads.

I think where the recent Paper Mario games have excelled is in their charm, writing, and overworld gameplay. The puzzle/adventure platforming aspect of these games is a great core and it's well designed. Giving you something new at every turn. The games look beautiful with their commitment to the papercraft aesthetic and the overall production is just very high as you'd expect from Nintendo.

My biggest problem with this game is the puzzle battles can definitely get tedious (even though I generally had fun with them). I don't think this game has great pacing between the puzzle battles and overworld gameplay. And it can definitely get in the way of some of the better set pieces. I really liked the puzzle bosses though.

But honestly if there was one thing I would have changed, I'd probably just get rid of the regular puzzle battles. If it's not going to be an RPG anymore, what's the point?

Everything else is quite lovely though.

It's busted. The frame rate sucks, the performance sucks, the animations are insanely stiff, and a lot of gameplay feels half baked.

But I love it. It's got that same weirdo charm that I get love out of Twin Peaks mixing with it's Japanese fanbase all wrapped up in what I can only compare to Euro-Jank. I actually don't hate a ton of the ideas in this game or think they're bad. I think they're all pretty solid and have been reused in better put together games. But they're also notDeadly Premonition.

Everything just works together in its own way here. Almost like lightning in a bottle.

I dunno what there really is to say about Minecraft that has already been said. It's a lot of things. Many of them I like and a good chunk of it I'm eh on.

But for all the hours I've put in over the years just building and playing with friends or just exploring other people's creations, it's an experience I kind of have to praise by default.

I still find it wild that this still gets pretty large content updates/overhauls and still has as huge of an impact for over 10 years (it caught on pretty hard back in like 2009/2010).

It's not even remotely for everyone but it's designed in a way only AAA games are and I love that about it.

It's a reflective experience that relies on the mundane nature of it's loop combined with it's ethereal apocalypse. I love a lot about this game in much the same way I love Team Ico's trilogy of games. It knows what it is and it indulges without regret.

Unfortunately, while I liked the story a lot, Kojima is really bad at pacing it and controlling himself. The game is backloaded with VERY LONG exposition dumps. I was actually disappointed I didn't have any questions left at the end because nothing is left ambiguous.

Thankfully while it may not always stick those landings, it has some absolutely beautiful and heart felt moments and those have stuck with me months later.

There's still an absolute magic to this game and the new additions from the graphics to the gyro aiming to the 3D really help it feel like that first time all over again.

After all these years, I still think this remake is the best way to experience the game. I find it really neat how this game had all this fancy 3D camera stuff (first person aiming, perfectly staged hallways, zooms, etc.) built into it's cutscenes that ended up being the best showcase for the 3DS's main gimmick.

It's a delight to play and one that gives you plenty to see and do if you want to. Also, the Forest Temple is still the most unforgettable introduction to adult Link's world

PSP Version:
I really appreciate that this tried to be something else to the PC version. The social RPG aspects are pretty interesting and surprisingly funny. It's short enough that by the time it gets boring you can just skip along when you want.

The house customization is pretty whatever though. I barely partook in it.

The framerate and load times on the actual PSP are pretty awful, so I ended up emulating it where it became 20x more playable.

Ripping everything off from all your favorite things certainly helps write you into a weird corner when you want to flex the idea of choice.

If you kind of just accept it as just playing through a movie, it's a blast with your buddy. The set pieces aren't particularly hard, the game's checkpoints are super forgiving, but there's a distinct charm to its interactivity. Living in an old couple's house for like 30 minutes while one of us played guitar while I ate cookies, watched TV, and cleaned up the dishes is certainly unforgettable.

It's just a shame choices and upsets always result in the same exact outcome. You're always stuck in a certain path, and maybe there's some metatextual thing to say about that given the ending. But that ending REALLY kills the story.

Everything on display here is extremely my shit. The third person shooting and the mind powers are extremely fun, the bureaucratic office setting is brutal and artificial in the best way, and the atmosphere oozes with intrigue and mystery. All wrapped in this style that only Remedy seems interested in exploring for some reason.

It's a shame the AI is pretty dumb a lot of the times and the story itself doesn't seem to take as much importance over the alluring mystery and intrigue and the overall style.

It can sometimes be a bit too much flash and no substance.

But there's plenty of the game to dig through, so surely your answers are just in the next room?