“Well then, Mr. Mondo, from everything you have experience so far… how would you explain all of this?”

“Does it have to be explained? I don’t believe it does.”

Beautiful game. While for whatever reason I didn't feel quite as much of an emotional attachment as I did with The Silver Case, this is every bit as thematically dense and quite a bit more hilarious. Truly one of the funniest games I've played, and most of that fun is being had at the player's expense. Despite this, the game never twists the knife after it stabs you, providing in my opinion just enough antagonism to make you feel like a moron for playing it, but not enough to make you stop playing.

Especially when the story here is as gripping as it is! While my aforementioned lack of any big gut punch emotionally did have this fall short of being a total revelation for me story wise, the mystery of what exactly is going on, the greatly enjoyable characters, and the relaxing, contemplative vibe of the setting absolutely kept me hooked on it. Going to go with a hackneyed Lynch comparison again but Suda seems to understand mysteries in the same way he does. By not conclusively solving the mystery, or by presenting conflicting, dense layers of information, it invites the audience to think more about the characters and themes.

Again I invite people to talk about their own interpretations and thoughts on this game in the comments! Until next time,

I'm getting that DS feeling...

This is one of the most confident games I've ever played god damn

Every single aesthetic choice is a masterstroke. It manages to be equal parts funny, disturbing, and thought provoking. I don't even have much else to say other than I'm blown away by this.

Oh yeah and the games industry needs to get its shit together in regards to sound design. This runs circles around almost every game coming out nowadays, make some bold choices! Drown your voice actors in reverb + bass! It's fucking cool!!

In the name of Harman...

Man this was really, really hard to parse for me...

Again something I'd love to sit down and talk to people on this site about in depth. In my opinion even remotely comprehending this thing is more difficult than a lot of "difficult games" but I gotta say for what I did understand, it did really resonate with me.

Another stylistic triumph for Suda and crew. While I miss some of the more experimental live action/animated video sequences in The Silver Case (probably wouldn't fly on 2005 mobile phones), 25th Ward does make up for that somewhat with a more consistent (though still varied between storylines) striking high contrast artstyle. I also really enjoyed how it managed to sample visual/audio elements from across Grasshopper's work up to that point and merge it all into a cohesive whole. The music is also stellar, though I will say a lot of the best material is remixed from The Silver Case as well.

The characters here - a lot of the extended cast isn't given as much time to shine (this is actually lampshaded in Suda's Red, Blue, and Green which I found quite funny) but those that are central to the plot manage to be incredibly interesting, both as characters unto themselves and as vessels for ideas. Hell, on top of thematically following up on basically every theme and plot point from The Silver Case, The 25th Ward also goes way deeper into the very nature of the self. I could go on and on about all of that central cast and probably confuse the shit out of myself and everyone else in the process but I don't think it'd do it any justice. To sum it up - what I did grab a hold of really was great stuff. Shiroyabu's shocking transformation, Kurumizawa's contradictory existence, Tokio's journey of quite literal self discovery, and perhaps my favorite (one of the most straightforward too, which is saying something) - Meru, the "girl who was plugged in" all felt like pointed critiques of our society while at the same time just being emotionally investing on a character level.

Now that I've caught up on Suda's directorial work, I feel like I'm still processing all of it. I could see my opinions on all the games I've gone through over the past two months rising or falling with more time, but I know they're going to stick with me forever, to keep me thinking, to keep me confronting - and maybe killing - my past.

...man that last line sucked. Who the fuck writes this shit? I should fuckin' kill their ass. Whatever.

"No More Heroes 3 feels like a punk band playing on busted amps duct-taped to hell" - 6/10 IGN


I feel like you have to start with the presentation when talking about this game. I have, no exaggeration, never seen anything like it. The only way I can describe it is throwing everything at the wall and somehow having it all stick. In an era where games feel so designed by committee, where all UI values being sleek over having any personality, this game feels like a example of how worthwhile it is to say fuck all that. It's a delight!

The actual technical side of things does leave a lot to be desired. I don't envy Grasshopper basically trying to do an open world while on a budget, on UE4, and on Switch, which is probably the worst combo you could imagine for one. But yeah, it's exceedingly ugly and the open world performance is bad. The open world performance I find less acceptable (though it's actually a pretty solid 60fps in combat which is remarkable) but the crusty visual quality... it's maybe a bit lame to excuse it, I would like it to be better, but it does feel kinda punk, doesn't it? Busted amps and duct taped to hell.

The combat is the best in the series hands down, at least when it comes to actually being engaging. Enemies do get pretty spongy late game which I found to slow the pace too much for me but that's really my only big complaint. Enemy variety is solid and the enemies themselves are well designed/considered. Enemies are just as aggressive when off screen as on, which will probably cause some debate but I found the game throws them at you in small enough numbers that it never felt unmanageable. The combat is still simplistic in comparison to the action game greats but it nails exactly what it needs to nail which is that visceral, blood pumping feeling.

The story has me a bit mixed. I think it's definitely a step down from Travis Strikes Again, which felt so personal and like it actually had some big themes it wanted to explore. There might be some more depth beneath the surface in NMHIII than I'm giving it credit for but the game definitely feels less like it has something to say than TSA or NMH1. That said man if it isn't a fun time. More about character moments than grander themes but it managed to surprise me constantly on top of being genuinely funny.

I've got a lot more thoughts but don't know if I could get them all out right now. I'll just say I spent most of this game really enjoying the ride and even if it doesn't reach the storytelling heights of the other NMH games Suda wrote (so, not 2) it still knows how to get you hyped as fuck and to genuinely laugh out loud. Really just glad he got to make this game and excited to see where the studio goes next now that it feels like Suda is more willing to go hands on again. Now lets get that spirit hunting horror game starring Yuki, Midori, and Tokio!

You can see after beating this why Synergy Interactive had so much cred in the western film scene. Definitely a capital A "Art game," forgoing most gameplay mechanics in favor of surreal atmosphere and storytelling around two decades before it was cool to do so.

The game was never quite as engaging as I wanted it to be story wise and a lot of its threads never quite came together in a way I found satisfying, but I think this game's true strength is faring surprisingly well in the moment to moment. Being in these locations just soaking up the eerie, ambient noise mixed in with brutal industrial music and architecture. Beautiful use of the limitations of computer graphics at the time as well, every human character is just about as uncanny as can be and they knew just how to lean into it.

At only around 2 hours, this is definitely something I'd recommend to anyone willing to give it a try! While I don't think the story ultimately will stick with me much, the tone it sets definitely will.

Not putting a score on this until all chapters are out but yeah, I loved it! Big step up from chapter 1 presentation wise and you can tell Toby having a team has allowed for much more ambition. Music slaps. Funny and touching writing. What more is there to say!

...well one thing! This game got me thinking about why I find Undertale/Deltarune so uniquely funny. Of course there is the writing/dialogue, which personally I think mostly hits but could also probably be described as "tumblr" if you were being a really uncharitable, cynical douche. I do get it though, when it does miss, it misses in a way where I just kind of go "wow this sure would have killed as a shitpost in 2013 but not sure if it lands here." Thankfully at least to me that doesn't happen often and I think the writing is genuinely both funny and charming.

But I don't think that's what makes these games uniquely funny. That would be that Undertale and Deltarune both are games that manage to weave comedy directly into their game design. If you've seen the "Every Frame a Painting" video essay on Edgar Wright and visual comedy I think a great comparison can be made to what Toby does with these games. Don't just settle for dialogue, if the medium is the message, use the medium to its fullest! How can you get a joke out of an attack pattern? How can you get a joke out of a piece of equipment? How can you get a joke out of experimenting with mechanics? It's something that I actually don't see many "comedy games" attempt much at all beyond maybe a throwaway "You got a Thing!!" jingle + pose because haha funny Zelda reference (not that I have anything against that). Just something I had on the brain after finishing this chapter! Can't wait to see where the game goes next.

Demo impressions:

Extremely slow, story was uninteresting, and the combat was so incredibly easy as to be some of the worst I've played in a modern rpg. The little card minigame is nice and some of the music was good (though the main overworld/battle themes sounded like someone searched "DnD fantasy traveling extended mix for DMs" and clicked on the first result... not super impressive).

Overall yeah this absolutely did not sell me lol

TIL that this is the only Metroidvania-style Castlevania game that Koji Igarashi had no involvement in. Makes sense seeing as it's not great!

There is some charm in the music here but this game essentially feels like they've combined the very intentionally stiff, committal movement of "Classicvania" with the level and enemy design of the more Metroid styled entries and it leads to very cheap, frustrating results. Feels like a slog to play and I can't believe how easy it is to end up underleveled despite defeating every single enemy in your path on your way to every location. The DSS system is also confusing, horribly balanced, and functionally useless as the drop rates are so low you'll likely only see 10% of what it has to offer anyway. Yeeeesh.

Huge points for originality here. Pretty much anything that can still get me going "oh, games can have a vibe like this?" especially after having seen so many top down RPGs of both the retro and indie variety earns some major respect from me. I don't think the battle system ended up super interesting at the end of the day, but the game's world and narrative make up for that to me. No spoilers but while it goes for a metanarrative route that is pretty old hat at this point by the end I do think the execution here is actually much better than other games with much bigger budgets that have attempted the same thing. But yeah idk mostly just vibing with this and appreciating how cool its world is. The simple graphics hide how conceptually interesting/evocative some of it's worldbuilding ideas are, like damn the sea of plastic, the smoke mines... letting your mind fill in the blanks using the dialogue as a starting point really conjures some wild imagery. So yeah! I'd definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a creative and well paced RPG with an interesting story.

It was pretty imperative that they didn't miss with this one with the 2D series banking on this game for its big comeback and it's my pleasure to inform you they didn't fucking miss.

Metroid Dread is easily the best game MercurySteam has ever developed and they've finally crafted a Metroidvania here that can go toe to toe with the best of the genre. Presentation wise I really enjoy what they've done here. The backgrounds are extremely detailed with biomes that get more and more interesting as you progress. The cold, clinical atmosphere the game often creates is evocative of the rest of the series, but there is definitely a bit of a sterile, less natural element at play here (with the exception of a few areas) which I think gives the game something distinct from its predecessors. I actually really like what they've accomplished with the 2.5D look as well, lighting is often used to great effect and the material work still manages to look good with the side view perspective. The only downside in the presentation, imo, is the music. Young composers and series newcomers Soshi Abe and Sayako Doi handled the music for this game. I like the fact that they've injected some new blood here but while I certainly don't think the soundtrack is bad, the focus is more on Fusion style ambience (and still not quite as well done as Fusion) than Super Metroid's perfect mix of ambient tracks and melodic yet still atmospheric tracks, which I loved. I hope that the series focuses more on Super's musical style in the future as I do think this did sometimes detract from the series' signature atmosphere.

The story is another thing that is somewhat mixed for me. I think a lot of people were expecting a very specific story to come out of this game after Fusion and if those people refuse to accept anything else they will probably be disappointed. I think the story here is still good, with hype moments, good reveals, and stellar cutscene direction, plus it manages to avoid essentially all of Other M's myriad of issues while still not shying away from some of the ideas presented in both it and Fusion (though mostly Fusion). That said, it ends just a bit too abruptly after the big climax and it's certainly not doing quite as much on a thematic level as Fusion was, though there is some interesting stuff going on here that I think should not be overlooked!! Overall I'm saying I enjoyed it and really don't think the story should be dismissed just because it wasn't directly following up on what Fusion set up (I think that could well be still to come for this series anyway).

The level design and movement are absolutely best in class. This is like, an RE4 level of fine tuned to me. It feels like a middle ground between Fusion (you always have an objective) and Super Metroid (you are not told where to go to reach that objective). They do block off backtracking a bit more than I'd like occasionally, but it never feels arbitrary or too restrictive as before long you'll acquire whatever item you'll need to break through that backtracking barrier and have things open up again. The way things loop back in on themselves and the design guides you back and forth through the game's various zones feels masterful and extremely well paced, it is by far one of the game's greatest achievements. On a micro design level, the level of execution required in some of these ability based puzzles to get Missile/Energy tanks is devious but never cheap, requiring both thoughtful planning and precise execution. This execution is never an issue because the movement is so fantastic. All abilities feel vital while also never being frustrating to control once you get a hang of the learning curve on some of them. No hesitation this is one of the best feeling Metroidvania games I've ever played.

Finally I'd like to talk about combat and the EMMI, because this is where the game shines even brighter and what elevates it to a masterclass in my book. EMMI zones are the game's biggest deviation from the classic Metroid formula, evolving the ideas present in Zero Mission's stealth and Fusion's SA-X to a whole new level. I was definitely a bit worried about how this would be handled but it turned out fantastic. There always manages to be tension in these zones, whether it's a new trick the EMMI throw at you that you must adapt to or a particularly challenging bit of level design to navigate through when one is on the hunt. The EMMI's AI is also extremely well realized, and compares really favorably to even the best pursuer enemies in video games (eat your heart out, Resident Evil!) Working in 2D and the specific concept of the EMMI has allowed them to completely avoid the issues with pursuers in many 3D games where it's all too easy to catch them fumbling around on corners or not reacting to your movements in a nuanced manner. It feels like they are genuinely smart without just automatically knowing where you are, which is the perfect accomplishment for videogame stealth I feel. I think they've also been smart in how they sometimes withhold the part of the expected gameplay loop where you find the Omega Cannon and defeat the zone's EMMI, sometimes for much longer after you've initially set foot in its zone for the first time. It makes it all the more satisfying when you finally get the abilities that allow you to discover where the cannon in that area is and be able to take the fight to the EMMI.

This is hands down the best combat in the series, made better by the fantastic movement I mentioned earlier and how they've refined all combat abilities to ensure they can be used without breaking momentum. Combat feels punchy, fluid, and all the other buzzwords you commonly associate with "good game combat." This is made most clear in the game's bosses, which are absolutely the series best in terms of design and difficulty. I was practically jumping out of my seat with how much fun I was having fighting these things and they tie the whole experience together in a wonderful way.

Play this god damn videogame. Metroid is back. I don't envy Retro, Prime 4 has even more to live up to now.