This is the one.

Back in December 2023, I decided that my gaming New Year's resolution for 2024 would be to get good enough at a fighting game to play at an advanced level. While I wouldn't say I meet those conditions just yet, I believe I'm steadily making progress towards this goal. As of writing the review, I have completed the story, the Arcade Quest mode and reached the orange ranks in Ranked.

Originally, I didn't even intend on playing Tekken 8 at all. My schedule from late January into February was reserved for the new Yakuza game and Persona 3 Reload. January eventually came and I had a great time with Infinite Wealth, but Tekken 8 launched at the same time, so naturally I saw many people on social media hyping it up and how great it is. This was the catalyst for me actually researching stuff about the game by myself and was looking at reviews, character trailers and all the cool customizations others made for their characters. This went on until early February, where I just decided to pause Reload for the time being and try out Tekken 8, since this could be the one fighting game to help me fulfill my gaming New Year's resolution. As you could read from my opening sentence, it is exactly that.

Tekken 8 has all the things to keep you hooked, including visually impressive graphics and stages, adrenaline-inducing soundtrack, fantastic animations and a huge roster in the base game. Out of the 32 available characters, I'm sure anyone can find atleast two or three characters to their liking. It's also a very newcomer friendly game, the replay system shows you how to improve your gameplay in certain situations and the Special Style control layout lets you perform special moves with simplified inputs (similar to the modern controls in Street Fighter 6). I wouldn't recommend using this control scheme in the long run, but it's a great way to test new characters or to get a hang of the fundamentals at the early stages.

The game feels polished, the UI is clean and the menus aren't cluttered at all. You can set shortcuts to your favorite modes in the main menu or change the soundtrack of a stage or literally every major song in the game to pretty much any song from any past Tekken game. So even if the new soundtrack doesn't land for you, just make a new one yourself from your favorites! Customization in general is a big part of the Tekken series, it's really fun to cosplay as many different game or anime characters. Options are a bit limited as of right now, especially in terms of eye colors and hairstyles. Many iconic legacy outfits are also still missing, but it's pretty cool how you can just use the Tekken 7 outfits as presets.

The main story is pretty enjoyable for a fighting game, definitely enjoyed this one a lot more than the singleplayer mode in SF6. Arcade Quest is a nice tutorial mode and actually really helpful for beginners. I would urge every newcomer to check it out in order to get a hang of the mechanics overall, since it's not particularly long and it's definitely more interactive than just watching a youtube video on the mechanics. However if you like learning with videos, I would recommend checking out this beginner guide from PhiDX, it covers most of the basics you should know and should be easy to follow.

Tekken 8 sure was a pleasant surprise and I'll gladly spend many more hours with it to reach higher ranks with a bunch of my favorite characters. It's not going to happen overnight, but learning new things in a fighting game and incorporating them into your playstyle is arguably one of the most satisfying things you can do in a video game. Despite all this, I didn't forget about Persona 3 Reload. I'll finish it soon, but as of now - thanks for reading.

Featuring Knuckles from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles!

I love Sonic 3K, and I can see why it's widely regarded as one of the best games in the series, it really feels like the full package of 2D Sonic (...and Knuckles).

While Sonic 2 rewarded speed in the level design, 3K emphasizes exploration again in a similar fashion to Sonic CD; the player needs to track down hidden large rings in a level to gain access to the special stages, where Sonic navigates across a maze-like board to activate blue orbs, while steering clear of red ones. Simple in theory, but certainly tricky at times. I would absolutely recommend going out of your way to do these special stages, because you'll unlock the ability to transform into Super Sonic after getting all seven Chaos Emeralds, and blazing through later levels in the Super Saiyan form is a joy. That's enough talk regarding the special stages though, as the actual main level design is the meat of the game.

With over a dozen different levels with multiple acts, Sonic 3K is the longest entry from the classic 2D games, and it's very nice to see how consistent the quality remains throughout its runtime. I'm not going to bring up every stage here (like in my Sonic 1 review), as I don't have extensive thoughts on all of them. There will also be a bunch of inevitable comparisons to other (Sonic) games, as I bear the curse of only recently becoming a fan in 2024 and those games just happen to be fresh in my memory.

Angel Island Zone is an amazing opening level, as it introduces the player right to the design philosophy of 3K and has many easily accessible special stages and multiple of the newly introduced elemental shields. For those who don't know, the elemental shields replace the shield power-up from the previous games and all are special in their own way. The lightning shield allows Sonic to double jump and attract rings, the bubble shield provides a move similar to Bounce Bracelet in Sonic Adventure 2 and allows him to breathe underwater (so the bubbles aren't required), while the fire shield gives immunity to fire (including lava) and a mid-air dash. In Angel Island Zone no shield is particularly better than another, so it's a good place to try their abilities before using them in later levels which make extensive use of their specific traits. One of those levels is Hydrocity Zone, which follows directly afterwards - here the use of the bubble shield is encouraged, as the bubble placements in the levels are only at certain spots and the ability to freely navigate underwater is very important if you actually want to explore there to find special stages without a rush. Marble Garden is arguably the longest and most confusing stage in the game, but it's still enjoyable in its own way. Carnival Night is plenty of fun to rush through too and has some nice underwater segments, while Ice Cap Zone is one of my favorites in the game with the snowboarding intro and overall satisfying level structure - this is particularly cool, because I was already very fond of Ice Cap in Sonic Adventure 1. Meanwhile, Flying Battery Zone is the result of "what if we made Wing Fortress Zone but actually good", taking the airship aesthetic of that level and making it more fun and sightreadable and Sandopolis is an innovative desert level, where the second half reminded me a lot of Pyramid Cave in Sonic Adventure 2. Afterwards follows Lava Reef Zone, which felt very reminiscent of Celeste's Core to me, but also stood out from the rest with its more vertical level design and great soundtrack, causing it to quickly become a favorite. Everything is rounded off with the Death Egg Zone, which gave me huge SA2 vibes again, as the atmosphere felt quite similar to the ARK levels in that game, same with the gravity switching mechanic. The final boss for 3K was also surprisingly fun compared to the other classic 2D entries, and Doomsday Zone is a great bonus for players who got all the Chaos Emeralds. Man, I love Super Sonic, no matter how basic the idea behind him is.

Sonic 3's soundtrack is an interesting one to discuss, as I completed the game through Sonic Origins, which uses the prototype versions of a few songs, as I believe the licensing for Michael Jackson's songs ran out (don't quote me on this). I don't think those prototype versions are as horrible as some make them out to be, and I actually prefer Carnival Night's prototype rendition to the original. Can't say the same for Ice Cap though, the original song is iconic for a good reason and I love how it ties in with the snowboard section at the beginning. The prototype version just sounds a bit too upbeat for my taste here, considering the original track conveys the gloomy feeling of an icy cave perfectly fine. Putting the differences of MJ and prototype songs aside, some other songs I thoroughly enjoy are Angel Island Zone, Hydrocity Zone (Act 1) and Lava Reef Zone (Act 1).

Even 30 years after its original release, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles managed to provide me with a surprisingly good time and I hope that many more people will continue to play it over the years. I really wish I would have grown up with the Sonic games in my childhood...

The game showcases evident care from its developers, yet its initial appeal really faded for me as the gameplay progressed. While genuinely enjoyable with friends, the experience becomes significantly more repetitive outside of cooperative play, with gameplay that heavily relies on Stratagems, an underwhelming weapon experience, and an overall monotonous progression system, detracting from its overall enjoyment once you venture into solo play. This culminates in an overall experience where moments of enjoyment are truly memorable, while periods of monotony are particularly dreary.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a breath of fresh air in more than one way for 2D Mario games and has easily become one of my favorite platformers out there.

The artstyle is great, the controls are responsive and precise and the animations are just smooth. You can really feel the amount of dedication the developers put into the game, every level has an unique Wonder Flower gimmick and the talking flowers were a personal highlight for me. It's really just a blast to play!

There are still some nitpicks I have with it. First of all, why can't different players in multiplayer equip different badges? I don't think this can be blamed on hardware limitations. Second thing, there should've been a way to play traditional online co-op and not just the "ghost mode". Oh well, maybe Nintendo thought it wouldn't work after the amounts of lag in Mario Maker 2's versus mode. Who knows! Then there's the thing with the Yoshis and Nabbit (you've probably heard it a thousand times now). They really shouldn't be locked behind a whole difficulty and the other way around, cause if you're a legit fan of these characters you can't play them without having a whole different experience. Last but not least, something feels off about the structure of levels in general. While they all feel unique in a way, they're... too simple at times. I'm not talking about the difficulty, I'm talking about the placement of things. Can't quite put my finger on what it is.

Overall Wonder was a fantastic experience though and I'll surely be going for 100% completion. Despite the small flaws I've mentioned, it's one of the most fun games this year and I really appreciate the hard work of the developers, hope they got a fat paycheck for working on this :p

Similar to what happened with A Link to the Past receiving a sequel (Link's Awakening) that took the bases of the previous game to give a more experimental and "different" adventure, two years after the release of Ocarina of Time would come Majora's Mask, a game that gives a very interesting twist to the original formula to offer one of the most singular adventures in video games in general, I dare say.

Before we begin, I'd just like to quickly highlight the parallels between this game and Link's Awakening. For starters, both are sequels to games considered "masterpieces" that instead of trying to imitate their greatness, they try to go beyond and stand on their own merits, in both we control the same incarnation of Link from the previous game, both take place in what is apparently a parallel dimension, and lastly, even though they may have a mostly goofy and illogical tone, this game having a somber tone while LA a more cheerful one, both share deep messages with allegories to fear of change and death. But well, let's start talking about Majora's Mask.

The story of this game begins shortly after the story of Ocarina of Time. Link embarks on an adventure to unknown lands in search of Navi, that friend who left us once she fulfilled her goal in the previous game. However, as fate would have it, we get caught up in a problem that traps us in a three-day time cycle forever... or at least it will be that way until we find a way to save the world, which will inevitably come to an end in that span of just three days (equivalent to just under an hour in reality). I especially like how immersive this introductory section is, as it puts a lot of pressure on you and makes you understand the danger the world is in firsthand. However, don't panic, even though the game has that 3-day limit, thanks to having possession of the ocarina of time, we can manipulate time as we please, giving us access to three songs; one that allows us to slow down time, another that allows you to jump through it and the last and most important, the song of time, which takes us back in time to the moment when all this mess started. So yes, you have a time limit, but anyway the game gives you enough time to play this adventure as you would play any other, I was able to fool around and explore at my leisure without any problems, and it's worth mentioning that I'm the kind of player who takes his time on everything.

I suppose you're still thinking that having a time limit ruins the game and makes it hellishly difficult, after all, Zelda games have a slow pace, one much like a JRPG, however, the three day cycle rather than a challenge, serves more to present a new approach to exploration and side-quests that can arise from the wide repertoire of NPCs that this game offers, but more on that later.

This game gives more importance to the masks, because while in Ocarina of Time they only served to obtain variations in the dialogues of some NPCs, in this game the masks are also used sometimes to give you small passive abilities, similar to the accessories in an RPG, which I like a lot, and although there are some masks that you only use once in the whole game, masks like the kamikaze or the bunny hood were quite good and convenient.

Speaking of one of the main innovations of this game, we have the transformations. Probably since Ocarina of Time the developers realized how limited it could be to have a human with realistic movements to make a more creative gameplay, because you can't really invent things that a human can do, so in this game the transformation masks are introduced, which expand Link's movements and game mechanics, being the forms we can get nothing more and nothing less than that of a Zora (fish man), a Goron (rock man), and a Deku (plant boy).

As for the "main" content that are the temples, this game offers few, and you may think that this hurts the game, but the truth is that no, because the amount of optional content that there is more than makes up for it. But talking about the temples themselves, they are quite good, a bit more complicated compared to other games, but each one offering the traditional structure of getting an item and setting puzzles around it, but not only that, because each temple makes you use each of the transformations, so that in fact the temples are designed around both, the item and the new transformation. My favorite temple is the fourth one, one of the best in the series without a doubt.

Another thing I like about this game is that there are no golden Skulltulas, instead, each temple now has 15 fairies hidden in it, which when you collect them all together will give you a permanent magic upgrade. Needless to say, I prefer this, as it makes exploring each temple more interesting and even though finding some of these fairies can be tricky, they are all hidden just right.

It may seem that this game has fewer items than other Zelda games because there are only 4 temples, but many classic items are not really gone, but are included in the same Link transformations, as the Goron is as if you had the hammer with how strong and heavy it is (or the pegasus boots for giving you a lot of travel speed), the Zora gives you something like the boomerang and a replacement more than superior to the iron boots. In that sense, the transformations are very cool, as they not only change the way you move around the world (being a considerable improvement over Ocarina of Time), but also have their own useful abilities.

But well, let's talk about the real main attraction of the game, which is the 3-day cycle, the aspect that makes this game special, but also imperfect. What really makes it shine is how this system was leveraged to give a little story to each of the NPCs in this game. Unlike previous installments, Majora's Mask gives a greater emphasis on the day to day life of the NPCs, so you will have to pay attention to them, as there are some that have different behaviors depending on the day, time and place. Many of the NPCs are directly re-used from Ocarina of Time, so they will be somewhat familiar to you, but I think the developers of this title took advantage of that factor to give them more distinct situations and personalities. Each one has a problem and helping them will usually reward you with a piece of heart or a mask, or rarely even better things. What's entertaining here is how peculiar and diverse the situations and people we can encounter are. Finding weird NPCs has always been a common thing in Zelda games, but I especially like how for the first time in the series a lot more attention was given to this aspect of the game, they end up making this title particularly very memorable.

The map is smaller compared to Ocarina of Time, and it certainly may seem more linear at first glance for only having 5 areas, but the truth is that there are too many things you can do apart from overcoming the temples to entertain you. Majora's Mask is masterful at giving you plenty of puzzles and challenges that are intuitive and satisfying to complete. Although the scale of the game is smaller in comparison to Ocarina of Time, that adventure and discovery factor that is so characteristic of the series is not sacrificed at all, in fact, in some ways I feel it was enhanced.

In fact, as different as this game may feel from the rest of the series, even its music is there to remind us that this is a true adventure on par with all the other games, with the main theme being a reversion of the classic Overworld theme. The music in this game is great, as it has a certain tetric and chaotic aura, while at other times it can be very calm and even full of melancholy... Although many melodies from Ocarina of Time are reused, the new tracks make up for it by how good they are.

Going back to the 3-day cycle, every time it is restarted you lose your money, unimportant items like ammo, sticks, or nuts, which is not as bad as it sounds, because fortunately the game is fair in terms of what you lose and what you don't lose in each restart, since important things like items or masks you will always keep.

However, the real problem that arises from the 3-day system is the repetition. And although I like that the game is made so that each cycle is different and unique, in a way it makes you take everything with more frivolity, because you are helping people that you know that once you restart the cycle, they will have exactly and again the same problems that you had already solved, and although it sounds like a minor detail, for me this actually breaks a little with the immersion, because I am no longer helping people to solve their problems, but just to get something. And this can become more tedious when you take into account that failing or taking a side quest at the wrong time sometimes means having to repeat it from the beginning. Also when you finish a temple, the curse of that area will be dispelled, but it will return once you restart the cycle, which makes you have to defeat the boss of each temple every time you want to break the curses again (there are some side-quests that require it). This to me also breaks a bit with the logic of this universe, because there are things like the bank that make your money be kept even if you restart the cycle, but on the other hand, why do the bosses of each temple revive even though the mask they give you (proof that they were defeated) you will always keep it?

But... speaking again about a positive aspect of the concept of the 3-day cycle, I like the fact that, even if you have already completed everything in the game, you can replay the parts you liked the most at any time you want without having to create a new file, not something you can do in all games, but in this one thanks to the very nature of the cycle. In addition, living in Termina becomes somehow a daily thing, and little by little, both the place and its inhabitants, become part of you.

Anyway, changing the subject, this remake is pretty good, although it has some questionable changes, but I think I understand, Eiji Aonuma believed that some things from Majora's Mask needed to be changed to make this game a more "suitable" one. However, it's well known that many of these changes were for the worse, and while I don't think they ruin the experience entirely, I understand where the hate from hardcore fans comes from. Be that as it may, the remake also introduces many quality of life improvements and in some ways (just some) feels like a more polished remake than Ocarina of Time. If you want to play this version, go ahead, and if you want to make it even better, use the restoration patch, which modifies some things of this remake to make it more like the original version, but keeping all the good changes of this remake, also adding more quality of life improvements that were not in the original version, nor in this remake.

And well, what to say, if it wasn't for the changes that Eiji Aonuma asked Grezzo, I think this would be one of the best remakes, because the updated graphics make the game look more beautiful and attached to the art style that was portrayed in the concept art, it also adds a lot of detail and color to the scenarios, which makes that unlike the original version, the reuse of assets from Ocarina of Time is considerably less. The downside of the graphical update is that many people don't like it, as the low quality textures and low-poly models, as well as the muted colors of the Nintendo 64 version are for many a fundamental aspect of the experience. In my opinion, again, I don't think they ruin the atmosphere of the game, as I quite liked it, so I think it all depends more on personal preference. The graphic style of Ocarina of Time 3D is great, and I like how this game is just a continuation of that style in many ways.

Conclusion
Majora's Mask is truly brilliant. I love how cleverly the exploration and side-quests are designed, they make it a game rich and varied in content, as well as the approach and often evolution that gives many of the mechanics and concepts established in previous titles end up making it a very outstanding installment.

I don't know how to say it, but it depresses me that there will never be a game like this again. Although the 3-day cycle makes it an imperfect title, it also makes it a very special game like no other.

Additional comments related to the review
I played using the restoration patch made by Project Restoration, which can be found at the following link: https://restoration.zora.re

Tears of the Kingdom definitely improves upon the gameplay of BotW in terms of crafting and combat. And yet it falls flat on one very big aspect - the exploration.

My problem is not the map being reused here, I'm talking about the changes on how to traverse this map. TotK introduces a lot of (recycled) aerial islands which allow you to glide down to whatever location from the skies. It's cool in theory, but takes away the very core aspect of Breath of the Wild - exploring the map. You no longer need to climb mountains and horses are now completely useless in this game, all thanks to the new verticality introduced. Don't even get me started on the craftable Hoverbikes.

The novelty of the depths also wears off rather fast and navigating in the same dark caves just becomes a pain over time. They suffer from the same problem as the sky islands, they're too much of the same thing and thus come off as recycled and boring.

Despite those flaws, I still had a good time with the game. The cities are way more lively than in BotW and seeing what has changed over time is pretty cool. Hyrule still manages to feel fresh after spending many hours in the previous game. I also liked the new dungeons.

TL;DR: If you're a Zelda fan and liked BotW, you'll have a lot of fun with this game and the new spin on BotW's Hyrule. But don't just buy it for the sky islands and the depths or you'll be disappointed.

It's odd...

originally purposed for an exclusive add-on for the dreamcast port of Half-Life 1, Blue Shift was later repurposed for DLC for Half-Life. Releasing in 2001, two years after the first expansion, Opposing Force.

Blue Shift is the shortest of the Black Mesa stories, taking a whopping 3 hours. Though it could take less than that, It only took me that long because I suck at FPS' and the final puzzle took me longer than I had hoped. That being said, it's short.

In some ways, it's a meaningful add-on to the world of Half-Life. The intro portion helps sell Black Mesa as a real location. With things like basketball courts, food courts, a shooting range. It revisits what the Black Mesa disaster means and how tragic of an event it is. How you see Gordon casually twice. I always appreciate when entertainment shows us the movements of the heroes from the outsider observing them. It paints them as human because, despite his feats, that's all he is. Gordon is just the right man in the wrong place.

On the other hand, it's very stagnant. The storyline of Blue Shift ends before the finale of Half-Life, whereas Opposing Force went on past the story, giving it a much more depthful approach to the game and new ideas. As extra content, Blue Shift plays it overly safe. It doesn't take any risks, it doesn't try to deviate from the first Half-Life in gameplay or overall experience in nearly any way. Coupled with the fact that the level design, despite being fine, is also forgettable.

Of course you don't need to shove a million new weapons in my face. Though something to feed that craving for something fresh would have been the move.

Something else I don't get, lore-wise, is why Barney is the face of this expansion. This goes along with another point I have is that the game is way too easy on medium difficulty. Lore-wise, I don't know if Barney is jacked the frick up or what, but he's able to mow down soldiers like it's nothing. Multiple groups of soldiers are just ready for you to tear apart. This guy is a security guard and frankly, I'd be wondering what he's doing as an 8-5/5 says and sometimes the weekend guard for Black Mesa. The game gives you a ton of gear at a ton of points. Even for a wasteful player such as myself, who often (accidentally) prefers placing bullets into the walls instead of their skulls, I found it overbearing. Now while healing is scarce, you're never too bad, multiple points had me low and doing fine, I just had to lock in. It just feels wrong to struggle so much as the guys who were trained in every muscle vs "Yeah I think I visited the range last week."

I know it's somewhat minute, but I want to bring it up. I think it would've been worth it to keep combat low, instead focusing on navigating quietly and facing small groups of enemies. Of course, that's just me.

Yes, you should play this, yes it's good. But it could be so much better. Especially when it was released after the great Opposing Force by two years. it was also somewhat buggy on my end; whenever my save was reloaded, it just kept firing until I pressed my mouse.

Anyways, it's a 6/10, it's aight, give it a look. Try playing it before Opposing Force, you may like it better that way, you can't go wrong with it though, it's still Half-Life, just Half-As-Good.