Dorogogogo
It took about three years for me to "get" this game after trying several times. It grinds down your rough edges to razor-sharp perfection, and by the end of it I certainly felt like I had shinobi reflexes like your boy Wolf. For the first time since Dark Souls 3 (my first FROMSoft experience), this game teased out those dearest emotions: frustration, ecstasy, and a hunger to improve, almost exclusively through its gameplay. The story it has to tell is uncharacteristically (for this dev team) direct, and cuts as deep as the Mortal Blade if you engage with the characters.
Phenomenal game, and makes the player work for it, even moreso than more traditional FROMSoft titles. Probably the only game in their lineup that is actually about as inaccessible as the fanbase makes it sound, at least in my experience, but rewarding and refined like few other action games can even hope to be. There are games I personally like more than this, but for what this game is trying to be (shinobi power fantasy accurate to the strengths of that archetype) it's effectively perfect, if perhaps more narrowly-focused than its established Souls-like contemporaries.
Phenomenal game, and makes the player work for it, even moreso than more traditional FROMSoft titles. Probably the only game in their lineup that is actually about as inaccessible as the fanbase makes it sound, at least in my experience, but rewarding and refined like few other action games can even hope to be. There are games I personally like more than this, but for what this game is trying to be (shinobi power fantasy accurate to the strengths of that archetype) it's effectively perfect, if perhaps more narrowly-focused than its established Souls-like contemporaries.
2004
surprisingly faithful progression of the Spyro formula, depsite foregoing portals and levels basically entirely. exploration and puzzle-solving is fulfillng, and each character (except Blink) is consistently fun in both control and style.
2011
this game is has melee's slickness with an insane character balance, my personal ideal smash engine. if you account for this including base Brawl's side content (SSE and classic, etc.) then it's peak Smash.
thanks to the PM team for their insane dedication to a niche craft.
thanks to the PM team for their insane dedication to a niche craft.
probably a little too difficult, even for this series, but Eleum Loyce is beautiful and the self-contained narrative is well-executed.
excise the frozen outskirts from the annals of souls history
excise the frozen outskirts from the annals of souls history
some of the optional challenges in this one are completely asinine in the remake, but this game is unreal as a sequel. every element of its predecessor's gameplay has been refined to a fine edge, and controlling the funny orange guy feels fantastic.
this game is carried by its writing and setting, both of which are literally derivative of Sapkowski's novels. that said, as an interactive chapter of Geralt's story in a well-realized version of the northern realms, this game is phenomenal. Novigrad is one of the most fascinating places I've had the pleasure of experiencing, and feels authentic in a way I didn't think games could at the time. Geralt himself is also in peak form, and the way he responds to the world is endlessly entertaining and engaging.
the combat is a dumpster fire in a rusty dumpster. i bounced off of the Witcher 2 three separate times due to its combat, and this game is only slightly better on that front. when it works, it looks cool, but that's it. never once did i feel like i was in control of any element of a battle, since attacks are still the coding equivalent of guess-work in how they relate to animations. played as a casual narrative, this game is at its best.
also Geralt and Ciri finally get to have the depth of companionship they should have to reflect the books and it's delightful.
the combat is a dumpster fire in a rusty dumpster. i bounced off of the Witcher 2 three separate times due to its combat, and this game is only slightly better on that front. when it works, it looks cool, but that's it. never once did i feel like i was in control of any element of a battle, since attacks are still the coding equivalent of guess-work in how they relate to animations. played as a casual narrative, this game is at its best.
also Geralt and Ciri finally get to have the depth of companionship they should have to reflect the books and it's delightful.
i'd like this a lot more if it ran well and had better partner AI for exploration. unfortunately my memory of this game is dominated by my tethered dragon getting stuck pathfinding through elevated geometry like a despondent sibling in a 2D beat-em-up.
this one just makes me more sad than anything else.
this one just makes me more sad than anything else.
style over substance. beat-em-up style was questionable in the first game, and this one doesn't do a ton more to justify it beyond making encounters way more difficult. fantasy elements and the breath options are the redeeming factors and that's kinda it.
basically Tenkaichi with less characters, but slightly more beginner-friendly? fun enough but indicative of genre fatigue
gold standard for corridor 3D platformers. remake borked the variety controls a bit but either version is basically just as good now as it was back then. character basically seeps from this game, and it has a bit of everything.
slow start, but the map is surprisingly well thought-out. Pandora is a lived-in place in this game moreso than any of the others.
THE looter-shooter, truly has everything from a great story to unsatisfying extra paid content. it's the best in the Borderlands series, and that is still high praise. Handsome Jack was lightning in a bottle, and the heart of this game is made of solid Eridium.
i kind of hate this game
it's improved a lot since its first year but it feels like all my affection for it is sunk cost fallacy
honestly fuck shueisha
it's improved a lot since its first year but it feels like all my affection for it is sunk cost fallacy
honestly fuck shueisha
2018
i'm most nostalgic for this one, even though it has some of the worst boss fights in video games
tree tops is goated ur just bad
tree tops is goated ur just bad
2021
insane that this is free, a true mechanical sequel to Portal's gameplay loop