Let me preface this with something.

I started playing Splatoon with S2, putting over 500 hours into it and being absolutely engrossed with it; I was an active participant and enthusiast with ranked mode and knew all the best strats with each map.
I knew almost all the weapon classes strengths/weaknesses and individual strengths of each weapon and which modes they excelled in the most.
I loved Splat 2 wholeheartedly, and enjoyed what it had to offer on a lot of fronts, but I also acknowledged that it had room for improvement.

The static lobby and only being able to change gear at the end of a match, the eventual obsolescence of cash in late game, the limited and annoying 2-map choice with 2 hour rotation, the copy-pasted story mode, and many other things that could be improved, some very easy fixes.

So when Splat 3 was announced, I had high hopes that they would improve drastically in terms of adding onto the game and making the entries difference gap more prominent.
To my dismay, Splat 3 is mostly a disappointment.

The new maps sometimes feel uninspired, and the layout or theming of them reminds me of older maps, One example is, Barnacle & Dime reminds me of Albacore Hotel. But all that these similar maps do, is make me wish I was playing the other game.
The layout of these new maps also feels contrived and like they've been designed to pit players up in all-out brawls rather than prioritising strategic play. Barely any flanks or side paths to help the gameplay flow. Some of the maps feel claustrophobic because of this, and good luck dealing with chargers and splatlings on their untouchable perches.

The new weapons are fun, but there's either not enough of them or not groundbreaking enough to fully impact your regular matches. Tri Stringer and Splatana class are new to this game and barely have gotten any new variations or kits.
In addition to this, some of the weapons that did make a return have been changed, and not necessarily for the better.
I personally preferred the previous game's balance of specials that are support based vs offence based. Splat 2 had a good balance of them, I think.
The specials in this game seem more geared towards support play which isn't bad, but I wish there were more offence-based specials.

The network side of things in Splat 3 is awful; so many disconnects and issues with connections, sometimes these aren't even of your own fault.
The online in this game is somehow even worse than 2 in terms of consistency and stability.

Unfortunately no new game modes unlike in last game, where we got Clam Blitz. I don't know if I prefer the way Ranked is handled in this game over last game. I guess there's pros and cons there.

The one thing I hate they changed about Ranked, however, is that Rainmaker is now checkpointed.
I thought Rainmaker was unique and fun in the fact that a match of it could end in 30~ seconds if you had the skill and teamwork for it.
It made it distinct from Tower Control in that sense.
Rainmaker in S3 doesn't feel as though it has the same spontaneous and tense nature to it anymore.

This is probably subjective but the new idols, Deep Cut, aren't as charismatic as Off the Hook or Squid Sisters. I'm not sure what it is about them, but they feel sort of hollow to me. Big Man is ok, but not gelling too much with Shiver and Frye.

Despite this, I did enjoy the idea of a triple theme Splatfest and enjoyed the tricolour battles, which I ended up wishing it was just a mode in the normal game instead of an exclusive one in Splatfests. Sometimes I think I'd rather have this over splat zones, in all honesty.

The one thing I do not have much of an issue with in Splat 3 is the soundtrack, which is phenomenal as expected. The genres take on a heavier, grunge-y tone appropriate to the anarchy theme to the game.
Where I do take an issue with it is there doesn't seem to be as big of a playlist during the battles as in Splat 2, despite the fact that songs from previous games ARE IN THIS GAME via the jukebox.
I wish they switched in some of the older songs in turf war or ranked in between the handful songs they assigned to matches.

The story mode in Splat 3 improves drastically over 1 and 2's , however I think it is still inferior to Octo Expansion, which it seems to have taken notes from in terms of structuring and objective-based missions rather than "here's a level, finish it from start to end".
It starts off pretty strong narratively, but by the time I got to the last island, they started recycling or repeating previous missions but with slight alterations, which irked me.

The last chapter itself of the game is cool, and the ending had me excited, but overall I think the story mode, while being an improvement, still needed work.
I also think the concept of Little Buddy Salmonid was sort underused, I wish we got the Salmonid as a playable race instead.

The only part of the game I feel has very little downsides is Salmon Run.
That mode has only been made better with a leveling system to buy gear with points you earn, a training lobby, new king Salmonids which are AWESOME both in concept and execution, new Frenzy Nights and...the thing I never knew I needed: Egg tossing.
All of these made Salmon Run a more fun experience and smoothened the overall flow of the gameplay.
My only wish is that Ruins of Ark Polaris makes a comeback, as that was a unique and well-designed map for SR in Splat2.

Overall, I was left wanting a lot more out of this game, and I think Splatoon is starting to have the same problem Pokémon has, where the developers refuse to properly innovate and struggle to make each entry feel distinct.
Maybe Side Order will be able to add more worth towards this game, but at the moment, Splatoon 3 feels like a superfluous and lazy addition to the franchise.

A short cute game about two unlikely friends traversing the harsh snow-clad terrain to find their families.

I think this game gets some things right, like the clever use of pencil textures for the art style, and the concept for the plot itself is nice and wholesome. I think the music was also decent, but nothing too special.

The problems really lie in the overall brevity of Blanc, as well as how simple and sometimes inconsistent it is. The puzzles for the most part were very easy and I feel there could've been more of a use of the co-operative aspects to make more engaging puzzles.
Sometimes this kind of non-resistive design can work in certain areas, but in general just makes for uninteresting and at worst forgettable scenes or setpieces.

The controls for the characters feel kind of slippery and unpredictable sometimes, but ultimately doesn't hinder the gameplay too much.

The performance on the Switch version was also not great and was getting framedrops and stutters frequently and even disconnects here and there.

Overall it's nothing groundbreaking, but I do wish it was much a better game because I think its foundations are there.
If you want a nice and simple game to play with someone else, this isn't a bad pick per se, but there are much more effective alternatives.

Ubi looked at Uncharted and thought "Hey, we can do this too."

This then extended to not only copying the movement mechanics and cinematic gameplay nature of Uncharted, but writing the Prince with exactly the same personality as Nathan Drake (all the way to using his catchphrases). And as if that wasn't enough, Nolan North voices the Prince in this game.

How much more blatant can you get?

Such an awesome rogue-lite.

The soundtrack is kickass, and it's quite clear Doom played a strong influence here. I really like the presence of the fiery, amped electronic-laced guitar grooves existing alongside solemn, heartfelt ballads and soaring wails accented by beefy bass riffs.
The melody of each sector of the Underworld swells to be stronger and stronger as you get closer to the boss of each area, building up to an exciting crescendo that manages to replicate the same adrenaline boosts of its inspirations.

I love the variety and all of the distinct, flavourful and intricate character designs.
The mythology aspect is incorporated cleverly into the game in almost every step of the way. I'm rusty in my Greek myth knowledge but from what I can tell, it's quite faithful to them.

The writing brings said characters to life throughout the story; by which, the story is done in a quite inventive way. It's told through multiple runs.
Each time you return to the House of Hades, there's always something new awaiting you there, whether it's dialogue, character interaction or some other new detail. Each time you interact with a god of Olympus, they have new, different dialogue each time, and they can even comment on what type of other boons you have already, or your choice of weapon.
It really helps in keeping the game fresh and exciting even when you do fail and return home.
A neat detail is that you can also form bonds with the characters through talking with them and giving them gifts too.

I didn't like Zagreus's VA at first cause I thought it was kinda strange he was so soft-spoken, polite and quiet for THIS character, but honestly, the longer I played through the game, the more it grew on me.
It really outlines his personality as someone who is fair and grounded, a sort of gentleman character, especially compared to Hades himself.

The story in this game details Zag's attempt to escape from the Underworld, his oppressive father, and to try and carve a new path for himself.

Despite the simple premise, it's done in a tactful way, exploring the themes of familial bonds and finding one's origins.
I was surprised by how the story was handled with much weight to it, considering this genre doesn't exactly lend itself well to storytelling; and hence, often in a lot of these games, it is left on the backburner, but Hades rides these waves expertly.


The selection of starter weapons compared to some other rogues might be small, but what you can do with the available weapons, and the amount of variables that affect how each weapon plays, makes the game incredibly fun to experiment in and try out different combos.

Each weapon plays differently and facilitates multiple playstyles, and the game tries to encourage you to try different runs with different weapons by enticing you with a points boost applied to a random weapon in the selection phase.

As if that wasn't enough, Hades also provides additional fun stuff for you to do between runs and during them, such as fishing and decorating the House of Hades using gems you collected on your run.

The attention to detail in Hades is staggering for a rogue-lite, and while I have a ways to go in finishing the main story, I really enjoyed my time with this game.
It certainly left an impression on me.

Another twisted horror zinger from Szymanski, although not as much of a complete package like Dusk or Iron Lung.

Don't get me wrong, it's a fine enough short indie game that does what it sets out to do, but I can't help but feel that there is this unfinished quality to it. I know this was originally supposed to be a jam game or whatever, but if you're gonna do a full release, it's best to flesh out the idea you have.

The story in Squirrel Stapler feels like it ends before it even begins, and you're left with a lot of questions that don't really ever get answered; and not in the good way like Iron Lung does it.

You see, Iron Lung also refuses to elaborate on a lot of things, but it does it in a really tactful way that makes it feel like an interpretative mystery that is left open-ended on purpose, rather than information that is omitted from negligence.

There is still pieces of lore you can collect in the game that give you hints about the overall story, but it doesn't feel complete for some reason.

The gameplay is good too and doesn't overstay its welcome in that regard, and overall this game has some good ideas, but I do wish there was more to this it; it's clear to see there was a strong vision at work here that would benefit from a little more polish.

It's a good mystery visual novel, I liked the atmosphere and the tension that was built up throughout the runtime.
Some of the pacing could use improvement, but the pixelart was nice and added to the game's overall feel.

The only real problem that I had with PIGBLUE was the fact that it was quite obvious that the script wasn't originally written in English. The translated version makes the dialogue and descriptions feel kind of stilted and awkward, and it was distracting enough to take me out of the experience sometimes, unfortunately.

Other than that, a good free game.

Blackwell Legacy is the first part to a series of point and click adventures following the plights of Rosa Blackwell, and her wisecracking spirit guide, Joey.

It all starts here, and the game itself is very much ok; it's not awful, but it's also not great.

The puzzles can be obtuse at times, and eventually I gave up and had a guide on standby.
It wasn't impossible, but some of them made me scratch my head and wonder how the hell I was supposed to figure it out without outside help.

The voice acting can range from good, to very wonky, and I don't really understand why. Some dialogue felt like they were being read off a script and forced or fall completely flat.
For the most part, it was good, however, and made me like the characters enough. Joey's VA was definitely a standout for me.

The pixelart is ok, not amazing. I'm guessing they were going for the LucasArts' pixel art style, that is alright, but mildly unsightly. It does the job, but I do like the actual drawn art pieces whenever they appeared.

The music and writing are definitely the highlights of this game, and will be the main reason you pull through it, as you'll probably want to get on to the next installment briskly in.

It's a good enough start to the series, I can't be too harsh on it as it is the first game.
I just wish it was better.

A free demo to the pinball-like hit from the same guys that brought us Plants vs Zombies.
It's a pretty fun time, and does a good job of showing what Peggle is about.

While the game is a lot more skill-based than it lets on at first, there is still a percentage to the unpredictability of the ball bounce itself that keeps you on the edge of your seat. There is a lot of room for powerups and other variables that influence the gameplay and keep it fresh.

It's not bad, and it's fun, but it doesn't come anywhere close to the tower-defense darling that brought PopCap into the limelight.

Something about this game really clicked with me; the antiquated graphics dressed in garish colour palettes, the absurdist tone of the game and how, despite seemingly random things being thrown together at first glance, there is a rhyme and reason to all of it that speaks on a subliminal level.

About what? Nobody seems to really know, but I liked to always think of it as an allegory for how life, and its many hurdles, can shape and change us as people and how, if we stay complacent for too long, we will never become something better.

This philosophy can be applied to not just who we are as people, but our passions and professions; Artists staying complacent in their skill level stagnate and cannot become better at their craft, as an example.

Settling for a minimum instead of reaching for something further.

If you want to make something of this life, you cannot be complacent; lest you will never reach your full potential.

Some people would look at this and probably think it's worthless garbage but to me, this is yet another example of what games as an art from could achieve.

It's ugly, it's flawed and it's indescribably beautiful.

Despite some aspects being better in the original, this is the definitive way to play the original Postal, especially taking into account all the QoL improvements.

Like the original, it's a horrific descent into madness, and although it's highlighted with some quips here and there, it is ultimately still about mass murder.
There is some subliminal messaging about the Postal dude being mentally insane or under demonic possession. It has some sort of narrative spun, it just doesn't feel like it ever goes that deep with it.

The weapon selection is fun to play around with and trying to find creative ways to use them and get around the levels makes Postal sometimes feel almost like a puzzle game.

It's a solid title, what can I say? Very different to what came after this in the series, but I have a soft spot for it.

Cheeky Chooks is equal parts adorable, wholesome, and relaxing.

I wasn't expecting much going into this, but I was surprised by the amount of content there is in this game and the overall depth to it. You take care of your little chickens and keep them happy by stocking up on food, housing and fun things for them to play with.

There are a lot of chickens to collect, and I really liked the inclusion of seasons and additional resource management as time went on and the farm becomes bigger, it feels well thought-out in terms of progression and keeping the game fresh.

I also think the animations and interactions the chooks have with each other is heart-meltingly cute.

Superb effort overall, the only problem I have with it is that I wish there were more variety in terms of mini games as the hat and pumpkin ones get kinda stale after a while, but it's no big deal.

Well done to the developers, this is a fantastic debut game!

Very short game and if you played other hidden object games before, you know what to expect but this is a really well made one!
Some of the cats are hidden in a super clever manner, and love the attention to detail, such as cats meowing when you find them, and the additional effects when you click certain objects!

I also liked that there is a time attack mode when you finish the main game, giving it more mileage.

What can I say, it's a short and sweet 10 min game for free, and with cats; hard to complain about it!

I really don't wanna be harsh on it because it's a free update and they certainly didn't have to release it for free. But at the same time, this is a melting pot of good ideas and horrid execution, and it just makes me wish they either waited longer to release this or charged a sum for it if it meant it was of better quality.

The new characters don't feel that good to play and feel haphazardly thrown together, and in fact, every piece of jank and bad design that was present in the base game is here but tenfold.

Some of the other parts in the game like the stupid towers and unreasonably difficult trials are just another wrench thrown in the gears when they're designed in such an absurdly obtuse way that it feels downright unfair and punishing.

You don't build a precision platformer section in a game that doesn't have precision platformer controls.
Also for everyone saying first tower isn't hard - good job, you just outed yourself to all that you're playing on the easiest difficulty or you're a sweat that has nothing better to do with their time. You'll get your chocolate coin medal in the post.

I gave up because I have better games to be playing but I'm sad, because I had high hopes for this DLC, and the way in which Frontiers took Sonic as a whole. I just wish this was a better effort.