Psientologist
2023
I have a great appreciation of Scotland, a lot of connection to it but it always feels distant.
Scottish friends, Scottish family, but miles between us although on the same island.
I’ve never roamed the highlands and I’m not sure I ever will but I can fit so much of it together in my mind, between stories I’ve read, tales that have been told to me and my own time living by heathland - I can respect and imagine the glory of it all.
A Highland Song captures the idea of journeying across these paths well, not following roads but paths by others, innovating ways across where nature has returned to block your way.
In a way the game could be seen as a 2D walking simulator, but due to the scale of the walk it very much has platforming elements too.
A brilliant edition is how the game replicates the idea of running through a long stretch of clearer land, hopping over stones and other tripping hazards but never needing to stop and climb. The wind flowing through Moira, the protagonist’s hair as she is inspired by the deer and wildlife. Rather than just holding left or right the B button initiates a sprint which becomes a rhythm game backed by beautiful classical Scottish music, plenty of flutes, that simply involve presses of X and Y where Moira needs to hop.
When the paths aren’t so clear, Moira is climbing, finding items, sheltering in overhangs, caves and preferably buildings from the typically wet weather as the game leads into Spring.
The climbing is simple, there is no stamina gauge you can see, but Moira will sound out of breath, she will eventually need to stop to get it back and when night falls not only will it be nearly impossible to see, even with a torch, but she’ll need somewhere safe to shelter or risk losing health that typically only drops if she’s managed to bump herself on a fall.
During all this climbing and running, your aim is to find peaks, get up high to survey the rest of the land in your grand journey to the sea - a lighthouse in the distant background that guides your way.
As you progress Moira will either have notes she has bought or maps and things she has found to help her journey from one peak to another. It gives the journey a back and forth feel as you may find a new guide but need to get back to the peak to see where this shortcut will be.
Occasionally there will be other things, even people that may help guide the way but a large element of this game is discovery and I don’t want to completely ruin that.
All in this game looks fantastic, the art is lovely, the sights for the peaks are wondrous and there is plenty of colour and emotion conveyed throughout every sight.
The voice acting is brilliant, I have some bias because I have been known to watch the protagonist’s VA on Twitch. In general it is so nice to hear actual Scottish voice actors using Scottish dialect, it adds authenticity to the story and helps you believe in the characters and their tales - I just wish more of it was voice acted than it is.
With my connection with Scotland, minor connection with this game and love for everything it is trying to do, A Highland Song had massive potential to sneak in as a Game of the Year for me.
Unfortunately though there were times where this song for me, was less a beautiful ballad and more similar to hold music with a company you don’t want to be speaking to.
Many elements of the game gave me minor annoyances. The rhythm game at first seemed exciting but when it first introduced a second button the icons were less clear and felt more of a gotcha than an increase in difficulty. This game made me feel incredibly stupid because it never gave me the prompt or tutorial of how to hop down from background to foreground and, not the only time, I felt I was stuck with no way to progress.
Progression can feel irritating. The idea of finding notes, picking out what is being highlighted while on a peak, to then find a shortcut or an item to lead you further down a treasure hunt is, on paper, great. When it works it is genuinely quite fun but the issue is finding these clues, these breadcrumbs as it were in the first place.
They are highlighted in classic video game shiny spot form but if you’re rushing you can easily miss these pop up and more often than not there is nothing else visually to show you there is something of interest to stop at.
Too often the maps lead you back to places you have already been and more often than it should the reason Moira didn’t notice the path when there the first time is extremely contrived.
Throughout this treasure trail are little items, these can be used to progress certain places or as offerings when you are at the peaks. Sadly I am reminded of older, less-good point and clicks too often with these - sometimes there is obvious logic of what you can use or what you need but too often you can just be clicking each option until something works.
The game itself encourages multiple playthroughs, the item finding leans into this as, for example - one time I discovered a stone with a hole in that looked towards the lighthouse but could not use it, on another run I had the correct item to combine and it gave me a short scene and only then did Moira see a path to go forwards.
This sounds like typical game logic, finding the blue door but without the blue key, but because it can be obtuse and backtracking isn’t encouraged as the game is leading you to make this journey in a set amount of time this “blue door” feels like a wall and often then just has you running in circles to either find that key or another exit.
Going around the same peak twice feels fine but beyond that it becomes tedious which is further exacerbated if you are aiming for a quicker time, more peaks found etc. on other playthroughs as the movement is good but not exciting enough to want to do the same thing over and over.
I spoke about moving from the background to foreground and this is another reason that traversal can also be an irritation. Sometimes the painterly art doesn’t make things clear, not being 3D also makes judging distances in a third direction hard to judge and this leads to experimentation which can go wrong, hurt the character, slow you down and once again lead to repetition.
There are other minor things, bits I didn’t love and after my second session with this game, I started to believe I might even hate it but in the end it was more that I was just disappointed.
I wanted to love this game, its art - audibly and visually is fantastic. Its ideas and innovations are great but the actual act of playing the game never felt amazing and the idea of repeating it for just a few drops of more goodness are not enticing to me at all.
It is strange, because when I see others praising something I didn’t enjoy I tend to believe that they must have gotten something out of it that I could not - but A Highland Song ticked so many boxes, I wouldn’t say it was ever like it was designed for me but it definitely falls into my interests and sadly that just made it a bitter pill to swallow.
Scottish friends, Scottish family, but miles between us although on the same island.
I’ve never roamed the highlands and I’m not sure I ever will but I can fit so much of it together in my mind, between stories I’ve read, tales that have been told to me and my own time living by heathland - I can respect and imagine the glory of it all.
A Highland Song captures the idea of journeying across these paths well, not following roads but paths by others, innovating ways across where nature has returned to block your way.
In a way the game could be seen as a 2D walking simulator, but due to the scale of the walk it very much has platforming elements too.
A brilliant edition is how the game replicates the idea of running through a long stretch of clearer land, hopping over stones and other tripping hazards but never needing to stop and climb. The wind flowing through Moira, the protagonist’s hair as she is inspired by the deer and wildlife. Rather than just holding left or right the B button initiates a sprint which becomes a rhythm game backed by beautiful classical Scottish music, plenty of flutes, that simply involve presses of X and Y where Moira needs to hop.
When the paths aren’t so clear, Moira is climbing, finding items, sheltering in overhangs, caves and preferably buildings from the typically wet weather as the game leads into Spring.
The climbing is simple, there is no stamina gauge you can see, but Moira will sound out of breath, she will eventually need to stop to get it back and when night falls not only will it be nearly impossible to see, even with a torch, but she’ll need somewhere safe to shelter or risk losing health that typically only drops if she’s managed to bump herself on a fall.
During all this climbing and running, your aim is to find peaks, get up high to survey the rest of the land in your grand journey to the sea - a lighthouse in the distant background that guides your way.
As you progress Moira will either have notes she has bought or maps and things she has found to help her journey from one peak to another. It gives the journey a back and forth feel as you may find a new guide but need to get back to the peak to see where this shortcut will be.
Occasionally there will be other things, even people that may help guide the way but a large element of this game is discovery and I don’t want to completely ruin that.
All in this game looks fantastic, the art is lovely, the sights for the peaks are wondrous and there is plenty of colour and emotion conveyed throughout every sight.
The voice acting is brilliant, I have some bias because I have been known to watch the protagonist’s VA on Twitch. In general it is so nice to hear actual Scottish voice actors using Scottish dialect, it adds authenticity to the story and helps you believe in the characters and their tales - I just wish more of it was voice acted than it is.
With my connection with Scotland, minor connection with this game and love for everything it is trying to do, A Highland Song had massive potential to sneak in as a Game of the Year for me.
Unfortunately though there were times where this song for me, was less a beautiful ballad and more similar to hold music with a company you don’t want to be speaking to.
Many elements of the game gave me minor annoyances. The rhythm game at first seemed exciting but when it first introduced a second button the icons were less clear and felt more of a gotcha than an increase in difficulty. This game made me feel incredibly stupid because it never gave me the prompt or tutorial of how to hop down from background to foreground and, not the only time, I felt I was stuck with no way to progress.
Progression can feel irritating. The idea of finding notes, picking out what is being highlighted while on a peak, to then find a shortcut or an item to lead you further down a treasure hunt is, on paper, great. When it works it is genuinely quite fun but the issue is finding these clues, these breadcrumbs as it were in the first place.
They are highlighted in classic video game shiny spot form but if you’re rushing you can easily miss these pop up and more often than not there is nothing else visually to show you there is something of interest to stop at.
Too often the maps lead you back to places you have already been and more often than it should the reason Moira didn’t notice the path when there the first time is extremely contrived.
Throughout this treasure trail are little items, these can be used to progress certain places or as offerings when you are at the peaks. Sadly I am reminded of older, less-good point and clicks too often with these - sometimes there is obvious logic of what you can use or what you need but too often you can just be clicking each option until something works.
The game itself encourages multiple playthroughs, the item finding leans into this as, for example - one time I discovered a stone with a hole in that looked towards the lighthouse but could not use it, on another run I had the correct item to combine and it gave me a short scene and only then did Moira see a path to go forwards.
This sounds like typical game logic, finding the blue door but without the blue key, but because it can be obtuse and backtracking isn’t encouraged as the game is leading you to make this journey in a set amount of time this “blue door” feels like a wall and often then just has you running in circles to either find that key or another exit.
Going around the same peak twice feels fine but beyond that it becomes tedious which is further exacerbated if you are aiming for a quicker time, more peaks found etc. on other playthroughs as the movement is good but not exciting enough to want to do the same thing over and over.
I spoke about moving from the background to foreground and this is another reason that traversal can also be an irritation. Sometimes the painterly art doesn’t make things clear, not being 3D also makes judging distances in a third direction hard to judge and this leads to experimentation which can go wrong, hurt the character, slow you down and once again lead to repetition.
There are other minor things, bits I didn’t love and after my second session with this game, I started to believe I might even hate it but in the end it was more that I was just disappointed.
I wanted to love this game, its art - audibly and visually is fantastic. Its ideas and innovations are great but the actual act of playing the game never felt amazing and the idea of repeating it for just a few drops of more goodness are not enticing to me at all.
It is strange, because when I see others praising something I didn’t enjoy I tend to believe that they must have gotten something out of it that I could not - but A Highland Song ticked so many boxes, I wouldn’t say it was ever like it was designed for me but it definitely falls into my interests and sadly that just made it a bitter pill to swallow.
2005
After Tetris you would think that there were only so many tile matching style score-attack puzzle game systems that exist. Whilst it’s a subgenre that hasn’t had the hugest innovations over the years it is a well that has been repeatedly visited by games over and over again and one that I will quite happily take a sip from each time.
Back in 2005 it was Kirby’s dad Masahiro Sakurai’s turn and alongside was the dual screens of Nintendo’s handheld system of the time.
What he came up with was fairly innovative, some good fun but ultimately for me, not one I can see being in my rotation of puzzlers to go back to and relax with.
Meteos like many of its kind before have blocks drop from the top of the screen, you cannot turn them but with the stylus slide a single block up and down columns where you please.
One big difference here is matching does not instantly delete blocks (in most cases), match three vertically and the entire column fires up like a rocket, match horizontally and they become platform lifting all the blocks above them.
Ultimately you are sending the falling blocks, or meteors, back into space and potentially towards an enemy's planet - this being the main theme throughout the game.
Sakurai has stated that the game wasn’t initially targeted for DS but says, and I agree, that use of the stylus made the block sliding and matching feel much more fluid and faster than via a d-pad.
From my perspective I really appreciate sending the meteors off the top of the touchscreen and seeing the explosions and results at the top, but when the game picks up speed and difficulty I find myself not seeing any of it which is a shame.
Meteos interplanetary theme brings in a few other innovations and a surprising amount of variety in what is a well covered genre.
Each planet has different block rates, each has their own rules, be that being faster, slower, vertical or horizontal combinations being more powerful or other slight changes to the feel of play.
As you would expect each planet has its own background and even different block art but however much this fits the theme I found many of these quite ugly to look at, some being more difficult to match at speed than others and when that is your primary objective it isn’t ideal.
Overall I never fell in love with Meteos presentation but I could not call it bad, the menus have a very Smash Bros. feel which isn’t surprising and keeps even the menus feeling exciting yet simple to navigate.
Sending falling blocks directly back up rather than destroying them is definitely an interesting innovation. The feel of lining another horizontal row of blocks as your original struggles to reach the top, causing a small boost, is quite enjoyable but not as snappy and as satisfying late Puyo colour match or a T-spin.
If, like me, you enjoy falling blocks then this is definitely one you should try and the DS is a fantastic way to enjoy the genre. However you’ll probably find your way back to Puyo Puyo, Panel de Pon or the Daddy which is Tetris in no time.
Back in 2005 it was Kirby’s dad Masahiro Sakurai’s turn and alongside was the dual screens of Nintendo’s handheld system of the time.
What he came up with was fairly innovative, some good fun but ultimately for me, not one I can see being in my rotation of puzzlers to go back to and relax with.
Meteos like many of its kind before have blocks drop from the top of the screen, you cannot turn them but with the stylus slide a single block up and down columns where you please.
One big difference here is matching does not instantly delete blocks (in most cases), match three vertically and the entire column fires up like a rocket, match horizontally and they become platform lifting all the blocks above them.
Ultimately you are sending the falling blocks, or meteors, back into space and potentially towards an enemy's planet - this being the main theme throughout the game.
Sakurai has stated that the game wasn’t initially targeted for DS but says, and I agree, that use of the stylus made the block sliding and matching feel much more fluid and faster than via a d-pad.
From my perspective I really appreciate sending the meteors off the top of the touchscreen and seeing the explosions and results at the top, but when the game picks up speed and difficulty I find myself not seeing any of it which is a shame.
Meteos interplanetary theme brings in a few other innovations and a surprising amount of variety in what is a well covered genre.
Each planet has different block rates, each has their own rules, be that being faster, slower, vertical or horizontal combinations being more powerful or other slight changes to the feel of play.
As you would expect each planet has its own background and even different block art but however much this fits the theme I found many of these quite ugly to look at, some being more difficult to match at speed than others and when that is your primary objective it isn’t ideal.
Overall I never fell in love with Meteos presentation but I could not call it bad, the menus have a very Smash Bros. feel which isn’t surprising and keeps even the menus feeling exciting yet simple to navigate.
Sending falling blocks directly back up rather than destroying them is definitely an interesting innovation. The feel of lining another horizontal row of blocks as your original struggles to reach the top, causing a small boost, is quite enjoyable but not as snappy and as satisfying late Puyo colour match or a T-spin.
If, like me, you enjoy falling blocks then this is definitely one you should try and the DS is a fantastic way to enjoy the genre. However you’ll probably find your way back to Puyo Puyo, Panel de Pon or the Daddy which is Tetris in no time.
Where do you even start when trying to review this game? You can look at the past titles in the series, slim the focus down to just the 2D platforming style ones and compare how it has changed and arguably evolved over time.
This is an angle I am sure many, and I know some, people will use when writing about this title but I have to come out on top and say something that may invalidate all the words I write following.
I don’t love 2D Mario games.
Yes, I’m one of those people. I was a Sega kid, a huge Sonic fan and although not a person who will slurp up any crap with the blue blur’s name on it, do still hope to have an ounce of the great feelings I got when I was in single digits of years old.
This is not to say I hate Mario or that I never played his games, it’s just I never got to spend the time with him, his loose approximation of lore never dug into my soul like (Fleetway) Sonic the Comic did. I never got to learn exactly how good the little plumber could be on the move at a young age and although I have been back and appreciate what the guy in the dungarees does it’s a harder sell when you’re a decade or even decades removed.
For me to compare Wonder to Super Mario Land 3 or Super Mario World, the ones I usually hear heralded as the greatest, would be false because I don’t have nearly enough understanding to write eloquently and informatively about them.
If you read anything else I put up on this site or have checked “Favorite Games” in my profile you’ll see that Mario is still quite an important character to me.
Once the platforming mascots of the 90’s big two entered the third dimension it didn’t take long for even me, a Sonic fan, to see that Mario had the spikey lad beat.
Sonic Adventure had some interesting things and although not the best paced or most polished game I would still argue Sonic Adventure 2 was good. Super Mario 64 however was great, it was a game changer.
Triple jump in time towards the Wii and the Galaxy games arrive and my thoughts and feelings have been cemented. These are not just game changers but the best in class and some of the best of all time.
This short personal history lesson, which is far from over, highlights a major factor that I need to speak about now in regards to Wonder. It is the factor that, if I had to simply boil down why Galaxy 2 is still, in my opinion, the best platforming game period, is innovations and pure ideas per minute.
Every Mario game has done this. I am aware it is not exclusively a Galaxy trait but the pure volume and successful hit-rate of new idea, new idea, new idea… that Galaxy has is unparalleled.
Wonder may lose one third of the dimensions Galaxy has but it doesn’t drop one third in that department.
Each new power up from Elephant to Bubble is brilliantly executed, adds fun obvious surface details and small control traits that give the player very different feeling stages to go through and master.
Each Wonder seed, the main gimmick of the game, brings to life a whole new experience with very little repetition which further adds variety and excitement to each stage.
Each badge, the new selectable power up system, doesn’t quite do as good a job as the previous but even so hidden within are abilities whole other platformers would use as their gimmicks and also do give some extra replay value.
Mario Wonder much like the best Mario games has such a great variety of stages throughout that by the end of the game when something finally repeats you almost get nostalgic for the beginning of the game - it doesn’t feel like a rehash but a beautiful showcase of something that they’d only shown for the first time in this game but already feels like it’s part of the DNA of the series.
At this stage, with all the praise I have given Mario Wonder in just a few paragraphs the question is not if the game is good but how good? Where does it sit in the pantheon of platformers?
Now as mentioned before, I don’t feel I can fairly place this game if we go all the way back into the 90’s but when we look at what I believe to be the cream of the crop in modern 2D platformers then yes - Super Mario Bros Wonder does sit amongst them.
As an aside, I’ve mentioned what I feel these are but a quick few titles to sate your curiosity: Rayman Origins/Legends, Celeste, Sonic Mania, this game and also Pizza Tower, a comparison I just can’t help but return to in my head again and again.
When I speak on “modern” my shortlist does go back over a decade, so the question here is why did none of the New Super Mario Bros. games do it for me?
To review those games would truly have to involve looking back at the games many other people played as children and as I have said I would find that difficult and a little dishonest for me to write about, however I can say that NSMB felt less new to me than the 3D titles did and less new than even Wonder does.
Some of this goes back to volume and quality of ideas, none of them hit for me and although it being more of the same is no bad thing when a lot of people would call SMW the GOAT, it just felt like more of the same.
Also one of the most superficial reasons too, was simply the look. NSMB felt to me almost plastic-like, the aura it has is one of a shiny new replica rather than a fresh piece of art - something I do not get from Wonder with its new little facial expressions, animations and even the new varieties of friends and enemies like Poplins or Trottin’ Piranha Plants.
To put my feelings on NSMB simply, when I saw the first Wonder trailer I got some NSMB vibes and instantly thought “I’ll play this but I probably won’t love it” and thankfully I was wrong.
When I speak about the most recent 2D platforming greats the first comparison with this game right now is actually to the aforementioned Pizza Tower.
I love Wario, it is hard for me to say with complete conviction that Wario Land is better than Mario’s two dimensional escapades but I do have more love for them and I genuinely prefer Wario Land 4 more than any NSMB variant.
Pizza Tower therefore already has an advantage over Mario Wonder due to this.
It’s a different beast, much more about speed and aggression - it’s going for a retro look and not trying to be a new generation, even though it is.
When comparing the two it is really as subjective as it gets. Mario Wonder looks beautiful, and it would be easy to say it looks “nicer” than Pizza Tower, but that game is not trying to be nice, it is trying to be gross and weird, and it succeeds. Both games are full of life, fantastic little animations, great innovative power-ups and ideas that change the play pattern.
Pizza Tower easily beats Mario Wonder in the music department for me, it’s a soundtrack I go back to again and again but also whilst Wonder does have the typical Mario style of soundtrack you’ll find humming to yourself as you boil the kettle none of it really true sticks or surprises - sure there are some musical elements that put a huge grin across my face but I can’t see me even considering grabbing the OST in a physical format.
My last Pizza Tower comparison point goes into the final few things I want to discuss with Mario Wonder and that is replayability, completely clearing the game and what the game gives you or what you may want to do.
Before I finish with it I will say, by a margin Pizza Tower is my preference between these two games but if you read me putting Wario Land 4 on a pedestal as insanity then you know that it’s probably an opinion we don’t agree on.
Pizza Tower has replay built in via collecting “toppins” and then getting higher ranks - something which is a little too hardcore for me but I am sure to go back to when there’s a quiet period for new releases.
One element Wonder has which I can’t skip, but will skim past is online capabilities.
This game can be played in multiplayer, not something new to the series but an addition I know will go down greatly with the right people, especially parents with children who game together.
To talk on that would be even less honest than me speaking of 90’s Mario memories.
What I can briefly add my two pennies on is the new, “Strand Game” like systems of playing online.
Death Stranding and Dark Souls, two games that are nothing like Mario Wonder but that do weirdly share traits in the way they work online.
If you enjoy collecting stickers and the like, Mario Wonder has standees - each of the dozen playable characters have a dozen different standee poses to collect. In game these can be placed for other players in your level to interact with and use as lifesaving checkpoints.
Much like Dark Souls you can also see ghostly images of the other players and emote to potentially guide them to a secret exit or warn them of a pit. In a more literal sense you can see their ghostly image (of their ghost) if they die and can get to you quickly to be revived.
All together it feels implemented very well, Internet additions and Nintendo don’t go hand-in-hand typically but credit where it’s due. For me however I felt that either the reviving made things too easy or was pointless and I didn’t like the extra things being on screen.
Nintendo have done a good job to not fill the screen with new furniture but for such a pretty and elegant game I didn’t want it added in that way.
The one exception are treasure hunting stages, full of big coins and even blocks that are invisible (to most players). These stages are a complete crap shoot playing offline but are maybe the most fun implementation of what Wonder is going for.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder otherwise however, actually fits the box ticking part of my brain perfectly.
Multiple Wonder Seeds and three giant coins on most levels give you a reason for at least one extra playthrough and if it doesn’t because your first run is perfect, grabbing the top of the flagpole as you leave some levels have secret exits too.
These bonus exits which typically lead into more stages are a great classic feeling way to unlock some alternate routes as you go, and where it might not be quite as free flow as I’d have liked, the more open map of Mario Wonder’s world lets you tackle the game, mostly, in your own way.
To add to this is the badges system, which I find smart but not perfect. A minor smudge on the record of this game, an eyelash in its extremely tasty soup.
Badges unlock as you progress the game, giving Mario new abilities and in some cases changing how he acts completely - those styles (the rightmost if you’ve started the game) I think are great because they truly change how the game can play and definitely add an extra challenge or replay value.
The others however feel like things that when you unlock them should have just been in Mario’s base move set, sure I’ll take the hat glide to make getting the flagpole tip easier but shouldn’t I always have a dash underwater with or without it? It’s a strange addition to Mario that almost feels a little half baked, something to make it feel more new and modern but not as well thought out as its core ideas like the Wonder Seeds or even new power-ups.
In the end any of these negatives sounding comparisons or criticisms are as minor as they come. At its worst Super Mario Bros. Wonder only “fails” because it doesn’t completely rewrite the game or blow you away, but at its best it does or at least it shows why Mario is the icon, why Nintendo will forever pump out multiple platforming series with the plumber and his pals and between all that have them play sports, drive karts and do whatever else may sell.
Simply, Mario is good.
This is an angle I am sure many, and I know some, people will use when writing about this title but I have to come out on top and say something that may invalidate all the words I write following.
I don’t love 2D Mario games.
Yes, I’m one of those people. I was a Sega kid, a huge Sonic fan and although not a person who will slurp up any crap with the blue blur’s name on it, do still hope to have an ounce of the great feelings I got when I was in single digits of years old.
This is not to say I hate Mario or that I never played his games, it’s just I never got to spend the time with him, his loose approximation of lore never dug into my soul like (Fleetway) Sonic the Comic did. I never got to learn exactly how good the little plumber could be on the move at a young age and although I have been back and appreciate what the guy in the dungarees does it’s a harder sell when you’re a decade or even decades removed.
For me to compare Wonder to Super Mario Land 3 or Super Mario World, the ones I usually hear heralded as the greatest, would be false because I don’t have nearly enough understanding to write eloquently and informatively about them.
If you read anything else I put up on this site or have checked “Favorite Games” in my profile you’ll see that Mario is still quite an important character to me.
Once the platforming mascots of the 90’s big two entered the third dimension it didn’t take long for even me, a Sonic fan, to see that Mario had the spikey lad beat.
Sonic Adventure had some interesting things and although not the best paced or most polished game I would still argue Sonic Adventure 2 was good. Super Mario 64 however was great, it was a game changer.
Triple jump in time towards the Wii and the Galaxy games arrive and my thoughts and feelings have been cemented. These are not just game changers but the best in class and some of the best of all time.
This short personal history lesson, which is far from over, highlights a major factor that I need to speak about now in regards to Wonder. It is the factor that, if I had to simply boil down why Galaxy 2 is still, in my opinion, the best platforming game period, is innovations and pure ideas per minute.
Every Mario game has done this. I am aware it is not exclusively a Galaxy trait but the pure volume and successful hit-rate of new idea, new idea, new idea… that Galaxy has is unparalleled.
Wonder may lose one third of the dimensions Galaxy has but it doesn’t drop one third in that department.
Each new power up from Elephant to Bubble is brilliantly executed, adds fun obvious surface details and small control traits that give the player very different feeling stages to go through and master.
Each Wonder seed, the main gimmick of the game, brings to life a whole new experience with very little repetition which further adds variety and excitement to each stage.
Each badge, the new selectable power up system, doesn’t quite do as good a job as the previous but even so hidden within are abilities whole other platformers would use as their gimmicks and also do give some extra replay value.
Mario Wonder much like the best Mario games has such a great variety of stages throughout that by the end of the game when something finally repeats you almost get nostalgic for the beginning of the game - it doesn’t feel like a rehash but a beautiful showcase of something that they’d only shown for the first time in this game but already feels like it’s part of the DNA of the series.
At this stage, with all the praise I have given Mario Wonder in just a few paragraphs the question is not if the game is good but how good? Where does it sit in the pantheon of platformers?
Now as mentioned before, I don’t feel I can fairly place this game if we go all the way back into the 90’s but when we look at what I believe to be the cream of the crop in modern 2D platformers then yes - Super Mario Bros Wonder does sit amongst them.
As an aside, I’ve mentioned what I feel these are but a quick few titles to sate your curiosity: Rayman Origins/Legends, Celeste, Sonic Mania, this game and also Pizza Tower, a comparison I just can’t help but return to in my head again and again.
When I speak on “modern” my shortlist does go back over a decade, so the question here is why did none of the New Super Mario Bros. games do it for me?
To review those games would truly have to involve looking back at the games many other people played as children and as I have said I would find that difficult and a little dishonest for me to write about, however I can say that NSMB felt less new to me than the 3D titles did and less new than even Wonder does.
Some of this goes back to volume and quality of ideas, none of them hit for me and although it being more of the same is no bad thing when a lot of people would call SMW the GOAT, it just felt like more of the same.
Also one of the most superficial reasons too, was simply the look. NSMB felt to me almost plastic-like, the aura it has is one of a shiny new replica rather than a fresh piece of art - something I do not get from Wonder with its new little facial expressions, animations and even the new varieties of friends and enemies like Poplins or Trottin’ Piranha Plants.
To put my feelings on NSMB simply, when I saw the first Wonder trailer I got some NSMB vibes and instantly thought “I’ll play this but I probably won’t love it” and thankfully I was wrong.
When I speak about the most recent 2D platforming greats the first comparison with this game right now is actually to the aforementioned Pizza Tower.
I love Wario, it is hard for me to say with complete conviction that Wario Land is better than Mario’s two dimensional escapades but I do have more love for them and I genuinely prefer Wario Land 4 more than any NSMB variant.
Pizza Tower therefore already has an advantage over Mario Wonder due to this.
It’s a different beast, much more about speed and aggression - it’s going for a retro look and not trying to be a new generation, even though it is.
When comparing the two it is really as subjective as it gets. Mario Wonder looks beautiful, and it would be easy to say it looks “nicer” than Pizza Tower, but that game is not trying to be nice, it is trying to be gross and weird, and it succeeds. Both games are full of life, fantastic little animations, great innovative power-ups and ideas that change the play pattern.
Pizza Tower easily beats Mario Wonder in the music department for me, it’s a soundtrack I go back to again and again but also whilst Wonder does have the typical Mario style of soundtrack you’ll find humming to yourself as you boil the kettle none of it really true sticks or surprises - sure there are some musical elements that put a huge grin across my face but I can’t see me even considering grabbing the OST in a physical format.
My last Pizza Tower comparison point goes into the final few things I want to discuss with Mario Wonder and that is replayability, completely clearing the game and what the game gives you or what you may want to do.
Before I finish with it I will say, by a margin Pizza Tower is my preference between these two games but if you read me putting Wario Land 4 on a pedestal as insanity then you know that it’s probably an opinion we don’t agree on.
Pizza Tower has replay built in via collecting “toppins” and then getting higher ranks - something which is a little too hardcore for me but I am sure to go back to when there’s a quiet period for new releases.
One element Wonder has which I can’t skip, but will skim past is online capabilities.
This game can be played in multiplayer, not something new to the series but an addition I know will go down greatly with the right people, especially parents with children who game together.
To talk on that would be even less honest than me speaking of 90’s Mario memories.
What I can briefly add my two pennies on is the new, “Strand Game” like systems of playing online.
Death Stranding and Dark Souls, two games that are nothing like Mario Wonder but that do weirdly share traits in the way they work online.
If you enjoy collecting stickers and the like, Mario Wonder has standees - each of the dozen playable characters have a dozen different standee poses to collect. In game these can be placed for other players in your level to interact with and use as lifesaving checkpoints.
Much like Dark Souls you can also see ghostly images of the other players and emote to potentially guide them to a secret exit or warn them of a pit. In a more literal sense you can see their ghostly image (of their ghost) if they die and can get to you quickly to be revived.
All together it feels implemented very well, Internet additions and Nintendo don’t go hand-in-hand typically but credit where it’s due. For me however I felt that either the reviving made things too easy or was pointless and I didn’t like the extra things being on screen.
Nintendo have done a good job to not fill the screen with new furniture but for such a pretty and elegant game I didn’t want it added in that way.
The one exception are treasure hunting stages, full of big coins and even blocks that are invisible (to most players). These stages are a complete crap shoot playing offline but are maybe the most fun implementation of what Wonder is going for.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder otherwise however, actually fits the box ticking part of my brain perfectly.
Multiple Wonder Seeds and three giant coins on most levels give you a reason for at least one extra playthrough and if it doesn’t because your first run is perfect, grabbing the top of the flagpole as you leave some levels have secret exits too.
These bonus exits which typically lead into more stages are a great classic feeling way to unlock some alternate routes as you go, and where it might not be quite as free flow as I’d have liked, the more open map of Mario Wonder’s world lets you tackle the game, mostly, in your own way.
To add to this is the badges system, which I find smart but not perfect. A minor smudge on the record of this game, an eyelash in its extremely tasty soup.
Badges unlock as you progress the game, giving Mario new abilities and in some cases changing how he acts completely - those styles (the rightmost if you’ve started the game) I think are great because they truly change how the game can play and definitely add an extra challenge or replay value.
The others however feel like things that when you unlock them should have just been in Mario’s base move set, sure I’ll take the hat glide to make getting the flagpole tip easier but shouldn’t I always have a dash underwater with or without it? It’s a strange addition to Mario that almost feels a little half baked, something to make it feel more new and modern but not as well thought out as its core ideas like the Wonder Seeds or even new power-ups.
In the end any of these negatives sounding comparisons or criticisms are as minor as they come. At its worst Super Mario Bros. Wonder only “fails” because it doesn’t completely rewrite the game or blow you away, but at its best it does or at least it shows why Mario is the icon, why Nintendo will forever pump out multiple platforming series with the plumber and his pals and between all that have them play sports, drive karts and do whatever else may sell.
Simply, Mario is good.
2019
This game was better when it was a tech demo you saw cool clips of on Twitter.
Pedro has a lot of cool ideas and mechanics, sometimes these feel as good as they should such as flinging a frying pan into the air to get ricochet kills off but too often does it feel floaty, unresponsive and inaccurate.
At first I forgave the "floatiness" as the game is wanting you to fly through the stages, killing everyone in spectacular fashion and all whilst dodging weaving between enemy fire.
However, as I played more throughout the day it just never felt good, it never felt right, I questioned why the game felt like the protagonist was moving in slow motion when there is a designated slow motion command.
Then it started to get worse; a transitional stage where you ride a bike that felt like a vintage coin-op (and I don't mean that as a compliment) continuing then later into levels that tried to turn the game into a platformer.
This is where the game just felt horrible and at parts I caught myself audibly laughing and saying "this is rubbish".
I imagine there are people who will read this review and find the feel of 'My Friend Pedro' perfect, giving them the desire to replay levels to get high scores and cool clips.
That's just not me.
Aesthetically the levels themselves are also very uninspiring and with a couple of major exceptions almost look the same.
Seeing the name of the final chapter of stages ahead of time I was expecting something wild but even then it was just disappointment.
This front end of this game shows you everything you want, but maybe 20 minutes later you'll have seen it's best.
It's weird for what is a 4-5 hour game to out stay it's welcome but for me this silly banana prick could've got out of my face ages ago.
Pedro has a lot of cool ideas and mechanics, sometimes these feel as good as they should such as flinging a frying pan into the air to get ricochet kills off but too often does it feel floaty, unresponsive and inaccurate.
At first I forgave the "floatiness" as the game is wanting you to fly through the stages, killing everyone in spectacular fashion and all whilst dodging weaving between enemy fire.
However, as I played more throughout the day it just never felt good, it never felt right, I questioned why the game felt like the protagonist was moving in slow motion when there is a designated slow motion command.
Then it started to get worse; a transitional stage where you ride a bike that felt like a vintage coin-op (and I don't mean that as a compliment) continuing then later into levels that tried to turn the game into a platformer.
This is where the game just felt horrible and at parts I caught myself audibly laughing and saying "this is rubbish".
I imagine there are people who will read this review and find the feel of 'My Friend Pedro' perfect, giving them the desire to replay levels to get high scores and cool clips.
That's just not me.
Aesthetically the levels themselves are also very uninspiring and with a couple of major exceptions almost look the same.
Seeing the name of the final chapter of stages ahead of time I was expecting something wild but even then it was just disappointment.
This front end of this game shows you everything you want, but maybe 20 minutes later you'll have seen it's best.
It's weird for what is a 4-5 hour game to out stay it's welcome but for me this silly banana prick could've got out of my face ages ago.
It’s a great feeling finishing a game that is just as good as everyone who had played it said it was.
After finishing this remaster I really hope that this can get the sales it deserves across all platforms and that Shu Takumi can become even better known as not just the Phoenix Wright guy.
Ghost Trick is an almost perfect blend of puzzle and narrative.
It layers both these elements with just the right level of complexity as the game progresses to keep you excited and intrigued.
Very much peak handheld design in structure, controls and art.
The chapters are never too long that you feel you’re stuck somewhere for too long, always just short enough that you may start to tell yourself “maybe just one more”.
The updated controls of putting what was stylus based on a joystick work as expected and each of the other small button presses are clearly marked on screen without distracting.
The art and music are highlights and although there was nothing wrong with the pixel work on the DS, if anything far from it, the higher resolution and smoother look of the remake looks absolutely beautiful on both big and small screen, the accompanying new arrangements of music similarly add to the feel of just a pinch of modern shine on a game that never needed touching.
It’s all just extra shine and no scarring like some remasters can do.
One of the few things I did dislike about this remaster are the unlockables.
The content, that’s great, art, screens, music, all lovely stuff to lap up after finishing the story but locking some of these behind dreaded sliding tile puzzles feels like a crime.
These things are the worst and most basic puzzle game filler to exist and are not a part of Ghost Trick’s main game so why put them here? The only positive it has is as a comparison to the puzzles of the game itself “they’re never this bad”.
As mentioned previously, next to the beautiful music and art Ghost Trick’s greatest feat is how well it can layer its story alongside its puzzles.
The story never becomes too complicated but there are smart twists and turns along with great character development, a lot of which feel quite real in a world of colourful comic characters.
The puzzles never become hard, at their best they make you feel smart as you can start seeing the lines before they’re pointed out. The pointing out is there though, but these hints are not clicking a question mark to give you an answer but the much sleeker design of having the characters mention aspects or ponder ideas that will push you in the direction needed.
During my playthrough I never felt stuck outside of one situation where honestly, the answer was stupid and not as clear as it should have been (I’ll mention vaguely what in the comments if anyone needs to know). However that was one speck on a great series of puzzles that really only have the downfall of potentially feeling too trial and error - checkpoints, text skipping and generally short levels though make any repetition feel quite easily forgiven.
Ghost Trick is as good as people have said for the past dozen or so years and I am more than happy to have spent money to experience this on a modern machine - although I should have always finished this on my iPhone those many years ago.
After finishing this remaster I really hope that this can get the sales it deserves across all platforms and that Shu Takumi can become even better known as not just the Phoenix Wright guy.
Ghost Trick is an almost perfect blend of puzzle and narrative.
It layers both these elements with just the right level of complexity as the game progresses to keep you excited and intrigued.
Very much peak handheld design in structure, controls and art.
The chapters are never too long that you feel you’re stuck somewhere for too long, always just short enough that you may start to tell yourself “maybe just one more”.
The updated controls of putting what was stylus based on a joystick work as expected and each of the other small button presses are clearly marked on screen without distracting.
The art and music are highlights and although there was nothing wrong with the pixel work on the DS, if anything far from it, the higher resolution and smoother look of the remake looks absolutely beautiful on both big and small screen, the accompanying new arrangements of music similarly add to the feel of just a pinch of modern shine on a game that never needed touching.
It’s all just extra shine and no scarring like some remasters can do.
One of the few things I did dislike about this remaster are the unlockables.
The content, that’s great, art, screens, music, all lovely stuff to lap up after finishing the story but locking some of these behind dreaded sliding tile puzzles feels like a crime.
These things are the worst and most basic puzzle game filler to exist and are not a part of Ghost Trick’s main game so why put them here? The only positive it has is as a comparison to the puzzles of the game itself “they’re never this bad”.
As mentioned previously, next to the beautiful music and art Ghost Trick’s greatest feat is how well it can layer its story alongside its puzzles.
The story never becomes too complicated but there are smart twists and turns along with great character development, a lot of which feel quite real in a world of colourful comic characters.
The puzzles never become hard, at their best they make you feel smart as you can start seeing the lines before they’re pointed out. The pointing out is there though, but these hints are not clicking a question mark to give you an answer but the much sleeker design of having the characters mention aspects or ponder ideas that will push you in the direction needed.
During my playthrough I never felt stuck outside of one situation where honestly, the answer was stupid and not as clear as it should have been (I’ll mention vaguely what in the comments if anyone needs to know). However that was one speck on a great series of puzzles that really only have the downfall of potentially feeling too trial and error - checkpoints, text skipping and generally short levels though make any repetition feel quite easily forgiven.
Ghost Trick is as good as people have said for the past dozen or so years and I am more than happy to have spent money to experience this on a modern machine - although I should have always finished this on my iPhone those many years ago.
2022
It may be a lil game, but it has a lot of heart. Maybe best described as “My First Open World” or "Breath of the Wild Jr" and this is not as much of an insult as it may sound.
Two points I know I like to know when hearing about a game I can tick off almost instantly in this review are the questions “is it any good?” and “how long is it?” by simply telling you that I finished the game in one sitting that took around three hours and the only thing that stopped me immediately cleaning up everything the game had to offer was it was time to feed the dog.
Once that had been done and I ate dinner myself I spent around another hour doing the rest.
So yes it’s good, and roughly 3-4 hours in length to do everything.
This may not be enough information to satisfy your interest so I will elaborate.
Lil Gator Game is a small open-world game mostly based on movement, some simple platforming, swimming, climbing, floating about and more thanks to a range of interesting items your hero picks up along the way.
Structure wise you are free to roam in whatever direction you like once you’ve completed the quests on the small, BOTW-like, tutorial island, in which you pick up the key three ingredients a hero needs - a sword, a shield and a hat.
About the island are many NPCs that you are aiming to befriend to create a town hub for everyone and impress your Big Sis, but more on that later.
Each of these would-be friends will have small quests for you, some range from clearing out nearby enemies, to classics such as fetch-quests or multi-part adventures where you’re needing to help separate folk to get the attention of one specific pal.
There are weapons, your sword of many varieties and later some ranged tools but the enemies… well they are cardboard cutouts so they don’t put up much (any) resistance.
“Combat” is really just a way of collecting things in the vein of coins, rings, rupees or whatever.
As mentioned earlier Lil Gator Game is more about movement. You can climb anything and, again like BOTW, have a stamina gauge that can be upgraded. Your shield has no need for defense as you can’t be attacked so instead you can use it like a sled, but as the first example of many, just sliding, is not all that the shield does movement wise and this shows the surprising depth Lil Gator Game has with its mechanics.
Different shields can slide in different ways, on top of this jumping while on the shield at the right point can bounce you further and this even includes some quite satisfying skimming along water.
None of these techniques are essential, you’re under no stress, you don’t need to go anywhere in a particular order or under a time-limit but the freedom of fun and discovery is there.
As you collect more items these movement abilities you have expand in the ways you would you expect, like better climbing, gliding and more, but also expand in a couple of fun ways you may not expect such as, minor spoiler, collecting a ninja headband that makes you Naruto run - which is faster.
Lil Gator Game doesn’t have every element or the sheer scale of a Breath of the Wild but it condenses a lot of what the joy of that game is into a tight package which has a cute, child-like aesthetic.
The aesthetic of big blocky colours, speech bubbles, googly eyes and cardboard cut-outs really work as a pleasant vibe that reflects its narrative.
You Big Sis as mentioned earlier, is back on a break from college and you want her attention. You see, as the game reveals from the start, you and her used to play and she was great at making rules for fun games and you were both heavily inspired by (for legal reasons not)The Legend of Zelda.
Sadly for our protagonist, time has passed, you’ve both aged and your Big Sis is busy with assignments and doesn’t seem to have time to play.
Your quest, to get her to remember the fun you had and grab her attention.
Lil Gator Game does a magically wonderful job of capturing a lot of what being a child feels like, and does a good job of giving you a view of this world through a child’s eyes.
The dialogue is fun, it isn’t minimised to monosyllabic words or baby sounding pronunciations though, if anything I wonder if a failing Lil Gator Game might have is that it presents itself for kids but is more for adults with nostalgia when considering how much dialogue there is throughout.
The ending especially, I will not describe the feeling as to not spoil, but it did make me a little glassy-eyed, an effect I don’t imagine it would have on a child but perhaps their parents.
Lil Gator Game is exactly as described in my opening sentence and it does it very well but this does leave stages feeling a little too simple and potentially repetitive.
I will take a moment to applaud the post-game as “cleaning up” in open-world games is a task for the sick honestly, but “gamer brain” does mean that an 87% for example, must become 100% or I can’t sleep and this title makes it as easy as possible.
It isn’t quite doing it all for you but it gives as much a helping hand that if anymore would mean you could just put the pad down and line, they manage to hit perfectly and give you a small reward for your time which feels as sweet as the rest of the experience.
For all of its child-like fun and wonder in design and aesthetic, Lil Gator Game is maturely put together, well-crafted and feels truly sincere. If you need a short game for a palette cleanser, but you still want a sense of play and not just story - you can’t go too wrong with grabbing this title or playing it for “free” via GamePass.
Two points I know I like to know when hearing about a game I can tick off almost instantly in this review are the questions “is it any good?” and “how long is it?” by simply telling you that I finished the game in one sitting that took around three hours and the only thing that stopped me immediately cleaning up everything the game had to offer was it was time to feed the dog.
Once that had been done and I ate dinner myself I spent around another hour doing the rest.
So yes it’s good, and roughly 3-4 hours in length to do everything.
This may not be enough information to satisfy your interest so I will elaborate.
Lil Gator Game is a small open-world game mostly based on movement, some simple platforming, swimming, climbing, floating about and more thanks to a range of interesting items your hero picks up along the way.
Structure wise you are free to roam in whatever direction you like once you’ve completed the quests on the small, BOTW-like, tutorial island, in which you pick up the key three ingredients a hero needs - a sword, a shield and a hat.
About the island are many NPCs that you are aiming to befriend to create a town hub for everyone and impress your Big Sis, but more on that later.
Each of these would-be friends will have small quests for you, some range from clearing out nearby enemies, to classics such as fetch-quests or multi-part adventures where you’re needing to help separate folk to get the attention of one specific pal.
There are weapons, your sword of many varieties and later some ranged tools but the enemies… well they are cardboard cutouts so they don’t put up much (any) resistance.
“Combat” is really just a way of collecting things in the vein of coins, rings, rupees or whatever.
As mentioned earlier Lil Gator Game is more about movement. You can climb anything and, again like BOTW, have a stamina gauge that can be upgraded. Your shield has no need for defense as you can’t be attacked so instead you can use it like a sled, but as the first example of many, just sliding, is not all that the shield does movement wise and this shows the surprising depth Lil Gator Game has with its mechanics.
Different shields can slide in different ways, on top of this jumping while on the shield at the right point can bounce you further and this even includes some quite satisfying skimming along water.
None of these techniques are essential, you’re under no stress, you don’t need to go anywhere in a particular order or under a time-limit but the freedom of fun and discovery is there.
As you collect more items these movement abilities you have expand in the ways you would you expect, like better climbing, gliding and more, but also expand in a couple of fun ways you may not expect such as, minor spoiler, collecting a ninja headband that makes you Naruto run - which is faster.
Lil Gator Game doesn’t have every element or the sheer scale of a Breath of the Wild but it condenses a lot of what the joy of that game is into a tight package which has a cute, child-like aesthetic.
The aesthetic of big blocky colours, speech bubbles, googly eyes and cardboard cut-outs really work as a pleasant vibe that reflects its narrative.
You Big Sis as mentioned earlier, is back on a break from college and you want her attention. You see, as the game reveals from the start, you and her used to play and she was great at making rules for fun games and you were both heavily inspired by (for legal reasons not)The Legend of Zelda.
Sadly for our protagonist, time has passed, you’ve both aged and your Big Sis is busy with assignments and doesn’t seem to have time to play.
Your quest, to get her to remember the fun you had and grab her attention.
Lil Gator Game does a magically wonderful job of capturing a lot of what being a child feels like, and does a good job of giving you a view of this world through a child’s eyes.
The dialogue is fun, it isn’t minimised to monosyllabic words or baby sounding pronunciations though, if anything I wonder if a failing Lil Gator Game might have is that it presents itself for kids but is more for adults with nostalgia when considering how much dialogue there is throughout.
The ending especially, I will not describe the feeling as to not spoil, but it did make me a little glassy-eyed, an effect I don’t imagine it would have on a child but perhaps their parents.
Lil Gator Game is exactly as described in my opening sentence and it does it very well but this does leave stages feeling a little too simple and potentially repetitive.
I will take a moment to applaud the post-game as “cleaning up” in open-world games is a task for the sick honestly, but “gamer brain” does mean that an 87% for example, must become 100% or I can’t sleep and this title makes it as easy as possible.
It isn’t quite doing it all for you but it gives as much a helping hand that if anymore would mean you could just put the pad down and line, they manage to hit perfectly and give you a small reward for your time which feels as sweet as the rest of the experience.
For all of its child-like fun and wonder in design and aesthetic, Lil Gator Game is maturely put together, well-crafted and feels truly sincere. If you need a short game for a palette cleanser, but you still want a sense of play and not just story - you can’t go too wrong with grabbing this title or playing it for “free” via GamePass.
2023
When writing anything I do wonder about the audience who will read it, the likeness is that it’ll be a handful of friends at most, maybe a few extra “randoms” via searching for specific titles or if I get Bingo by hitting the front page of the site.
If it wasn’t clear from the opening paragraph of reflection a lot of my reviews are almost more like journals, after all the site does have a journal tab that records your progress and it feels like a logical way to look at the process. I’m not writing for a specific audience, I’m writing for me - sure I want people to read my words and I enjoy the interactions and conversations it can create but to imagine yourself as a “writer” here, however good you are is a little too out there from my perspective.
I say this because if I were running a website or magazine I wouldn’t give someone like me (straight, white, male) this game to review because the writing, the subjects it touches on are never going to quite hit as hard.
Sure I can, and will, break down the game by its mechanics and touch on how good I felt the writing was but this game didn’t and could not hit on a level it will for some.
From my perspective, whatever that is worth, Thirsty Suitors is well written and feels mostly quite open, deep and honest about a whole range of different genders, sexualities and cultures.
I say mostly because the occasional character piece did feel cliché, bordering stereotypical to me but I am not in the position to fully judge if they did lean too far or not.
The writing, be it between Jala (the protagonist) and her parents, her internal monologue with her “sister” in her head or in the quite out there pseudo-psychic battles with her exes, is strong.
Characters are funny but also flawed, some more obviously than others but everyone feels real even whilst being presented in a cel-shaded-like style in a semi-cartoonish world.
I cannot deny that some of the writing did straight up make me feel old, but I never once felt as with a lot of media that “kids don’t talk this way”. I say kids, they’re mostly in their twenties.
Plot wise this story shares a lot with Scott Pilgrim, although rather than fighting a new partner's exes it surrounds Jala returning home (90’s Washington US) to face and make-good with her exes as well as her family.
I will not delve deep into each character but Jala is (I assume) a pansexual, cis female, American with an Indian mother and Sri Lankan father. As I said near the start, a much more diverse and interesting spectrum of gender, race and sexuality than myself.
Jala has many more exes than I do and unlike me they’re not all just white women.
This game flies the LGBT+ flag with pride and it’s great, it isn’t just Jala’s exes though, it’s not brushed off as just a thing with “the kids” either which is a nice thing to see.
Unlike Scott, Jala is cool and outwardly confident, she skates, she has style and there are a lot of people lusting after her.
Battles with the exes, suitors and Bear cult children (it’s a whole thing) are fought in turn based style, much like a JRPG.
Jala can use taunts that range from thirsty to heartless that show opponents weaknesses and can create debuffs. It’s an interesting system where you’re discovering what the suitor type is and exploiting it with specific attacks against it while at the same time trying to avoid the same happening to Jala.
The combat is sadly a little basic, it uses Mario RPG like QTE elements to keep the moves engaging but the system barely evolves outside of some summons.
The strength of the system however is not only how it reflects the whole idea of the game, a battle of wits - but also some deep reflections but how it integrates conversations and conversational choices within to further the story and give you a much more colourful impression of the characters in it.
The highlights of these are the boss battles against the exes where their insecurities and the like are visualised as how they see themselves and also with things that may protect them.
One of the more interesting boss fights is against an ex who clearly has an internal conflict about not only showing their sexuality but who they should be culturally - wanting to be progressive but also wanting to carry history with them.
Although some of these visualisations are arguably simplifications, they are easy to understand even for a default player 1 like myself and also to the game’s benefit are exciting to look at.
Outside of RPG battling and some conversational choices, the game has two other elements.
First off is skateboarding, a passion of Jala’s and the way she traverses the main town area.
Sadly it just feels quite bad to do, boards tend to be somewhat magnetic in games and as a fan of Jet Set Radio I am not against it - but here it’s turned up too much.
Jala gets sucked towards things too easily and although can stop very fast just feels like she is bumping into so much if you’re trying anything precise.
You do get used to how it controls but becoming competent with something does not mean it becomes enjoyable. At best some segments feel like a mini-roller coaster in an almost 3D Sonic way, but in this flow the game doesn’t feel skill based and sometimes just gets in the way.
I found myself wishing Jala could just carry the board and run around town, when the skatepark area opens it took me around 15 minutes to get bored of it and when the game announced the skate challenges were completely optional I couldn’t click on skipping them any faster.
It’s a shame because I feel, putting it in basic terms, skating is the second main part of the game and it has a lot of this game’s landscape dedicated to it but… it’s bad.
The other gaming element is cooking, these are mostly optional too and give Jala a chance to pick the brains of her parents. Cooking itself is QTE challenges with some choices in how to use your heat gauge to gain a better score but sadly is a broken system in the “compliment” wheel being the easiest way to get a high score but the thing with the most RNG.
I took part in all the cooking I could, one of my favourite characters in the game was Jala’s father so interacting with him always kept me smiling. Also the side quests for exes you made up with all mostly had you cook for them so you could get ahead of that.
The other benefit to cooking was getting food items for it that were for healing in battle.
Skating challenges would give you attack items and cosmetics but sadly the game falls apart a little here too.
I never set any difficulty down but I never felt the need to use items until some later boss fights and that was to keep my health topped up and nothing more.
Due to most fights being about the conversations and finding weaknesses I never really felt Jala needed the extra hand with tools, the summons you get as the game progresses were more than enough to keep on top of the increasing levels of the opposition.
This meant that not only did I not want to do the skating because it felt bad, there was no real incentive to do so. Really outside of dialogue there wasn’t any incentive to do anything bar follow the critical path.
I say falls apart but specifically “a little” because really this game is much more like a VN under its skin. It has systems and skateboarding but I think the people that will love Thirsty Suitors would love it without these, bare naked and being honest about itself like the story is trying to be.
Don’t get me wrong, the game tries to be more and it doesn’t fail, it just doesn’t succeed in a meaningful manner. Having these mechanics and systems makes it a lot easier to swallow and probably a lot more approachable.
While what Thirsty Suitors does have to show is nice, well presented with decent voice acting, music and a great art direction it can feel a little bare.
The house is essentially one room with a few items to look at. The town has four buildings which are all one room with little in them to interact with and the skatepark side of things is there but nothing new or exciting - and that is it, three areas which while again presented nicely are on one of the most pointless maps in games.
Overall I had a good time with Thirsty Suitors, it never really outstayed its welcome but would have felt much a much tighter experience with the skating completely cut.
The story and characters were great and although I cannot fully relate to it all the game did definitely make me feel for a lot of the characters and enjoy a good few of them being around.
Jala herself was a joy as a protagonist but sadly what she had to do outside of talking wasn’t all that satisfying.
Reviews are not entirely about their scores, but if you look at this as low, know that there are two major factors which I believe could make this a much higher rated game for you personally.
First mechanically you might actually enjoy skateboarding, want to do all the challenges and this will give Thirsty Suitors much more meat on the bone as an experience.
Secondly is if you are LGTQ+ or from a much more interesting background than me because the flavour of this game will be so much more aromatic or even spicy to you.
To end with a cliché, variety is the spice of life.
I believe this is important within people and I think it is important with art too. I’m happy this game exists, I am especially happy that this is on many systems including Game Pass and possibly coming to more because even if you are just a straight white male like me who is probably not putting this on their GOTY list it is really worth listening to what it has to say.
If it wasn’t clear from the opening paragraph of reflection a lot of my reviews are almost more like journals, after all the site does have a journal tab that records your progress and it feels like a logical way to look at the process. I’m not writing for a specific audience, I’m writing for me - sure I want people to read my words and I enjoy the interactions and conversations it can create but to imagine yourself as a “writer” here, however good you are is a little too out there from my perspective.
I say this because if I were running a website or magazine I wouldn’t give someone like me (straight, white, male) this game to review because the writing, the subjects it touches on are never going to quite hit as hard.
Sure I can, and will, break down the game by its mechanics and touch on how good I felt the writing was but this game didn’t and could not hit on a level it will for some.
From my perspective, whatever that is worth, Thirsty Suitors is well written and feels mostly quite open, deep and honest about a whole range of different genders, sexualities and cultures.
I say mostly because the occasional character piece did feel cliché, bordering stereotypical to me but I am not in the position to fully judge if they did lean too far or not.
The writing, be it between Jala (the protagonist) and her parents, her internal monologue with her “sister” in her head or in the quite out there pseudo-psychic battles with her exes, is strong.
Characters are funny but also flawed, some more obviously than others but everyone feels real even whilst being presented in a cel-shaded-like style in a semi-cartoonish world.
I cannot deny that some of the writing did straight up make me feel old, but I never once felt as with a lot of media that “kids don’t talk this way”. I say kids, they’re mostly in their twenties.
Plot wise this story shares a lot with Scott Pilgrim, although rather than fighting a new partner's exes it surrounds Jala returning home (90’s Washington US) to face and make-good with her exes as well as her family.
I will not delve deep into each character but Jala is (I assume) a pansexual, cis female, American with an Indian mother and Sri Lankan father. As I said near the start, a much more diverse and interesting spectrum of gender, race and sexuality than myself.
Jala has many more exes than I do and unlike me they’re not all just white women.
This game flies the LGBT+ flag with pride and it’s great, it isn’t just Jala’s exes though, it’s not brushed off as just a thing with “the kids” either which is a nice thing to see.
Unlike Scott, Jala is cool and outwardly confident, she skates, she has style and there are a lot of people lusting after her.
Battles with the exes, suitors and Bear cult children (it’s a whole thing) are fought in turn based style, much like a JRPG.
Jala can use taunts that range from thirsty to heartless that show opponents weaknesses and can create debuffs. It’s an interesting system where you’re discovering what the suitor type is and exploiting it with specific attacks against it while at the same time trying to avoid the same happening to Jala.
The combat is sadly a little basic, it uses Mario RPG like QTE elements to keep the moves engaging but the system barely evolves outside of some summons.
The strength of the system however is not only how it reflects the whole idea of the game, a battle of wits - but also some deep reflections but how it integrates conversations and conversational choices within to further the story and give you a much more colourful impression of the characters in it.
The highlights of these are the boss battles against the exes where their insecurities and the like are visualised as how they see themselves and also with things that may protect them.
One of the more interesting boss fights is against an ex who clearly has an internal conflict about not only showing their sexuality but who they should be culturally - wanting to be progressive but also wanting to carry history with them.
Although some of these visualisations are arguably simplifications, they are easy to understand even for a default player 1 like myself and also to the game’s benefit are exciting to look at.
Outside of RPG battling and some conversational choices, the game has two other elements.
First off is skateboarding, a passion of Jala’s and the way she traverses the main town area.
Sadly it just feels quite bad to do, boards tend to be somewhat magnetic in games and as a fan of Jet Set Radio I am not against it - but here it’s turned up too much.
Jala gets sucked towards things too easily and although can stop very fast just feels like she is bumping into so much if you’re trying anything precise.
You do get used to how it controls but becoming competent with something does not mean it becomes enjoyable. At best some segments feel like a mini-roller coaster in an almost 3D Sonic way, but in this flow the game doesn’t feel skill based and sometimes just gets in the way.
I found myself wishing Jala could just carry the board and run around town, when the skatepark area opens it took me around 15 minutes to get bored of it and when the game announced the skate challenges were completely optional I couldn’t click on skipping them any faster.
It’s a shame because I feel, putting it in basic terms, skating is the second main part of the game and it has a lot of this game’s landscape dedicated to it but… it’s bad.
The other gaming element is cooking, these are mostly optional too and give Jala a chance to pick the brains of her parents. Cooking itself is QTE challenges with some choices in how to use your heat gauge to gain a better score but sadly is a broken system in the “compliment” wheel being the easiest way to get a high score but the thing with the most RNG.
I took part in all the cooking I could, one of my favourite characters in the game was Jala’s father so interacting with him always kept me smiling. Also the side quests for exes you made up with all mostly had you cook for them so you could get ahead of that.
The other benefit to cooking was getting food items for it that were for healing in battle.
Skating challenges would give you attack items and cosmetics but sadly the game falls apart a little here too.
I never set any difficulty down but I never felt the need to use items until some later boss fights and that was to keep my health topped up and nothing more.
Due to most fights being about the conversations and finding weaknesses I never really felt Jala needed the extra hand with tools, the summons you get as the game progresses were more than enough to keep on top of the increasing levels of the opposition.
This meant that not only did I not want to do the skating because it felt bad, there was no real incentive to do so. Really outside of dialogue there wasn’t any incentive to do anything bar follow the critical path.
I say falls apart but specifically “a little” because really this game is much more like a VN under its skin. It has systems and skateboarding but I think the people that will love Thirsty Suitors would love it without these, bare naked and being honest about itself like the story is trying to be.
Don’t get me wrong, the game tries to be more and it doesn’t fail, it just doesn’t succeed in a meaningful manner. Having these mechanics and systems makes it a lot easier to swallow and probably a lot more approachable.
While what Thirsty Suitors does have to show is nice, well presented with decent voice acting, music and a great art direction it can feel a little bare.
The house is essentially one room with a few items to look at. The town has four buildings which are all one room with little in them to interact with and the skatepark side of things is there but nothing new or exciting - and that is it, three areas which while again presented nicely are on one of the most pointless maps in games.
Overall I had a good time with Thirsty Suitors, it never really outstayed its welcome but would have felt much a much tighter experience with the skating completely cut.
The story and characters were great and although I cannot fully relate to it all the game did definitely make me feel for a lot of the characters and enjoy a good few of them being around.
Jala herself was a joy as a protagonist but sadly what she had to do outside of talking wasn’t all that satisfying.
Reviews are not entirely about their scores, but if you look at this as low, know that there are two major factors which I believe could make this a much higher rated game for you personally.
First mechanically you might actually enjoy skateboarding, want to do all the challenges and this will give Thirsty Suitors much more meat on the bone as an experience.
Secondly is if you are LGTQ+ or from a much more interesting background than me because the flavour of this game will be so much more aromatic or even spicy to you.
To end with a cliché, variety is the spice of life.
I believe this is important within people and I think it is important with art too. I’m happy this game exists, I am especially happy that this is on many systems including Game Pass and possibly coming to more because even if you are just a straight white male like me who is probably not putting this on their GOTY list it is really worth listening to what it has to say.
2022
Cosy, wholesome, zen. I don’t outright hate these terms when discussing video games but as discussed on The Computer Game Show trying to use those terms as a genre title feels, incorrect, possibly disingenuous.
Horror is a genre, not “scary”, the decision of what something feels like is up to its audience.
It may sound redundant but acting as if cosy is a genre is the equivalent to filing a game under “fun”.
I have definitely used these words to describe games in the past. I am a fan of having games that I can relax with, zone out a little and not feel pressured or even stressed.
A Little to the Left aims for a feeling of being cosy, simple and just nice. Organising varying objects into a tidy manner as a simple puzzle, while along the way introducing a long-haired white cat to add to the everyday wholesome feeling the game is aiming for, using this cat as a game mechanic to either mess with your tidying or as a theme to the puzzles.
I love cats, but I feel that, let’s just call them “cat people”, end up elevating a lot of things that include cats to a pedestal they do not deserve.
This again just added to a feeling which may make me sound miserable, of being told I should like something which had me push back against it.
I will decide whether the game is wholesome, not the game itself.
As far as the organising and puzzles, A Little to the Left fails to do either in a way that really landed with me.
In terms of organising, the feeling is enjoyable for a moment and quickly repetitive. These items other than feeling quite “everyday” don’t really do anything else but act as icons, there is no story within them unlike Unpacking - the game I would say really pushed this subgenre.
The puzzles again are repetitive, organise by size, organise in a colour gradient, make something symmetrical, there is really not much else to them other than this.
Once you understand the game’s language, what it decides is organised, you can solve each puzzle within seconds, maybe replaying for different solutions but quickly moving on.
Another issue with the puzzles themselves is the interactions of simply picking up and putting stuff down never feels precise enough and also doesn’t feel marked out enough to do quickly.
Many times I would have items in the right order but the game had me fiddle with the items until lined up perfectly and that in my eyes, doesn’t feel relaxed or cosy, it feels annoying and like busy work. I will also add here that one puzzle the game would not allow me to solve even though I had everything correct (I ended up using the hint and then guides to check) but because it wouldn’t progress I spent minutes fiddling for no gain.
Sadly repetition is the biggest flaw of A Little to the Left and the finale really ramps this to a stage where I found myself saying “I don’t care about this cat”.
Perhaps there is an argument that I should have played this game in shorter bursts and to a degree I agree with that assessment. However, this further enforces the final point I’d like to make about this game. It’s in the wrong format.
This title is on PC and all the modern consoles, and outside of the Switch and maybe the Steam Deck I don’t think this fits. It has “mobile game” written all over it and whilst I don’t intend that to be an insult it does make it feel wrong playing on a bigger screen.
Multiple stages with tiny puzzles and little in the way of connective thread throughout them just reminds me of the classic games on iOS such as Angry Birds, Cut the Rope or even Monument Valley although that feels more narratively driven.
A Little to the Left is a Little Disappointing.
Horror is a genre, not “scary”, the decision of what something feels like is up to its audience.
It may sound redundant but acting as if cosy is a genre is the equivalent to filing a game under “fun”.
I have definitely used these words to describe games in the past. I am a fan of having games that I can relax with, zone out a little and not feel pressured or even stressed.
A Little to the Left aims for a feeling of being cosy, simple and just nice. Organising varying objects into a tidy manner as a simple puzzle, while along the way introducing a long-haired white cat to add to the everyday wholesome feeling the game is aiming for, using this cat as a game mechanic to either mess with your tidying or as a theme to the puzzles.
I love cats, but I feel that, let’s just call them “cat people”, end up elevating a lot of things that include cats to a pedestal they do not deserve.
This again just added to a feeling which may make me sound miserable, of being told I should like something which had me push back against it.
I will decide whether the game is wholesome, not the game itself.
As far as the organising and puzzles, A Little to the Left fails to do either in a way that really landed with me.
In terms of organising, the feeling is enjoyable for a moment and quickly repetitive. These items other than feeling quite “everyday” don’t really do anything else but act as icons, there is no story within them unlike Unpacking - the game I would say really pushed this subgenre.
The puzzles again are repetitive, organise by size, organise in a colour gradient, make something symmetrical, there is really not much else to them other than this.
Once you understand the game’s language, what it decides is organised, you can solve each puzzle within seconds, maybe replaying for different solutions but quickly moving on.
Another issue with the puzzles themselves is the interactions of simply picking up and putting stuff down never feels precise enough and also doesn’t feel marked out enough to do quickly.
Many times I would have items in the right order but the game had me fiddle with the items until lined up perfectly and that in my eyes, doesn’t feel relaxed or cosy, it feels annoying and like busy work. I will also add here that one puzzle the game would not allow me to solve even though I had everything correct (I ended up using the hint and then guides to check) but because it wouldn’t progress I spent minutes fiddling for no gain.
Sadly repetition is the biggest flaw of A Little to the Left and the finale really ramps this to a stage where I found myself saying “I don’t care about this cat”.
Perhaps there is an argument that I should have played this game in shorter bursts and to a degree I agree with that assessment. However, this further enforces the final point I’d like to make about this game. It’s in the wrong format.
This title is on PC and all the modern consoles, and outside of the Switch and maybe the Steam Deck I don’t think this fits. It has “mobile game” written all over it and whilst I don’t intend that to be an insult it does make it feel wrong playing on a bigger screen.
Multiple stages with tiny puzzles and little in the way of connective thread throughout them just reminds me of the classic games on iOS such as Angry Birds, Cut the Rope or even Monument Valley although that feels more narratively driven.
A Little to the Left is a Little Disappointing.
2007
After finishing Arcade Paradise recently I was thinking about the arcade experiences I had in the past which are a rarity now.
Fighting games never went away and beat ‘em ups have had indie revivals here and there but light gun games that’s something that really doesn’t exist outside of their “evolved form” of VR shooters.
Konami and Sega killed it with this genre in the arcades with games such as: Point Blank, Time Crisis, House of the Dead, Virtua Cop, Silent Scope… who remembers Police 24/7? That game blew my mind at the time, a decade ahead of the Kinect.
The point in time I remember most about these were when the light guns came into our homes and offered “arcade accuracy”. Sure there were N Zaps and Meancers but the Playstation and Saturn eras, that was when for me it clicked the most.
Now as far as Arcade cabinets go I’ll take Point Blank over most, I also wouldn’t disagree with anyone who said Time Crisis was the king of the light gun games but for me my time with the Saturn and Dreamcast holds that place in my heart if not my head.
House of the Dead and Virtua Cop were series I played with pals to death, ports that were good even without guns because of the depth and ideas these games were bringing during this period.
All of this brings me a little further in time to the Wii and this game.
As CRTs started to disappear and flat screens and HD ready were the craze, light guns were no longer the plastic accessory people wanted - it was guitars.
Nintendo though, always stubbornly staying behind the curve were a shining beacon for the man who wanted to point a gun at his screen and the Wii and the zapper accessory if you wanted still allowed that to be a possibility.
I could continue to talk about other titles, the failures and successes, the ports and the strange tie-ins but I’m here to review Ghost Squad.
Ghost Squad is probably best thought of as a spiritual successor to Virtua Cop and much like the time of the Saturn, it’s really second fiddle to House of the Dead but for me is the heart over head choice.
There are only three levels but Ghost Squad loves to play with its arcade stylings by bringing variety in a lot of replayability.
Multiple routes add different directions and game play elements to missions where sometimes you’re not simply shooting terrorists but uncuffing hostages, disarming mines and more.
The more you play the more routes unlock and the more you play those the more weapons you unlock to change up play styles.
Ghost Squad on Wii goes as far as to add a Ninja Mode which replaces the protagonists, enemies and even some of the scenery with Ninja themed items, throwing stars and all.
To hit the credits in Ghost Squad takes maybe fifteen minutes, and that’s a complete guess because it flies by and is such a laugh you’re not checking your phone to see the time.
The alternate routes aren’t all as exciting as each other and sometimes feel as if they make little difference but really it doesn’t matter, you’ll be coming back to run through again and wanting to tag in some friends.
The game doesn’t take itself seriously, the villains feel like they’re pulled from B-rate action flicks and the voice acting matches with its terrible bluntness.
To think too deeply about this game would ruin it. It is more about how it feels and it is frictionless and joyful.
Ghost Squad is pure and it is fun. It’s not an all-timer stand out in what games should be and isn’t the best argument for why light gun games should still exist, but what it is, is a bloody good time.
Fighting games never went away and beat ‘em ups have had indie revivals here and there but light gun games that’s something that really doesn’t exist outside of their “evolved form” of VR shooters.
Konami and Sega killed it with this genre in the arcades with games such as: Point Blank, Time Crisis, House of the Dead, Virtua Cop, Silent Scope… who remembers Police 24/7? That game blew my mind at the time, a decade ahead of the Kinect.
The point in time I remember most about these were when the light guns came into our homes and offered “arcade accuracy”. Sure there were N Zaps and Meancers but the Playstation and Saturn eras, that was when for me it clicked the most.
Now as far as Arcade cabinets go I’ll take Point Blank over most, I also wouldn’t disagree with anyone who said Time Crisis was the king of the light gun games but for me my time with the Saturn and Dreamcast holds that place in my heart if not my head.
House of the Dead and Virtua Cop were series I played with pals to death, ports that were good even without guns because of the depth and ideas these games were bringing during this period.
All of this brings me a little further in time to the Wii and this game.
As CRTs started to disappear and flat screens and HD ready were the craze, light guns were no longer the plastic accessory people wanted - it was guitars.
Nintendo though, always stubbornly staying behind the curve were a shining beacon for the man who wanted to point a gun at his screen and the Wii and the zapper accessory if you wanted still allowed that to be a possibility.
I could continue to talk about other titles, the failures and successes, the ports and the strange tie-ins but I’m here to review Ghost Squad.
Ghost Squad is probably best thought of as a spiritual successor to Virtua Cop and much like the time of the Saturn, it’s really second fiddle to House of the Dead but for me is the heart over head choice.
There are only three levels but Ghost Squad loves to play with its arcade stylings by bringing variety in a lot of replayability.
Multiple routes add different directions and game play elements to missions where sometimes you’re not simply shooting terrorists but uncuffing hostages, disarming mines and more.
The more you play the more routes unlock and the more you play those the more weapons you unlock to change up play styles.
Ghost Squad on Wii goes as far as to add a Ninja Mode which replaces the protagonists, enemies and even some of the scenery with Ninja themed items, throwing stars and all.
To hit the credits in Ghost Squad takes maybe fifteen minutes, and that’s a complete guess because it flies by and is such a laugh you’re not checking your phone to see the time.
The alternate routes aren’t all as exciting as each other and sometimes feel as if they make little difference but really it doesn’t matter, you’ll be coming back to run through again and wanting to tag in some friends.
The game doesn’t take itself seriously, the villains feel like they’re pulled from B-rate action flicks and the voice acting matches with its terrible bluntness.
To think too deeply about this game would ruin it. It is more about how it feels and it is frictionless and joyful.
Ghost Squad is pure and it is fun. It’s not an all-timer stand out in what games should be and isn’t the best argument for why light gun games should still exist, but what it is, is a bloody good time.
2024
When it comes to what I look for in a game, it is much easier for me to state what I would avoid over what I like. One recurring thing that I love though is innovation, fresh new takes and great ideas. I would rather a game was inventive than be a shiny blockbuster that doesn’t bring anything new to the table.
Metroidvanias are a genre that has been extremely popular, especially in the “indie space” so seeing any sort of true innovation there is a pleasant surprise.
Invention and innovation are Ultros’ greatest strengths.
At a glance you would maybe first say it’s the stunning art of “ElHuervo” the same artist behind a lot of Hotline Miami’s unique look.
The art is beautiful, the world is full of colour and feels squidgy and organic. The character and monster designs are great, and it is a part that truly does stand out.
However, I cannot say it is the game’s greatest strength because sadly it can cause irritations. The game even admits to this by giving you options to make things in the fore and background look more separate because sometimes the visual splendour is too much to parse.
Many background items and things you can break (with no real gain) look too much like items that can be picked up and whilst the assets are good this causes some friction within the gameplay that does not need to be there.
The organic feel of Ultros ties greatly into its themes and mechanics which is where I find putting the game on a pedestal much easier.
Ultros is a Metroidvania but it is also a time-loop game, it has some sparing roguelite elements with an upgrade system that can be locked to permanent after a time but the real intrigue with the game when a loop happens is how you interact with the world.
In a surprise twist that I didn't see coming when I first booted up Ultros is that the game has gardening mechanics.
Throughout the world there are patches of land where seeds can be planted, different seeds create different plants and these plants can help the protagonist traverse.
Much like in real life though, plants and trees grow over time and when you first experience a time loop you quickly realise that you may have started from zero but the plants have continued to grow. Some of these may be as simple as taller tree-like obstacles that can now be used to reach higher points you couldn’t previously reach, sometimes these plants grow vines that can be swung from or break through barricades that originally blocked your path.
These additions to traversal not only open up more of the game’s world to you but speed up your progress making it simpler to do the earlier parts that you have done before such as obtaining your blade.
Speaking of blades, Ultros is a close quarters combat game. It has an enjoyable dodge and quick strike mechanic and a slew of fun upgrades that allow you to juggle and dive kick your enemies amongst other things.
The combat is smooth and feels good to use but sadly never really hits much of a challenge.
Throughout the game are boss style encounters, a couple of which have some fun gimmicks to them but for the most part play out as you’d expect and sometimes just feel like a lengthy standard fight - they’re good but not so much of a highlight.
One mechanic the fighting does bring though is a great encouragement to change your styles up and not repeat the same combos. In Ultros, in order to heal and upgrade the protagonist eats - sometimes these are fruits of the plants you find and grow but others are meat and morsels of the enemies you’ve slain, to get the most tasty and nutritious parts you must use a plethora of attacks or else spamming the same buttons will give you some red goop.
Having the food tied into an upgrade system is a nice addition because it also means at points there is risk/reward for eating to level up versus saving for survival, while also later the opposite holds true where eating to clear up your inventory and level up doesn’t feel like you’re putting yourself at too much risk.
As I mention the inventory I feel I have to explain one of my biggest issues with Ultros.
Confusion.
I have already mentioned how sometimes the visuals do not help, the presentation of the story is also hard to understand and things such as the inventory do not clear up matters lore or mechanics wise well enough either.
Whilst playing Ultros, understanding the outline of the story it is trying to tell but being confused by its language I thought to myself “is this what Dark Souls is like for some people?”.
Yes, a Dark Souls comparison, the cliché of all video game reviews but one here that felt quite specific.
The obscure and ambiguous nature of Ultros had me struggle with its narrative but at times made the game difficult to play too, with a specific example of something I feel Dark Souls does that this doesn’t and to its detriment.
Item descriptions - planting seeds becomes far more important in the late game and knowing what each seed will grow to be is only really clear from its art. That should maybe be enough and arguably it is, however some things are so similar this isn’t enough.
Each seed has a different name but they aren’t really a clue to what they do, item descriptions here would not only help build the world but aid the player into moving forwards knowing they are doing what they are intending to do - instead each seed has the same “can be planted” description as one another.
Overall there is a line where you want a world to have its own language but not one that is so foreign the player cannot understand and sadly Ultros goes over it.
From this point on I will be spoiling part of Ultros, something that needs to be spoken about because it ties into its greatest strengths and weaknesses.
I will be speaking about endings, not specifically what happens but the journey to them and if you’ve understood the organic, killing, growing and time-looping themes of the game these are probably quite obvious but if not, and you want to discover for yourself, this is the time to leave.
Two words explain your quest in Ultros Destruction and Connection.
As you travel through Ultros you are searching for Shaman, green folk sat in coffin type displays.
Each time one of these is destroyed a new loop is triggered, some things change but your objective is clear, whilst the map may not be filled out where these shaman are is marked very early on so you need to get to all eight you can see.
Throughout these loops you are made aware that you want to sever the ties of these shaman as they tie-in to the summoning of the big interdimensional space monster Ultros themselves.
The simplest way to save the day being the destruction of these eight shaman through your knowledge gained during the loops and the upgrades you get to a small drone called an extractor.
The extractor is, without revealing specifics, where the metroidvania elements truly come in through a whole host of ways, some of which are very exciting and original, allow you to access places you previously couldn’t and tackle obstacles that got in your way - a few of these tied into the gardening.
Not each upgrade to the extractor is equal in terms of excitement but each does give you a great feeling of progress and spark thoughts in your mind of what you can now do.
Sadly though this feeling comes to an end when you’ve got them all and that may be earlier than you’d expect.
If Destruction is one way to end the game through destroying the shaman then it’s probably somewhat clear what Connection is about.
Returning to the point in where you found the shaman you can actually start to connect them to the centre, this is done via a “living network” which if the shaman are the nodes, the plants you have grown along your journey are the connectors.
This completely changes the game into something not combat focused at all. Rather than killing enemies you are encouraged to befriend them, feeding them so that they no longer attack and may also reveal new spots to garden - and this pacifist style extends to all elements of the world.
You’re rewarded for this in some areas as the living network being reconnected can also open doors and whilst it may be simple for you to find your way back to somewhere you have been you need to build this network without gaps and that is where the challenge lies.
A challenge or sadly, a faff.
The alternative “true ending” is something that I really applaud the game for as an idea, it turns the game on its head. It gives the story more interesting purpose and a better moral message than most.
In reality though, it becomes a slog too quickly. Having to start loops to see the consequences of your actions, changing what you have planted in fiddly ways with little help in terms of how things are marked or described. Spending so much time retreading the same ground over and over, it adds length to the game which may be viewed as value, but for me felt like it just outstayed its welcome to show that it was smart.
Metroidvanias at their best have a great flow of progression and sadly because all the major upgrades of the extractor are found when you’ve done the Destruction finish, you’re no longer getting those endorphins for what is 200% more game.
In the simplest terms my feelings on this game peaked at a 4.5 and came crashing down to a 3 as I struggled and grinded to get the last few plants down in the places the game wanted without guidance. As my playtime went from 7-8 hours for one ending to 20+ for the other, I questioned why I was even bothering and if I even liked the game.
Ultimately I do but I resent the game as much as I adore it.
Ultros is a recommendation from me, but purely because it does do so many smart and interesting things that are worth checking out.
The difficulty I find finishing here is giving advice on how someone else should finish the game.
It would be easy to say that if you do not connect with the gardening aspect in a significant way, play to the destruction ending and leave it - I just worry you’re missing not only things the game wants to show you but the things it’s trying to teach you too.
Metroidvanias are a genre that has been extremely popular, especially in the “indie space” so seeing any sort of true innovation there is a pleasant surprise.
Invention and innovation are Ultros’ greatest strengths.
At a glance you would maybe first say it’s the stunning art of “ElHuervo” the same artist behind a lot of Hotline Miami’s unique look.
The art is beautiful, the world is full of colour and feels squidgy and organic. The character and monster designs are great, and it is a part that truly does stand out.
However, I cannot say it is the game’s greatest strength because sadly it can cause irritations. The game even admits to this by giving you options to make things in the fore and background look more separate because sometimes the visual splendour is too much to parse.
Many background items and things you can break (with no real gain) look too much like items that can be picked up and whilst the assets are good this causes some friction within the gameplay that does not need to be there.
The organic feel of Ultros ties greatly into its themes and mechanics which is where I find putting the game on a pedestal much easier.
Ultros is a Metroidvania but it is also a time-loop game, it has some sparing roguelite elements with an upgrade system that can be locked to permanent after a time but the real intrigue with the game when a loop happens is how you interact with the world.
In a surprise twist that I didn't see coming when I first booted up Ultros is that the game has gardening mechanics.
Throughout the world there are patches of land where seeds can be planted, different seeds create different plants and these plants can help the protagonist traverse.
Much like in real life though, plants and trees grow over time and when you first experience a time loop you quickly realise that you may have started from zero but the plants have continued to grow. Some of these may be as simple as taller tree-like obstacles that can now be used to reach higher points you couldn’t previously reach, sometimes these plants grow vines that can be swung from or break through barricades that originally blocked your path.
These additions to traversal not only open up more of the game’s world to you but speed up your progress making it simpler to do the earlier parts that you have done before such as obtaining your blade.
Speaking of blades, Ultros is a close quarters combat game. It has an enjoyable dodge and quick strike mechanic and a slew of fun upgrades that allow you to juggle and dive kick your enemies amongst other things.
The combat is smooth and feels good to use but sadly never really hits much of a challenge.
Throughout the game are boss style encounters, a couple of which have some fun gimmicks to them but for the most part play out as you’d expect and sometimes just feel like a lengthy standard fight - they’re good but not so much of a highlight.
One mechanic the fighting does bring though is a great encouragement to change your styles up and not repeat the same combos. In Ultros, in order to heal and upgrade the protagonist eats - sometimes these are fruits of the plants you find and grow but others are meat and morsels of the enemies you’ve slain, to get the most tasty and nutritious parts you must use a plethora of attacks or else spamming the same buttons will give you some red goop.
Having the food tied into an upgrade system is a nice addition because it also means at points there is risk/reward for eating to level up versus saving for survival, while also later the opposite holds true where eating to clear up your inventory and level up doesn’t feel like you’re putting yourself at too much risk.
As I mention the inventory I feel I have to explain one of my biggest issues with Ultros.
Confusion.
I have already mentioned how sometimes the visuals do not help, the presentation of the story is also hard to understand and things such as the inventory do not clear up matters lore or mechanics wise well enough either.
Whilst playing Ultros, understanding the outline of the story it is trying to tell but being confused by its language I thought to myself “is this what Dark Souls is like for some people?”.
Yes, a Dark Souls comparison, the cliché of all video game reviews but one here that felt quite specific.
The obscure and ambiguous nature of Ultros had me struggle with its narrative but at times made the game difficult to play too, with a specific example of something I feel Dark Souls does that this doesn’t and to its detriment.
Item descriptions - planting seeds becomes far more important in the late game and knowing what each seed will grow to be is only really clear from its art. That should maybe be enough and arguably it is, however some things are so similar this isn’t enough.
Each seed has a different name but they aren’t really a clue to what they do, item descriptions here would not only help build the world but aid the player into moving forwards knowing they are doing what they are intending to do - instead each seed has the same “can be planted” description as one another.
Overall there is a line where you want a world to have its own language but not one that is so foreign the player cannot understand and sadly Ultros goes over it.
From this point on I will be spoiling part of Ultros, something that needs to be spoken about because it ties into its greatest strengths and weaknesses.
I will be speaking about endings, not specifically what happens but the journey to them and if you’ve understood the organic, killing, growing and time-looping themes of the game these are probably quite obvious but if not, and you want to discover for yourself, this is the time to leave.
Two words explain your quest in Ultros Destruction and Connection.
As you travel through Ultros you are searching for Shaman, green folk sat in coffin type displays.
Each time one of these is destroyed a new loop is triggered, some things change but your objective is clear, whilst the map may not be filled out where these shaman are is marked very early on so you need to get to all eight you can see.
Throughout these loops you are made aware that you want to sever the ties of these shaman as they tie-in to the summoning of the big interdimensional space monster Ultros themselves.
The simplest way to save the day being the destruction of these eight shaman through your knowledge gained during the loops and the upgrades you get to a small drone called an extractor.
The extractor is, without revealing specifics, where the metroidvania elements truly come in through a whole host of ways, some of which are very exciting and original, allow you to access places you previously couldn’t and tackle obstacles that got in your way - a few of these tied into the gardening.
Not each upgrade to the extractor is equal in terms of excitement but each does give you a great feeling of progress and spark thoughts in your mind of what you can now do.
Sadly though this feeling comes to an end when you’ve got them all and that may be earlier than you’d expect.
If Destruction is one way to end the game through destroying the shaman then it’s probably somewhat clear what Connection is about.
Returning to the point in where you found the shaman you can actually start to connect them to the centre, this is done via a “living network” which if the shaman are the nodes, the plants you have grown along your journey are the connectors.
This completely changes the game into something not combat focused at all. Rather than killing enemies you are encouraged to befriend them, feeding them so that they no longer attack and may also reveal new spots to garden - and this pacifist style extends to all elements of the world.
You’re rewarded for this in some areas as the living network being reconnected can also open doors and whilst it may be simple for you to find your way back to somewhere you have been you need to build this network without gaps and that is where the challenge lies.
A challenge or sadly, a faff.
The alternative “true ending” is something that I really applaud the game for as an idea, it turns the game on its head. It gives the story more interesting purpose and a better moral message than most.
In reality though, it becomes a slog too quickly. Having to start loops to see the consequences of your actions, changing what you have planted in fiddly ways with little help in terms of how things are marked or described. Spending so much time retreading the same ground over and over, it adds length to the game which may be viewed as value, but for me felt like it just outstayed its welcome to show that it was smart.
Metroidvanias at their best have a great flow of progression and sadly because all the major upgrades of the extractor are found when you’ve done the Destruction finish, you’re no longer getting those endorphins for what is 200% more game.
In the simplest terms my feelings on this game peaked at a 4.5 and came crashing down to a 3 as I struggled and grinded to get the last few plants down in the places the game wanted without guidance. As my playtime went from 7-8 hours for one ending to 20+ for the other, I questioned why I was even bothering and if I even liked the game.
Ultimately I do but I resent the game as much as I adore it.
Ultros is a recommendation from me, but purely because it does do so many smart and interesting things that are worth checking out.
The difficulty I find finishing here is giving advice on how someone else should finish the game.
It would be easy to say that if you do not connect with the gardening aspect in a significant way, play to the destruction ending and leave it - I just worry you’re missing not only things the game wants to show you but the things it’s trying to teach you too.
2023
I would call myself a fan of JRPGs but like many of us with other hobbies and distractions there are dozens I have never played.
The Shin Megami Tensei series and all its spin offs I have all of two vague memories of playing; first is SMT IV(I think) on the 3DS for a few hours, it was probably just a demo of sorts.
The other is grabbing Persona 5 when I got my PS4 which I installed, played maybe 10 minutes of and turned off. At that time I had only just got the console (late into the cycle) and had a pile of things to look at so a 100 hour JRPG went down the list.
Persona is a series which everyone I know who loves it, Loves it. Even those who are late adopters rate P5 as one of their GOATs.
A small part of what took me so long to get into the series was also I didn’t want to start at 5.
In a way I’d have liked to start at the very start, but then should I start from the first SMT if I’m going to go back? The decision itself caused some paralysis.
Persona 3 and it’s multiple remakes were the earlier games I heard a good amount of chat about and when good ol’ Game Pass added Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden to the service I felt that finally, in 2023, I was going to dive into this series and check it out.
I’ve started this review with a little life story because I’m sure random Backloggd users may read my thoughts and compare it to more recent games. I am aware of some of the changes, but this is essentially a Persona game reviewed in isolation so if it seems too positive or negative when thinking of the rest of the series, that’s why.
P3P then. It was quite a trip and one I would recommend to most players. I found the story engaging, the characters well written, the combat decent and the other systems interesting and fairly deep, some more so than others.
Going into P3P was a headache. A million articles and forum posts of “P3P is the one to play” “P3P is terrible, play FES” put me in a position where I wondered if I should bother.
Skim reading a lot of this stuff I could see that a major point was P3P being a Portable version was a little stripped back, I didn’t care.
I went in thinking of this as an older game and also with the look towards the future of enjoying the series improvements in graphics, QoL etc
No walking about the world manually and a visual novel style look for conversations and cutscenes worked well.
In fact the point and click nature of Iwotodai actually made me worry that in the future it may feel more tedious checking out everywhere if I had to walk around.
There were definitely scenes I would have liked to have seen more than just still images (as an aside I’m watching the anime films to get that hit as it were) but the writing and the music were easily engaging enough that for the most part the thought didn’t cross my mind.
The characters are something I’ve already mentioned a lot and without a decent cast this game would fail and would not get the love it has.
I worried at first, was playing a Japanese school kid going to feel too cliché?
Was the “Social Links” aspect of the game, which I knew would inevitably include dating, be too cringe-inducing?
How often would this game make me groan due to Japanese social ideals?
Happily, with a few caveats, none of these problems actually came in and ruined my time.
You do play a protagonist (I chose male as it was my first time, where a female protagonist was a later entry for this remake) who is a junior at school, one of the main team members, as well as a few s.links, are horny teenage boys.
For the most part I found it to either felt it reflected my experiences of that time fairly well or was actually more tasteful than I expected. Even the team member who from start to finish is obsessed with the girls ends up having some deeper elements to him and felt much more of a redeemable character.
The biggest moment that made me feel uncomfortable wasn’t even within the social links aspect of the game but actually within the dungeon crawling of Tarturus (I’ll get to that later) where some optional armours are themed.
There’s Summer and Winter uniforms, Tuxedos and swimsuits. The latter while obviously there as fan service at least felt fitting, you gained clothes that the characters would wear throughout a year and that would include beachwear. What doesn’t however is “Battle Panties”.
I’m not a prude, I watch anime, I love Xenoblade, I’m used to this stuff but underwear, some in a fetish style being selectable for teenagers, children, is fucked. Also and this is both funny and annoying at the same time, the biggest groan I got was the first female team member who got access to them… they were better than any other armour available. “Fuck off!” I exclaimed at my screen.
Back to how the social links are good. Without spoiling there are a variety of characters, lots of different stories you have the chance to see all the way through, seeing changes in other people’s lives. I didn’t max out all of these links but did just about find all 22 of them, represented by the major arcana of Tarot.
I actually enjoyed the fact I missed out on some, to others spending almost 70 hours on a game and missing some content could be annoying and I get that perspective, but to me it was nice to show real value and meaning in how I had the protagonist spend their spare time and, just like in real life, time management is not a simple task.
It’d be easy to sit and dissect the social links, speak about how some really hit me, some surprised me and how much they added to the overall feel of the town, the characters' life and the importance of what the heroes are doing.
However, the much quicker point I wanted to note was how good this ends up being a loop and how actually the time I spent in this game felt big and memorable. It never dragged and flew by.
I mentioned Tartarus earlier; during the game’s “Dark Hour” (a time only a select few experience) the school becomes this monolithic tower which has floors upon floors of dungeons crawling with “shadows” the game’s enemies. The protagonist and friends can enter here at the end of most days, your goal to simply fight and head towards the top.
A common complaint I have heard is that Tartarus is extremely basic, it has blocks but each floor barely seems any different and the enemies, while there is a decent variation after a while, just become palette swaps with better stats.
This is true and it also feels most like the point of the game where the dreaded “grind” can kick in, but honestly, and I might be too forgiving, it never bothered me.
Each full moon the game gives you a different place to enjoy combat with some interesting bosses, so there is variety. The side missions that involve combat are mostly not too “grindy” and at the end of the day I don’t think the dungeons are even half the game anyway.
This brings me back to these loops.
This is why I said earlier the game never dragged. The gameplay loop was always going to school, picking an after school social link or social skill to increase via other means (studying etc). The evening then would be either preparing for battle while also increasing s.links or skills and once or twice an in-game month I’d make my trip to Tartarus.
The trips to Tartarus would then feel like their own game, a challenge even of seeing if I could get to the next barrier that would unlock later.
For me the difficulty was pitched perfectly, the combat wasn’t the best I’ve played but as far as turn-based tactics go, discovering weaknesses, setting up the right tactical loop in your team it was all enjoyable.
Tartarus itself added further gameplay loops that made me feel like “just one more go” through either the side missions or more often getting stuck into the almost Pokémon-like system of getting new Personas themselves.
Oh did I not mention the title refers to ghosts your protagonists summon by shooting themselves?
It’s a great hook, it’s basically Stands from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure gamified.
If it wasn’t clear from the words I’ve written or the score I’ve given. I loved this game.
Things were not perfect, it felt stripped down in areas as expected and I hope the sequels do build upon and tighten the formula as they go and I’m sure they will.
I will be surprised however if I find the future stories and characters themselves to be “better”.
If you’re a person who doesn’t need their games to feel modern, a person who’s played and enjoyed some JRPGs then I would say you should definitely give this a go.
Saying “Persona good” is the least hot take you’ll find on here today but I just want it to be clear that even stepping back (at least this far) didn’t feel too archaic or confusing and it may feel like I’m excusing it more than I should but the stripped back nature actually helps the loops, the mild addiction that a great game can bring.
One where, if it weren’t for there being sequels I want to check off my personal list, I’d be going back almost straight away to play again, see new things, try new ideas, max out more social links and defeat more enemies.
Persona (said aloud as I type it).
The Shin Megami Tensei series and all its spin offs I have all of two vague memories of playing; first is SMT IV(I think) on the 3DS for a few hours, it was probably just a demo of sorts.
The other is grabbing Persona 5 when I got my PS4 which I installed, played maybe 10 minutes of and turned off. At that time I had only just got the console (late into the cycle) and had a pile of things to look at so a 100 hour JRPG went down the list.
Persona is a series which everyone I know who loves it, Loves it. Even those who are late adopters rate P5 as one of their GOATs.
A small part of what took me so long to get into the series was also I didn’t want to start at 5.
In a way I’d have liked to start at the very start, but then should I start from the first SMT if I’m going to go back? The decision itself caused some paralysis.
Persona 3 and it’s multiple remakes were the earlier games I heard a good amount of chat about and when good ol’ Game Pass added Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden to the service I felt that finally, in 2023, I was going to dive into this series and check it out.
I’ve started this review with a little life story because I’m sure random Backloggd users may read my thoughts and compare it to more recent games. I am aware of some of the changes, but this is essentially a Persona game reviewed in isolation so if it seems too positive or negative when thinking of the rest of the series, that’s why.
P3P then. It was quite a trip and one I would recommend to most players. I found the story engaging, the characters well written, the combat decent and the other systems interesting and fairly deep, some more so than others.
Going into P3P was a headache. A million articles and forum posts of “P3P is the one to play” “P3P is terrible, play FES” put me in a position where I wondered if I should bother.
Skim reading a lot of this stuff I could see that a major point was P3P being a Portable version was a little stripped back, I didn’t care.
I went in thinking of this as an older game and also with the look towards the future of enjoying the series improvements in graphics, QoL etc
No walking about the world manually and a visual novel style look for conversations and cutscenes worked well.
In fact the point and click nature of Iwotodai actually made me worry that in the future it may feel more tedious checking out everywhere if I had to walk around.
There were definitely scenes I would have liked to have seen more than just still images (as an aside I’m watching the anime films to get that hit as it were) but the writing and the music were easily engaging enough that for the most part the thought didn’t cross my mind.
The characters are something I’ve already mentioned a lot and without a decent cast this game would fail and would not get the love it has.
I worried at first, was playing a Japanese school kid going to feel too cliché?
Was the “Social Links” aspect of the game, which I knew would inevitably include dating, be too cringe-inducing?
How often would this game make me groan due to Japanese social ideals?
Happily, with a few caveats, none of these problems actually came in and ruined my time.
You do play a protagonist (I chose male as it was my first time, where a female protagonist was a later entry for this remake) who is a junior at school, one of the main team members, as well as a few s.links, are horny teenage boys.
For the most part I found it to either felt it reflected my experiences of that time fairly well or was actually more tasteful than I expected. Even the team member who from start to finish is obsessed with the girls ends up having some deeper elements to him and felt much more of a redeemable character.
The biggest moment that made me feel uncomfortable wasn’t even within the social links aspect of the game but actually within the dungeon crawling of Tarturus (I’ll get to that later) where some optional armours are themed.
There’s Summer and Winter uniforms, Tuxedos and swimsuits. The latter while obviously there as fan service at least felt fitting, you gained clothes that the characters would wear throughout a year and that would include beachwear. What doesn’t however is “Battle Panties”.
I’m not a prude, I watch anime, I love Xenoblade, I’m used to this stuff but underwear, some in a fetish style being selectable for teenagers, children, is fucked. Also and this is both funny and annoying at the same time, the biggest groan I got was the first female team member who got access to them… they were better than any other armour available. “Fuck off!” I exclaimed at my screen.
Back to how the social links are good. Without spoiling there are a variety of characters, lots of different stories you have the chance to see all the way through, seeing changes in other people’s lives. I didn’t max out all of these links but did just about find all 22 of them, represented by the major arcana of Tarot.
I actually enjoyed the fact I missed out on some, to others spending almost 70 hours on a game and missing some content could be annoying and I get that perspective, but to me it was nice to show real value and meaning in how I had the protagonist spend their spare time and, just like in real life, time management is not a simple task.
It’d be easy to sit and dissect the social links, speak about how some really hit me, some surprised me and how much they added to the overall feel of the town, the characters' life and the importance of what the heroes are doing.
However, the much quicker point I wanted to note was how good this ends up being a loop and how actually the time I spent in this game felt big and memorable. It never dragged and flew by.
I mentioned Tartarus earlier; during the game’s “Dark Hour” (a time only a select few experience) the school becomes this monolithic tower which has floors upon floors of dungeons crawling with “shadows” the game’s enemies. The protagonist and friends can enter here at the end of most days, your goal to simply fight and head towards the top.
A common complaint I have heard is that Tartarus is extremely basic, it has blocks but each floor barely seems any different and the enemies, while there is a decent variation after a while, just become palette swaps with better stats.
This is true and it also feels most like the point of the game where the dreaded “grind” can kick in, but honestly, and I might be too forgiving, it never bothered me.
Each full moon the game gives you a different place to enjoy combat with some interesting bosses, so there is variety. The side missions that involve combat are mostly not too “grindy” and at the end of the day I don’t think the dungeons are even half the game anyway.
This brings me back to these loops.
This is why I said earlier the game never dragged. The gameplay loop was always going to school, picking an after school social link or social skill to increase via other means (studying etc). The evening then would be either preparing for battle while also increasing s.links or skills and once or twice an in-game month I’d make my trip to Tartarus.
The trips to Tartarus would then feel like their own game, a challenge even of seeing if I could get to the next barrier that would unlock later.
For me the difficulty was pitched perfectly, the combat wasn’t the best I’ve played but as far as turn-based tactics go, discovering weaknesses, setting up the right tactical loop in your team it was all enjoyable.
Tartarus itself added further gameplay loops that made me feel like “just one more go” through either the side missions or more often getting stuck into the almost Pokémon-like system of getting new Personas themselves.
Oh did I not mention the title refers to ghosts your protagonists summon by shooting themselves?
It’s a great hook, it’s basically Stands from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure gamified.
If it wasn’t clear from the words I’ve written or the score I’ve given. I loved this game.
Things were not perfect, it felt stripped down in areas as expected and I hope the sequels do build upon and tighten the formula as they go and I’m sure they will.
I will be surprised however if I find the future stories and characters themselves to be “better”.
If you’re a person who doesn’t need their games to feel modern, a person who’s played and enjoyed some JRPGs then I would say you should definitely give this a go.
Saying “Persona good” is the least hot take you’ll find on here today but I just want it to be clear that even stepping back (at least this far) didn’t feel too archaic or confusing and it may feel like I’m excusing it more than I should but the stripped back nature actually helps the loops, the mild addiction that a great game can bring.
One where, if it weren’t for there being sequels I want to check off my personal list, I’d be going back almost straight away to play again, see new things, try new ideas, max out more social links and defeat more enemies.
Persona (said aloud as I type it).
Add this with Power Stone to the list of odd forgotten games Capcom need to bring back.
Although as I type this I'm having a horrific image of Zack & Wiki in the RE engine.
A game that after finishing it again in 2022 I can confirm is deserving of being on all of those "Wii Hidden Gems" lists, whilst not perfect in it's execution it's a game that is up there with the most fun and interesting uses of motion controls.
The frustrations come with, not a lack of inaccuracy which all can suffer from, but for me with the attempt at putting some timing and reaction based bits in alongside auto fail options.
The final boss in particular I had to turn the console off yesterday because I didn't get the timing and didn't want to throw a wiimote out of my window.
The presentation of this game is great, the characters are joyful, the items work as you'd expect and most of the puzzles have a simple but fun logic to them only held back by the occasional experimentation which turns into failure (you'll become familiar with the restart screen).
The random map scouting collectathon thing feels a bit weak and tacked on but "content" wise there is a decent amount of stages, some fun variation, funny bosses and even some hidden stuff for after if you so desire.
If you hate motion controls this game is clearly not for you but do not except to be standing up doing bowling poses.
If you are fine with them, you need to get this played.
Frustration can happen like any point n click which this game definitely shares DNA with but the internal hint system is very generous and hey, it's fifteen years old you can look up a guide if you like. I won't tell.
Although as I type this I'm having a horrific image of Zack & Wiki in the RE engine.
A game that after finishing it again in 2022 I can confirm is deserving of being on all of those "Wii Hidden Gems" lists, whilst not perfect in it's execution it's a game that is up there with the most fun and interesting uses of motion controls.
The frustrations come with, not a lack of inaccuracy which all can suffer from, but for me with the attempt at putting some timing and reaction based bits in alongside auto fail options.
The final boss in particular I had to turn the console off yesterday because I didn't get the timing and didn't want to throw a wiimote out of my window.
The presentation of this game is great, the characters are joyful, the items work as you'd expect and most of the puzzles have a simple but fun logic to them only held back by the occasional experimentation which turns into failure (you'll become familiar with the restart screen).
The random map scouting collectathon thing feels a bit weak and tacked on but "content" wise there is a decent amount of stages, some fun variation, funny bosses and even some hidden stuff for after if you so desire.
If you hate motion controls this game is clearly not for you but do not except to be standing up doing bowling poses.
If you are fine with them, you need to get this played.
Frustration can happen like any point n click which this game definitely shares DNA with but the internal hint system is very generous and hey, it's fifteen years old you can look up a guide if you like. I won't tell.
2023
The portmanteau of this game is the highlight.
I don’t just mean that the game’s title being memorable is all this game has going for it but Gunbrella’s biggest strength is the Gunbrella itself.
As a tool it is used for combat, traversal and tricks - the gun fires like a shotgun with the ZR trigger while tapping and holding R unfold an umbrella, using it while being attacked creates a shield, using it while falling causes you to glide like Mary Poppins, that would be enough but there is more. This “shield” has a parry as timing the opening just right can ricochet projectiles back whilst a simple tap while moving a direction also causes the protagonist to dash and finally if there are hooks they can be grabbed giving more options for traversal as they appear in the later levels.
Alongside usual hopping and wall jumping the Gunbrella makes this game a fun time to control if a little floaty.
Back during, I want to say, Steam NextFest this alone sold me on the game. It was a joy darting about through corridors, splating enemies, taking out turrets with their own attacks - it was slick, simple and responsive.
Sadly however the demo really did just show the best game had to offer as progression of systems is slow and arguably non-existent.
You do get different ammo types, grenades, machine gun bullets for a longer range and others but none of them ever feel as good as the default shotty.
Switching weapons is done simply using the d-pad but I found having more choices just meant flicking between them was more of a pain and I’d just sell most of it in-game for health items or the later, extremely unexciting upgrade system that increases strength and reload speed.
Enemy types seem to be diverse at first, the sewers have weird creatures whereas elsewhere on your mission above land you’re fighting cultists with their guns, magic and turrets but those two splits are mostly all there are too.
Levels too mostly feel quite similar, the dark grimy steampunk world of Gunbrella involves a lot of shades or brown and grey, later on there’ll be a bit of snow and the finale does bring a little more colour but again for the largest percentage of the game it feels quite the same.
Regarding the world of Gunbrella this is a point where it completely changed from my expectations and I wasn’t left either excited or majorly disappointed, once the credits rolled however I still just wondered about the logic in the design decision and whether or not the end game was what Doinksoft were even going for.
To explain, with a side-scrolling action platformer I was expecting a lot of extended stages of fighting through, moving right into another with an occasional boss.
What I was met with was much slower, the protagonist on a revenge mission to save his daughter and avenge his dead wife traveling slowly between chatting with NPCs to get leads that would eventually get you into action heavy levels, get a macguffin or piece of information and back into the crawl of doing so again.
I love stories in games, but here it just felt like it was trying to take the main stage on a game in a genre which is meant to be led by how it feels to play and not how you feel experiencing its story.
The story isn’t bad per say, it is just unremarkable and takes up more time with going back and forth with NPCs than it does letting you use the thing the game is named after.
I said by the credits I questioned if this is what Doinksoft were aiming for - in game you have a journal that gives you your objective but it is never more than one page and I never seemed to have more than one sidequest at a time. The way the objectives are presented says to me that there were going to be lots of quests, during the game there are conversation choices and whilst you do see some impact of your decisions it didn’t feel like it ever branched anywhere, just another thing to give the illusion that the game wouldn’t be linear and would branch out.
Non-linear isn’t something I was expecting going in and I wasn’t disappointed by the end when it wasn’t, but the choices in pacing and presentation made me feel like maybe the developers were worried about being labeled linear, that a journal to show objectives or conversational choices would hide their “shame” of simply being an excellent action-platformer and that’s weird.
Gunbrella was on my radar quickly because they made the excellent mini Metroidvania Gato Roboto which I thought was great, an excellent distillation of the genre, still had some of its own style and never outstayed its welcome. Gato Roboto never seemed to show hints of it trying to be anymore and that was fine, it aimed to be something and it succeeded.
Now Gunbrella has its own style, didn’t out-stay its welcome either but just feels a lot muddier and messier.
I almost feel bad because in a way I am saying that this game having ambition was a poor choice.
As far as what they did with this ambition, I found it a mixed bag.
The characters and dialogue are solid, the story while fairly cliché was good and the world with its hints of Lovecraft was good.
The dreary feel and colour did help create a world but not only did it make levels feel a little too similar as mentioned before, it also made some parts harder to navigate, back and foreground items not always being so clearly marked, invisible walls and odd edges occasionally ruining the flow - the world is cool but it was not concise.
The challenge or at least the curve barely went up due to lack of diversity and I always felt I was given tools but not much to do with them.
Even in combat encounters like bosses, the first two or three felt good and later on they either felt too easy, simple or even like a retread with the final boss just being disappointing.
Sadly disappointing is the word. I was expecting more from Gunbrella, coming into 2023 I believed this would be one of a handful of indie games that everyone should play and everyone would be talking about but instead 2023 has been too good that it has passed by and even somebody like me, who would prefer to shun the AAA and shout about the smaller titles, I find it unlikely I’m going to recommend this with such love as some of the other recent indie titles I’ve played even in the last few weeks.
Doinksoft have definitely got some great ideas, even though I’ve come out the end feeling quite cold I would like to see more Gunbrella because as I said from the start the Gunbrella itself is great - a thing to experience and enjoy, it just needs a better world to be carried through.
I don’t just mean that the game’s title being memorable is all this game has going for it but Gunbrella’s biggest strength is the Gunbrella itself.
As a tool it is used for combat, traversal and tricks - the gun fires like a shotgun with the ZR trigger while tapping and holding R unfold an umbrella, using it while being attacked creates a shield, using it while falling causes you to glide like Mary Poppins, that would be enough but there is more. This “shield” has a parry as timing the opening just right can ricochet projectiles back whilst a simple tap while moving a direction also causes the protagonist to dash and finally if there are hooks they can be grabbed giving more options for traversal as they appear in the later levels.
Alongside usual hopping and wall jumping the Gunbrella makes this game a fun time to control if a little floaty.
Back during, I want to say, Steam NextFest this alone sold me on the game. It was a joy darting about through corridors, splating enemies, taking out turrets with their own attacks - it was slick, simple and responsive.
Sadly however the demo really did just show the best game had to offer as progression of systems is slow and arguably non-existent.
You do get different ammo types, grenades, machine gun bullets for a longer range and others but none of them ever feel as good as the default shotty.
Switching weapons is done simply using the d-pad but I found having more choices just meant flicking between them was more of a pain and I’d just sell most of it in-game for health items or the later, extremely unexciting upgrade system that increases strength and reload speed.
Enemy types seem to be diverse at first, the sewers have weird creatures whereas elsewhere on your mission above land you’re fighting cultists with their guns, magic and turrets but those two splits are mostly all there are too.
Levels too mostly feel quite similar, the dark grimy steampunk world of Gunbrella involves a lot of shades or brown and grey, later on there’ll be a bit of snow and the finale does bring a little more colour but again for the largest percentage of the game it feels quite the same.
Regarding the world of Gunbrella this is a point where it completely changed from my expectations and I wasn’t left either excited or majorly disappointed, once the credits rolled however I still just wondered about the logic in the design decision and whether or not the end game was what Doinksoft were even going for.
To explain, with a side-scrolling action platformer I was expecting a lot of extended stages of fighting through, moving right into another with an occasional boss.
What I was met with was much slower, the protagonist on a revenge mission to save his daughter and avenge his dead wife traveling slowly between chatting with NPCs to get leads that would eventually get you into action heavy levels, get a macguffin or piece of information and back into the crawl of doing so again.
I love stories in games, but here it just felt like it was trying to take the main stage on a game in a genre which is meant to be led by how it feels to play and not how you feel experiencing its story.
The story isn’t bad per say, it is just unremarkable and takes up more time with going back and forth with NPCs than it does letting you use the thing the game is named after.
I said by the credits I questioned if this is what Doinksoft were aiming for - in game you have a journal that gives you your objective but it is never more than one page and I never seemed to have more than one sidequest at a time. The way the objectives are presented says to me that there were going to be lots of quests, during the game there are conversation choices and whilst you do see some impact of your decisions it didn’t feel like it ever branched anywhere, just another thing to give the illusion that the game wouldn’t be linear and would branch out.
Non-linear isn’t something I was expecting going in and I wasn’t disappointed by the end when it wasn’t, but the choices in pacing and presentation made me feel like maybe the developers were worried about being labeled linear, that a journal to show objectives or conversational choices would hide their “shame” of simply being an excellent action-platformer and that’s weird.
Gunbrella was on my radar quickly because they made the excellent mini Metroidvania Gato Roboto which I thought was great, an excellent distillation of the genre, still had some of its own style and never outstayed its welcome. Gato Roboto never seemed to show hints of it trying to be anymore and that was fine, it aimed to be something and it succeeded.
Now Gunbrella has its own style, didn’t out-stay its welcome either but just feels a lot muddier and messier.
I almost feel bad because in a way I am saying that this game having ambition was a poor choice.
As far as what they did with this ambition, I found it a mixed bag.
The characters and dialogue are solid, the story while fairly cliché was good and the world with its hints of Lovecraft was good.
The dreary feel and colour did help create a world but not only did it make levels feel a little too similar as mentioned before, it also made some parts harder to navigate, back and foreground items not always being so clearly marked, invisible walls and odd edges occasionally ruining the flow - the world is cool but it was not concise.
The challenge or at least the curve barely went up due to lack of diversity and I always felt I was given tools but not much to do with them.
Even in combat encounters like bosses, the first two or three felt good and later on they either felt too easy, simple or even like a retread with the final boss just being disappointing.
Sadly disappointing is the word. I was expecting more from Gunbrella, coming into 2023 I believed this would be one of a handful of indie games that everyone should play and everyone would be talking about but instead 2023 has been too good that it has passed by and even somebody like me, who would prefer to shun the AAA and shout about the smaller titles, I find it unlikely I’m going to recommend this with such love as some of the other recent indie titles I’ve played even in the last few weeks.
Doinksoft have definitely got some great ideas, even though I’ve come out the end feeling quite cold I would like to see more Gunbrella because as I said from the start the Gunbrella itself is great - a thing to experience and enjoy, it just needs a better world to be carried through.
2016
After I recently played VideoVerse and also having listened to them on The Back Page Podcast I knew that I could trust Lucy Blundell’s writing.
In a way this game has passed me by but I will also admit here that the title conjured up something in me that put me off. It wasn’t thinking about one night stands themselves but when videogames attempt to be sexy, more often than not it’s a miss, sometimes cringe and potentially offensive.
This title is not.
One Night Stand is a very short experience but one that encourages you to try it again to discover the different outcomes your decisions can make, surprising revelations and ultimately rack up a selection of different endings.
Each of these are full of wonderful writing, full of realistic and relatable notes. If there is any moment of cringing it is something you have opted to see. There are very few characters involved as you’d expect and the main being the woman you have found yourself awake next to - even their name is a spoiler.
She can be funny, sweet or even cold but again, feels real.
Replaying the story you can skip text and the options are quite diverse considering the, almost, one room setting. These retries also gave me a light feeling of a good detective game, discovering evidence and piecing separate dialogue together with a mental red string that not only painted a much fuller picture than I could visually see but one with some good “ah ha” and “oh shit!” moments.
Speaking of what I could see visually, I love the art style. A simple pencil sketch looking feel that gave me Hotel Dusk vibes. Great facial expressions from your one-night stand and lots of brilliant details within the room that again enhances the feeling that this story is not purely fiction.
In the end however, I feel a little conflicted about this title. It is smartly written, beautifully presented and executed well but whilst I do not dislike short games playing the same short game over and over made me feel contradictory views of wanting more but also finding getting the last few endings more of something like busy work than the mild detective feel I had gotten earlier.
An argument could be made to just get a few endings and put it down when you feel you’ve seen enough variation, but having a screen full of blank squares you know you can fill, boxes you can check - it’s hard to do that when you know the effort, at least in terms of time, is so low.
I enjoyed my initial ending with this game, I played it “as if” it was me and was pleased. It made me want to see more of the world and that is good.
I enjoyed doing things I would definitely not, going for things I felt were possibly the stupidest decisions and having a good laugh at them.
The writing carries this game and it is definitely worth a play considering it's about the price of a coffee - ultimately I’m just not sure that this format of short with a dozen endings is my vibe compared to long with a few endings, but that is fine. There is space for all types of storytelling and I’m happy that we get to experience them.
In a way this game has passed me by but I will also admit here that the title conjured up something in me that put me off. It wasn’t thinking about one night stands themselves but when videogames attempt to be sexy, more often than not it’s a miss, sometimes cringe and potentially offensive.
This title is not.
One Night Stand is a very short experience but one that encourages you to try it again to discover the different outcomes your decisions can make, surprising revelations and ultimately rack up a selection of different endings.
Each of these are full of wonderful writing, full of realistic and relatable notes. If there is any moment of cringing it is something you have opted to see. There are very few characters involved as you’d expect and the main being the woman you have found yourself awake next to - even their name is a spoiler.
She can be funny, sweet or even cold but again, feels real.
Replaying the story you can skip text and the options are quite diverse considering the, almost, one room setting. These retries also gave me a light feeling of a good detective game, discovering evidence and piecing separate dialogue together with a mental red string that not only painted a much fuller picture than I could visually see but one with some good “ah ha” and “oh shit!” moments.
Speaking of what I could see visually, I love the art style. A simple pencil sketch looking feel that gave me Hotel Dusk vibes. Great facial expressions from your one-night stand and lots of brilliant details within the room that again enhances the feeling that this story is not purely fiction.
In the end however, I feel a little conflicted about this title. It is smartly written, beautifully presented and executed well but whilst I do not dislike short games playing the same short game over and over made me feel contradictory views of wanting more but also finding getting the last few endings more of something like busy work than the mild detective feel I had gotten earlier.
An argument could be made to just get a few endings and put it down when you feel you’ve seen enough variation, but having a screen full of blank squares you know you can fill, boxes you can check - it’s hard to do that when you know the effort, at least in terms of time, is so low.
I enjoyed my initial ending with this game, I played it “as if” it was me and was pleased. It made me want to see more of the world and that is good.
I enjoyed doing things I would definitely not, going for things I felt were possibly the stupidest decisions and having a good laugh at them.
The writing carries this game and it is definitely worth a play considering it's about the price of a coffee - ultimately I’m just not sure that this format of short with a dozen endings is my vibe compared to long with a few endings, but that is fine. There is space for all types of storytelling and I’m happy that we get to experience them.
2005
One of the themes of this year in gaming, for me, is to experience more from Cing, a defunct studio which I love almost solely on the basis of two games; Hotel Dusk: Room 215 and Last Window: The Secret of Cape West.
Those two games to me are five star titles, not only are they great stories full of wonderful writing, characters and fun puzzles but they do something I’m a big fan of and that’s use the hardware they were designed for in fun and interesting ways.
I’m a “waggle defender”. I love the games of Nintendo hardware where non-first party developers bothered to use what was unique rather than something that could be easily ported to any machine.
Cing are King when it comes to this on DS and in a previous backloggd review, I showed they were pretty good at it on Wii too.
So yes, I played the games in the wrong order and yes completing Another Code R did spoil a minor bit of plot for Another Code: Two Memories but it did not ruin my enjoyment.
Much like the Wii sequel, you take on the role of Ashley who in this title is thirteen years old. She is called to Blood Edward Island to meet with her father who she has not seen in over a decade.
She’s there not only to find out why he has been gone so long, but anything she can about the death of her mother which took place a little while before dad up and left.
The hook? Ashley has been sent a machine called a DAS that looks strangely familiar to you (the player) and this device has messages for you, lets you store photos and then throughout the game aids you in solving puzzles.
I’m a sucker for reflecting the tech the player is using in the game, trying to break the walls of what’s in and outside of the story down.
This game doesn’t do that too deeply outside of aesthetics but as you search Blood Edward Island, meeting a friend, learning the island’s history and uncovering its secrets you get to use the DS in a few unique ways which don’t include simply button presses.
Cing would go on to do these things again and do them better in Hotel Dusk and really those words can be applied to almost every aspect of the game.
Art, music, characters, writing, plot - all of these factors are great in Another Code, it's just that they become excellent in the future.
In a way maybe deciding on how good a game is based on something that came out in its future is unfair but that is what we’re working with and whilst Another Code is brilliant and a worthwhile little gem it’s not a great, expansive or as nice and clever as Hotel Dusk so can’t be placed at those same heights.
Another Code is simple in a lot of ways, to some that would be a fault. The game and the story it tells is quite linear and the cast of characters is fairly small and even where it does expand with the former residents of Blood Edward Island’s history it’s less revelations and more reflections.
The game however is short and that is not an issue, in under five hours it tells a great tale and limiting its scope means that it doesn’t feel baggy or out stay its welcome.
The only case where an eye-roll of boredom ever happened would be clicking on something by accident and being stuck in a little bit of text I’d already read.
I had a great time with Another Code and it was very pleasant going back into Cing’s catalogue and seeing the steps they took to get to where they were with one of my all-timers.
Maybe it’s time to go even further back and play Glass Rose? I’m not sure if I am that dedicated.
Those two games to me are five star titles, not only are they great stories full of wonderful writing, characters and fun puzzles but they do something I’m a big fan of and that’s use the hardware they were designed for in fun and interesting ways.
I’m a “waggle defender”. I love the games of Nintendo hardware where non-first party developers bothered to use what was unique rather than something that could be easily ported to any machine.
Cing are King when it comes to this on DS and in a previous backloggd review, I showed they were pretty good at it on Wii too.
So yes, I played the games in the wrong order and yes completing Another Code R did spoil a minor bit of plot for Another Code: Two Memories but it did not ruin my enjoyment.
Much like the Wii sequel, you take on the role of Ashley who in this title is thirteen years old. She is called to Blood Edward Island to meet with her father who she has not seen in over a decade.
She’s there not only to find out why he has been gone so long, but anything she can about the death of her mother which took place a little while before dad up and left.
The hook? Ashley has been sent a machine called a DAS that looks strangely familiar to you (the player) and this device has messages for you, lets you store photos and then throughout the game aids you in solving puzzles.
I’m a sucker for reflecting the tech the player is using in the game, trying to break the walls of what’s in and outside of the story down.
This game doesn’t do that too deeply outside of aesthetics but as you search Blood Edward Island, meeting a friend, learning the island’s history and uncovering its secrets you get to use the DS in a few unique ways which don’t include simply button presses.
Cing would go on to do these things again and do them better in Hotel Dusk and really those words can be applied to almost every aspect of the game.
Art, music, characters, writing, plot - all of these factors are great in Another Code, it's just that they become excellent in the future.
In a way maybe deciding on how good a game is based on something that came out in its future is unfair but that is what we’re working with and whilst Another Code is brilliant and a worthwhile little gem it’s not a great, expansive or as nice and clever as Hotel Dusk so can’t be placed at those same heights.
Another Code is simple in a lot of ways, to some that would be a fault. The game and the story it tells is quite linear and the cast of characters is fairly small and even where it does expand with the former residents of Blood Edward Island’s history it’s less revelations and more reflections.
The game however is short and that is not an issue, in under five hours it tells a great tale and limiting its scope means that it doesn’t feel baggy or out stay its welcome.
The only case where an eye-roll of boredom ever happened would be clicking on something by accident and being stuck in a little bit of text I’d already read.
I had a great time with Another Code and it was very pleasant going back into Cing’s catalogue and seeing the steps they took to get to where they were with one of my all-timers.
Maybe it’s time to go even further back and play Glass Rose? I’m not sure if I am that dedicated.