DespicableCHUD
1998
Sometimes you just wanna kick and replay one of your favorite games.
2018
This review contains spoilers
A halfsterpiece. Loved the left-to-right Ninja Garden platformer stages, but the game took a real nosedive during the second half, when it abruptly transforms into a shitty, unfulfilling, and maddeningly tedious Metroidvania. The strength of the first half was enough for me -- and I didn't even bother finishing the rest.
Pretty much my favorite game of all time. There isn't a moment where I'm NOT playing this.
Why am I so shit at this game?
2018
I really don't like this game.
2022
This game has so such much going for it—the grungy, neon-hued aesthetics; the menacingly beautiful environments; the ecocentric take on urban exploration; the cute kitty—and yet it’s ultimately let down by its ropey storytelling, stale mechanics, and a never-ending procession of fetch quests and inventory puzzles (you know, in a cat game). Still worth playing, but not quite as good as I’d hoped.
2021
Well, that's a rabbit hole I'm never getting out of.
A big, beautiful, bonanza-sized nostalgia wank that—much like something like Twin Peaks: The Return—doubles as a self-reflexive autocritique of the entire enterprise of indulging in said nostalgia, interrogating our desires and expectations for even wanting to re-experience this narrative in the first place. I, for one, loved the bold narrative leaps this game makes throughout its generous runtime (however wild and literal they might be at times), adored its surprisingly complex and satisfying combat (eat my ass, Arsenal!), and was all-in-all walloped by huge stretches of it. I could probably do without some of the bloat and tedious side missions, but this was still pretty terrific.
2021
Undeniably charming, but largely coasts on the novelty of its central concept. Every solitary component feels rushed and underdeveloped: the rouge-lite dungeon crawler is janky, button-mashy, and pretty perfunctory; the dating sim often feels half-baked and underwritten; and the gameplay loop as a whole is repetitive and grindy. I really liked the characters and batshit premise, but the game itself left a lot to be desired. I'd love to see a refinement of this concept though.
Dropped this a couple of months ago, so I might as well log it here. A listless, uninspired slog that honestly feels like it was made out of some sort of contractual obligation. Even my daughter got bored with it.
2019
Every day there's a new Mario level for me to play.
Some of them are great.
Some of them are janky as hell.
Some of them make me want to throw my Switch across the room.
Some of them give me literal goosebumps of joy.
This game is great!
Some of them are great.
Some of them are janky as hell.
Some of them make me want to throw my Switch across the room.
Some of them give me literal goosebumps of joy.
This game is great!
2021
Is this supposed to be janky and unplayable on purpose?
2021
Chill to the point of catatonia — and I mean that in the best way possible. Also, I'm pretty crap at organizing and unpacking in real life, and this game pretty much confirmed that. Sorry I did such a poor job organizing your bookshelves, lady.
Undeniably great. That ending suplexed me into oblivion.
2018
Suffers from a bad case of collectijunctivitis, but still a gobsmackingly good game.