DestroyerTriple
The perfect remaster to probably my favorite game of all time. As someone who's played this countless times on gamecube, this remaster absolutely hits it out of the park. All the visual changes are intelligent and stick close to the feel of the original. I often forgot I was even playing the remaster and felt like I was just playing Prime, it's that well done. This is the best looking game on the switch and maintains a rock solid 60 fps just like the original does. There's all these subtle new visual effects that add to the immersion. I wasn't disappointed with a single enemy redesign or any of samus' armors, they were all updated well and look better than they do in the original.
My only complaints visually are how they changed the doors to be a solid color. This wouldn't be a problem but you can see the outlines to where the solid textured are supposed to be and thats a little distracting. The changes to the thermal visor are a bit overdone and it was straining until I got used to it. I get what they are going for but I'm assuming there are some people who are gonna have a worse time looking at it. The only other omissions from the gamecube version are the sequence breaking tricks (though I expected that to be gone) and the ntsc chozo lore which I feel is better. The new lore is fine and conveys the story well, but it feels a bit less heartfelt and creatively written than the original lore. Though this was also changed in the prime trilogy version.
What really cements this as the definitive way to play is the different control schemes. You got original gamecube controls (and you can use a gamecube controller, but you might have to rebind a couple of buttons), you have a modern fps control scheme which I don't like but I am assuming a lot of newcomers are gonna enjoy it, you have the pointer controls straight out of the wii version which are fantastically implemented, then you have my personal favorite which is the hybrid control scheme. The hybrid control scheme uses the original gamecube controls, but when you press the aim button you use the gyroscope to aim and Samus can move around while doing so. I recommend the hybrid aiming be the first one you can check out as I feel it's the best the game has ever controlled. A great feature is how you can change the control scheme on the fly. The game is also more helpful conveying your item and log book percentage. your health bar has x's on top to indicate how many energy tanks you don't have, and you can always see the total missiles you have below the missile counter. I'm not sure if I'm right on this so take it with a grain of salt, but I think you don't have to get all the log entries on your first run, there's an overall number in the extras menu that goes up. I really love the original gamecube version of this game and will always go back to it. I also think that if you can, the original is worth playing. That being said I feel this is the definitive way to play the game and probably the best remaster I've ever played.
My only complaints visually are how they changed the doors to be a solid color. This wouldn't be a problem but you can see the outlines to where the solid textured are supposed to be and thats a little distracting. The changes to the thermal visor are a bit overdone and it was straining until I got used to it. I get what they are going for but I'm assuming there are some people who are gonna have a worse time looking at it. The only other omissions from the gamecube version are the sequence breaking tricks (though I expected that to be gone) and the ntsc chozo lore which I feel is better. The new lore is fine and conveys the story well, but it feels a bit less heartfelt and creatively written than the original lore. Though this was also changed in the prime trilogy version.
What really cements this as the definitive way to play is the different control schemes. You got original gamecube controls (and you can use a gamecube controller, but you might have to rebind a couple of buttons), you have a modern fps control scheme which I don't like but I am assuming a lot of newcomers are gonna enjoy it, you have the pointer controls straight out of the wii version which are fantastically implemented, then you have my personal favorite which is the hybrid control scheme. The hybrid control scheme uses the original gamecube controls, but when you press the aim button you use the gyroscope to aim and Samus can move around while doing so. I recommend the hybrid aiming be the first one you can check out as I feel it's the best the game has ever controlled. A great feature is how you can change the control scheme on the fly. The game is also more helpful conveying your item and log book percentage. your health bar has x's on top to indicate how many energy tanks you don't have, and you can always see the total missiles you have below the missile counter. I'm not sure if I'm right on this so take it with a grain of salt, but I think you don't have to get all the log entries on your first run, there's an overall number in the extras menu that goes up. I really love the original gamecube version of this game and will always go back to it. I also think that if you can, the original is worth playing. That being said I feel this is the definitive way to play the game and probably the best remaster I've ever played.
Playing this game immediately after the first one makes it abundantly clear that this is the greatest sequel to any game of all time. Everything that doesnt work about the first game is fixed and its way more ambitious and interesting. This is one of my favorite games of all time. The more I play this the better it gets.
I dont even know where to begin with it. I think the storytelling is far better than the original. It has a more personal narrative, where you and your dragon, Lagi, are hunting down the ancient ship that destroyed your home. The dragon evolution mechanic is one of my favorite things in any video game. Seeing Lagi evolve throughout the entire game is such a cool thing. It adds to the narrative, but also getting better at the game and mastering it gives you further evolutions, so its this tangible reason for you to replay it. This also includes the alternate routes which dramatically change a levels progression. One of my absolute favorite things is that the first time Lagi flies is in gameplay. He struggles to do it during a couple of cutscenes, but then during one of the levels, he finally gets it. Its done entirely through the gameplay and you get to control it. It had a big impact on me even though I first played it decades after it came out.
The controls are emaculate. Flying, switching the four directions, aiming and shooting lasers and shots, it all feels like butter. Its such a satisfying game to control. Everything is so readable. I never felt there were many unfair moments or that the hardware was holding it back. It has a great difficulty curve, its actually a lot easier than the first game, but the scoring gives it more complexity. Its just a nice balance between that first playthrough being impressive versus having really good staying power. Every level is so cool and they are backed by an incredible soundtrack that eclipses the first games OST. The bosses are a highlight too. I love how the game encourages you to kill them quickly, they feel really dynamic as some have hidden phases or have attacks that can be interrupted with skillful shots.
The final boss in this game is legendary to me. It is my favorite final boss of any game. It is epic in scale but it also has this ethereal beauty to it. The track that plays is incredible and the attacks it does are stunning. The second phase is amazing. Its a fight of equals that I dont think couldve been done any better. Its something you gotta experience to really understand and its worth playing the game just to get there. Its incredible stuff.
I really dont have anything bad to say about it. I mean maybe my only issue is that alternate routes are pretty hard to identify in the moment and easy to screw up if you want to play perfectly. But thats something I really dont even mind because I can just play this over and over and over again. Its simply a perfect video game that I hope everyone gets to experience. A real masterclass.
I dont even know where to begin with it. I think the storytelling is far better than the original. It has a more personal narrative, where you and your dragon, Lagi, are hunting down the ancient ship that destroyed your home. The dragon evolution mechanic is one of my favorite things in any video game. Seeing Lagi evolve throughout the entire game is such a cool thing. It adds to the narrative, but also getting better at the game and mastering it gives you further evolutions, so its this tangible reason for you to replay it. This also includes the alternate routes which dramatically change a levels progression. One of my absolute favorite things is that the first time Lagi flies is in gameplay. He struggles to do it during a couple of cutscenes, but then during one of the levels, he finally gets it. Its done entirely through the gameplay and you get to control it. It had a big impact on me even though I first played it decades after it came out.
The controls are emaculate. Flying, switching the four directions, aiming and shooting lasers and shots, it all feels like butter. Its such a satisfying game to control. Everything is so readable. I never felt there were many unfair moments or that the hardware was holding it back. It has a great difficulty curve, its actually a lot easier than the first game, but the scoring gives it more complexity. Its just a nice balance between that first playthrough being impressive versus having really good staying power. Every level is so cool and they are backed by an incredible soundtrack that eclipses the first games OST. The bosses are a highlight too. I love how the game encourages you to kill them quickly, they feel really dynamic as some have hidden phases or have attacks that can be interrupted with skillful shots.
The final boss in this game is legendary to me. It is my favorite final boss of any game. It is epic in scale but it also has this ethereal beauty to it. The track that plays is incredible and the attacks it does are stunning. The second phase is amazing. Its a fight of equals that I dont think couldve been done any better. Its something you gotta experience to really understand and its worth playing the game just to get there. Its incredible stuff.
I really dont have anything bad to say about it. I mean maybe my only issue is that alternate routes are pretty hard to identify in the moment and easy to screw up if you want to play perfectly. But thats something I really dont even mind because I can just play this over and over and over again. Its simply a perfect video game that I hope everyone gets to experience. A real masterclass.
1999
This game is very poorly designed. The progression and the mini games make this a very tedious collectathon experience. It almost feels like the developers were playing a practical joke with its game design. One of the mini games is broken to the point of being nearly impossible and it is repeated at least four times. To top it off there is a very easy to activate softlock that can gate 101% completion from you at the very end of the game. This all makes it hard to recommend to people. It's like a full time job of a video game.
To me this game design actually holds value. It makes for a game that's so over the top that it turns around and becomes compelling. You enter these giant collectathon sandboxes and it's so overwhelming, but slowly working out the ins and outs of the levels and achieving that 100% felt really satisfying in a way banjo never really got for me. A lot of people rightfully criticize the way it handles playable characters, but I think that limitation of having to find them was another step in this big puzzle of navigating the labrynthine collectathon loop the levels present. DK64 was always pushing me and testing me in all these ways that kept me engaged the entire time. I don't think there will ever be another game like it. Like what game has five variations of most of the collectibles in a level? It's just so insane to me and I find it endearing.
This is all held together by phenomenal presentation. I think this game values and understands the vibes of Donkey Kong Country more than people have you believe. Banjo is full of whimsy and a cozy feel to it. DK64 has a heavier emphasis on atmosphere, with the later levels going for moody foreboding stuff that you would see in the country games, it's great, and I think it compliments the daunting collectathon challenge it presents. I feel the same way about the music and I think it's easily Grant Kirkhopes best score. It's a surprisingly varied soundtrack and I often felt that it was going for the same kind of natural ambience David Wise goes for in the country games. I really don't understand the complaint that it just sounds like Banjo, they are definitely going for different things.
I wasn't sure I wanted to give this game as high of a rating as I did, but what cemented it for me was Hideout Helm and the final fight with K. Rool. It's an incredible finale and it's almost worth all the crap the game puts you through. Hideout Helm is a tight timed gauntlet that puts your knowledge of all the Kongs to the test with this incredible track that really puts the pressure on. And the K. Rool fight is this incredibly ambitious 5 round minimum boxing match where you have to use each kong's unique abilities to take him down. Legit one of my favorite bosses of all time, it's a masterwork in puzzle focused boss design.
I think one of the reasons I loved this game as much as I did was because it felt like a culmination of rareware at Nintendo. For better and worse it's this swan song collectathon where they just put all their eggs in a basket and went crazy with it. The fact you play Donkey Kong arcade and Rarewares Jetpac for mandatory progression only cements this idea. It's a celebratory experience that you have to really work at to get it's bombastic payoff. I don't think it's a game I'd casually play, but it was a challenge I set for myself that I found really fruitful at the end of the day.
To me this game design actually holds value. It makes for a game that's so over the top that it turns around and becomes compelling. You enter these giant collectathon sandboxes and it's so overwhelming, but slowly working out the ins and outs of the levels and achieving that 100% felt really satisfying in a way banjo never really got for me. A lot of people rightfully criticize the way it handles playable characters, but I think that limitation of having to find them was another step in this big puzzle of navigating the labrynthine collectathon loop the levels present. DK64 was always pushing me and testing me in all these ways that kept me engaged the entire time. I don't think there will ever be another game like it. Like what game has five variations of most of the collectibles in a level? It's just so insane to me and I find it endearing.
This is all held together by phenomenal presentation. I think this game values and understands the vibes of Donkey Kong Country more than people have you believe. Banjo is full of whimsy and a cozy feel to it. DK64 has a heavier emphasis on atmosphere, with the later levels going for moody foreboding stuff that you would see in the country games, it's great, and I think it compliments the daunting collectathon challenge it presents. I feel the same way about the music and I think it's easily Grant Kirkhopes best score. It's a surprisingly varied soundtrack and I often felt that it was going for the same kind of natural ambience David Wise goes for in the country games. I really don't understand the complaint that it just sounds like Banjo, they are definitely going for different things.
I wasn't sure I wanted to give this game as high of a rating as I did, but what cemented it for me was Hideout Helm and the final fight with K. Rool. It's an incredible finale and it's almost worth all the crap the game puts you through. Hideout Helm is a tight timed gauntlet that puts your knowledge of all the Kongs to the test with this incredible track that really puts the pressure on. And the K. Rool fight is this incredibly ambitious 5 round minimum boxing match where you have to use each kong's unique abilities to take him down. Legit one of my favorite bosses of all time, it's a masterwork in puzzle focused boss design.
I think one of the reasons I loved this game as much as I did was because it felt like a culmination of rareware at Nintendo. For better and worse it's this swan song collectathon where they just put all their eggs in a basket and went crazy with it. The fact you play Donkey Kong arcade and Rarewares Jetpac for mandatory progression only cements this idea. It's a celebratory experience that you have to really work at to get it's bombastic payoff. I don't think it's a game I'd casually play, but it was a challenge I set for myself that I found really fruitful at the end of the day.
2023
Obviously very early into this. But I know peak when I see it. My favorite Street Fighter already. It does a lot of the stuff I love from SF4 but implemented better. It also has an amazing lobby system with great net code, the best starting roster I've seen in a while, Manon is already a solidified all timer for me. This game just makes me happy.
2022
This review contains spoilers
This is right after me experiencing it, and I think I'd get more out of it the more I play it. But this is one of those games that really shakes the foundation of what a game can make you feel, and it played me like a fiddle. I was streaming this with a friend who was playing it, and I really related to a lot of the mundane day job stuff it was doing. It had a lot of attention to detail. I love how breaks felt really short, but when you have a good conversation with one of the characters they end up feeling longer. I feel like that's pretty true to life, and the game is full of little details like that. The game starts becoming really weird as it goes on, and it honestly started to lose me at that point. I was starting to get frustrated, and as this game doesn't have a save feature, I was scared it was going to go on for a long time. But I realize after the playthrough that's exactly what the game wanted me to feel. The main character is someone who enjoys the easy mundanity of work, which is a feeling I really relate with. So when the game becomes weird and labyrinthine. I think it's supposed to reflect what they are feeling in that moment. Everything is different, and you are forced into a situation you don't want to be in. It's frustrating and confusing. I've often felt like this at work. I like my more familiar tasks at work, and when I have to do something I don't do a lot or if I have to work with a new person. It ends up stressing me out in a way that's hard to describe. This game really nailed that kind of feeling through its gameplay, and that alone means a lot to me. And there's probably more I could get out of it on a second playthrough. The writing is layered in that way. Kind of like a Charlie Kaufman film. And it seems like the game has some fun secrets in it if you pay attention. Very great stuff.
1997
RETROSPECTIVE PREAMBLE
I don't really play rpgs that much. I'm not sure why, something about the length or the gameplay of them have always kept me largely uninvested in this prolific genre. The only ones I've really played were a few Pokémon games as a kid, Undertale, Omori, and Panzer Dragoon Saga. I love the ones I listed (Undertale is my favorite game after all) but I wouldn't really say most of those are really traditional or all that lengthy really.
I've tried playing a few square rpgs. I nearly completed chrono trigger but I couldn't keep invested with it. I've touched a few traditional ff games like 4 and 6, but I wasn't hooked for long. I decided to go with 7 because I just love that games aesthetic. The character designs are awesome and I always heard a lot about it that would be appealing for me, so I gave it an honest shot.
THE REVIEW
What I ended up getting was something unbelievable even with the cosmic praise it gets. From the very beginning I was hooked line and sinker into this huge and dense story. I think the single biggest thing I can praise this game for is it's pacing. There wasn't a single moment of my time where I was uninterested enough to stop. I always had a reason to keep going and I was always seeing something new and fun. I love that opening so much, how this calming and earthly music makes way for this exciting espionage esq tone. It really encapsulates what the game is gonna feel like throughout.
Midgar is just incredible, it's one of the coolest cityscapes I've ever seen. The pre rendered backgrounds breathe it to life and every inch of it is memorable. Everything in Midgar keeps escalating to this bombastic raid of shin ra headquarters and as you step out into the wider world you realize it's just the beggining.
FF7s story is really timeless in that it kind of has something for everyone. It's big and exciting, but it's also tender and thoughtful. It also has thematic clarity. Life, death and rebirth are probably the main things this deals with. But there are also themes of capitalism, nature, identity and loss. This is all very fresh to me so I'm not gonna try and really analyze it. This is to say that this games story is very fruitful.
I think I love every character with a few of them might be some of my favorite characters in any game. Cloud is such a great protagonist, his journey and development feel earned and he is the focalpoint of the games themes. Tifa and Cait Sith in particular were some of my favorite characters. The only ones I really felt were lacking were Yuffie and Cid, though I don't think I went back and did Yuffies side content. Aerith is great because she is really useful in the first bit of the game and losing her is conveyed well in gameplay. You don't have her protection and guidance any more, your good healing is gone and now you have to figure out your party dynamics without her. Her story is also really touching and her backstory made me tear up a bit. Sephiroth is also a great antagonist. He felt like a wraith over the story and his backstory and relationship with Cloud is compelling.
I was actually really into the gameplay here. Something that always happens to me in RPGs is that I will get so many moves and abilities before I am really encouraged to experiment with them. RPGs are about party customization, but the bloat of options usually gets to me. This happened to me with chrono trigger. I just kept getting a bunch of moves and I shut down on learning how to use them. FF7 retains a lot of core FF combat but makes changes that kept me invested in it. The Limit Break system is cool as hell and makes every fight feel like a true back and fourth. Big damage can also mean a big comeback and it gave a lot of texture to the basic physical attack that I wasn't expecting. I really love the materia system. It's a brilliant way of conveying its capitalistic world that people siphon and itemize magic to sell it. But it also makes the customization of magics really engaging to me. being able to put spells on anyone is really cool, and the game encourages you to use your materia a lot. I'm not gonna lie, there was a lot of materia I didn't get or use with which gave me some issues near the end where I probably wasn't fully equipped to deal with everything it threw at me. But for the bulk of it I was experimenting and the combat rarely felt tedious.
The final area of this game rules. I had a really memorable experience with it because like I said I was barely equipped to deal with it. I ended up save stating near the end of it, but this had the knock on effect of me feeling like I might have locked myself out of victory. I was threading the needle through every fight with Jenova and Sephiroth. Earning that win felt triumphant. I love how the game presents galactic stakes to you, but then it ends with this personal beat down of Sephiroth. Everything he has done to Cloud and the gang makes his death cathartic. It makes this big bombastic ending feel deeply personal in a way most of these rarely ever do (FF16 eat your heart out).
I'm really really glad I stuck through with this. There is obviously a lot more I can say, but the game speaks for itself. It's a legendary game that rocked the industry and all that. It means a lot to me. Everything about it really resonated with me, and it also just felt good being able to put aside my rpg biases and really conquer one of the big ones. I knew it was gonna be one of my favorites early on and it didn't disappoint.
I don't really play rpgs that much. I'm not sure why, something about the length or the gameplay of them have always kept me largely uninvested in this prolific genre. The only ones I've really played were a few Pokémon games as a kid, Undertale, Omori, and Panzer Dragoon Saga. I love the ones I listed (Undertale is my favorite game after all) but I wouldn't really say most of those are really traditional or all that lengthy really.
I've tried playing a few square rpgs. I nearly completed chrono trigger but I couldn't keep invested with it. I've touched a few traditional ff games like 4 and 6, but I wasn't hooked for long. I decided to go with 7 because I just love that games aesthetic. The character designs are awesome and I always heard a lot about it that would be appealing for me, so I gave it an honest shot.
THE REVIEW
What I ended up getting was something unbelievable even with the cosmic praise it gets. From the very beginning I was hooked line and sinker into this huge and dense story. I think the single biggest thing I can praise this game for is it's pacing. There wasn't a single moment of my time where I was uninterested enough to stop. I always had a reason to keep going and I was always seeing something new and fun. I love that opening so much, how this calming and earthly music makes way for this exciting espionage esq tone. It really encapsulates what the game is gonna feel like throughout.
Midgar is just incredible, it's one of the coolest cityscapes I've ever seen. The pre rendered backgrounds breathe it to life and every inch of it is memorable. Everything in Midgar keeps escalating to this bombastic raid of shin ra headquarters and as you step out into the wider world you realize it's just the beggining.
FF7s story is really timeless in that it kind of has something for everyone. It's big and exciting, but it's also tender and thoughtful. It also has thematic clarity. Life, death and rebirth are probably the main things this deals with. But there are also themes of capitalism, nature, identity and loss. This is all very fresh to me so I'm not gonna try and really analyze it. This is to say that this games story is very fruitful.
I think I love every character with a few of them might be some of my favorite characters in any game. Cloud is such a great protagonist, his journey and development feel earned and he is the focalpoint of the games themes. Tifa and Cait Sith in particular were some of my favorite characters. The only ones I really felt were lacking were Yuffie and Cid, though I don't think I went back and did Yuffies side content. Aerith is great because she is really useful in the first bit of the game and losing her is conveyed well in gameplay. You don't have her protection and guidance any more, your good healing is gone and now you have to figure out your party dynamics without her. Her story is also really touching and her backstory made me tear up a bit. Sephiroth is also a great antagonist. He felt like a wraith over the story and his backstory and relationship with Cloud is compelling.
I was actually really into the gameplay here. Something that always happens to me in RPGs is that I will get so many moves and abilities before I am really encouraged to experiment with them. RPGs are about party customization, but the bloat of options usually gets to me. This happened to me with chrono trigger. I just kept getting a bunch of moves and I shut down on learning how to use them. FF7 retains a lot of core FF combat but makes changes that kept me invested in it. The Limit Break system is cool as hell and makes every fight feel like a true back and fourth. Big damage can also mean a big comeback and it gave a lot of texture to the basic physical attack that I wasn't expecting. I really love the materia system. It's a brilliant way of conveying its capitalistic world that people siphon and itemize magic to sell it. But it also makes the customization of magics really engaging to me. being able to put spells on anyone is really cool, and the game encourages you to use your materia a lot. I'm not gonna lie, there was a lot of materia I didn't get or use with which gave me some issues near the end where I probably wasn't fully equipped to deal with everything it threw at me. But for the bulk of it I was experimenting and the combat rarely felt tedious.
The final area of this game rules. I had a really memorable experience with it because like I said I was barely equipped to deal with it. I ended up save stating near the end of it, but this had the knock on effect of me feeling like I might have locked myself out of victory. I was threading the needle through every fight with Jenova and Sephiroth. Earning that win felt triumphant. I love how the game presents galactic stakes to you, but then it ends with this personal beat down of Sephiroth. Everything he has done to Cloud and the gang makes his death cathartic. It makes this big bombastic ending feel deeply personal in a way most of these rarely ever do (FF16 eat your heart out).
I'm really really glad I stuck through with this. There is obviously a lot more I can say, but the game speaks for itself. It's a legendary game that rocked the industry and all that. It means a lot to me. Everything about it really resonated with me, and it also just felt good being able to put aside my rpg biases and really conquer one of the big ones. I knew it was gonna be one of my favorites early on and it didn't disappoint.
2023
Yeah this game has the sauce. It has a really expansive metroidvania map to get lost in and a lot of movement abilities that you unlock that substantially re-contextualize the gameplay. The movement is easily the best part. I feel like this takes inspiration from games like sly and jak but the momentum based stuff turns it up to 11.
This game is begging to not have a sequence, I had a lot of fun experimenting with ways I can skip a room with my understanding of the movement. Early on if you do a backflip off of the peak speed of your slide you can already access a lot of the game. I really enjoyed the map. Something unique here is that a lot like Metroid 1 there is no map screen or waypoints to look at, so it recreates that similar feeling. I do really enjoy it, though I did often get confused as there are some similar looking level design here and there.
I was surprised how combat centric this game is. There are two main bosses and enemies you sometimes have to fight to progress. While I do really enjoy it, it has some issues. I think the lock on is really bad. The one section you need to use it was really disorienting and I often couldnt see my own character. And the three hit combo itself is a little odd to use because it takes a while not pressing the button for it to reset and the ender has lag. So sometimes id end up using the combo ender at the start of my combo which didnt feel that great. The storytelling is also very light and I didnt really understand what was going on in the ending. But yeah no a lot of my gripes with it are nitpicks and I had a great time. If you really like those movement games like me its a must play. Im looking forward to going back to it.
This game is begging to not have a sequence, I had a lot of fun experimenting with ways I can skip a room with my understanding of the movement. Early on if you do a backflip off of the peak speed of your slide you can already access a lot of the game. I really enjoyed the map. Something unique here is that a lot like Metroid 1 there is no map screen or waypoints to look at, so it recreates that similar feeling. I do really enjoy it, though I did often get confused as there are some similar looking level design here and there.
I was surprised how combat centric this game is. There are two main bosses and enemies you sometimes have to fight to progress. While I do really enjoy it, it has some issues. I think the lock on is really bad. The one section you need to use it was really disorienting and I often couldnt see my own character. And the three hit combo itself is a little odd to use because it takes a while not pressing the button for it to reset and the ender has lag. So sometimes id end up using the combo ender at the start of my combo which didnt feel that great. The storytelling is also very light and I didnt really understand what was going on in the ending. But yeah no a lot of my gripes with it are nitpicks and I had a great time. If you really like those movement games like me its a must play. Im looking forward to going back to it.
1999
This game is pretty instrumental to my childhood but it holds up tremendously well. I think it's the playstations mario 64 in the way that the act of controlling the character has so much appeal on its own. It's also a knockout in every category. The level design is great, the 90s anime aesthetic is charming and it has one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard. This might be my favorite 3D platformer. It really strips away the fat that collectathons can usually have and just makes something that's constantly engaging. Just make sure you get to the first final boss before you try replaying levels. It's made to do a casual run first and then you go back and do the completionist run second.
2023
I never really got into Jet Set Radio and this game makes me wanna try it again. When I first played it I thought it was a little boring because it was doing Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2 stuff without the the skill ceiling that makes it so good. But the game clicked a lot more for me when I thought of it as a 3D platformer collectathon with Tony hawks mechanics. Exploring to find places to tag is easily the best part of the game. I love all of the secret areas you can get into and the game has a lot of linear platforming sections that just rule. I think this game controls a lot better than Jet Set, and it allows you to keep trick combos for a lot longer. It just feels great to move around, I'd often just go around aimlessly to do tricks instead of progressing just because it's so fun.
I think the game is at its weakest in its storytelling. The presentation is really flat, the content of the story is really dull and it just feels like it wants to be out of your way more than anything. Yet the game keeps on insisting on it? Also the missions involving the story are usually really easy once you figure out how the controls work. I wish there was more variety and challenge to the game overall. I've heard the post game content is better and I'm looking forward to that! I really like this game though and it's definitely worth playing.
I think the game is at its weakest in its storytelling. The presentation is really flat, the content of the story is really dull and it just feels like it wants to be out of your way more than anything. Yet the game keeps on insisting on it? Also the missions involving the story are usually really easy once you figure out how the controls work. I wish there was more variety and challenge to the game overall. I've heard the post game content is better and I'm looking forward to that! I really like this game though and it's definitely worth playing.
It's shocking how much this spins its wheels. It could have added so much to the FF7 story by being a prequel but nothing is gained at all. At its worst it's ruinous to the intentions of FF7's narrative. It overexplains things that absolutely did not need to be explained. It attempts to make Shinra and the Turks more likeable and less scummy, which misses the point of them to me.
Zack is a terrible character. He has this generic Shonen protagonist persona and its insufferable. The terrible writing does not help this. It thinks it's so smart, that it has so much to say. But it doesn't, it's a mindless narrative about honor and heroism or whatever. The relationships that Zack makes throughout the journey are so insisted on in the narrative and the game mechanics but they are all so one dimensional. I feel like this game is trying so hard to pretend that it's such a beautiful and meaningful story rather than actually being that. We have FF7! It's right there!
I'm very mixed on the gameplay. It has a lot of really cool ideas, and as far as reunion goes, the action always felt really crunchy and satisfying. At its best it does feel like a good translation of FF7s mechanics into a KH styled action RPG. But what absolutely kills it is the structure and the balancing. This game was made to be played on the go, so it has to have all of these really small bite sized optional missions. They are SO boring. They are there to give Zack new materia and new items, but they all play out the same in the same like four areas each time. I think the idea is that when the main game gets really hard they encourage you to do them. But the problem with that is the game is so easy all the time! The roulette wheel feels so tilted in your favor all the time. The materia fusion system is so busted and you just get these crazy strong materia that deletes encounters and ridiculously buffs your stats. I understand FF7 was like this too, but finding the powerful materia and making them grow stronger has you put in the work to do so. In Crisis Core, it feels like everything is just handed to you immediately. It makes it's systems and enemy encounters so boring. Why should I do more missions if I'm already overpowered throughout the entire storyline? It's really silly how this game is on the cusp of some really unique gameplay but it has so many cracks that show their face the more you play it.
I really wanted to like this game. There is appealing things about its gameplay loop that could be great if it was more finely tuned. It is very ambitious and I respect some of the creative things it's trying to do within the world of ff7. It's really trying, but it never sticks the landing. It's yet another unnecessary addition to FF7s story.
Zack is a terrible character. He has this generic Shonen protagonist persona and its insufferable. The terrible writing does not help this. It thinks it's so smart, that it has so much to say. But it doesn't, it's a mindless narrative about honor and heroism or whatever. The relationships that Zack makes throughout the journey are so insisted on in the narrative and the game mechanics but they are all so one dimensional. I feel like this game is trying so hard to pretend that it's such a beautiful and meaningful story rather than actually being that. We have FF7! It's right there!
I'm very mixed on the gameplay. It has a lot of really cool ideas, and as far as reunion goes, the action always felt really crunchy and satisfying. At its best it does feel like a good translation of FF7s mechanics into a KH styled action RPG. But what absolutely kills it is the structure and the balancing. This game was made to be played on the go, so it has to have all of these really small bite sized optional missions. They are SO boring. They are there to give Zack new materia and new items, but they all play out the same in the same like four areas each time. I think the idea is that when the main game gets really hard they encourage you to do them. But the problem with that is the game is so easy all the time! The roulette wheel feels so tilted in your favor all the time. The materia fusion system is so busted and you just get these crazy strong materia that deletes encounters and ridiculously buffs your stats. I understand FF7 was like this too, but finding the powerful materia and making them grow stronger has you put in the work to do so. In Crisis Core, it feels like everything is just handed to you immediately. It makes it's systems and enemy encounters so boring. Why should I do more missions if I'm already overpowered throughout the entire storyline? It's really silly how this game is on the cusp of some really unique gameplay but it has so many cracks that show their face the more you play it.
I really wanted to like this game. There is appealing things about its gameplay loop that could be great if it was more finely tuned. It is very ambitious and I respect some of the creative things it's trying to do within the world of ff7. It's really trying, but it never sticks the landing. It's yet another unnecessary addition to FF7s story.
2014
(I used the Upscale Mod for the textures since the upscale capcom did for this game is a little fugly)
This game is absolutely phenomenal in every way. It is the standard for survival horror games to me. I've played the original on Sega Saturn (yes its a great version of the game) and I already thought that was great. I'm usually doubtful on remakes "replacing" the originals, and I still stand by that, but REmake is just much better than the original in every way. The story is still cheesy but it has more clarity and a stronger sense of pacing. The visuals are some of the most gorgeous I've ever seen in a game. I think every single new thing in this game only improves the experience. This game is delightfully frightening, there are a bunch of moments that are experienced purely through gameplay that really got me.
I've played a few other resident evil games and I think this one boils down the appeal of it to a science. It's drenched in atmosphere, and you are overwhelmed with zombies and low on resources. But it has a earnest cheesy fun to it that shines through. Every shot feels incredibly good in this and the action feels like the reward to the survival more often then not.
When people are clamoring for yet another remake of resident evil 1, I always get really confused. We already have the perfect remake to an already great game. It's controls are so finely tuned and the visual side of it is so timeless. This is the genesis of tank controlled survival horror and I'd rather that be preserved than to be disturbed yet again.
This game is absolutely phenomenal in every way. It is the standard for survival horror games to me. I've played the original on Sega Saturn (yes its a great version of the game) and I already thought that was great. I'm usually doubtful on remakes "replacing" the originals, and I still stand by that, but REmake is just much better than the original in every way. The story is still cheesy but it has more clarity and a stronger sense of pacing. The visuals are some of the most gorgeous I've ever seen in a game. I think every single new thing in this game only improves the experience. This game is delightfully frightening, there are a bunch of moments that are experienced purely through gameplay that really got me.
I've played a few other resident evil games and I think this one boils down the appeal of it to a science. It's drenched in atmosphere, and you are overwhelmed with zombies and low on resources. But it has a earnest cheesy fun to it that shines through. Every shot feels incredibly good in this and the action feels like the reward to the survival more often then not.
When people are clamoring for yet another remake of resident evil 1, I always get really confused. We already have the perfect remake to an already great game. It's controls are so finely tuned and the visual side of it is so timeless. This is the genesis of tank controlled survival horror and I'd rather that be preserved than to be disturbed yet again.
1997
Not quite as good as Panzer Dragoon Zwei but it's getting there.
I've always had a passing enjoyment of this game. It's definitely one of the more polished games on the console. The multiple routes give it replayability and the general structure is really well done. Star Fox are really simple characters but immediately identifiable, and they bring a character to it that other rail shooters fail to match. The game is easily learned and retains the same control scheme for every gameplay switch up. The music and sound effects are awesome, and the voices are truly iconic.
I love most of the levels in this game, but there are some pretty big duds, like Aquaris. I think all range mode is fun but it's pretty flawed in its implementation. Trying to turn around or doing a 180 turn is really clunky. The true final boss really sucks, and if it wasn't for the bit after it, the game would've ended poorly.
My N64 wasn't working for a few weeks, so I was extatic when it worked again with another expansion pak. So I decided to just play around with Star Fox 64. All of a sudden I was doing really good. I got a perfect path through to the true ending only losing Slippy at the very end. It felt like all those times I occasionally played the game were finally starting to show fruit and I finally conquered Andross. It was a really cool moment as I was expecting to just turn the game on and play a couple levels. I think this game captures that feeling of mastery really well while focusing on the strengths of Nintendos development style.
I've always had a passing enjoyment of this game. It's definitely one of the more polished games on the console. The multiple routes give it replayability and the general structure is really well done. Star Fox are really simple characters but immediately identifiable, and they bring a character to it that other rail shooters fail to match. The game is easily learned and retains the same control scheme for every gameplay switch up. The music and sound effects are awesome, and the voices are truly iconic.
I love most of the levels in this game, but there are some pretty big duds, like Aquaris. I think all range mode is fun but it's pretty flawed in its implementation. Trying to turn around or doing a 180 turn is really clunky. The true final boss really sucks, and if it wasn't for the bit after it, the game would've ended poorly.
My N64 wasn't working for a few weeks, so I was extatic when it worked again with another expansion pak. So I decided to just play around with Star Fox 64. All of a sudden I was doing really good. I got a perfect path through to the true ending only losing Slippy at the very end. It felt like all those times I occasionally played the game were finally starting to show fruit and I finally conquered Andross. It was a really cool moment as I was expecting to just turn the game on and play a couple levels. I think this game captures that feeling of mastery really well while focusing on the strengths of Nintendos development style.
This is my initial playthrough after doing very little of the side quests. I mostly just stuck to dungeons and i'll come back to complete all the masks later on as I know the side quests are really important and flesh out the world quite a bit.
Even without 100% completion this is still the Zelda game that does the most for me. It conveyed this haunting and dire tone brilliantly through its gameplay. I love all the dungeons, none of them were bad in fact all of them were incredible. The bosses were actually really fun this time, I really love the final fight against Majora and how it changes its forms throughout the whole thing, its such a memorable moment.
There was a lot of attention to detail in the world that I really appreciated. It creates this sense of community that I havent seen other games quite match and you end up caring a lot about the things you do for people. You have that sinking feeling knowing that the good things you do for these people wont last as you have to turn back time. You play a part in these peoples lives but more than likely they wont remember what you did for them, you are kind of like a phantom over the story and I found that really engaging.
There are a lot of emotional moments in this game, especially the scenes that play out when you get the main three masks. The game has such great writing. It probably has the best directing of any Nintendo game, all of it feels genuine and I was surprised how cool some of the shot composition(?) was. The ending feels bittersweet as despite making friends and helping people, you dont belong in Termina and you arent wanted there.
I have a few silly problems in this game kind of like Ocarina, but I feel it isnt as big of a deal for me here. I thought the Stone Tower climb was really annoying. Playing the song to summon the statues was a huge hassle, the temple ended up being worth it though as I was almost out of time when I beat it which made me feel stuff I havent really felt in games without that time limit. I also do wish the side quests were a little more sign posted...I dont know...like I think the appeal is that they happen naturally and the peoples problems dont revolve around you. So I think changing that would probably be for the worse, but if im honest if I understood where to even begin I would have been more compelled to do them on my first playthrough. Im not really extrinsically motivated when I play games so its mostly just a me thing.
Yeah probably the best Zelda game. Im shocked this came out of Nintendos development studio. Its doing stuff not a lot of games even try and do and it does it with a lot of heart. This game feels like people really poured their soul into it and I think for that reason it persists as something really special.
Even without 100% completion this is still the Zelda game that does the most for me. It conveyed this haunting and dire tone brilliantly through its gameplay. I love all the dungeons, none of them were bad in fact all of them were incredible. The bosses were actually really fun this time, I really love the final fight against Majora and how it changes its forms throughout the whole thing, its such a memorable moment.
There was a lot of attention to detail in the world that I really appreciated. It creates this sense of community that I havent seen other games quite match and you end up caring a lot about the things you do for people. You have that sinking feeling knowing that the good things you do for these people wont last as you have to turn back time. You play a part in these peoples lives but more than likely they wont remember what you did for them, you are kind of like a phantom over the story and I found that really engaging.
There are a lot of emotional moments in this game, especially the scenes that play out when you get the main three masks. The game has such great writing. It probably has the best directing of any Nintendo game, all of it feels genuine and I was surprised how cool some of the shot composition(?) was. The ending feels bittersweet as despite making friends and helping people, you dont belong in Termina and you arent wanted there.
I have a few silly problems in this game kind of like Ocarina, but I feel it isnt as big of a deal for me here. I thought the Stone Tower climb was really annoying. Playing the song to summon the statues was a huge hassle, the temple ended up being worth it though as I was almost out of time when I beat it which made me feel stuff I havent really felt in games without that time limit. I also do wish the side quests were a little more sign posted...I dont know...like I think the appeal is that they happen naturally and the peoples problems dont revolve around you. So I think changing that would probably be for the worse, but if im honest if I understood where to even begin I would have been more compelled to do them on my first playthrough. Im not really extrinsically motivated when I play games so its mostly just a me thing.
Yeah probably the best Zelda game. Im shocked this came out of Nintendos development studio. Its doing stuff not a lot of games even try and do and it does it with a lot of heart. This game feels like people really poured their soul into it and I think for that reason it persists as something really special.
Im too sick to give a full review of this. But this was always one of my favorite games of all time and now I finally did the full 100% completion. Usually games suffer when trying to go for 100% but I think this gets even better. I cant believe how great this is, its still so definitive to me!
1986
Incredible video game. Just beat it for the first time. I love how it forces you to play chaotic situations patiently. I'll spend hours on certain sections, and then the light bulb will finally go off in my head. It's insanely tricky but somehow very possible. I realize that everything in the game has a formula. It just takes hard muscle memory and memorization. I love how important the sub weapons are. They are all very good and are usually a godsend for each section. They know exactly which ones to give you at the right time. And of course the music, the look, the feeling of whipping stuff, it's all just so emaculately done. If you are scared and you don't think you can beat this. I highly encourage it. This game has unlimited continues, so I would save after every checkpoint and game over. So I'd recommend doing that.