FIBSH IS BEST. FIND ALL FIBSH.
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On a more serious note. Is this a well made expertly crafted platformer full of tight platforming and amazing moments? No. Is it incredibly cheap, really silly and just flat out charming? Yes. Its perfect for messing with and it still somehow manages to scratch that collect-a-thon itch for next to nothing.

Its also full of FIBSH.

FIBSH.

Fact is you're either a Quake III person or a Unreal Tournament person and for Quake III I fall into the latter category. While the game is perfectly fine it just suffers from not being Unreal Tournament.

The weapon selection doesn't feel quite as interesting as Unreal Tournament, the overall graphical design and aesthetic doesn't click with me as much as Unreal Tournament, its not quite as fast as Unreal Tournament is and the amount of modes available doesn't touch what Unreal Tournament can do and I know its not its fault, both games were basically created side by side and both released almost around the same time....

But I cant help it. Whenever im playing this I just know I could be playing something similar but better and that just throws the cold bucket of water over what probably should be a fun blast. I will say the lack of modes is the biggest turn-off for me on this game. Oh well. Back to Unreal Tournament I go.

As a game its 'fine', its nothing amazing but the general Ubisoft quicksand box of collectables, side-quests, towers and such all work well. Its fine.

But honestly for such a series that prides itself on explosive combat, gun-ho one man army plots and over the top villains, every part of the story is just flat out miserable from start to finish and its just a slog to actually want to continue down the path when you know nothing is actually going to improve in any way, shape or form. I get subscribing to the whole 'shades of gray' narrative can work but occasionally you need a bit of light at the end of the tunnel and this isnt it.

I admit, I'm a sucker for games that make you work your way around escape rooms and videogame escape rooms just hit that sweet spot where you feel like the most clever person ever for solving whatever nonsense the game is throwing in front of you, while also avoiding the real world escape room nonsense of having an uninterested person curse your existence as you fail to spot a small key in the open for half an hour.

Here there's a big attempt to coat everything with a horror aesthetic that wants to repeatedly straddle the line between Saw style deathtraps, Cabin in the Woods style claustrophobia and underground organisations and Cthulthu-esque horror. Sadly because of it flicking wildly between all three of these ideas at any given time, it never quite nails any of these, the Saw elements don't feel personal enough, the underground organisation stuff is constantly steered around and the Cthulthu stuff just raises more questions than answers.

As for the puzzles themselves they... are pretty decent with a few that had me genuinely stumped for a bit but most of them generally fall under similar rules which means most puzzle fans will burn through this quite quickly, possibly replaying a couple of times to see what would happen if you got some of the more critical puzzles incorrect.

Oh yeah critical puzzles. As you progress through the game, you'll come across several tasks where, if you get the solution to what the game wants incorrect, will kill off a character permanently for that run (unless you save/reload a lot like a true adventure game fan). This should lead to some interesting elements, surviving characters interacting or being sad at others passing but because none of the characters have any association with each other, theres never anything meaningful going on. Even when hanging out together, theres barely any interaction and barely any dialogue of worth. Its all a bit hollow.

Overall I cant help but just feel if they had focused in on one style or two horror-wise and snuck in either a few harder more complex puzzles, or used a few randomly generated ones, there would be a case to call this a hidden gem. As it is, its merely 'there'.

Im torn. As a collection its great, theres some incredibly genre defining titles here. Sure theres the odd dud (SF1 and Alpha 1 are a bit on the clunky side) and nobody but the most dedicated of Street Figher fans will care about playing all of the 5/6 different versions of SF II... But theres still so much good here, galleries and extras...

But... Its still missing something. Super Street Fighter II Turbo for instance has the incorrect version in, resulting in a difficulty curve akin to a brick wall.

More importantly, this collection is still missing some titles. Namely Alpha 2 Gold (which added changes and some secret characters like Cammy), Alpha 3 Upper (which was an arcade update that added Fei Long, Guile, T-Hawk and others from the Ps1/DC versions). Also missing is Hyper Street Fighter Alpha from the Alpha Anthology which was a sweet remix mode that allowed you to mix and match from the various Alpha series, along with some bonuses.

So yeah. Its still very good. If you want to play SF II and SF III this is perfect. For those wanting Alpha though, the older Anthology collection is still the most ideal way to play.

While other games, films and tv-shows in general have done a 'Make it darker' approach, I dont think a series steers so damn hard as Jak II does. The original Jak & Daxter game is a fun action platformer with a lot to see and do, its lighthearted, silly and a great example of what the PlayStation 2 could do.

Jak II threw a lot of that out of the window. Now the games in the future, theres corrupt evil corporations, characters die properly and Jak says fuck. Ok maybe he doesnt quite say that but he very much goes full grunge angst. Its a bit of a jarring tonal shift and not one that always works properly.

As for the game itself, when Jak II wants to be good, its a brilliant game. Its action packed, tough as nails and full of adrenaline filled moments that leave you buzzing long after you've done with them. The game is also surrounded by fun memorable characters, weird and wonderful locations and some absolutely gorgeous cartoony graphics, helping to set up some absolutely stupendous carnage.

However as I said, thats all when the game wants to be good. In between all those moments are some absolutely nightmarish ones as the crowded open-city makes for a horrendously difficult time as its all too easy to bash into things and be locked into near-unwinnable chases. Just like the tonal change I mentioned, Jak II just cant help but cross the line often into unfair territory and often pits you against ridiculous odds with minimal checkpointing.

Its such a brutal beast of a game. Is it still worth it in the long run? Sure. Will the cost of the therapy sessions be worth it afterwards? Not sure.

I want to love this game thanks to the developer being awesome, the game being quite inexpensive to pick up and the overall fun feeling when playing....

But... Agh... I feel like such a Grinch. There really just isn't enough polish here. The game starts abruptly, the levels are a hodgepodge without any real personality to make them stand out, the music just flows from level to level without breaking, there's no stage transitions, there's no real ending and the camera is a pain in the ass at all times.

But even then, there's still a sense of passion and love here that's difficult to ignore... I still cant ignore the shortcomings though.

If I was rating this solely on aesthetics and its storytelling, this would be much higher as its an absolutely stunning little game full of intricate design. Its a game showcasing Indian culture, artistry and storytelling and it feels like a breath of fresh air next to a lot of other titles coming out.

But thats sort of where my pleasantries end. As a game it just doesnt quite hit the mark thanks to a rather clumsy combat system where spamming rather muddy enemies in obviously telegraphed battle locations is the order of the day. Its all just feels very repetitive and stubborn and the enhanced edition does little to remedy this. Even though the game is indeed a short game, because of how clunky the combat is, it really can feel much longer.

Mooom. I want Castlevania

We have Castlevania at home

Castlevania at home: 8 Eyes

Yeah. Its a ripoff and not a very good one at that thanks to the main character having the attack reach of a paperclip, controls that feel like you're battling through a glue mountain and enemies that feel far too agressive and spongey at all times leading to just nothing but fustration.

This honestly is such a weird collection. It makes the mistake of first fronting itself as a 'Sega Classics' pack when its actually a bunch of remakes of older titles that were previously released for the Ps2 in Japan as a budget range.

The other mistake is just how hit and miss the entire collection is in terms of quality and its mostly down to the good games being barely changed (Fantasy Zone, Ichini no Tant-R to Bonanza Bros. and Virtua Racing FlatOut) and the bad ones being really noticeable because of how massacred they are (Golden Axe being a real lowlight).

Even worse, because I have the European version, we actually miss out on the best one (Alien Syndrome) because of issues with the ratings boards. I honestly have no idea who would want this collection as there's nothing here that you cant get anywhere else and better. Literally the only decent thing is having a translated version of Tant-R and thats not a good enough reason to hunt this down. For collectors only.

Before I get into the meat of this review, I want to talk about flowers. Yes flowers. In Calico, there’s heaps of flowers across the main area and from a distance, they look quite pretty and cute.

Get closer however and reality rears its ugly head. All of the flowers are exactly the same with no variation at all and all of them are missing any sort of stalk or leaf and all are 'just' a little too high off the ground which ends up making what was 'Cute Flowers' turn into 'Floating Litter'.

And that fits Calico quite well. The game as a whole looks incredibly cute and sort of fits that weird Tumblr aesthetic to a tee where everything’s pastel coloured, round, fluffy and about two steps away from swerving into some incredibly niche queer porn art. Its certainly a creative choice and in still screenshots it works a charm.

But then when you actually start playing, everything falls apart and the lack of technical prowess and graphical detail just hurts. The ground and tree textures are flat, your character routinely breaks limbs when trying to pick up things, animals repeatedly get stuck inside items or just SPEEN in circles for no reason.

There’s clipping through items, walls, chairs, trees and the floor. Character animations are jerky and clumsy. Movement feels floaty and uncoordinated. Sitting characters have no animation at all so they just look dead-eyed and glassy at all times.... Unless they happen to be roaming cats who eat at the cafe. In which point they'll just phase through whatever they are supposed to be sat at because the sitting animation hasn’t loaded properly.

I could literally go on with the absolute mess that this game is in and its honestly a real shame as there’s a cute fun little game buried under mounds of broken animations and flat texturing. Its rather charming racing around, doing little fetch quests, petting animals and working out some of the quirks in the game world and while it isn’t the longest game going, the more charming elements does help prevent it from becoming a total write-off... But its still a bad game that’s just in desperate need of clean-up. Its crying out for help.

I want to be nice to the game especially given a few of its more emotional moments that hit well with me and ESPECIALLY given how close it is to Rhianna Pratchett and how it weaves elements of how she felt in regards to her father in many ways and on a storytelling level, I think this game does do a lot of the themes and elements justice. I cried more than once. Ok I cry quite easily but thats not the point!

But when it comes to the actual core gameplay it fumbles and misses the mark. The platforming is all a little too simplistic, it never quite feels like its picking up any speed or drama and says at a pretty flat level throughout. The 'choices' that the game gives you as you play are all fairly superficial too and they never really impact whats going on outside of looks and the occasional unimportant story tweak.

The gameplay in general isnt helped by the controls being a little on the floaty and light side so nothing gameplay wise ever felt fluid or natural. It all led to a feeling where I just didnt really want to play the gameplay portions, I would much rather listen to the story on its own.

Maybe im just spoiled because I feel 2022's 'Letters - A Written Adventure' manages the gameplay in a much more appropriate fashion. It really is a game where I want the plot, I dont want the gameplay.

Oh gosh I really did want to like this. I loved the idea behind the game but its all honestly just far too shallow to really provide anything substantial. The biggest flaw in the gameplay is how precise you have to be in each loop to allow for the story to continue. Miss a moment or misclick or do something slightly out of turn and its BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF THE LOOP FOR YOU.

Granted its not a long loop (actually 10 minutes. So game is lying) but it feels long enough despite there being a few ways to quick reset. Also we have to talk about the story. Without spoiling, was that end-twist really needed? It comes out of left field and feels just like a way to both explain the loops but also as a way for a cheap twist that doesnt really land. Im not quite as pearl clutchingly offended by it as some but it still comes off in such a clunky fashion, I cant help but still be annoyed by it.

So yeah. Poor gameplay backed up by an okayish story, wrecked by a clunker of an ending. If only the game had been a little more freeform with its puzzles and had endings that left more for open interpretation, than there could have been a pretty near little game. Instead its just a wreck.

I'll be honest, I am consistently baffled how weird Silent Hill fans are and how insanely hateful they are to anything outside of Silent Hill 1 to 4 (and even 4 took a LONG time to actually get people to agree that its not bad). Im not saying Silent Hill Homecoming ever reaches the heady highs of those four games and I wont ever say its a successful Silent Hill game as its all too flashy, action-like and too on the nose thematically.

What I will say is that even despite that, its still a rather fun, if flawed third person horror shooter. The action is quick, the locations varied and the plot, while its about as subtle as a brick covered in spiders, does provide a few neat little plot turns here and there. Overall its the sort of thing you'd be happy to blast through in an afternoon which is fine and I think people shit on this more than necessary.