NewMemory
2013
From my experience, this is a secretly a game about failure and disappointment- not just to yourself, but failing others specifically. I never really managed to get over the initial difficulty curve and win more than a couple of races, and the ones I did win were probably, technically, part of the tutorial, so who knows. It's fun, I think! Imagine a Soulsian "tough love" approach to game design, but there's a tragically well-written cutscene after every death where all your friends and benefactors thinly mask their disappointment in you. I couldn't hack it. Gave up and switched back to pic-a-pix or something.
A friend bought this for me after we watched a speedrun of it and I kept raving about how much I liked the graphics. The game itself takes a minute to get used to, but settles into a surprisingly similar groove to the gamecube games, given how much its formula has been reworked to compensate for the much weaker hardware. The graphics are indeed cool and chunky, and all the music and sfx are what you would want them to be. I hated the boss fights and was always so relieved when they were over. Didn't finish it, but fond memories!
I played this one summer listening to TV On The Radio's "Return to Cookie Mountain" on repeat and now each one reminds me of the other.
2016
Swimming controls were weird at first, but with a little time I really enjoyed how the character controller felt.
Loved poking my head up through the kelp skylights.
The game quotes Journey frequently, which draws unfavorable comparisons to itself, imo.
Using any fish bigger than you as a vehicle is a great mechanic.
Loved poking my head up through the kelp skylights.
The game quotes Journey frequently, which draws unfavorable comparisons to itself, imo.
Using any fish bigger than you as a vehicle is a great mechanic.
There's a mechanic for answering yes/no questions that made me smile every time it happened. The game's enthusiasm is infectious. I loved how all the island's NPCs would change position and dialogue throughout each day. The community felt alive and real. The island itself feels researched and specific, while being condensed, as game worlds often need to be. I would happily play something like this that covered a longer span of time.
2020
Wonderful art direction throughout. There are many, many interesting compositions and visual ideas that evoke screen printed artwork. I wasn't super interested in the plot, which concerns a struggling academic and the cold war, BUT the performances and dialogue writing were often great.
Play this like me, with a group in which everybody but one person keeps picking Joker and saying joker as much as possible.
2022
The levels in this game are so well structured, and the loop of playing and replaying them feels great. I played it on the switch with all the aim assists turned on and loved every second of it. The writing is not great, but the voice actors are doing good work. This game has one of the best-feeling 1st person jumps I can think of. I'm pretty sure the music was good, but I turned it off at some point so I could watch game of thrones and play the game simultaneously and forgot to turn it back on.