OOPS it kinda went and DESTROYED any goodwill I felt back for the original release. hard to still appreciate those glimmers of 'PROMISE' and ''''POTENTIAL'''' that maybe shined through before when on this big chance at a do-over they give us that same unpolished, dlc typical "the game, but worse!!!" treatment (in this case tho - A LOT WORSE!!!! :O ).

Even that ever potent Sonic "SOUL" factor you'd wanna see manifest DOESN'T HIT thanks to all the plot happenings looking like shit and coming off so RANDOM and abrupt in delivery. Not a very cool time!!

we cannot trust these old names to carry on the will of our beloved memories! their time has come and gone!!

Embraces open-world excess in a way that undercuts Breath of the Wild's more meditative appeal and turns into a far more uneven experience as a result, but all the new shit it does attempt is SO peak that it sorta evens out.

My friend Heather once said about Katamari Damacy that it's a game about interesting sensations rather than interesting obstacles and the way Tears of the Kingdom lets you interact with space, objects and materials is something I promise you've never quite sensed in a video game before.

just a casual update on this. prior to the game's newly implemented master rate update - which introduced ELO as a separate, zero-sum figure which factored into matchmaking and more clearly delineated skill in players - a charitable interpretation of the game's ranking system would be as an extension of the game's thesis, the idea that the journey for strength is never-ending. and there was certainly an appeal to that: now that you've reached master rank, you'll have to duke it out with every other person who put in the time and managed to make it to the top.

on a mechanical level, though, this felt tangential at best, and over time would likely only result in an increasingly lopsided system where most players had managed to get into master rank just by playing the game over a long enough stretch of time. having master rate now lends each and every battle this genuine tension & palpable weight. after all, nobody wants to be at the bottom of that leaderboard. nakayama's team designed sf6 with the notion that the versus mode is philosophically endgame content, a mode that, for absolute newcomers, should best be reserved until after the completion of world tour and some additional reps in practice. with this in mind, master rate goes beyond just 'endgame' content - it feels like a high level expansion where you're invited to prove your salt.

for my part, i've enjoyed two brief stints in the top 25 north american dhalsims, although as it turns out the mantle is hard to keep (as of writing: #45). is it impressive? i dunno, i feel like i have a lot more to learn and my character is underplayed by a margin of almost 200,000 players (as of august 14, there were around 221824 ken users. this is to be contrasted against a paltry 29183 dhalsim users). im not actually really a competitor in the FGC, but id like to keep growing stronger and keep fighting strong opponents. so i dunno, we'll see where this goes.

it's a significant motivator, then, that this is probably my favourite street fighter at this point, as well as probably my favourite fighting game. not to say that this is without fault - i appreciate world tour's inclusion immensely but it's half-cooked, the in-game economy leaves something to be desired, battle passes suck and the devs need to do more to encourage casual retention (further costumes is one thing but what about alternative winscreens, a functional music player, further customization of titles and versus screens, etc), matchmaking needs to be further expanded to utilize the game's strong netcode (why am i somewhat region locked), and no, you're not imagining things, the game's input register really is kind of wacky.

but i think a lot of other complaints at the moment stem from the amplification of certain voices on social media - as well as the fact that these people are also vying for a million dollars in the capcom pro tour and need things to resolve in their favour. so if we can learn to accept third strike as one of the apexes of this genre, a game constructed around problems with no clear, safe answers, a game where half of the normals kind of feel like shit, a game where chun li and yun and ken and all manners of bullshit are allowed to run rampant and free, then we can accept sf6 as a similar work in progress too. an evolving slate, one in which we have to learn - with time - to deal with strong characters and strong universal systems and strong offensive options.

this game really hits this absolute sweet spot of accessibility and depth of systems without presenting straightforward or clear solutions in a way that gets my brow furrowed in concentration and my brain eager to keep playing. i come from a samurai shodown background so everything to do with this central notion of not going on autopilot and guarding against the tendencies of players, in a sense moreso than worrying about the characters they inhabit, strikes a resonant chord with me. im really excited to see where it goes, and of course it goes without saying EVO top 8 this year belongs in the pantheon of fighting game tournaments. just a total gem. thank you capcom for giving me aki on my birthday

addendum: KB0 third strike review, november 2020:
"rather than establishing new legends, this game is about characters unsure about what the future entails, about what their next move should be, about what it even means to continue fighting - they waver, they fail, they practice, they move on. "

what a joy, then, that this is the overarching idea that propels world tour! street fighter has never really had traditionally good narratives, but when it chooses to it has pretty good vignettes and pretty good character writing, both of which world tour thankfully has in spades. very smart to organize a narrative around each character kind of just doing their own thing instead of trying to wrap them all into a sweeping narrative ala SFV.

Coming to this after growing up on Pikmin 2 and 3 was harrowing - Pikmin AI is borderline nonfunctional, their capacity to take any initiative without your direct babysitting is obscene. Every enemy encounter is ruthless, something as mundane as a Bulburb can rinse 9-15 of your troops if you do anything less than completely dogpiling it. There's very specific quirks and annoyances that don't even feel like the result of its time, but intentional choices to make the world feel more hostile and out of your control.

But I liked it for that really. You gotta corral the pikmin around as if they were dawdling ankle-biters and you're a begrudging parental figure. Olimar says as much in one of the travel logs. And as any responsible father should, I took immense pride when my dumb idiot gremlins somehow completed their menial labor without falling in a lake.

The Children Yearn For The Mines.

Having just dragged myself through Gilbert's unforgivably bad THIMBLEWEED PARK, my expectations for this were low to say the least. So it was the pleasant surprise of the century that not only did this not suck, but it was, in fact, fantastic! And probably my favorite of the series.

The writing is absolutely on point from start to finish. We're talking great averages here - multiple chuckles per minute, minimum two belly-laughs per hour, easy. More grinning/nodding/pointing at the screen 'I see what you did there' moments than you can count. Truly, I haven't played a game this consistently entertaining in a while. It more than lives up to the series' rep for humor and wit, and I'm glad of it.

But just as important - possibly even moreso - as the writing in making this game truly special is the voice acting. One of my biggest problems with THIMBLEWEED was the horrendous VA. This LucasArts style dry humor is really tough to find the right tone for and they just did not have it. Dominic Armato, on the other hand, has it so hard he basically invented it. Guybrush specifically is a character that exists at a very precarious balance where he could be anything from grating to cloying to overdone, etc. in the wrong hands, and any one of those would just turn the player against him and instantly sink the whole game. But Armato is so natural and funny that Guybrush's doofy, upbeat obliviousness is endearing instead of annoying, and that basically justifies the entire plot of the game and indeed the series. I don't think anybody else could do it so well. It's up there with Jeff Kramer's York from DEADLY PREMONITION as a game-defining lead VA role in a game that very much needed the home run they gave it. And thankfully, the rest of the supporting cast is good as well. (side note: RIP Earl Boen - a shame he couldn't do this one)

And thank God, the fully expected meta elements of the game's story and ending really worked for me. Once again, these were areas where THIMBLEWEED fell flat on its face and had me worried to even start this thing, but that game's relationship to this one is basically a Goofus and Gallant-type situation where everything that sucked ass and was embarrassing there is done near-perfectly here. A consistently engaging meditation on nostalgia and our (and the game's creators') relationship with the originals that both skewers and indulges our (and their) desire to relive the glory days. The ending had me stunned - in a good way. Just sitting there staring off into space, nodding somberly for a good couple minutes. It's a rare video game that gets that reaction.

Overall:

There is a myth, circulated amongst gamers, that what they want is a fair and honest multiplayer game, that balance is the ultimate ideal from which fun will trickle down. Seeing this, I cast myself in the form of a gamer, as Zeus took the form of a hermit, and went out amongst them seeking one gamer who could define concepts like "honesty" and "scrubby", their mouths moved, but I cannot hear lies, the world was silent. The gamer knows not what it wants, it wants to get one over the other guy, to get schnasty, to rub dirt in it's opponents eyes. If the gamer held in their heart the values they profess with their mouth, 10,000 people would be playing Nidhogg at evo, people would be lining up around the block to 1v1 me in Quake 1 (honest liar that I am, I'm playing Quake 1 because the Quake 3 guys are too good and I want to rub dirt in some kid's eyes).

Bushido, the code of the sammerai, the iron clad laws of honor which bound men, ahistorical fascist mythologizing, the Samurai was the type of mfer to take a gun to a knife fight, Miyamoto Musashi showed up late to the most important duel of his long career, against Sasaki Kojiro, he did it on purpose to make sure Kojiro was good and mad so that the well rested Musashi, whose mind no doubt was like a placid lake, a sheet of liquid glass reflecting the world, could win more easily. Like Bushido, the fair and honest multiplayer game is a confabulation of gamer machismo, it doesn't even exist, the games I named several sentences ago are for nasty little freaks and I was just lying.

Samurai Shodown knows the lure of the myth, look how elegant it is, a single well timed sword stroke can win you the match if you read your opponent well and play with patience, no crazy combos will squeeze out extra damage from a love tap, no scrubby blockstrings to mix you up, none of that nonsense, at last you can prove your warrior's worth, a steely eye and a hard read in neutral and your opponent is lying on the floor in two pieces. Then the wuxia guy gets a health lead and spends the last 10 seconds of the match flying around the ceiling to force a time out for an easy win; Samurai Shodown also knows that when gamers get what they say they want they'll be bored in 15 minutes, and go back to screaming at other people to deflect for their own ineptitude in DotA 2.

There's two gauges that effect the strength of the wound your mighty sword stroke will inflict: "the sword gauge" and the "rage gauge" they fill and deplete in fickle increments, a coward might research the values that dictate them, a True Samurai will perform arcane rituals to appease them. If you are in doubt , hit the button labelled "special", it hops, it rolls, it dodges, it deflects, it meditates, whatever you want, it does; the longer you meditate, at the cost of you rage gauge, the longer and sooner you can go into slow-motion when you're at risk of losing, enabling you to steal an easy win from the guy who was trouncing you. This is the true historical Bushido, the way of the Samurai, what all warriors and e-warriors want, despite their claims to the contrary. Show up late, and bring a gun.

I haven't played this game since approx. 2003 on the PlayStation 2. My friend Chordata3 wrote a review for this 6 weeks ago about his first time playing the game and it has been on my mind ever since. I haven't played Ico in 20 years yet this game has had a lasting impact on me. This will be more a short retrospective based on my memories than a full review.

Lot's of aspects of Ico are impressive from it's art design to it's atmosphere and wonderful music. What I remember Ico for though is how almost minimalist in it's design philosophy it was to such an extent that it results in a deeper impression in many ways. This game's big impact on me was feelings that still swell up when I think about it now. The relationship of Ico and Yorda the two main characters and how that and their personalities are conveyed through such simple means was truly wonderful and has influenced many games since in game design.

Take the save point, it's usually a functional item or a menu option and nothing more. In Ico it's a two seat couch that Ico and Yorda sit on, it's one of the few locations where music plays and if left long enough the characters will fall asleep together. It performs as so much more than simply a save point but as a vessel for the characters and the atmosphere of the game. The rest of the game uses the silence to amplify the atmosphere of the huge castle and loneliness of our characters trying to escape so these save moments really stands out. When not silent the ambient sounds include birds who Yorda will watch and then chase with an almost childish glee if left to her own devices. When moving around Ico will grab her hand as they run from enemies or move through the castle creating character impressions and a relationship between them with no dialog presented. At the time this was extremely far ahead of what almost every other game I was playing was doing. It made me care for these characters simply through these ideas and it clearly impacted others too. Take this Little Big Planet level It plays an instrumental version of Ico's final theme and to make it play, you have to hold onto Yorda's hand.

Whilst Ico's influence can be seen in many games such as Journey, Rime, Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom, among many others I still feel in this era of games feeling in some cases too bloated with dialog, icons, features and collectables that at over 20 years old there is still a lot to learn from Ico about subtlety and feeling. An article in Gamerant highlights an interview with the then Team Ico that they intentionally hired staff from outside the game industry at the time and had a "subtracting design" philosophy where any element that interfered with the game's story or theme were simply removed. Whilst not every game should be minimalist, having more isn't always better and Ico at least in character and atmosphere is a perfect example to me of quality over quantity.

A beautiful game that was ahead of it's time. I hope more people go back to experience it with an open mind.

first playthrough reviews are hard to be written. especially when the guy who made the game you're reviewing says that your first run is a tutorial. if that’s so, i just beat TW101 and honestly that tutorial alone was one of my best gaming experiences.

firstly, what the fuck. what the actual fuck. remember what i said about auteurism and shit in my Viewtiful Joe review? Taking notes from that, TW101 is the Most “Kamiya” Kamiya Game Of All Time. at least, from what i played. it’s also the Most “Platinum Games” Platinum Games Game Of All Time. i swear, the developers went INSANE in this shit right here and now i can say Bayonetta 3 is no longer my favorite PG title. (but i’m still an apologist)

it multiplies the best and the worst of Kamiya by 101. it’s Kamiya in his 101% potential. it’s Kamiya making 101 games in one. it’s 101- ok sorry

but seriously, when Kamiya said “your first playthrough is the tutorial”, he meant it. the mechanics are fantastic, it’s probably the most creative combat system in any action game, and as curious and interested as i am, i explored most of the options offered to me, and when it works – it’s such an unique feeling. but when it doesn’t, it’s somehow because of its slow progression and tough learning curve, the game throws A LOT OF STUFF in your face but at the same time it doesn’t give you room enough to play around the “stuff”. “First playthrough” it’s definitely not one of Kamiya’s strengths and that’s one of the reasons why one-and-done players don’t vibe too much with his design philosophy (which is ironic since he tends to focus a lot on the spectacle part. kind of hit or miss), with Bayonetta being the worst offender and Viewtiful Joe the most polished one in that sense.

The Wonderful 101 though? it’s an unstoppable rollercoaster with some of the worst tutorials and most unintuitive progression of all time, environmental hazard all the fucking time (bayo1 ptsd), a lot of puzzles, a lot of setpieces, a lot of QTEs, color-coded enemies, a lot of exploration and secrets, and I can’t even count on my fingers how many minigames there are. i guess it’s 101

some environmental hazards are intuitive to make through, some puzzles are good, most of setpieces are impeccable, the QTEs are honestly my favorites from any game, some enemies with weapon-coded gimmicks are great, the exploration is genius, and the minigames… i wouldn’t say i prefer them over the moment-to-moment overall gameplay but it definitely has some of the best PG has ever made. (i think it’s the same case as Bayonetta 3 but for some reason the latter is much more criticized)

the game has A LOT of stuff and i’d say it’s the most "messy" Kamiya game with the highs being the best thing ever made in humanity and the lows super rage-inducing. in Viewtiful Joe i said i was happy all the time, but in TW101 i felt many other things besides happiness. i had a similar experience as i had playing Bayonetta for the first time but the difference is that TW101 captivated me much more. i was never bored or indifferent, i never thought of “stopping playing” because the game is ALWAYS reinventing itself in the most creative ways you can imagine

it also has probably the best storytelling of the genre. there are some really good ones like DMC3 and Sifu but TW101 it’s from another world. it’s not “really good”, it’s WONDERFUL. the ludonarrative is, honestly, perfect – capitalizing 101% of its mechanics and structure to convey a message and tell a story is something that only The Wonderful 101 can do. (there are some games that do this pretty well, but only up to the 100% limit)

the mindblowing and over-the-top conclusion pretty much synthesize everything i said here, going down in history as one of the best ending in gaming (now it’s probably in my top 5 since i can’t even write about it without getting static for every word, it’s really THAT good, it’s one of the only endings i can think about that pretty much 101% of it only works because it’s in a videogame)

i’m still jawdropped because of the ending but how would i end this review? in my Viewtiful Joe text i said i had high hopes for this game and now i can say that it met 101% of my expectations, that unfortunately backloggd has a 5-star limit but this game def deserves a 101 stars rating, that i'll definitely replay this game 101 times, that Kamiya and PG have 101% of my respect and i'm 101% sure that Project G.G. will be another masterpiece, that- ok it's not even funny at this point.

The Wonderful 101 was one of the most unique experiences I had in gaming and despite its frustrating pieces, bad tutorialization and the remastered problems, I'd say this is easily the best Platinum Games title (yes, recency bias) and it's one of the games I have that feeling "they made the game especially for me" but that would go against the meaning of the game.

While Viewtiful Joe emphasizes a specific style with its metalinguistic narrative and aesthetic appeal, The Wonderful 101 emphasizes a specific theme using 101% of its game design and I'm not even joking; Devil May Cry with its aesthetics, Viewtiful Joe with its story, Bayonetta with the cutscenes style and… these games are always stylizing their own motto inside and outside the game design; but they are also always showing some love for the audiovisual in some sense. On the other hand, The Wonderful 101 tries to be the most pure gaming experience Kamiya ever made; in the stylistic sense of the word working together with the game design. Of course the mechanics play a big part of his other games even outside of the main appeal (combat), but I feel that PG and Kamiya went 101% crazy into how mechanical TW101 is as a whole. It’s also probably the one with the lowest frequency of “cinematic cutscenes”, most of them are either dialogues or… quick time events (and that speaks for itself).

Lastly, if Viewtiful Joe was about "everyone loves a hero", The Wonderful 101 is about "everyone can be a hero", and to end the review without this obvious interpretation (still true and genius tho), I'd like to add two actually relevant things:

1. i really need to watch some tokusatsu
2. they REALLY DID THAT FUCKING spoilers ahead