If you've played the original, this is more of the same (though I found the story to resonate a little better this time around).

Short and sweet, totally mind-bending puzzles define this series and I wasn't disappointed by any of them. All I can say is that I'd really love a fuller take on this concept; these games are tiny and largely very easy, it'd be wonderful to see what the team could create on a bigger scale. Though, I imagine this goes against the vision of the series, so I'd prefer to appreciate it for what it is, rather than what it could be.

My thoughts on this game must be split into two parts: the chapters inside Black Mesa and the chapters on Xen.

I haven't played Half-Life 1 so I can only judge this game on its own, but the first three quarters of this game or so were a huge drag. The game is at its best when it's suspenseful, when it's claustrophobic, when it's quiet. Unfortunately, there are too many instances of drawn out combat encounters that drag the pace to a halt. There's no creativity to most, they boil down to waves of enemies in wide open areas that make you whittle down forces little by little. I barely remember the good parts of these chapters because they're swamped with tiresome enemy encounters.

Surface Tension is the worst offender of this. Enduring this chapter was brutal, what probably took an hour felt like several. I barely wanted to continue with the game beyond that, the good sections were almost always punctuated with these arduous tests of patience and I just didn't see the appeal. I always got the impression that Half-Life was a lot more restrictive than its sequel in the action department and much to my dismay, this wasn't all that true.

The Xen chapters, which were completely overhauled in this remake, had me worried. You can a double jump ability before entering and it works, but the platforming early on felt a little clunky. Once I started getting through it, though, I realised just how spectacular this portion of the game was. Xen is equal parts beautiful and repugnant, certain parts had me tense while others left me in awe. Combat and action was interwoven with exploration rather than feeling like separate entities. And when you did have 'combat rooms', they were often short and each unique from one another. These few hours of game were full of non-stop creativity, "all killer, no filler" as they say. While I was ready to be done with the game before making it to Xen, I wanted more once I'd finished it.

There's so much more I could say about Xen, breaking down my favourite sections, but it's something you've got to play for yourself to understand fully. It's unfortunate, then, that there's so much nonsense to trudge through to reach it. Here's hoping Crowbar Collective decide to work on their own IP in the future, they're a team to keep an eye on.

This game has a very unique style of movement and, on top of that, is a Metroidvania! All set up to be something I adored, and yet something was... wrong.

It's all so well put together, great looking pixel art and an ASTONISHING soundtrack. The movement is incredibly fluid and never got in the way of things I wanted to do. Still, there was a nagging feeling that something just wasn't clicking. I was never hooked, even if I was having fun throughout. It's hard to point out too many concrete issues with it, though there is one thing that bothered me immensely; the map is pretty terrible.

After playing Teslagrad 2, I feel as if a lot of Metroidvanias are going to struggle to match its brilliant map design, but I'd argue Dandara's was outright bad at times. I was getting lost frequently, following paths for ages that eventually reached dead ends that I lacked the abilities to clear, meaning there was tons of backtracking. This is usually alleviated in other games by good shortcuts or providing SOME sort of reward for going out of your way early, but oftentimes I was lead along for far too long just to feel like an idiot when I was stopped abruptly. It was so frustrating and not an issue I generally have within the genre.

Ability-wise, I didn't think anything was all too interesting. The game's general "feel" as well as the occasional fantastic area and boss were able to bring up my opinion on this greatly, it's just a shame then that it could have been outstanding.

This game shares a lot in common with my favourite roguelite, Slay the Spire, and yet I found it pretty consistently frustrating.

Runs in this game are short, which is a blessing and a curse. I wanted some episodes to end the moment I started them, yet for others I'd finally gotten around to crafting an interesting set of tools that never had a chance to shine. The final boss is never powerful enough to square up against some of the game's most broken tools, so they lose their lustre pretty quickly. My biggest issue is the randomness, which was so prevalent that it felt like I often had no control on how I'd progress. Certain episodes in particular were aggressively un-fun to complete due to how they constantly changed how you played and while I feel as if this will be a selling point to some, I just found it infuriating. The game is solid, I definitely "enjoyed" it, but I was also relieved to see the end of it.

Sad to say this one disappointed me. It was fun and short, which was nice, but the levels never really amazed. Each one felt like it needed a weird vehicle section which largely marred the whole experience as very few were that enjoyable. Collectibles were much less interesting to find compared to Redemption (possibly unfair comparison) and the ones in the vehicle sections were often so easy to miss and lead to me having to die on purpose just so I could retry them. Didn't end up 100%ing this one.

While I'd watched playthroughs of this game since I was a wee lad, I've only just gotten around to playing it and unsurprisingly, it's fantastic! Each chapter is so unique and it really twists the typical formula of an RPG in exciting ways. Only two notable issues; the bosses are far too easy until the very last one (whereas the original Paper Mario was challenging throughout), meaning the combat loses some weight. Secondly, the partners barely exist after their introduction chapter. Would be great to have some inter-party banter and more shining moments of characters having something to do after you've met them. Two pretty minor complaints overall, the game was delightful throughout!

There's simultaneously so much and so little to say about this game. Metroid Prime was my very first game and thus holds an incredibly special place in my heart. I know Tallon IV better than I know most people. The most amazing part of this experience was just being able to finally make out what certain things were even supposed to be. I spent so much time rubbing up against walls and enemies so I could pore over their intricacies. I just can't understate how good this game looks, the original is beautiful but remaster is simply stunning. Every little detail pops, while the original games was truly immersive for 2002, this game brings that into the modern era effortlessly. It's gorgeous, it just is. The redesigns for the enemies look amazing too, really astounded by the work done on every aspect of the orginal. I won't go into too much detail here, though. If you play the game, you'll get it.

As for the core game, I'll always love Metroid Prime. It's from my favourite series and while it's probably my least favourite of the trilogy, it's a pleasant adventure each time. Always satisfying to knock off each item on a checklist, though what I'd give to get lost in the world fully again. I was surprised to notice brand new details this time around, one of which I'd have to replay the original and see if it was always there. Point is, this game was always brimming with attention to detail and due to how slowly I took the game in this time around, I feel like I picked up on more than I usually would. I also finally read (most) every scan this time around, not just the ones that contribute to logbook completion. Some great writing in there, one highlight being that the space pirates are no longer allowed to keep pets due to rampant phazon infection.

My ONLY gripe with the remaster is the as of yet missing Fusion suit! This was a great unlockable in the original which required you to hook up a copy of Metroid Fusion using a GBA link cable. It was then brought back for Trilogy, albeit with different unlock requirements, but it's notable absent from this remaster. I really hope it's added post-release, but after Fusion came out on NSO and there was no sign of it there, I've lost almost all hope.

To conclude, a jaw-dropping yet faithful remaster of a favourite from my childhood is, shockingly, delightful! My dream now is that Prime 2 and 3 get the same treatment, I would kill to see the likes of Torvus Bog and SkyTown, Elysia in this style.

A really solid Zelda-like adventure! Combat's fun, game is beautiful and the music is delightful. The humour was a bit of a miss though, and there wasn't a key 'hook' that made it stand out from its inspirations. Titan Souls, Acid Nerve's previous game, was an incredibly distinct boss rush experience. While this game's world feels uniquely its own, it does no favours by having a basic suite of powers and weapons that feel like they could be in any other game. It all works! It's just missing that special "something".

I wish they'd do something drastically new with the story mode, instead we get the same gimmicks and enemies from the prior two games, with a very standard story that just left me feeling largely underwhelmed (though a lot of it was still fun). I barely played the multiplayer in 2 and I dabbled with it here and I just don't think it's for me anymore, at least not with the time commitment required to become competent. Still HATE the timed map system, really fucking hate games that force you to play on their schedule. God forbid I sit down to play the game only to find my least favourite maps on the rotation. I never played Salmon Run in 2 because it was legit NEVER available when I'd think about playing it, to the point I gave up and didn't bother. Thankfully, it's always available in 3 and despite it having similar scheduling issues (fuck off with the 'map rotates every 36 hours' nonsense) to the multiplayer, it's good fun! A super solid horde mode that I can at least see myself playing for a couple more hours.

Overall, Splatoon 3 is more (better, arguably) Splatoon 2, which is both good and bad. It's fun, but I've been here before. I liked many of the singleplayer's levels but also felt like I'd played them before. I hope the DLC and eventual Splatoon 4 will actually take this series in a new direction lest it risk stagnancy.