A phenomenal adaptation of early Roller Coaster Tycoon games with just enough quality of life fixes. As someone who still picks up RCT2 every few years, having a 3D version that still follows the comprehensive grid structure is extremely nice. The campaign scenarios are plenty and plenty enjoyable, although they could benefit from more objective variation. Decoration is more robust and easier to navigate than RCT and not as daunting/complicated as Planet Coaster. It's perfectly aligned with my park building tastes.

Somewhat surprised to see the reaction to this game but perhaps it's more enjoyable to approach without thinking of it being Pokemon. It's a lower commitment MOBA than most of its peers and far more accessible for new players. The main reason I don't play league much is because of the daunting game length and amount of abilities/techs. There's room for a game like Unite to be an easier to pick up competitive MOBA. Although, there are some questionably pay to win elements and lots of mobile app style pop ups that get annoying.

Extremely charming and reminiscent of Zelda titles (primarily Wind Waker). The exploration is satisfying and I enjoyed the collectables for the most part. Its biggest hurdle which hinders the enjoyment of dungeons is the lack of utility. The varying items you get are just slightly altered versions of weapons that don't change the game much. The interaction with npcs can be surprisingly in depth, making it all the more fun to explore. Worth a shot to see an indie take on a popular formula that we've been lacking as of late.

Incredibly beautiful game with so much passion and respect towards fine arts, such as water color painting, sculpting, and more. The music is equally mesmerizing and queues perfectly with moments in the game. The game wants you to take your time and smell the roses in every puzzle, which sometimes slows the experience. The challenges are just complex enough but the time between them often feels like autopilot or a beautiful cut scene. Requires some patience, and watching videos as opposed to playing could satisfy enough.

An absolutely beautiful love letter to 80s sci-fi that falls a little short on gameplay progression. Every cut scene/animation is great fun to watch (except for the door opening clip which plays all too often) and several of them had me "wow'd" while I was playing. The way sprites change resolution as they get closer to the screen is a feature I've never seen done to this extent. Sadly, the gameplay is too railed to keep my wanting to finish and the conversations seem more choic- less than what the game's description claims. Apparently there's romance? I played quite a bit and never experienced a romance aspect, but the level of scripted play makes the game feel more like a visual novel with investigative elements being filler. I wouldn't say it's boring, but the most fun is definitely experiencing the visual style.

On paper, this pinball platformer metroidvania should be a thrilling experience, especially when factoring all the well executed elements. However, there's simply not enough thrill/excitement that you crave from a pinball game. The sprawling map gets cumbersome to traverse outside of the pinball sections, yet a large aspect of progression is doing long traveled fetch quests. There's a level of pinball flashiness that's lacking in most areas that disguise the repetitiveness of the genre, and without it you get your fill very quickly. The world is visually satisfying and the mechanics work decently well, but there's not enough fascination to avoid the game feeling like a chore.

Another fantastic title in the Pikmin lineup with only a few complaints that really only affect series veterans. I love the amount of depth (ha) in campaign which is a nice contrast to Pikmin 3, and the quality of life changes made to the cave system are greatly appreciated. The more lateral worlds allow for even more appreciation of world design, making this game the pinnacle of beauty in the Pikmin series. I think this is also the best incorporation of onions, as you always feel rewarded for the difficulty of obtaining them. I like how each Pikmin battle mode introduced has its own spin and dandori battles still retain the irreplicable thrill of competitive Pikmin play. The only bothersome elements are the general ease of access choices that really should have a toggle option. Automatically locking on not only hurts real time strategy, but also can be infuriating when you're unable to throw at the right target in a crowd. I can't for the life of me figure out why they thought it was a good idea to only allow 3 types of Pikmin in each territory, especially when they're more multipurposed than ever before. But these are all relatively minor issues that hold the title back for long time players like myself. Still a fantastic game.

While I'm a big fan of this genre and tonality, I found myself half satisfied at every gameplay corner. The best aspect is definitely the creepy camp theme with characters wielding complex personalities and relationships with campmates. You'll overhear many converstions that give a clear idea as to what makes everyone unique. As for the gameplay, this game heavily suffers from poorly implemented collectables in a Donkey Kong 64 way. The items of interest are far too convoluted and confuse to the point of not understanding why they should be collected. The platforming has also understandably aged and could benefit from a modern adaptation. Overall a fun experience for the characters and Saturday morning cartoon style, but playing is exhausting.

A surprisingly robust, rose-tinted, NES style metroidvania. Despite the prominent cat theming, this is a challenging experience with menacing bosses around most corners. While death loops are frequent, the save pumpkins allow you to try over and over until the gratifying victory and power up you win. Each new ability feels incredibly helpful and makes all previously explored areas easier to traverse through. The only hinderance is one that is similar to older entries of its genre, and that is the few and far between save stations that encourage back tracking after the simplest of advancements. Other than that, this game is entirely engaging and makes you remember the old-school games in a refined light.

As a non-horror fan, I was surprised by how engaged I was to Outlast. While nothing seems groundbreaking in either tonality or gameplay, there's solid execution in it's replication of existing horror tropes. I especially like the way it builds suspense without actually limiting the movement/control of the player. I'm also a big fan of the mechanic of looking behind you while you run. The environmental is also very well done for a smaller studio, even if character models fit the release year of 2013. Definitely worth checking out if you like horror, and possibly if you're board by most others in the genre like myself.

An incredibly fascinating game that's worth playing just to see the care put into the animal ecosystem. No other game will put you in the eyes of the "bottom of the food chain" animal and make you cower from every moving thing. It reminds me of the Metroid Dread horror sections but fully fledged and the thrill is very enduring. That only hurdle for me is the game is not great at showing you where to go or what to do. Even movement options are waiting to be discovered in non intuitive ways. The guide character is often unclear or spazzes around creating confusion on progression. Still a great play with always lively art style/animation.

Its predecessor left a masterpiece of a foundation and Tears of the Kingdom pays great respect by not deteriorating it. Every addition this game adds is a positive one and it keeps the momentum and excitement as if no time has passed since BOTW. The biggest structural difference is that TOTK is more of a "destination and the vehicle to get there" game instead of the previous "journey over destination" approach. It's a necessary shift when reusing a world we've already journeyed through. The "legend" takes a bigger focus, as enough has been established narratively to dig deeper and raise the stakes. The main challenge this game faces is differentiating it's self from the original, especially as time goes on. But there's certainly enough differentiating to warrant playing both.