Against the Grain
Titles I'm in the minority on, with justification. No set criteria, avoiding titles I have reviewed. This exists as a small-scale sounding board for thoughts I don't want to articulate into a full review.
Inspired by Angel_Arle and Squigglydot's lists.
Inspired by Angel_Arle and Squigglydot's lists.
26 Games
Backloggd avg: 3.2⭐
My rating: 5⭐
In looking at the two negative reviews for this on BL, I think dissenters are missing the point of Cinco Paus and Broughlikes more broadly. Cinco Paus is deliberately obtuse and refuses full understanding. I've played it so much and I'm still terrible at it but I still feel like I'm discovering strategies for a game on a 5x5 grid. Wow!
My rating: 5⭐
In looking at the two negative reviews for this on BL, I think dissenters are missing the point of Cinco Paus and Broughlikes more broadly. Cinco Paus is deliberately obtuse and refuses full understanding. I've played it so much and I'm still terrible at it but I still feel like I'm discovering strategies for a game on a 5x5 grid. Wow!
Backloggd avg: 2.5⭐
My rating: 4⭐
Oh, so when Castlevania is stiff and unforgiving it's cool but when Altered Beast does it it's poor design? This is brutal and unrelenting and I love it.
My rating: 4⭐
Oh, so when Castlevania is stiff and unforgiving it's cool but when Altered Beast does it it's poor design? This is brutal and unrelenting and I love it.
Backloggd avg: 1.4⭐
My rating: 4⭐
For starters, y'all didn't actually play it. The media circus around this misrepresented what the game actually was (cough Dunkey cough James Sterling). What happened to Kojima and his team is abhorrent, but this game borne of Metal Gear's ashes is great. I think it clicked with me because I loved Phantom Pain's systems and gameplay but the repetition of its missions as I went for 100% made me not want to touch it ever again. Metal Gear Survive remedies this by displacing and repurposing those mechanics. This is probably the only survival game I like. Sorry you're too blinded by hate to understand.
My rating: 4⭐
For starters, y'all didn't actually play it. The media circus around this misrepresented what the game actually was (cough Dunkey cough James Sterling). What happened to Kojima and his team is abhorrent, but this game borne of Metal Gear's ashes is great. I think it clicked with me because I loved Phantom Pain's systems and gameplay but the repetition of its missions as I went for 100% made me not want to touch it ever again. Metal Gear Survive remedies this by displacing and repurposing those mechanics. This is probably the only survival game I like. Sorry you're too blinded by hate to understand.
Backloggd avg: 2.3⭐
My rating: 4⭐
Just because you can run fast doesn't mean you should run fast, y'all. This is comfort food.
My rating: 4⭐
Just because you can run fast doesn't mean you should run fast, y'all. This is comfort food.
Backloggd avg: 2.7⭐
My rating: 4⭐
I genuinely believe people's problems with this stem from skill issues. It is unconventional in its approach but you have to meet it halfway.
My rating: 4⭐
I genuinely believe people's problems with this stem from skill issues. It is unconventional in its approach but you have to meet it halfway.
Backloggd avg: 3.6⭐
My rating: 2⭐
There's very littlemeat fun in these gym mats *Bangai-O Spirits.
My rating: 2⭐
There's very little
Backloggd avg: 3.8⭐
My rating: 2⭐
I'm certain part of the problem is I started this after finishing Arkham City and playing some Arkham Knight. But also nothing interesting happens and everything is sewage green and I never felt clever for doing anything. This one does NOT make you feel like Batman.
My rating: 2⭐
I'm certain part of the problem is I started this after finishing Arkham City and playing some Arkham Knight. But also nothing interesting happens and everything is sewage green and I never felt clever for doing anything. This one does NOT make you feel like Batman.
Backloggd avg: 4.0⭐
My rating: 2⭐
This is the video game equivalent of a late-Bush era SNL skit. It is a downgrade from the System Shock games in every way, and the moral quandary of [kill child OR don't kill child] is toothless.
My rating: 2⭐
This is the video game equivalent of a late-Bush era SNL skit. It is a downgrade from the System Shock games in every way, and the moral quandary of [kill child OR don't kill child] is toothless.
Backloggd avg: 4.2⭐
My rating: 2⭐
Aesthetically I adore it. Otherwise it feels like a very early Source game (derogatory). I also feel it doesn't actually have anything to say about hypercapitalism beyond a superficial veneer.
My rating: 2⭐
Aesthetically I adore it. Otherwise it feels like a very early Source game (derogatory). I also feel it doesn't actually have anything to say about hypercapitalism beyond a superficial veneer.
Backloggd avg: 3.7⭐
My rating: 2⭐
I appreciate their commitment to telling a story in their space junkyard sim but I just want to break ships. And there are only like six types of ship!
My rating: 2⭐
I appreciate their commitment to telling a story in their space junkyard sim but I just want to break ships. And there are only like six types of ship!
Backloggd avg: 4.4⭐
My rating: 2⭐
Though mechanically sound, nothing Hollow Knight does is an actual advancement of the Search Action genre. That would be fine if it refined those reiterated mechanics but it chooses not to. It could be improved substantially by making resources actually matter, or having a more palpable consequence for death. I wish it didn't try as it did to appeal to a broad spectrum of Search Action players, and instead sought its own identity.
My rating: 2⭐
Though mechanically sound, nothing Hollow Knight does is an actual advancement of the Search Action genre. That would be fine if it refined those reiterated mechanics but it chooses not to. It could be improved substantially by making resources actually matter, or having a more palpable consequence for death. I wish it didn't try as it did to appeal to a broad spectrum of Search Action players, and instead sought its own identity.
Backloggd avg: 3.8⭐
My rating: 2⭐
I understand why people adore this as much as they do, but it feels actually bad to play this. Something about the combination of course design, speed, and camera angle makes me queasy. City Trial is kinda fun (if innocuous) but it suffers the same problems as Smash Run. Without knowing what the final objective is, your powering up is aimless. It's also a lot of build up for something very minuscule. I like Top Ride though! I know I'm the only one!
My rating: 2⭐
I understand why people adore this as much as they do, but it feels actually bad to play this. Something about the combination of course design, speed, and camera angle makes me queasy. City Trial is kinda fun (if innocuous) but it suffers the same problems as Smash Run. Without knowing what the final objective is, your powering up is aimless. It's also a lot of build up for something very minuscule. I like Top Ride though! I know I'm the only one!
Backloggd avg: 4.3⭐
My rating: 2⭐
Weak constituent parts which synthesise into a sub-par game. Also I just don't like how Yoko Taro presents what he tries to say. I think its messages about how life and personhood are defined are respectable and serve as a good jumping off point for deeper philosophical inquiry, but it kinda just gets its toes wet then stops. The music is really good though, and I love the main cast's designs.
My rating: 2⭐
Weak constituent parts which synthesise into a sub-par game. Also I just don't like how Yoko Taro presents what he tries to say. I think its messages about how life and personhood are defined are respectable and serve as a good jumping off point for deeper philosophical inquiry, but it kinda just gets its toes wet then stops. The music is really good though, and I love the main cast's designs.
Backloggd avg: 3.7⭐
My rating: 2⭐
The canary in the coalmine of reborn nostalgia. See my WotLK review for why these resuscitations don't work.
My rating: 2⭐
The canary in the coalmine of reborn nostalgia. See my WotLK review for why these resuscitations don't work.
Backloggd avg: 3.7⭐
My rating: 2⭐
The VR experience is astounding but the base game is just boring and up its own ass.
My rating: 2⭐
The VR experience is astounding but the base game is just boring and up its own ass.
Backloggd avg: 3.9⭐
My rating: 2⭐
Developers need to understand that some remakes make no sense because the original is so tightly constructed for a particular system. Link's Awakening was designed around the specific constraints of the Game Boy hardware, and porting it to a platform without any of those limitations means it can only be understood separate from its new hardware. I guess what I'm saying is, this sure does feel like a Game Boy game rereleased on not-a-Game-Boy.
My rating: 2⭐
Developers need to understand that some remakes make no sense because the original is so tightly constructed for a particular system. Link's Awakening was designed around the specific constraints of the Game Boy hardware, and porting it to a platform without any of those limitations means it can only be understood separate from its new hardware. I guess what I'm saying is, this sure does feel like a Game Boy game rereleased on not-a-Game-Boy.
Backloggd avg: 4.2⭐
My rating: 2⭐
Admittedly I haven't played this since the WiiWare release and I was in a bad headspace then, so I'll take this L for now.
My rating: 2⭐
Admittedly I haven't played this since the WiiWare release and I was in a bad headspace then, so I'll take this L for now.
Backloggd avg: 3.5⭐
My rating: 2⭐
I love the idea of Valheim as a more deliberate and intentional survival game. It doesn't really work though.
My rating: 2⭐
I love the idea of Valheim as a more deliberate and intentional survival game. It doesn't really work though.
Backloggd avg: 3.9⭐
My rating: 2⭐
The microgames are too slow and imprecise, and this is exacerbated by the player being informed ahead of time what Baton form to use. If part of the challenge and joy of WarioWare is figuring out how to control the microgame, why would you tell me straight up how to control the microgame?
My rating: 2⭐
The microgames are too slow and imprecise, and this is exacerbated by the player being informed ahead of time what Baton form to use. If part of the challenge and joy of WarioWare is figuring out how to control the microgame, why would you tell me straight up how to control the microgame?
Backloggd avg: 3.6⭐
My rating: 1⭐
The idea of this is so compelling as a fan of Mario's RPG golf romps, but those excel because the core of the game is still golf. Golf Story's extraneous parts have the potential to be great but their placement here feels rote. The story is needlessly quirky (and slow-paced), the quests are broadly uninteresting, and its locales are effectively superficial. They could have leaned harder into the RPG parts through the addition of mechanics which are more than just golf. If the game is effectively just going to be golf, I'd rather play a straight golf game or a better blended golf RPG. Hopefully Sports Story will be better.
My rating: 1⭐
The idea of this is so compelling as a fan of Mario's RPG golf romps, but those excel because the core of the game is still golf. Golf Story's extraneous parts have the potential to be great but their placement here feels rote. The story is needlessly quirky (and slow-paced), the quests are broadly uninteresting, and its locales are effectively superficial. They could have leaned harder into the RPG parts through the addition of mechanics which are more than just golf. If the game is effectively just going to be golf, I'd rather play a straight golf game or a better blended golf RPG. Hopefully Sports Story will be better.
Backloggd avg: 3.6⭐
My rating: 1⭐
No more games about depression, especially no more boring games about depression.
My rating: 1⭐
No more games about depression, especially no more boring games about depression.
Backloggd avg: 4.1⭐
My rating: 1⭐
That it declines in gameplay quality with each act is well-known but I don't find the first act's gameplay enjoyable to begin with. I'm also sick of metafiction that doesn't meaningfully use its status as a metatext to its benefit.
My rating: 1⭐
That it declines in gameplay quality with each act is well-known but I don't find the first act's gameplay enjoyable to begin with. I'm also sick of metafiction that doesn't meaningfully use its status as a metatext to its benefit.
Backloggd avg: 3.1⭐
My rating: 1⭐
When everyone's a hero, nobody is. Removing duplicate heroes was a mistake.
My rating: 1⭐
When everyone's a hero, nobody is. Removing duplicate heroes was a mistake.
Backloggd avg: 3.7⭐
My rating: 1⭐
Yes I was filtered by the swamp planet but you also don't really do anything? The platforming has a weird momentum and specific gravity to it that made me concerned my PS2 was broken. I think the gunplay could have been improved through use of the analogue triggers but oh well.
My rating: 1⭐
Yes I was filtered by the swamp planet but you also don't really do anything? The platforming has a weird momentum and specific gravity to it that made me concerned my PS2 was broken. I think the gunplay could have been improved through use of the analogue triggers but oh well.
Backloggd avg: 3.8⭐
My rating: 1⭐
The Ready Player One of video games. Chilling.
My rating: 1⭐
The Ready Player One of video games. Chilling.
Backloggd avg: 4.2⭐
My rating: 1⭐
I'm sure the story is great but the combat is inconsequential and just feels bad. Also using Witcher vision is weird and does not make me feel like I'm doing actual investigatory works. And it has a crafting system. Yuck!
My rating: 1⭐
I'm sure the story is great but the combat is inconsequential and just feels bad. Also using Witcher vision is weird and does not make me feel like I'm doing actual investigatory works. And it has a crafting system. Yuck!
6 Comments
I love this list!
I wanted to do something similar but chickened out and pivoted to Pleasantly Surprised instead.
I wanted to do something similar but chickened out and pivoted to Pleasantly Surprised instead.
you can choose the game at the end of City Trial in the menu before you start it.
Please tell that to my friends who strap me to a chair and force me to play Kirby Air Ride against my will
I wouldn't say it's as hyper-referential as Ready Player One (sorry for making it sound like it was, I was just trying to convey that it stinks). I think others have articulated its particular shortcomings better than I can but I'll at least say boy howdy, I sure didn't appreciate the Jordan Peterson reference.
@Detchibe your friends are cooler than you, you'd best be more like them. Fake Gamer how dare you not enjoy it
rentheunclean
1 year ago