i’ve had a push and pull relationship with this game but i must say it did pull through at the end and i left it with a positive feeling overall.

i will say the speedrunning gameplay and platforming felt REALLY REALLY good and very satisfying to master most of the time.

i think pretty handily the most significant weakness of the game is how disconnected the storytelling through the actual written narrative and the gameplay are. in a game like sekiro, the separation between dramatic storytelling and mechanical storytelling in the game are practically nonexistent. noah caldwell gervais wrote about this in his really brilliant souls inheritors video, but the struggle and effort put towards completing the game creates the drama of the narrative.

however, in neon white, the gameplay feels totally disconnected from the story. they don’t even contrast or compare in interesting ways. it’s just so weird i haven’t seen anything like this before haha. the story itself is like an older 2000s anime exploring this pretty cool world of the afterlife and forgiveness. but the gameplay itself is like all about optimizing your tools and strengthening your skills to improve your speed. these two concepts are not at odds but not complementary either, they’re just so unrelated.

while i eventually found myself drawn at least to white and red, the game and the story just never seemed that cohesive or connected.

pondering between a 7 and 8 rn because the levels and gameplay are
exceptional.

fantastic start to the year!!

after playing half life last year, it’s safe to say i was sold on the valve shooter formula. portal is a very concise game but its able to pack the same creativity, strong atmosphere, level design, and fun gunplay that was present in half life in a better overall package. there is not as much jank here, which is much appreciated.

honestly not sure i should’ve played this so long after portal 2 (nearly 4 years) so i can’t really make an accurate comparison, but just based off these initial impressions, it feels just as good to control and maneuver as portal 2. the story was different in that i feel like there was more environmental storytelling here than actual narrative beats and exposition. love that decision

portal 2 is just one of my favorite games ever so it’s no surprise i enjoyed the first one to this degree. excellently done valve, please make games again.

"As a child, I considered such unknowns sinister. Now, though, I understand they bear no ill will. The universe is, and we are."

Solanum's words embody the spirit of inquisitiveness, universal indifference, and growth and maturity which Outer Wilds as a whole invites the player to cultivate within themselves. The challenging puzzles of the mechanics of the universe demand that the player stays attentive and observant. It begs the player to be unafraid of failure and death. It fosters a growth mindset and a spirit of learning. This scientific ethos is what initially drew me to the game and what compelled me to play for about... 15 hours straight. Good lord, 15 hours...

I essentially played this entire game in a day. I can't believe myself.
Currently I'm kinda staying by myself, alone, the day before Christmas Eve because I am ill. From rise till bed, I have been playing this game. I have never done this, ever... Maybe with some visual novels, but no video game has ever had a hold on me in the same way Outer Wilds just did.

Many have pointed it out before, but Outer Wilds really differentiates itself from every other game by presenting itself as an invitation and a challenge for the observant, attentive, and the curious. The mysteries and mechanics of the universe have never felt more holistic, attended to, and alluring as they do in this physics-simulator. Really, most of the game is just maneuvering the right way! And honestly, unlike many, I found the controls to not be 'jank', but rather intuitive and natural. I found myself soaring across each of the planets and making incredible repairs on my ship after I had crashed it and it continued to float. I found myself slinging off of the momentum of a black hole to reach a different section. The rules of the universe are so tight and consistent, it's like clockwork. It's like real life. Mechanically, this might be the most impressive game I have ever played (?).

The other massive success of Outer Wilds is in building the lore with the Nomai and each of the Hearthian band members. The Nomai lore is incredibly cool, and is just an excellent example of how to write a fictional race of galaxy-hopping pioneers. Their personalities come through the texts and writings. Their relationships seem real. Their conflicts and dreams and desires are all there in the Nomai texts. Then, each of the Hearthian explorers are all distinct, too.

It might be a while before I'm able to give a true analysis of the purpose and themes of this game, but I just wanted to get my first impressions out there because I truly fell in love with this game. Completely absorbed. Fascinated.

Kinoku Nasu's Tsukihime is doubtlessly an ameteur work, but as his first outing, it is an impressive outing that is not only great in its own right, in many ways, but undeniably foundational to the visual novel medium as a whole.

I often begin stories with certain expectations for how they will turn out, and base my appreciation of them to whether or not those expectations are met or lived up to. TBF to myself, I do a fair amount of research before I invest my time into something, to hopefully get maximum joy from the experience. All that said, my expectations for Tsukihime were not met. at all. What i expected was something akin to Mahoyo. What I got was a far darker, more tragic, and disturbing story about a boy coming to terms with himself, his history, and learning to take responsibility for his own life.

Tsukihime as a visual novel is entirely rooted in the mystery regarding Shiki's identity. (As I would like to keep this review spoiler free, I will not be discussing the exact details, however I will be vaguely talking about major ideas.)

As I said, I expected a mostly more chill, slice of life-type atmosphere and story like Mahoyo. However, confronting Shiki's past and current dramas are anything but relaxing.

The limited sound design and visuals, whether forced or intended or not, do create this atmosphere of losing your mind. It's like a hot summer day. It's feverish. It's difficult to distinguish what is past and what is present, real or illusory. This atmosphere that Nasu creates crafts a really compelling experience overall as you gradually descend into madness along with Shiki as he grows more afraid, confused, and lost about himself.

Shiki's history includes a multitude of mental disorders, murders, betrayals, supernatural bs, and incest that I'm sure is familiar if you've read a visual novel. But what's so impactful about Tsukihime is that it WAS the visual novel to inspire these other visual novels. There's so many common themes of identity and loneliness, common ideas of disordered personalities and unescapable tragedies, and common character archetypes that it seems like a culmination of many other visual novels I've read before. That is- it feels like that until I realize this is indeed the grandfather of visual novels. Influencing a generation of my favorite Japanese storytellers.

And I certainly do have some problems with it. Despite it creating a moody atmosphere, I think its presentation is just lacking unfortunately. I think the pacing can be poor in some routes. I think there is not enough connective tissue between the Near Side and Far Side.

And still, despite all this, I just have this massive respect for Kinoko Nasu for trying to tell such a unique story that basically fathered a whole generation of some of my favorite stories. I'll be pondering it for a while, and I'll be impatiently waiting for that official TsukiRE release worldwide.

Even after 25 years, Half Life remains an impressive achievement in video games. It has aged like fine wine in so many of its strengths. While I did not really end up personally connecting to the game, thanks to its tight gameplay, incredible level design, memorable moments, and immersive world, it was a very enjoyable way to spend the nights for the last two weeks.

There were some real game-breaking glitches that frustrated me. The biggest one was having to redo a whole level over. Another one was having to reload a previous save often because I would get stuck in the floor after loading a new area or just interacting with an object.

One aspect that did age surprisingly well actually was the atmosphere. I still felt tense fighting hordes of aliens, and the gore and viscera still gave me a sense of dread. This is despite the old graphics, which did make me chuckle especially with the npcs, hah.

Half Life's incredible game design has really impressed me, though, and it promises really bright things for future entries. Without the bugs, honestly it could've been a 9, but maybe the sequels will help my appreciation grow. I think it could go either way, but for now I'll sit at an 8.

It's honestly been a long time since a story has captivated me as much as the story in FFXVI. I began the game expecting a political and heavily dark fantasy, revenge-driven narrative. Instead, I left with a true shonen battle anime in video game form. Playing this game felt like watching Naruto or One Piece or something adjacent for the first time. Discovering the world and the many conflicts it is steeped in made for a really compelling opening. But what really pulls the story together are the characters, and especially Clive. Clive is surprisingly probably one of my favorite protagonists of all time, across any medium, now. Aside from the immediately likable character design, sensational voice acting performance by Ben Starr, and general coolness factor, what surprised me so much about Clive, was his compassion, kindness, softness, vulnerability, while also displaying courage, strength, fortitude, and loyalty. Really, what I'm trying to say is that Clive is the ideal man. He's standout and by far my favorite part about this game.

The other thing I truly adored about this game were the Eikon battles. I've never been interested in cutting-edge video game development or graphics. But this game really showed me why that draw can be so effective. The eikon battles were spectacles like I have never experienced before in any video game. They're extremely memorable encounters that contain so much hype, spectacle, and emotion that they will not soon be forgotten by anyone. No complaints with any of them honestly.

I think my biggest sticking point of this game is the pacing of the gameplay and sidequest structure. I think the story itself is paced very well, but the dips in exciting gameplay ultimately weakened some of the experience for me. These lulls might be fine if some of the sidequests were a bit better, but I found that as many good character and world-building sidequests there were, there were also an almost equal amount of tedious side quests which didn't really impact my knowledge of the world or the inhabitants of it.

I think the combat in this game is an interesting point of discussion because it has a high skill cap, but most players won't even try to experiment or anything with the combat because of its ease. The game never encourages you to find more creative ways to combo your Eikon abilities because it allows you to pass by just cycling through all of your skills. Regardless, I do think the combat in this game is fun when unlocking new abilities.

I think the level structure is just a bit too linear for me. Especially in the opening, honestly. when there's little-to-no freeroam options. I felt like exploration was discouraged, and I should just focused on the main questline.

Maybe I would've been more encouraged to explore had there been better rewards. But items in this game are honestly terribly boring. Only potions and super potions really matter. This also makes money basically useless as I never really used it for anything besides buying potions and super potions when I ran out.

Despite these gameplay flaws, I found the narrative and overall experience to be just a BLAST and hyper-fun. I'm so glad this was my introduction into Final Fantasy. And, honestly, if the rest of the games are as good, and even better than this one, it's very possible I will have a new favorite media franchise.

I think I'm ready to freeze on this game. I'm not finished playing it, but I don't need to play it every day for hours anymore. Tears of the Kingdom is not only one of the most grandiose and incredible adventure games ever, it's a technical marvel, a perfect sequel, and one of Nintendo's best games. In discipling the player to creatively engineer solutions, the Zelda team crafted an experience even more freeing than their previous, 'massive' open-world entry.

Personally, I challenged myself to look up as little as possible while playing this game. Admittedly, I am not hesitant to look up solutions to puzzles and problems in games. I really challenged myself not to, and felt more intelligent for it.

I was talking with my friend about the impact of these games on the industry, and we concluded that we hoped this game will have the same kind of impact on game-development cycles which Breath of the Wild had on open-world philosophy.

All that said, this game has entered my (ever-shifting) top 5 games. Bravo.

Most of what is phenomenal about Sekiro has already been said a million times over. The perfection of Fromsoft's combat philosophy, the most colorful and gorgeous locales they have ever made, and their best boss catalogue comprise this impressive experience which astounds me. It is certainly one of the tightest games ever made. Barely any wasted space or content. The only thing I could contribute is my own personal appreciation for the way playing Sekiro feels like learning a new skill. Jacob Geller made a video on Sekiro, and how it inspired it him to play piano again. In the same way, perfecting my skill in Sekiro gave me confidence in ability like no other game. Since continuing, I have also been consistently going to the gym. The principles learned in this game are just as applicable in everyday life as they are in feudal Japan. Completely deserving of its game of the year win, and if you somehow haven't played, go play it!

Mahoyo was nothing short of magical

a story which place in the chill of winter contrasted with the warmth of a home. a narrative dealing with lineage, magecraft and magic, rural and suburban life. a night about the value of living, the wonder of magic, and the spirit to fight these things could occur on no other night than the holiest night of the year. with style and polish like never before, an experienced nasu delivers the ultimate version of his first story in a dramatic yet quaint and all around eloquent manner from the delightful classical piano to the accompanying winter sunsets… many of the atmospheric details quietly whisper of beautiful winter memories which make me feel so blessed to have read it during this time. nasu in mahoyo is able to say a lot while remaining quiet. id say it’s a bit daring of him to allow his main characters to remain in silence most of the time they’re with each other and still explore their personalities and dynamics expertly. learning the fundamentals of magic and also the storytelling potential of the nasu verse makes this one of the BEST places to start type moon and visual novels as a whole. it’s succinct and sweet and impressively well made. i started out the year in bad faith as knk left me a bit disappointed. so i was happily surprised to get into fate properly and find his writing, despite its flaws, wholly enjoyable but with mahoyo i think it’s just really a home run and he completely knocked it out of the park. this is one of those works of fiction where i can think of very little flaws… if anything i’m just really glad this is the first nasu vn to be official translated and released, and i’m glad it’s getting the hype it deserves. mahoyo is a definite 10/10 and i highly implore everyone to try it around this time

this game is EVERYTHING to me.
mr. shigesato itoi, you have my eternal gratitude

i’m currently overwhelmed with emotion, i haven’t cried like this in a while… i have so much love and passion for this game that i’m sure there isn’t enough time in the day to express my love.
itoi, just like dante and kozue amano, is one of those people who have truly captured the essence of my spirit: not just as a human being, not just as a youth, not just as a player or a gamer- but he’s captured ME… penguin or jacob or however you know me.
the core design philosophy of the world of mother 3 begs interactivity and draws out the inherent curiosity dormant in all of us. but instead of rewarding that curiosity with new upgrades or items, mother takes its joy in the memories and experiences you’ve made.
this is a point i got from supereyepatchwolf’s video… but it rings true. the save frogs (some of my favorite characters ever btw) even tell you how important memories are at the start of this game ! and it’s continually evident how important these memories and experiences are. especially at the end of the game !!
the main conflict of this game is this fascist pig mask army led by porky who deindividualize, manipulate, and imperialize the small and unassuming tazmily village.
one huge theme of mother 3 is the conflict between nature and artificial advancement. it can even be seen in the logo of the game, it has traces of wood but is mostly overtaken by metal. this conflict and consumerist corruption is actually depicted in a more nuanced than how it might seem initially. despite being a game for kids, mother 3 isn’t afraid to tackle more mature subjects. this of course includes the fascist takeover, but also grief, loss, identity, and maturity.
mother 3 has many different stories and ideas but at its center is the story of a tragic family and the maturation of lucas. somehow itoi manages to weave all these narratives together seamlessly and manage to make an accessible and
easy to follow game.
and speaking of striking a balance. the tone is literally perfect. mother 3 allows its dramatic moments to play out, uninterrupted, but it can also deploy an unexpected joke to great effect many times.
m3’s characters fall under this same treatment. they can have surprising depth and memorability for town npc’s but they can also just be extremely funny… like the guy and the girl who stare at each other at the beach for the entire game.
all this is well and good… but why does any of this matter to ME specifically?
it’s simple i guess, the wonder, joy, and humor which shigesato itoi builds into the world of this game is comparable to my own. like in aria and in the divine comedy, mother 3 not only understands the beauty of the intricacies of the natural world, people, and experiences, but the philosophy of a world which inspires your wonder is baked into the code and scenario design and characters and script and EVERYTHING
shigesato itoi is a man who has an obvious passion for life, and that passion doesn’t just “bleed” into this game. it IS this game. every strange interaction with a mole cricket or relaxing hot tub healing is a sign of the energetic and wonderful world of mother 3. and moreso than that. it’s a game about family, loss, and dealing with grief. all themes that i’ve personally connected strongly with throughout me life, but have began tightening their grip even more recently.
and finally- to wrap it all up. the ending might be the greatest ending ever. only possible through games. only possible from the minds of everyone behind the game. and most importantly, only possible because of me, the player. never has an ending felt more personal or caring towards me (?) it’s the weirdest feeling, and obviously mother 3 doesn’t know me like i would know my friends, but i can sense a real earnestness and honesty in the affectionate words from the Tazmily people to ME.