Dunkey really wasn't exaggerating!

Animal Well is an absolute spectacle of an indie game, with unique gameplay elements and incredibly clever puzzles that push the limits of what a Metroidvania can expect from a player. I'm quite surprised that I was able to finish this game without a guide, but that just goes to show how effortlessly the mechanics are communicated!

And of course, the biggest stand-out is the GORGEOUS animation that I couldn't stop admiring from start to finish. If this game should be remembered for any one thing, it HAS to be the phenomenal art design.

"Completionist" Update:

THIS GAME IS SO DEEP AND COMPLEX THAT I CAN'T 100% IT! ONE OF THE PUZZLES REQUIRED 64 CORRECT INPUTS IN A FUCKING ROW!!! MY BRAIN HAS MELTED TO SLUDGE AND THERE IS NO END IN SIGHT!

It’s bizarre that a game that teaches you how to cope with grief from so many different angles and characters left me so emotionally devastated at an ending that ties its themes together so perfectly. I’ve been crying for like 12 hours, I can’t seem to get over it.

Forever grateful for the video game gods to deliver this remake to me at the peak of my Persona fandom. It's everything I could've ever wanted and more. I have notes... there are some really weird plot and pacing issues... but I can't bring myself to care when I had such a great experience overall. For a third time, Persona became my second life, and a home away from home. It's a little concerning how I managed to play this in two weeks though, so I think I'll be able to handle the long wait for Persona 6.

Had to end my journey with the Portal mods with the real MVP, unmodded Portal 2. You know it's been too long since you've last played this when the surprises hit with full force all over again. I mean this story is fucking juicy, from the intimidating revival of GLaDOS, to the shocking take-over of Wheatley, and all the fantastic lemon-based rants in between. I absolutely adore this game, and I nearly forgot that it's one of my favorite games of all time! (Remind me to change my Backloggd Profile) Despite how excited I'd be if Portal 3 were to ever be announced, I genuinely think this game would work best if it never got a true sequel. The story is perfect the way it is.

I haven't been this enthralled by a game's atmosphere and stylization since maybe Hollow Knight, and that's saying a lot since Hollow Knight has probably my favorite atmosphere in any game ever. But this, oh hoh hoh... this is one delicious game. Batman: Arkham Asylum is Die Hard meets Half-Life, where you're Batman. That's kind of all you have to say to describe how incomparably COOL this game is. This game FUCKS. Since Arkham Asylum is so old now, the rest of the praise I have has already been said many times before, so the last thing I'll say is that despite it's age, it holds up incredibly well to modern standards. I adored this experience, and playing this while currently going through a DC phase makes it all the more enjoyable.

I was hoping this game would turn out to be a banger, despite the restrictive allegations of it simply being “the incest game”. Well guess what, that title is too restrictive! It’s actually the incest satanist cannibal game with dialogue that sounds like a 12 year old wrote it and gameplay that’s so limited that it's nearly a visual novel! I won’t say the story is bad per say, but the crime that the game does commit - aside from the many, many crimes that the characters commit - is how categorically boooooooring it is despite the chaos.

A part of me died on the inside when I found out there’s still more Coffin of Andy and Leyley to come.

Better in many ways over its predecessor, and yet it's just a little bit less magical. It's no longer as refreshing to swing around the same old locations again, and most of the collectables and photo spots fail at being interesting since the good ideas were all used in the first game. Also the new gadgets aren't anywhere near as fun and intuitive as the old ones used to be and I'm pretty disappointed by that... the fights are slightly less fun now.

Bad things having been said, this is one compelling sequel! The villains are conveniently some of my favorite Spider-Man villains, and their boss fights were fun as hell! I'm a Spider-Fan in general, so all of the references to other Spider-Media are Spider-Welcome in my book. The side missions are REALLY good too, just as interesting as the main game, which is a massive improvement over some of the tedious and outright stupid assignments that the first game had you do (I'm looking at you, Screwball). The MJ sections are surprisingly fun, who knew a gun is all you needed to give her! The story is exciting and gets better as it goes along, although I'll admit that Miles' stake in the plot is questionable outside of the fact that he's forced to be there. The dual-sense controller effects gave my hands many orgasms - like seriously the effects add more interactivity than anything I've ever played, and I'm a sucker for interactivity.

Anyway, I've dragged this out enough. Spider-Man 2 is fun as hell, and that's all that really matters. I'm excited to play the next game in five years, and hopefully it'll be the last one, tying up a perfect video game trilogy.

I think the relatively small Arkham Asylum location lent itself better to a more concise Die Hard-inspired narrative, but this story isn't Die Hard anymore, it's finally, truly, BATMAN now! The story and setting are fantastic, and the villain lineup in this game is impeccable, offering so many fun surprises and cameos that my fanboy heart nearly exploded! Catwoman is especially a wonderful addition, if a bit underused for the most part.

I have to say though, the Completionist work might be too damn much in this one. We need to get The Riddler on his meds again.

Holy cow! Pikmin is as good as they say?!

It took me only a few minutes to fall in love with everything about this game. The level design is absolutely insane! Each stage is jam-packed with goodies, baddies, beautiful scenery, and most importantly, endlessly adorable Pikmin! Working your ass off (or more accurately, the Pikmin's asses off) to collect all of the various fruits might be the most fun I've ever had 100% completing a game, and I only wish there was a little bit more content. As it stands I completed everything in the base game in a little over eight hours, and while there's a lot of fun looking side stuff to do, the core gameplay is so perfect that I can't help but want more of it.

I suppose that means I should move on to the other games in the series, I've heard Pikmin 4 is pretty good!

Guardians of the Galaxy has to be one of the most dynamic and awesome IP's in the Marvel catalog, but something's been nagging me about the franchise:
Both the movies and this game have jam-tastic 80's music that ties the atmosphere together, but how does that translate to comic form? Are we supposed to imagine 80's music when reading the comics, or are the comics entirely different than the animated mediums? This question was brought to you by a guy who's never read a comic before.

Anyway, this game is pretty great! It took a while to get accustomed and effective to the combat system, but it eventually reaches a point of perfectly balanced difficulty. The music was perfect, obviously, and the story really surprised me as well! I always enjoy these characters, and they are very well acted this time around, and have some truly hilarious banter. We probably could've used some more character development for Gamora and Groot, but considering that anyone who's played this game has also probably seen the movie trilogy (tetralogy?), you can have so much fun with these characters without the need of extensive background info. Also, I think it would be really nice to leave this game without any sort of sequel or tie-in. It's a really good experience that shouldn't be tainted by a larger story.