For some reason I had a really hard time getting used to the control scheme (any of the control schemes really) and would play the practice level over and over again and get really frustrated. Eventually it just clicked and I had a lot of fun breezing through the levels. There are still a lot of issues, notably framerate problems and obstacles popping up out of nowhere right in front of your arwing. You really get the feeling that this was pushing the SNES hardware to the absolute limit. But despite, or maybe because of all that, there is an irresistible charm to the abstract geometric aesthetic. It really feels like those retro-futuristic 80s sci fi targeting computers and shit in Star Wars. And the soundtrack and sound effects really elevate that aesthetic.

The most notable thing about Axelay in my opinion is how "proto-Treasure" it is, as in the company behind beloved games such as Gunstar Heroes, Alien Soldier, and Ikaruga. It's already known that much of the team behind this game would immediately clean house at Konami and move over to Treasure after completing its development, but even without this knowledge it's hard to shake the feel of Treasure's design philosophy off of Axelay. It's in the incredible art direction, the rocky surfaces in stage 3 and their cybernetic underbellies, the jittery stop-motion movement of the stage 2 boss, all the insane technical feats on display, and so on and so forth. It really sits right at home with Treasure's next few years of work down the line, and in my head I sometimes consider it an honorary member of the Treasure catalog. I might actually prefer it over Radiant Silvergun, their next shmup to be released.

Not quite my favorite shmup on the SNES, but it's very close, only being beaten out so far by R-Type III and maybe Space Megaforce. It's worth a look for any fans of the genre and any fans of Treasure's output. It's ruthlessly difficult though, perhaps even moreso than R-Type III, so it'd be best to stay on your toes if you give it a shot.

I'm not sure how to feel on this game.
Illusion of Gaia is far from a bad game, but to me it definitely feels like the weakest of the Quintet Trilogy.
To start with the positives, traveling through dungeons in this game is amazing. Clearing out rooms to unlock upgrades, and being able to switch forms to solve a handful of puzzles. It's definitely really fun! Though there were definite noticeable spikes of difficulty, the dungeon exploration never felt too frustrating, and no dungeon feels poorly designed.
But, man, the story suffers so much. Its ending is great, but the journey to get there doesn't really feel deserved. I read from another review that it was an issue of translation, and I hope that's the case. I can see how the story wants to go somewhere, and make you care for the main cast, but at least for me, it just doesn't seem to do that. I also think some of the early bosses were just... not good. The later half were all really good and fun bosses, but the first half just felt terrible. Which, is a bit odd y'know, since you'd expect the first half to be easier then the second half.
Now one last note is that this game has what can only really be called a lives system? It's odd, and I don't think it works all that well, because it doesn't actually feel worthwhile to gain new lives.
This game, even with its strengths, is probably my least favorite of the Quintet Trilogy. Which sucks because I see a whole lot of potential within it. Yet again Illusion of Gaia is far from bad, but I wish I could like it more.

The greatest game ever made according to my friends in elementary school who’d never played Morrowind or Daggerfall.

It’s certainly impressive, if rough around the edges, and rough in the middle… actually it’s just generally rough. The dialogue is legendarily awkward, as are the combat and most of the game’s systems.

While I definitely appreciate it more than I used to, I can’t shake the feeling that the vibes are off. It’s not as aesthetically unique or interesting as Morrowind, not as fun as Skyrim, and not as sprawling as Daggerfall. I had to fight the game to immerse myself, which has never been a problem before in this franchise.

Once I did get into the groove I thoroughly enjoyed the writing in the stories and questlines. That’s the game’s true standout element, and it’s worth playing for things like the Dark Brotherhood and even just the main questline.

I wish I loved it, but I do like Oblivion.

This was the first world I ever truly felt lost in. I played this game for hundreds of hours on a camping chair in my dad's old ass apartment. He used to burn cheap incense from a flea market and that smell instantly takes me back to the sprawling fields of Cyrodiil.

Listening to the soft overworld music walking through the streets of Skingrad, fighting back the Daedra at Kvatch, the busy port at Anvil - I could probably write a book about how beautiful this game is. This game is the absolute definition of comfort for me, and to this day, I can still turn on Oblivion and lose myself for hours. It still feels like a world where anything can happen.

The soundtrack, the painterly vistas, the amazing side quests and story - the flawed, but lovable AI - for the rest of my days I'll treasure Oblivion. As Todd Howard famously said at some point in his life - it just works.

Back in the early days of the 360, the draw of a good multiplayer game really excited people. Xbox live was getting more popular and improving each year and the number of decent online games couldn't keep up with the demand. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfare dropped in early 2006 and was a huge hit. The online coop and versus modes were polished and better than most of the competition. It was lauded for it's smart AI and beautiful graphics but most people stuck around for the online play. Reviewers loved the game and it ended up with a score of 91% on Metacritic. 20 years later, with the multiplayer no longer really playable, does this hold up? No absolutely not. GRAW is a 3rd or 1st person shooter, with most of your time spent in a team of 4 soldiers. The story focuses around saving politicians and something called the football? To be honest I wasn't paying much attention, but its very much your standard mid 2000s anti terrorism type of story. Levels take place in fairly realistic environments and the you do get a good sense of urgency and danger as you play through the levels. The enemy AI does hold up and gives you a fairly hard time at parts, and the feeling of being pinned down by enemies, with the now common cover system works well. I think that is the issue with this game, anything it did well has become pretty commonplace nowadays. The cover system, enemy AI, online coop, teamwork aspects, all of it is not so impressive in 2023. I found myself having fun through the 8ish hours of the campaign, but it wasn't particularly memorable. One of the bigger frustrations is the tactical nature of the game. Previous advanced warfare games in the series were very tactical affairs, requiring planning and skill to get through missions. GRAW 1 has dumbed things down for the 360 generation and a lot of the fun has been taken out because of it. It's pretty easy to run and gun through the campaign without the help of your teammates. Your AI teammates also make the game too easy in some parts. Acting as meat shields, they draw the fire of enemies while you pick them off from afar. It takes away from the tension of the game, and I found myself enjoying the single player sections a lot more due to this tension. Its hard to imagine anyone giving this a score of 90% nowadays and it really doesn't hold up to this score. There is fun to be had here, but don't get your expectations up.

The amount of invincibility frames they give you in this game is so fucking amazing. I felt like a fucking god sliding through fuckers and dodging hits. The combat is definitely a step up from Soul Blazer, but it still definitely retains a bit of that (good) jank that lets you fuck enemies up super fast. Unfortunately, I think everything else is quite a step-down. The story is moving at like 200 mph with so many random things being introduced. It's entertaining in a "LOL WTF JUST HAPPENED" sort of way. Like, when you get captured by cannibals and your pig friend has to sacrifice himself I was absolutely losing my shit. The themes carried over here which is nice and definitely make this game worth playing, especially for the ending. Great palette cleanser game before moving on to the main attraction.

Time to check out Terranigma!