ExAndOh
1980
Definitely feels like I've played an iteration of this game before in some unknown title from my past I'll never find. Didn't even think about this being another spin on Breakout which is cool and makes for this chaotic mess I feel would do more harm than a Mario Party session.
1981
A little better and a little worse, Asteroids Deluxe manages to improve the formula while taking a step back. The brand new shield action is honestly a great addition to the gameplay loop. A little harder than it needs to be though with how fast and often the asteroids and enemies are now.
Hard to really say if it's a huge improvement but I think the shield addition warrants the praise for an overall improvement compared to hyperspace at least.
Hard to really say if it's a huge improvement but I think the shield addition warrants the praise for an overall improvement compared to hyperspace at least.
1980
A game about predicting and postponing the inevitable, Missile Command manages to be an extremely challenging game but I think it gets too challenging pretty quickly. A lot of different types of bombs including splinter ones make things hard along with planes but I feel like each base being a button is a weird mechanic when there's a lot to focus on as it is with the seizure inducing visuals.
THE END.
THE END.
1979
Definitely can see why this is one of the most popular arcades games and for good reason, Asteroids still remains a great time even today.
The premise is simple: shoot down asteroids and any enemies you encounter along the way while not getting destroyed yourself. Shooting down things in an arcade is always fun and I was surprised with the momentum based movement that immediately reminded me of Lunar Lander for a bit.
Challenging and a reason to keep playing, sometimes what more could you ask for back then?
The premise is simple: shoot down asteroids and any enemies you encounter along the way while not getting destroyed yourself. Shooting down things in an arcade is always fun and I was surprised with the momentum based movement that immediately reminded me of Lunar Lander for a bit.
Challenging and a reason to keep playing, sometimes what more could you ask for back then?
2022
A very cool celebration of vector style games managing to combines Lunar Lander, Asteroids and other titles to make something surprisingly cohesive and unexpected almost. Gorgeous game too and a cool way to celebrate this point in arcade history.
1979
Honestly this one is pretty cool for being one of the first vector arcade games with a different approach on the gameplay that you're essentially trying to land a lander perfectly. It's more slow paced and patient compared to a lot of the fast paced stuff but the vector looks makes this look really clean even now. It can take a bit to land the rover itself with the variety of modes that can really throw you off but it's also solid in the controls department too.
A true nightmare
The Old Hunters probably alleviates one concern some people might have had with the original game: the bosses were too easy and it's also really just more of Bloodborne. What's there not to like here?
The new areas including a remixed Cathedral Ward are amazing and up to the quality the base game's high standard that was already set up here. The bosses themselves are all amazing even the multiple enemy one somehow which I was surprised by. The final boss will honestly kick your teeth in to the point I didn't stop until I nailed every parry on him and essentially memorized every move he did based on the animation itself. All satisfying fights with excellent themes I won't even list so you can experience that sound for yourself when you fight them.
It's really hard to argue with not getting this considering it adds several hours of Bloodborne to your experience tailored for the end game and delivers completely as an expansion to the original. If you want more of a challenge, it's here.
The Old Hunters probably alleviates one concern some people might have had with the original game: the bosses were too easy and it's also really just more of Bloodborne. What's there not to like here?
The new areas including a remixed Cathedral Ward are amazing and up to the quality the base game's high standard that was already set up here. The bosses themselves are all amazing even the multiple enemy one somehow which I was surprised by. The final boss will honestly kick your teeth in to the point I didn't stop until I nailed every parry on him and essentially memorized every move he did based on the animation itself. All satisfying fights with excellent themes I won't even list so you can experience that sound for yourself when you fight them.
It's really hard to argue with not getting this considering it adds several hours of Bloodborne to your experience tailored for the end game and delivers completely as an expansion to the original. If you want more of a challenge, it's here.
2015
A bloody endless hunt
Bloodborne has become bigger than life in the gaming circles as one of the most revered action role playing title in recent time due to From's pedigree progressing as the Souls franchises kept growing forward and recently peaking with Elden Ring, one of From's most ambitious games yet. Sadly after playing Elden Ring and the past Souls games barring Demon Souls before it is when I felt like I had fatigue with the series due to the same format the games usually carry. I had this fear going into Bloodborne and to my complete surprise, this truly feels like From's magnum opus in terms of almost every facet of what this game. The lore and the atmospheric visual world design can probably talked about for days by people way more qualified than me, the gameplay is fun and rewarding leaning on the easy side for a bit, the music is epic and tormenting as you fight literal deranged nightmares from the abyss of what feels like some dark minded individuals. There's a lot to love even with few things barring it from being one of my all time personal greats.
The storytelling in FromSoft's recent affairs have been more told in item descriptions and vague accounts from the few inhabitants left in the world rather than directly telling the player itself. That said, I think the premise can be simplified and yet given a lot more depth. You, the character essentially go to Yharnam to get a cure for some illness via the usage of blood. Sadly things are never easy as you wake up during the night of the hunt and horrific beastly creatures roam the streets as you try to make you way out of this nightmare. The characters will not being deep or engaging have been more visually interesting to say the least here as well.
Gameplay in Bloodborne makes you go for overall agility over raw defense in this version of FromSoft's iconic methodical action combat. You have your standard roll but you also have quick dodges when locked on single enemies which helps some boss fights as they give off this intense and fast duel feeling compared to Souls usual bigger than life bosses that make you feel like you're trying to overcome a huge mountain rather than a true equal. The dash and rolls have some differences built in but i-frames are the same so something to keep in mind as well. Only notable "flaw" in the overall gameplay design would be a couple of the bosses and the sheer lack of variety of weapons but I never minded the lack of weapons as much considering how the trick weapons work in this game. Trick weapons are essentially your main weapon throughout the game and you have your standard affair of swords, spears and cleavers but what makes them special is the ability to swap between different versions or usually a bigger and heavier weapon. The Kirkhammer for example with one handed regular version being a simple silver sword but being able to transform it until this huge stone hammer is extremely satisfying as well. Each weapons really feels like two weapons each honestly thus never minding the lack of weapons overall. Some bosses were kind of annoying including one that's literally just a chase sequence more than an actual fight more than anything with some of them leaning to the easy side a little bit but still really fun nonetheless. The other hand usually carries a firearm of sorts. There's a lot of variety in the firearms you use and using a shield seems counterintuitive in this game at least. The standard pistol is what I ended up using being the quickest response to an attack while the blunderbuss/shotgun types use a wide cone to make sure it hits the mark with a slower response time. Guns are mostly used as a form of parrying in this game and I mostly think it works well with the new agile and faster gameplay style Bloodborne tries to introduce here especially during the human enemies where you can just punish them completely once you figure them out.
The lovecraftian world inspired by gothic victorian styles with some extra horrors beyond a human comprehension make this entire experience stand out completely on its own two feet. Almost every location felt unique and surreal, the enemy design is outstanding, even the overall armor design and the weapons are superb. The game tried to nail a theme and hits it bullseye perfect in my honest opinion. For an early PlayStation 4 title blown up to a 4K television, the game still looks immaculate as well with so much detail in the levels themselves and how they're designed too. Bloodborne is probably up there one of the most realized video game worlds out there and for very good reason.
Something I also wanted to talk about is the soundtrack and sound design too. Footsteps in the distance sound extremely unsettling for a bit along with the loud howling screams of the beasts as they attack and get attacked as well. Weapons clashing against the hard stone or a stone hammer making a mini earthquake with each smack into the earth itself makes these actions feel really satisfying. The soundtrack perfectly matches the whole experience too such as one of my favorite tracks from an early boss fight that manages to amp up the whole cadence at the right moment which really represents the fight this track plays on. Even while leaving the main menu theme for a bit to take care of something left me with an eerie feeling the choir and vocals that reminded me of the Medal of Honor: Frontline main menu theme but less tense and more quiet.
I find it hard to say what hasn't already been said for titles like these that are already considered classics in the eyes of many and rightly so. The world realized its own potential, each fight is a dance between life and death, the soundtrack makes it feel like this dream will never end. It's been said a million times in the online space at this point but they really need to bring this game to any other form of media that isn't the PlayStation 4 at this point. Being stuck at this state is really sad considering I'm sure the people that run Sony already know how popular this title is. A horrific filled journey through an even more dystopian Prague that'll leave everything and yourself in a bloody mess by the end.
Bloodborne has become bigger than life in the gaming circles as one of the most revered action role playing title in recent time due to From's pedigree progressing as the Souls franchises kept growing forward and recently peaking with Elden Ring, one of From's most ambitious games yet. Sadly after playing Elden Ring and the past Souls games barring Demon Souls before it is when I felt like I had fatigue with the series due to the same format the games usually carry. I had this fear going into Bloodborne and to my complete surprise, this truly feels like From's magnum opus in terms of almost every facet of what this game. The lore and the atmospheric visual world design can probably talked about for days by people way more qualified than me, the gameplay is fun and rewarding leaning on the easy side for a bit, the music is epic and tormenting as you fight literal deranged nightmares from the abyss of what feels like some dark minded individuals. There's a lot to love even with few things barring it from being one of my all time personal greats.
The storytelling in FromSoft's recent affairs have been more told in item descriptions and vague accounts from the few inhabitants left in the world rather than directly telling the player itself. That said, I think the premise can be simplified and yet given a lot more depth. You, the character essentially go to Yharnam to get a cure for some illness via the usage of blood. Sadly things are never easy as you wake up during the night of the hunt and horrific beastly creatures roam the streets as you try to make you way out of this nightmare. The characters will not being deep or engaging have been more visually interesting to say the least here as well.
Gameplay in Bloodborne makes you go for overall agility over raw defense in this version of FromSoft's iconic methodical action combat. You have your standard roll but you also have quick dodges when locked on single enemies which helps some boss fights as they give off this intense and fast duel feeling compared to Souls usual bigger than life bosses that make you feel like you're trying to overcome a huge mountain rather than a true equal. The dash and rolls have some differences built in but i-frames are the same so something to keep in mind as well. Only notable "flaw" in the overall gameplay design would be a couple of the bosses and the sheer lack of variety of weapons but I never minded the lack of weapons as much considering how the trick weapons work in this game. Trick weapons are essentially your main weapon throughout the game and you have your standard affair of swords, spears and cleavers but what makes them special is the ability to swap between different versions or usually a bigger and heavier weapon. The Kirkhammer for example with one handed regular version being a simple silver sword but being able to transform it until this huge stone hammer is extremely satisfying as well. Each weapons really feels like two weapons each honestly thus never minding the lack of weapons overall. Some bosses were kind of annoying including one that's literally just a chase sequence more than an actual fight more than anything with some of them leaning to the easy side a little bit but still really fun nonetheless. The other hand usually carries a firearm of sorts. There's a lot of variety in the firearms you use and using a shield seems counterintuitive in this game at least. The standard pistol is what I ended up using being the quickest response to an attack while the blunderbuss/shotgun types use a wide cone to make sure it hits the mark with a slower response time. Guns are mostly used as a form of parrying in this game and I mostly think it works well with the new agile and faster gameplay style Bloodborne tries to introduce here especially during the human enemies where you can just punish them completely once you figure them out.
The lovecraftian world inspired by gothic victorian styles with some extra horrors beyond a human comprehension make this entire experience stand out completely on its own two feet. Almost every location felt unique and surreal, the enemy design is outstanding, even the overall armor design and the weapons are superb. The game tried to nail a theme and hits it bullseye perfect in my honest opinion. For an early PlayStation 4 title blown up to a 4K television, the game still looks immaculate as well with so much detail in the levels themselves and how they're designed too. Bloodborne is probably up there one of the most realized video game worlds out there and for very good reason.
Something I also wanted to talk about is the soundtrack and sound design too. Footsteps in the distance sound extremely unsettling for a bit along with the loud howling screams of the beasts as they attack and get attacked as well. Weapons clashing against the hard stone or a stone hammer making a mini earthquake with each smack into the earth itself makes these actions feel really satisfying. The soundtrack perfectly matches the whole experience too such as one of my favorite tracks from an early boss fight that manages to amp up the whole cadence at the right moment which really represents the fight this track plays on. Even while leaving the main menu theme for a bit to take care of something left me with an eerie feeling the choir and vocals that reminded me of the Medal of Honor: Frontline main menu theme but less tense and more quiet.
I find it hard to say what hasn't already been said for titles like these that are already considered classics in the eyes of many and rightly so. The world realized its own potential, each fight is a dance between life and death, the soundtrack makes it feel like this dream will never end. It's been said a million times in the online space at this point but they really need to bring this game to any other form of media that isn't the PlayStation 4 at this point. Being stuck at this state is really sad considering I'm sure the people that run Sony already know how popular this title is. A horrific filled journey through an even more dystopian Prague that'll leave everything and yourself in a bloody mess by the end.
1978
Feels more like Breakout with different variants to the gameplay that feels like sidegrades more than a true evolution of the original title. The modes themselves are cool spins on the game but I found myself wanting to play the original tried and true more. The paddles are still pretty small here but I'm guessing that was just a hardware limitation at the time.
1978
An arcade title really reliant on two players controlling parts of a fire truck and despite only being able to play this myself, the game did have a CPU option controlling the other half that did a manageable job nonetheless. Not much to say here other than the premise of the game is making sure you speed along narrow streets and avoid crashing whatever means necessary for a good score. Cool novelty but it'd probably wear off after a single play.
1977
Kind of nuts you can have eight people play this one on one machine and there's actually a variety of courses here for replayability. Controls are on the rough side but do take a little to get used to after a while as this isn't too bad for being one of the earlier top down racing games out there but I can't say I'm fond of this one.
2022
Another re-imagined classic as part of the Atari 50 experience. A more modern version of pong with some decent music and gameplay modifiers make this a fun part of the ocean of Breakout variants out there. Wonder how a variant of Breakout made by Tetsuya Mizuguchi would pan out.
1976
I never figured out what kind of game this was as a kid. I remember playing some variant of Breakout that was mostly for mobile flip phones in the late 2000s and never realizing Breakout was the archetype behind the paddle on the lower side while breaking blocks. Even if it's natural and first form, it's still surprisingly fun without the original controls. No bells and whistles being the first variant of the game but the loop is still satisfying for single play.
2022
A new spin on "Tank" that allows for 4 players and different combat options. The controls are pretty bad but I guess that might also be the intention considering we don't have the regular arcade controls ourselves even with this new rendition of it.
1972
Extremely revolutionary at at the time, Pong is something many people would fine hard to enjoy despite its influence. That said, despite the game itself, There is a lot to appreciate with how you can play with someone in an arcade in the 70s but unfortunately for my average dopamine fried mind, it's pretty boring to me now.