Moogs
2011
I have more recorded hours in Terraria than any single other game, well over 1000, It was one of the first games I ever played on Steam way back in 2014. I remember expecting it to be like 2D Minecraft, despite my brother’s gift message telling me exactly otherwise. I quickly was charmed by just how much there was to discover and how it was, under the surface, really more of a 2D RPG action game than a Minecraft-like sandbox game.
It started off a simple enjoyable experience, but after the 1.3 update came out the summer between 8th and 9th grade I developed an obsession with it. In the span of a month in the summer, I played through a whole normal mode save up to beating the Moon Lord and I still remember those days fondly.
The perfect integration of steam multiplayer was a game changer for me. See, back then, when I was living with my parents I was in an incredibly rural area, and had only access to satellite internet. This meant that I had a connection mostly incapable of online games. Yet, despite this, I managed to have quite a bit of great experiences playing online with friends from school as I became so accustomed to the nature of the game’s lag, that as long I wasn’t experiencing disconnects, I could play fairly well. It even served as the motive for bringing my whole desktop computer over to my buddy Jwalsky’s place for the first time, a habit I kept throughout all of highschool and led me to my first experience with many other games that I will surely review in the future.
This game is fun and full of content, the controls are tight and the variety in enemy types and player tools keeps combat consistently exciting throughout the progression of the game. You never stop having fun new types of equipment to go after at each tier of difficulty, and the enemies, especially bosses are constantly finding new ways to trip you up and challenge you as your world changes with each stage of progression.
The character progression is incomparable to any other sandbox game that I have played and is why I tend to consider the game as more of an action RPG than anything else. It contains a somewhat hidden equipment based class system that encourages different playstyles as well as multiplayer. Characters being separate from worlds is a fantastic mechanic that ties into this perfectly as particularly in the latter half of the game, each class has a large variety of different tools a player could seek out or farm materials for, encouraging you and your friends to each have your own worlds, play on your own time and help each other out.
In addition to tying into character progression mechanics and ease of multiplayer, the separation between characters and worlds allows for more flexibility in the difficulty options as characters themselves can choose between three difficulty types concerning what happens when they die, and worlds have three difficulty settings of their own which concern the difficulty of enemies as well as rarity of items. On expert mode and above, bosses health scales to number of players and each player gets a separate loot bag. This makes for an extremely satisfying experience in multiplayer and thrills that my friends and I have tried to chase after for years since our golden era of playing this game.
Unfortunately, each attempt in the last 5+ years for me to start a new long term session of playing this game has failed. Countless worlds and characters started over and over again and then dropped for several months only to start fresh the next time we get the itch. One day, I dream of having a group of friends interested in committing to a playthrough of this epic game with me and all seeing it through to the end, getting truly hooked on this excellent experience like I did as a teenager and not worrying about the “legitimacy” of a beginning to end playthrough. That’s unfortunate side effect of the incredibly open multiplayer and ability for any character to join your world, sequence breaking is so accessible that it can hardly even be considered a break, meaning its quite easy to convince yourself that a run is “tainted” if everyone playing is not at the same stage of progression. That’s just how my brain works, but its held me back from truly enjoying this game for years.
Oh, also, I love fishing in this game. It rocks.
It started off a simple enjoyable experience, but after the 1.3 update came out the summer between 8th and 9th grade I developed an obsession with it. In the span of a month in the summer, I played through a whole normal mode save up to beating the Moon Lord and I still remember those days fondly.
The perfect integration of steam multiplayer was a game changer for me. See, back then, when I was living with my parents I was in an incredibly rural area, and had only access to satellite internet. This meant that I had a connection mostly incapable of online games. Yet, despite this, I managed to have quite a bit of great experiences playing online with friends from school as I became so accustomed to the nature of the game’s lag, that as long I wasn’t experiencing disconnects, I could play fairly well. It even served as the motive for bringing my whole desktop computer over to my buddy Jwalsky’s place for the first time, a habit I kept throughout all of highschool and led me to my first experience with many other games that I will surely review in the future.
This game is fun and full of content, the controls are tight and the variety in enemy types and player tools keeps combat consistently exciting throughout the progression of the game. You never stop having fun new types of equipment to go after at each tier of difficulty, and the enemies, especially bosses are constantly finding new ways to trip you up and challenge you as your world changes with each stage of progression.
The character progression is incomparable to any other sandbox game that I have played and is why I tend to consider the game as more of an action RPG than anything else. It contains a somewhat hidden equipment based class system that encourages different playstyles as well as multiplayer. Characters being separate from worlds is a fantastic mechanic that ties into this perfectly as particularly in the latter half of the game, each class has a large variety of different tools a player could seek out or farm materials for, encouraging you and your friends to each have your own worlds, play on your own time and help each other out.
In addition to tying into character progression mechanics and ease of multiplayer, the separation between characters and worlds allows for more flexibility in the difficulty options as characters themselves can choose between three difficulty types concerning what happens when they die, and worlds have three difficulty settings of their own which concern the difficulty of enemies as well as rarity of items. On expert mode and above, bosses health scales to number of players and each player gets a separate loot bag. This makes for an extremely satisfying experience in multiplayer and thrills that my friends and I have tried to chase after for years since our golden era of playing this game.
Unfortunately, each attempt in the last 5+ years for me to start a new long term session of playing this game has failed. Countless worlds and characters started over and over again and then dropped for several months only to start fresh the next time we get the itch. One day, I dream of having a group of friends interested in committing to a playthrough of this epic game with me and all seeing it through to the end, getting truly hooked on this excellent experience like I did as a teenager and not worrying about the “legitimacy” of a beginning to end playthrough. That’s unfortunate side effect of the incredibly open multiplayer and ability for any character to join your world, sequence breaking is so accessible that it can hardly even be considered a break, meaning its quite easy to convince yourself that a run is “tainted” if everyone playing is not at the same stage of progression. That’s just how my brain works, but its held me back from truly enjoying this game for years.
Oh, also, I love fishing in this game. It rocks.
I don’t exactly remember when I bought this game, or when I finished it for the first time but what I do remember is that always, from the moment I saw it advertised on steam I knew that these graphics and this sound was something that I vibed with on every possible level. Now, to this day, this little visual novel, the only one that I’ve ever played, has burnt its vibes into my soul.
I look back fondly on the way in which I, as a teenager living secluded in a rural area, would fantasize about the city. I held the idea and imagery of a city in an important part of my mind, a romanticized and neon colored idealization of what an exciting city life could hold. Every time I’d sit in the back seat of my parent’s car, driving past the towers of checkered lights which sprawl out over the island city of Montreal while I gazed off at the ever present and sky sweeping skylights I would feel my heart drift off somewhere else all together, a nostalgic and hopeful place.
VA-11 HALL-A spoke to that fantasy in a powerful way, due almost entirely to the gorgeous pixel art which perfectly captures that iconic and soulful city skyline imagery that my heart yearns for so much. Not just the skyscrapers and neon signs, though, but also Jill’s lived-in feeling apartment with her clothing displayed about and collectibles placed about the room.
The titular bar, where the majority of dialogue and gameplay takes place is itself a charming and imaginable setting. What could be more representative of an exciting city fantasy than an interesting, colorful downstairs bar where they serve interesting, colorful beverages to an interesting, colorful collection of clientele?
Speaking of the clientele, VA-11 HALL-A is home to a plethora of memorable characters, presumably as any well liked visual novel does (I wouldn’t know, as this is the only one I’ve ever played). The primary focus of the game is, after all, serving drinks to the characters who show up at the bar. If you’re anything like me, you need only see a glimpse of any character’s sprite art to immediately be interested in them (save for a couple less interesting designs). That said, I’ll tell you straight away that by far my favorite character in the game is that of the protagonist Jill Stingray. Jill serves as a vehicle for every single interaction you see in the game, given that you see the game through her eyes and she does a fantastic job at doing so, she’s cool, funny, attractive and cozy. Her aforementioned apartment truly feels like home quite quickly, and the way you interact with her smartphone starting from the lock screen when you wish to read world building on the in game news apps both do wonders for making her an immersive player avatar as well. It’s really important that the player like Jill and feel comfortable with her as the game is ultimately her story of living in Glitch City, even if most of the time is spent speaking to patrons of the bar, Jill’s arc and experience is where the story literally ends and begins. Importantly, however, you never decide what Jill has to say or what actions she takes in a direct sense. She is her own character.
If you haven’t played the game, you may wonder how a visual novel that does in fact have multiple endings manages to be an interesting experience without allowing the player to influence the events in any way? Well, that’s where VA-11 HALL-A’s primary (only?) game mechanic comes into play. Ultimately, every influenceable aspect of the game revolves around how much alcohol you make a character consume and to some degree, whether or not you serve them drinks that are to their liking. This mechanic is a bit hit or miss. It is interesting, but ultimately you are rarely making a choice consciously or with much intent. If you want a specific ending or the correct drinks to serve when given vague requests you will probably end up looking at a guide anyways. I suppose that type of progression is not uncommon amongst visual novels (looking at guides to understand the possible story routes) but ultimately it doesn’t feel so much like decision based story progression in the way selecting dialogue or directly controlling a player character does. Oh, also there’s a drink mixing mini game. It’s inconsequential but I’m glad it’s there, and it's part of the vibe.
The writing of the game is something I’m not particularly interested in speaking critically of without replaying it. It’s a lot of reading, and the setting of Glitch City has a lot of love and thought put into it. It’s charming but also can feel weird and serious often enough. What I can say is that regardless of whether or not these characters are or are not well written, they are memorable and if you were to see fanart of them you would probably retweet it. The story itself has plenty of memorable moments, especially ones that are important to Jill’s personal story. The ending of the game is very charming and leaves you feeling rather satisfied.
While I can speak highly of the game as a whole, and one’s enjoyment of the content within will be subjective, what ultimately makes it worth playing is without a doubt the presentation. If it had not been for the graphics, sound and overall aesthetic of this game it would not have a chance at being as important to me as it is. It was because of that vibe that this game is able to be a part of treasured memories. Filling my teenage bedroom with a purple glow and bassy synth soundtracks while my new off brand LED backlit keyboard cycled through colors late at night, supercharging my longing for the city and hoping I could one day “get out of this town”
I did eventually move to the city, and one of the first things I did was order a 3 disc CD soundtrack of this games’ OST. The OST for this game really is something amazing, and getting my hands on that thick jewel case and gazing upon the cover itself was an experience that nearly brought me to tears. It’s a daytime scene of the Glitch City skyline. Something about that art, when the majority of the game’s visuals take place at night just made it hit. It felt like a perfect purchase for finally fulfilling the city-life dreams that the game had inspired.
I went out at night listening the that soundtrack many times after moving, and sitting by the river, looking out at the reflections of tall, lit up buildings against the water and the orange hued sky while vibing to music from a piece of media which has ultimately become a part of my soul has been one of the most fulfilling art experiences of my life and I am thankful for the game’s existence because of that.
At least 5 years after this game first came into my life, I stand by my girlfriend’s 3rd story balcony window. Peering over the buildings, I see the towering Montreal Olympic Stadium far in the distance and I’m filled with the same feelings that VA11 HALL-A indulged all those years ago. The opening synths of “Welcome to VA-11 HALL-A” play in my head, and I sit down to write this review, letting out a feeling that this art brought out from me all that time ago.
I look back fondly on the way in which I, as a teenager living secluded in a rural area, would fantasize about the city. I held the idea and imagery of a city in an important part of my mind, a romanticized and neon colored idealization of what an exciting city life could hold. Every time I’d sit in the back seat of my parent’s car, driving past the towers of checkered lights which sprawl out over the island city of Montreal while I gazed off at the ever present and sky sweeping skylights I would feel my heart drift off somewhere else all together, a nostalgic and hopeful place.
VA-11 HALL-A spoke to that fantasy in a powerful way, due almost entirely to the gorgeous pixel art which perfectly captures that iconic and soulful city skyline imagery that my heart yearns for so much. Not just the skyscrapers and neon signs, though, but also Jill’s lived-in feeling apartment with her clothing displayed about and collectibles placed about the room.
The titular bar, where the majority of dialogue and gameplay takes place is itself a charming and imaginable setting. What could be more representative of an exciting city fantasy than an interesting, colorful downstairs bar where they serve interesting, colorful beverages to an interesting, colorful collection of clientele?
Speaking of the clientele, VA-11 HALL-A is home to a plethora of memorable characters, presumably as any well liked visual novel does (I wouldn’t know, as this is the only one I’ve ever played). The primary focus of the game is, after all, serving drinks to the characters who show up at the bar. If you’re anything like me, you need only see a glimpse of any character’s sprite art to immediately be interested in them (save for a couple less interesting designs). That said, I’ll tell you straight away that by far my favorite character in the game is that of the protagonist Jill Stingray. Jill serves as a vehicle for every single interaction you see in the game, given that you see the game through her eyes and she does a fantastic job at doing so, she’s cool, funny, attractive and cozy. Her aforementioned apartment truly feels like home quite quickly, and the way you interact with her smartphone starting from the lock screen when you wish to read world building on the in game news apps both do wonders for making her an immersive player avatar as well. It’s really important that the player like Jill and feel comfortable with her as the game is ultimately her story of living in Glitch City, even if most of the time is spent speaking to patrons of the bar, Jill’s arc and experience is where the story literally ends and begins. Importantly, however, you never decide what Jill has to say or what actions she takes in a direct sense. She is her own character.
If you haven’t played the game, you may wonder how a visual novel that does in fact have multiple endings manages to be an interesting experience without allowing the player to influence the events in any way? Well, that’s where VA-11 HALL-A’s primary (only?) game mechanic comes into play. Ultimately, every influenceable aspect of the game revolves around how much alcohol you make a character consume and to some degree, whether or not you serve them drinks that are to their liking. This mechanic is a bit hit or miss. It is interesting, but ultimately you are rarely making a choice consciously or with much intent. If you want a specific ending or the correct drinks to serve when given vague requests you will probably end up looking at a guide anyways. I suppose that type of progression is not uncommon amongst visual novels (looking at guides to understand the possible story routes) but ultimately it doesn’t feel so much like decision based story progression in the way selecting dialogue or directly controlling a player character does. Oh, also there’s a drink mixing mini game. It’s inconsequential but I’m glad it’s there, and it's part of the vibe.
The writing of the game is something I’m not particularly interested in speaking critically of without replaying it. It’s a lot of reading, and the setting of Glitch City has a lot of love and thought put into it. It’s charming but also can feel weird and serious often enough. What I can say is that regardless of whether or not these characters are or are not well written, they are memorable and if you were to see fanart of them you would probably retweet it. The story itself has plenty of memorable moments, especially ones that are important to Jill’s personal story. The ending of the game is very charming and leaves you feeling rather satisfied.
While I can speak highly of the game as a whole, and one’s enjoyment of the content within will be subjective, what ultimately makes it worth playing is without a doubt the presentation. If it had not been for the graphics, sound and overall aesthetic of this game it would not have a chance at being as important to me as it is. It was because of that vibe that this game is able to be a part of treasured memories. Filling my teenage bedroom with a purple glow and bassy synth soundtracks while my new off brand LED backlit keyboard cycled through colors late at night, supercharging my longing for the city and hoping I could one day “get out of this town”
I did eventually move to the city, and one of the first things I did was order a 3 disc CD soundtrack of this games’ OST. The OST for this game really is something amazing, and getting my hands on that thick jewel case and gazing upon the cover itself was an experience that nearly brought me to tears. It’s a daytime scene of the Glitch City skyline. Something about that art, when the majority of the game’s visuals take place at night just made it hit. It felt like a perfect purchase for finally fulfilling the city-life dreams that the game had inspired.
I went out at night listening the that soundtrack many times after moving, and sitting by the river, looking out at the reflections of tall, lit up buildings against the water and the orange hued sky while vibing to music from a piece of media which has ultimately become a part of my soul has been one of the most fulfilling art experiences of my life and I am thankful for the game’s existence because of that.
At least 5 years after this game first came into my life, I stand by my girlfriend’s 3rd story balcony window. Peering over the buildings, I see the towering Montreal Olympic Stadium far in the distance and I’m filled with the same feelings that VA11 HALL-A indulged all those years ago. The opening synths of “Welcome to VA-11 HALL-A” play in my head, and I sit down to write this review, letting out a feeling that this art brought out from me all that time ago.
2015
Ive played this game a shit ton (at least 150 hours) and it has my hands down favorite turn based combat. When I finally finish it, I'll write a longer review.
4.5 because the game being so RNG heavy and also just straight up unfair makes it a pain sometimes.
4.5 because the game being so RNG heavy and also just straight up unfair makes it a pain sometimes.
I have an incredible amount of nostalgia associated with this game. When I played it at 11 years old it was the first truly open world experience I had and also the most graphically insane game I had ever played.
I also continued to play it throughout my teens and having a lot of different experiences through modding. The flexibility of what the game can be is it's greatest strength.
While mechanically rather shallow especially in comparison to the other elder scrolls games, I do think it is a fun and memorable experience for many gamers.
One day I'm gonna write a very sappy blog post about how special this games aesthetic is to me.
I also continued to play it throughout my teens and having a lot of different experiences through modding. The flexibility of what the game can be is it's greatest strength.
While mechanically rather shallow especially in comparison to the other elder scrolls games, I do think it is a fun and memorable experience for many gamers.
One day I'm gonna write a very sappy blog post about how special this games aesthetic is to me.
2009
This game provides the most satisfying player choice driven roleplaying experience to me, and it's character creation and freedom of roleplay has made most RPGs not feel like enough in that department for my entire life.
Story and lore is incredible. Characters are amazing.
Gameplay itself kind of boring though.
Story and lore is incredible. Characters are amazing.
Gameplay itself kind of boring though.
1992
Experiencing this game so young is what convinced me I actually liked JRPGs for my entire childhood.
Still love it, and I find it more fun to play than any Final Fantasy that came before. It.
I believe that if your first Final Fantasy game is gonna be anything earlier than 6 that I strongly recommend 5 above all the others, except maybe 1
Still love it, and I find it more fun to play than any Final Fantasy that came before. It.
I believe that if your first Final Fantasy game is gonna be anything earlier than 6 that I strongly recommend 5 above all the others, except maybe 1
I honestly have like, no genuine complaints about this game on its own. Comparing it mechanically to other games in the series is irrelevant to me, it is a fun, accessible and replayable game with very engaging gameplay ideas and it deserves all the popularity that it got.
My first ever Fire Emblem game. When I was 12 and got internet access at home for the first time I installed CFW and a GBA emulator onto my PSP and I would play this in class. I was fucking terrible and had a unit die on every level. To this day I have that save, on cog of destiny with evert unit except the lords and Marcus dead.
Later I replayed and finished it, and like it a lot. It's fun to watch your guys get strong and kill things with sick animations.
Later I replayed and finished it, and like it a lot. It's fun to watch your guys get strong and kill things with sick animations.
FE7s flawed older brother is still a favorite of mine. I love it's linear level progression and overall map design a whole lot, and the idea that it's supposed to be played iron man style is all great to me. Obviously though, it's flawed and janky in many ways, and it's cast is eh compared to FE7.
Overall FE7 is a better game but I don't necessarily enjoy it more than this one.
Overall FE7 is a better game but I don't necessarily enjoy it more than this one.
Pretty easy Mega Man game but I suck at video games so I didn't mind that much. Loved the anime cutscenes, loved playing a thing on my PSP.
Vile mode is also neat. Just reviewing this makes me wanna pick it up again.
Vile mode is also neat. Just reviewing this makes me wanna pick it up again.
2012
Played this in 10th grade the same night I played Darkest Dungeon for the first time and it was a hella memorable experience.
This game is super action packed and really makes you feel awesome. Its not too long but you could probably spend hours on it. I loved it.
One day I'll play HM2 and look into the story a little more. For now, taking this as a purely gameplay review, I had a perfect experience with the game.
This game is super action packed and really makes you feel awesome. Its not too long but you could probably spend hours on it. I loved it.
One day I'll play HM2 and look into the story a little more. For now, taking this as a purely gameplay review, I had a perfect experience with the game.
2010
I tried a few times to get into this game before I finally did one winter. That week or so of playing New Vegas on my computer at low resolution, needing HiAlgoBoost for the game to run at 30fps was honestly one of the most memorable gaming experiences for me and probably the most immersive overall.
The game is incredible, and with the right combination of mods to your taste is probably better than any Bethesda Fallout game.
The game is incredible, and with the right combination of mods to your taste is probably better than any Bethesda Fallout game.
2021
We preordered this game, the collector's edition. I was prepared to ignore the story in favor of gameplay and I had a good time with it and saw many positive qualities through the first main level but dropped it somewhere in the second.
I don't usually finish JRPGs anyway, but for what it's worth, I did like my time with the game.
I don't usually finish JRPGs anyway, but for what it's worth, I did like my time with the game.
2011
Never played Portal 1 but I loved this game, and I would be super down to try playing the multiplayer with a friend one day.
It's Smash Bros with like, all the guys. Fuck yeah, who wouldn't like that?
Oh yeah, World of Light and Stickers kinda suck though, sorta a cop out.
I also couldn't give a shit about a lot of the DLC characters in DLC pack 2.
Oh yeah, World of Light and Stickers kinda suck though, sorta a cop out.
I also couldn't give a shit about a lot of the DLC characters in DLC pack 2.