Deary me. A step down from the original in pretty much every way.

Kinda wild that it makes the first game's setting feel so real and lived in by comparison. A very bare bones vibe to the whole thing. Runs like absolute dogshit, and gets excused by memefucks who want in on The Patter and never played the original on 360 where it's fine.

Nice to see York and Zach again.

David Cronenberg's Punch-Out!!

I'm trying really hard to not be The Defense Force for this game, but I feel like its reception suffered from Dead Space fan expectations thinking we're getting a legally distinct reboot of what Dead Space was.

I love Dead Space (not 3). I've read the comics and even the fucking novels. I saw the wee nods from the trailers. The similarities. But I tempered my expectations when watching the dev diaries, because it was clear we were getting something different with melee at the forefront of combat. Something a bit more linear, and developed by a new studio working through the pandemic.

Again, I'm not trying to make excuses here, I've got plenty wee issues with the game. Just trying to find some perspective on a flawed thing that I had a good time with. I just worry that a chunk of the negative reaction is from a thing I see more and more now where people don't actually play/watch/read the thing, but just absorb the opinion of their favourite youtuber or whatever and turn that into The Truth they tell other people about the piece of media in question. I've definitely been guilty of it myself.

Jesus, look at the cope here.

I'll say that I hope they get a sequel because I'd like to see where the story/setting goes, and think taking a lot of the criticisms on board could really turn this into something great.

There's something very addictive to the simplicity of this. Similar to how Flower made me feel, but without the big payoff it had at the end of each level.

I often feel a bit alien when I see people talk about classic games they love, I mean proper GAMES. No story or anything fancy, real arcade type shit. Tetris is one of those that just does nothing for me, and this is almost universally the one I see people laud. I don't hate Tetris, I just get nothing from it. But the way it seems to still hold people after all these years must mean something, and I keep trying to find that somewhere for myself.

Is it this game? No. But I feel like I caught a glimpse here of what people feel when they talk about those kinda games. Simple, rewarding, and almost mechanical after a while.

Also, after this and Flower I am now shit-hot at motion controls. Might try and become a professional Lair player.

Apart from a couple of dodgy bosses, this is a solid Metroid. Delves a good bit into the lore which I'm always interested in, and translates so well to 3D.

The first person perspective combined with the Wiimote and Nunchuck almost feels like some kind of precursor to VR games. It's brilliant.

Samus kills aliens, becomes a ball, and drinks cold beer.

It takes a bit of everything from some of the most well known sci-fi and somehow makes something incredible.

This could have been a monumental fuckup, but every hour or so I was shouting "OH WHAT?!" at the TV in the best possible way. Synapses goin' off rapid-fire with each new revelation. A battle system that initially had me very cold, quickly became something I looked forward to. Those wee blue lights hopping about eventually became the attack preview animations in my mind. God! They've just made a brilliant game filled with well realised characters and crackin' story.

Vanillaware must survive.

This is such a pure arcade brawler, man. What was initially bastard hard became more manageable when I realised that the combat was deeper than I gave something from the NES era credit for. The first time I accidentally did a jump kick while sprinting at a wall only to find it springs you off and back into an enemy had me in awe. I was convinced I had a punch and a kick and that was it. Next thing I know I'm kneeing dudes in the ribs, and throwing them across the screen before mounting them and raining down tiny wee pixel fists into their faces. It's got such a nice feel.

I'm excited to get into the rest of the series. But fuck me is it ever an arcade game designed to rinse you of money. Thank you, save states.

Spaceship ✓
Hellish layout ✓
Vague puzzles ✓
Wandering enemy you can't fight ✓

It's an indie horror baby!

Seriously though, I quite liked most of this. It's easy to write off the ship's layout as bad, but it makes perfect sense why it's that way when you consider the story. It also has a casual mode without the monster, which I understand if people want an easier time, but as much as I tend to hate the standard thing of an enemy you can't hurt but one-shots you so must be hidden from, the tension would all be gone without it. If I had played on casual then the exploration would have had no dread. The thought of doing stuff quickly and moving on in case it started coming down this corridor kept me on my toes. It also ties in with the collar mechanic/save system that means every now and then you need to go hit an update terminal or the collar will execute you. This can be great for tension if you're in the middle of a puzzle, and might mean a quick 180 in a corridor when you hear the dude coming, forcing you to scramble to another terminal.

I say annoying puzzles, but that's because I am a damn fool. A large idiot child. Messing around at random rather than trying to figure anything out, then only realising what I'm doing 2 moves from the solution and parading around the room in my Massive Genuis hat.

The ship is cool. The style is nice. I think I enjoyed this more than the stars or some of my words suggest, but that looks right to me.