Kailof
22 reviews liked by Kailof
The Looker
2022
The Looker is truly the most game of all time
I adore how the narrative is contextualized through your role as someone who perseveres in the face of the unforgiving nature of not only the setting but its mechanics. The player's will to engage with the game being used this way is so cool and the lengths the game goes to respect each players varying degrees of investment is amazing. You can get lost forever uncovering new details and peeling back the near infinite layers to lordran and it's history. Its masterful world design combined with its strict traversal limitations creates an intimacy with your surroundings that makes each moment of discovery just as magical as beating a tough boss. Locations are visually striking and rich with details that tell stories all their own and that level of intentionality can be found all over the place. Gameplay wise, most levels are outstanding and the estus flask fail state goes a long way into making them work as well as they do, along with the great enemy placement. I really like the choose your own difficulty element kindling adds to the system, and it just furthers how this game is obsessed with letting you meet it on your own terms. Progression is perfectly paced with a great escalation of difficulty through building knowledge and subtly teaching players lessons. Bosses are mostly very good and I appreciate the variety baked into each encounter, with things like the rooms informing your strategy, positioning based openings, tail weapons it all goes a long way in making each encounter distinct. The stamina based combat system is deceptively simple and lowkey genius especially with how deliberate your forced to be with your kit in this game. A lot has been said about fromsoft's hands-off approach to building player knowledge and what strikes me most about it is how it intuitively creates so many moments of discovery. The undefined nature of its systems allows players to further shape the experience to their liking, which directly ties into how your individual experience informs which ending you pick. For a game all about struggling in the face of pointlessness, it's amazing how much of the game design reflects how personal an endeavor that is.
Animal Well
2024
the more you play, the more special it gets.
it was a really special feeling as I finished the second ending of this game. I was just impressed at the sheer ambition of this game. its like living in a pot all your life and then at the end realizing there's a whole new world outside the pot. a massive new layer that's even more complicated and sparks even more curiosity. things you have experienced now need another examining through this new lens you have acquired. with every answer comes two new questions. if this game can require you to print out origami, how far is it willing to go and hide stuff.
it was a really special feeling as I finished the second ending of this game. I was just impressed at the sheer ambition of this game. its like living in a pot all your life and then at the end realizing there's a whole new world outside the pot. a massive new layer that's even more complicated and sparks even more curiosity. things you have experienced now need another examining through this new lens you have acquired. with every answer comes two new questions. if this game can require you to print out origami, how far is it willing to go and hide stuff.
Ico
2001
This review contains spoilers
This game is fascinating, it is not like anything else I have ever played.
It has an incredible atmosphere. It's eerie, mysterious, and gorgeous all at the same time! The castle feels like a character in itself and I love how I can occasionally look around and see places that I have already been or will go.
The animation in this game is incredibly impressive for its time! The physics of the link between Ico and Yorda are the first use of inverse kinematics that I am aware of in video games and adds a lot of charm to the experience of exploring the castle together with her.
However, I feel like basic human empathy is what carries my feelings towards Yorda. I unfortunately did not feel a great emotional attachment due to her lack of characterization. I don't need her to speak with Ico in deep conversations like the modern God of War games, but her interacting with the world and Ico instead of standing there like a doll would help me feel more attached to this character and be more invested in the story overall. She does have some small moments but I would have appreciated some more spice.
It is sometimes hard to understand what this game is going for with its story because it's so abstract, but that is what makes it fascinating. It is a great example of how games can be used as an art form, but it has aged significantly in the decades since its release and makes it somewhat hard to go back to in the modern day of games.
I think it mainly falters in its moment-to-moment gameplay. Some of the puzzles are frustrating with how the game communicates its mechanics, but it honestly makes me really appreciate how much Ueda respects his audience to figure shit out.
The combat, however, is just straight-up bad. The enemies all look the same, are complete health sponges, and aren't interesting. I am never looking forward to the next encounter, and that might be by design but I can't ignore it as an aspect I dislike about this game.
I also can not excuse the camera. The camera is great whenever you are not touching it and it frames what you should be looking at for the most part. But as soon as you touch the right stick it is an incredibly unruly mess that genuinely makes me feel sick from time to time. I just want to look around and enjoy the atmosphere of this decrepit castle but the camera actively makes me avoid doing so
Besides the complaints above, I am very glad I gave this game a shot. Ico makes me excited to play Shadow of the Colossus and see how Ueda improves from here on out.
It has an incredible atmosphere. It's eerie, mysterious, and gorgeous all at the same time! The castle feels like a character in itself and I love how I can occasionally look around and see places that I have already been or will go.
The animation in this game is incredibly impressive for its time! The physics of the link between Ico and Yorda are the first use of inverse kinematics that I am aware of in video games and adds a lot of charm to the experience of exploring the castle together with her.
However, I feel like basic human empathy is what carries my feelings towards Yorda. I unfortunately did not feel a great emotional attachment due to her lack of characterization. I don't need her to speak with Ico in deep conversations like the modern God of War games, but her interacting with the world and Ico instead of standing there like a doll would help me feel more attached to this character and be more invested in the story overall. She does have some small moments but I would have appreciated some more spice.
It is sometimes hard to understand what this game is going for with its story because it's so abstract, but that is what makes it fascinating. It is a great example of how games can be used as an art form, but it has aged significantly in the decades since its release and makes it somewhat hard to go back to in the modern day of games.
I think it mainly falters in its moment-to-moment gameplay. Some of the puzzles are frustrating with how the game communicates its mechanics, but it honestly makes me really appreciate how much Ueda respects his audience to figure shit out.
The combat, however, is just straight-up bad. The enemies all look the same, are complete health sponges, and aren't interesting. I am never looking forward to the next encounter, and that might be by design but I can't ignore it as an aspect I dislike about this game.
I also can not excuse the camera. The camera is great whenever you are not touching it and it frames what you should be looking at for the most part. But as soon as you touch the right stick it is an incredibly unruly mess that genuinely makes me feel sick from time to time. I just want to look around and enjoy the atmosphere of this decrepit castle but the camera actively makes me avoid doing so
Besides the complaints above, I am very glad I gave this game a shot. Ico makes me excited to play Shadow of the Colossus and see how Ueda improves from here on out.
This game is an incredible example of a remake done right. It takes the obtuse original NES game and takes everything its successors did right to elevate it up to those standards.
The gameplay is snappy and satisfying, the music is great, and the game design is very well done with a couple setbacks. Not to mention that the game's pixel art is some of the best I have ever seen, it took the best parts of Super Metroid and Fusion to get a wonderful result to look at.
The bosses are straight up bad, the only passable entry being the bug in Norfair and Kraid which is only barely passing. Everything else is tedious and poorly done, but they did not have much to work with and its a minor part of the game when you look at all of it. The other gripe I have with this game is that the experience of completing it is not fun, some of the upgrades are tedious to get and are hidden by some bullshit like lava that isn't actually lava with no indication as to why it's like that. If I replay this game in the future I'm definitely going for any %.
The rest of the game makes up for the experience, it is a great package that is very replayable. But after playing other better Metroidvanias this one leaves a bit to be desired.
Great game and a must-play if you like Metroidvanias. It's incredible to get to experience the progenitor to the entire genre in this way.
The gameplay is snappy and satisfying, the music is great, and the game design is very well done with a couple setbacks. Not to mention that the game's pixel art is some of the best I have ever seen, it took the best parts of Super Metroid and Fusion to get a wonderful result to look at.
The bosses are straight up bad, the only passable entry being the bug in Norfair and Kraid which is only barely passing. Everything else is tedious and poorly done, but they did not have much to work with and its a minor part of the game when you look at all of it. The other gripe I have with this game is that the experience of completing it is not fun, some of the upgrades are tedious to get and are hidden by some bullshit like lava that isn't actually lava with no indication as to why it's like that. If I replay this game in the future I'm definitely going for any %.
The rest of the game makes up for the experience, it is a great package that is very replayable. But after playing other better Metroidvanias this one leaves a bit to be desired.
Great game and a must-play if you like Metroidvanias. It's incredible to get to experience the progenitor to the entire genre in this way.
you would think this would be the perfect haha funny movie game put down the controller but its still such a unique experience that you cant quite compare it to anything its like a must "play" for people interested in metal gear as a whole its more to love and has a great send off to the franchise even if V still exists after it
This review contains spoilers
I love cats like Sissel
This review contains spoilers
Masterclass in mystery. Life is so precious.
Super Mario Galaxy 2
2010
Its more of one of the greatest games of all time, which makes it one of the greatest games of all time
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