I cannot remember the last time a game burrowed so deep into my head like Animal Well has, so much so that I've played an honestly slightly-unhealthy amount of it in the last two days. Initially Animal Well seems like a charming, atmospheric, and highly creative Metroidvania, with a gigantic, gorgeously pixeled map, an emphasis on puzzles, platforming and exploration with combat only present in the loosest sense, a keenness to break past the usual genre trappings. If this is where your experience with Animal Well begins and ends then it will likely register as a very good entry in the Metroidvania genre, one that stands out from the crowd in a variety of enjoyable ways. If this already sounds appealing to you then stop reading this review, go fire up a copy of Animal Well, and consider reading the next paragraph once you're nearing the end of the main game.

You see, there's a lot more to Animal Well than you might initially see on the surface, and the rabbit-hole can go very deep if you want it to, echoing games such as The Witness, Fez and Tunic. To avoid dipping into actual spoilers I will simply say that the design here breeds an obsessive search for understanding within the right players in a way that I find very enticing. I've seen differing takes on the merits of the various secrets this all entails - some people complaining that the game's most obtuse secrets simply can't all be solved by any individual person on their own - but I adore when a game is able to take on a life of its own and make you desperate to see how deep it will all go (even as you can't necessarily find out the answer to that entirely on your own). To set expectations for those ready for this journey, the main game ("layer one") is very doable without any outside help, "layer two" is arguably doable without outside help (though I looked up my very final few percentage points of this for quality of life reasons), and "layer three" - by design - absolutely requires looking things up or collaborating with many others who are playing the game in order to be completed (though seeing what steps you can manage on your own is certainly rewarding).

The camera sucks half the stages suck walljumping sucks and dying is overly punishing this is one of the best 3D platformers every made and not enough games took the right lessons from it.

The lack of a double jump or gliding and the near complete lack of air control makes platforming actually rewarding unlike most other 3D platformers. I get that the genre is mostly aimed at toddlers but kids fucking loved Mario 64 so I don't want to hear any excuses.
Mario 64 also manages to avoid the "every collectible is just lying on the ground" problem that every other collectathon including mario odyssey has by having some platforming or exploring involved behind getting most stars.
What I'm trying to say is that I fucking hate Banjo Kazooie. Bitch fuck Banjo Kazooie and its fans hope they get exactly one new game and gruntilda marries a man.

(Demo abandoned)

What the fuck are we doing? How the hell did Dark Souls 3 become the template for action games?

"Oh, it's the potential for good levels!" But what would good level design even look like in this context? Dark Souls 1 has a simple combat system that doesn't rely on large open spaces without obstacles. This way the player can be trusted to defend themselves in most terrain, which in turn enables designs like Blighttown, Sen's Fortress, New Londo Ruins, etc. where enemies can meaningfully interact with the level geometry. One can argue how consistently applied or successful this was in practice, but there is a solid design goal there that's still visible even up to Elden Ring (as scattershot as that game is).

As you make combat systems and enemy AI more complex though, generally you'll have to start making the simplifying assumptions of plenty of open space and no blocking terrain, which in turn restricts your level design capabilities. This is fine if you build the game accordingly, i.e. most of the classic linear action games. But Dark Souls 3 likes do not actually seem to be aware of this and so have dragged along huge amounts of bloat sections (Stellar Blade: swimming, keypads, climbing) so they can continue to pretend that the spaces between fights have any relation to the actual mechanics.

Similarly constructed arguments can also be made for the following Souls systems, which I will leave as an exercise to the reader: items, camera, pacing, leveling.

So I guess the whole point of these games is to grit your teeth so that you can experience the combat system? But is the combat really all that interesting? The camera limits how many aggressive enemies you can reasonably handle at once, and not being able to hitstun enemies with normal attacks pushes you into hit and run defensive play, which in turn pushes you to abuse the simplistic, timing-based parrying and iframe systems that all these games are cursed with. Why bother when you can just play Nioh 2, which commits all the soulslike sins above but at least has actually interesting resource management, accessible hitstun, deep weapon movesets, and so on. Why play any of these games at all when you can play Monster Hunter where the defensive, commitment driven style that soulslikes are known for is a hundred times better executed?

This whole subgenre is a complete dead-end design wise and doesn't look to be getting better anytime soon. What a mess.

Having to make my own decisions was a terrifying experience. I will never do it again. And before anyone asks, I did it, everyone! I fixed her! (I got the good ending)
It was one of the best visual novels I have ever played. Great voice acting, great story, and the voices in my head are accurate. It's impressive that they are still updating the game, and a big update that'll extend the game by 25% is on its way. It's also not a very long game; I finished it in 5 hours because I took my sweet time and wandered around.
There was a sequence where I refused to continue doing what I was told, and the game shut down after the entity told me, "I will be here when you are ready" or something. I was flabbergasted. Next time I opened the game, that same entity welcomed me, and I continued where I left off.
I just wished that the Voice of the Hero and the Narrator's voice wasn't so identical.
It is truly a unique experience and a must-play.

Long before Bloodborne, the Blood-Stained Sanctuary of Cave Story consistently spiked my heart rate in a way no other video game had before. I remember staying up past my bedtime on my DSi, feeling so much pride the moment I finally beat it and got the true ending, the concept of which was also pretty new to me. There is something so personal, beautiful and tragic about this story and world, and all throughout my time with the game I remember thinking how unbelievable it was that just one person made it. I don't think I realized how profoundly inspiring that thought was to me until writing this.

This was the first indie title I'd ever played. It's the (rather unfair) standard I hold all the rest to in one way or another.

ZeroRanger really delivers in both being a great entry point into the genre of shmups while also being a fantastic game in its own right. It's such a love letter to older shooters and mecha anime while also defining itself from the rest of the pack due to its presentation, moments and story. The music is fantastic and the visuals are clear, making the presentation only enhance it's gameplay and offering some great set pieces.

It's story and narrative has so much heart, full of sincerity. It's the kind of experience that can only be done via a video game, and it's just good elements get raised to be so much more than the sum of their parts. The less you know about the games structure and story the better, it's one of the best indie games ever made.

This is THE quintessential Kirby game. If someone wants to try just a single Kirby game, you point to this one. Everything that pretty much becomes a mainstay in the franchise most likely stems from this one.

It just plays so well. The difficulty is JUST right and there is the added bonus of drop in Coop. Almost every copy ability is satisfying to use and the artstyle is gorgeous. Level design is some of the best in all of Kirby.

I love how levels are presented as "episodes" each with their own gimmick. Like the the tutorial episode is called Spring Breeze, which is a modern homage to Kirby's Dream Land. Then you have a more traditional Kirby episode like Dynablade. Then the Great Cave Offensive episode which is exploration based, encouraging you to find all treasures before completing the level. My personal favorite is Milky Way Wishes which kind of plays like a Kirby metroidvania that has you exploring planets to find copy abilities as permanent upgrades. All of these episodes hit and absolutely do not miss. It also has the benefit of keeping the game feel fresh all the way through.

The original Super Star is a 9/10 (4.5 stars) as it was almost perfect, but just fell short of having enough content to completely satisfy me. With Kirby Super Star Ultra, it not only comes with better QoL features and visuals, but you have FOUR extra hard hard mode episodes - which easily elevates this game to a perfect score. Having a nice extra CHALLENGING post game with cool unlockables after beating the main game gives Super Star so much more life and is the definitive way to experience this game.