Raith
Bio
10/10 A masterpiece. Something that resonated with me like nothing before.
9/10 Amazing. The best games to grace the medium. Everything is best-in-class.
8/10 Great. These are games that helped define a generation, either by pushing the envelope or high level of quality.
7/10 Good. These are overall solid games that have just come up short in a few areas.
6/10 Okay. Some larger flaws drag the experience down, but these are still games worth your time.
5/10 Mediocre. Experiences that are lukewarm. Playable, but there are better options.
4/10 Bad. This is the definitive line between "playable" and "skip it".
3/10 Awful. Got nothing of value out of these games.
2/10 Painful. Actively a chore to play.
1/10 Unbearable. Nothing redeeming about it. Just abysmal.
10/10 A masterpiece. Something that resonated with me like nothing before.
9/10 Amazing. The best games to grace the medium. Everything is best-in-class.
8/10 Great. These are games that helped define a generation, either by pushing the envelope or high level of quality.
7/10 Good. These are overall solid games that have just come up short in a few areas.
6/10 Okay. Some larger flaws drag the experience down, but these are still games worth your time.
5/10 Mediocre. Experiences that are lukewarm. Playable, but there are better options.
4/10 Bad. This is the definitive line between "playable" and "skip it".
3/10 Awful. Got nothing of value out of these games.
2/10 Painful. Actively a chore to play.
1/10 Unbearable. Nothing redeeming about it. Just abysmal.
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The best NES game? Probably. There is only one other game I can think of that comes close, and I'll reserve judgement on that when I eventually get to my replay (at which point, I'll be sure to update this review with my definitive answer to this question).
There is basically a second NES hidden away inside the cart of this game, one of the benefits of being a late NES release. That extra power is used to expand the formula of the first Super Mario Bros in all the right ways. A world map, a selection of different powerups to discover, 8 unique worlds with different themes, and a fresh coat of paint which still holds up to this day. SMB3 is one of the few NES games that is still just as good to play today as it was to play when it released over 30 years ago. Easily in the top 10 platformers ever made.
Do I need to say more? Play this game if you haven't. It's "required playing" in the video game cannon.
There is basically a second NES hidden away inside the cart of this game, one of the benefits of being a late NES release. That extra power is used to expand the formula of the first Super Mario Bros in all the right ways. A world map, a selection of different powerups to discover, 8 unique worlds with different themes, and a fresh coat of paint which still holds up to this day. SMB3 is one of the few NES games that is still just as good to play today as it was to play when it released over 30 years ago. Easily in the top 10 platformers ever made.
Do I need to say more? Play this game if you haven't. It's "required playing" in the video game cannon.
It's not a bad game. Far from it. But like many "match x" puzzle games that released around the time and much later, the gameplay is best experienced in short bursts. For that reason it is not a great home console game to sit down and play for hours, but it makes a great game on a handheld that can be played anywhere whenever you have some downtime to kill. For this reason, the Gameboy release far outshines the NES release, despite the latter's added polish.
I have a feeling this game has seen significant changes to balance over the years, because the experience I had playing through Dark Souls for the first time was a far cry from the reputation it had gained in the early days of its release.
Sure, some things are a little obtuse and you can find yourself stuck or making things a lot more difficult for yourself if you don't pay attention to everything, but I would honestly call Dark Souls a fairly reasonable game difficulty wise.
My shattered expectations aside, Dark Souls is a well crafted game and it's easy to see why it spawned possibly one of the most iconic sub-genres since the "Doom-like".
The story and lore is intriguing, wrapped in mystery. So much is left up to the player to investigate that there are entire elements of the game locked behind finding and helping certain individuals that you can easily miss. When I went to face the final boss, I did so knowing I had seen only a fraction of what the world had to offer. Future playthroughs will probably be done with a guide to find the games many secrets.
The areas I didn't enjoy so much were the lack of good fast travel in the early game (shortcuts don't cut it when I'm still having to run for 5-10 minutes) that made backtracking a chore. I also think the games difficulty curve was a bit out of whack, with the end game being incredibly easy compared to earlier parts. This was probably due to some overpowered gear, but almost all of the final bosses consisted of me just running up and bonking them with my big club until they died. Very little strategy or learning attack patterns like in the early stages of the game. It wasn't until the final boss that I even had to change my load out so I could parry attacks, at which point the fight was trivial.
Overall, happy to finally play through one of the most important games of the 360/PS3 generation.
Sure, some things are a little obtuse and you can find yourself stuck or making things a lot more difficult for yourself if you don't pay attention to everything, but I would honestly call Dark Souls a fairly reasonable game difficulty wise.
My shattered expectations aside, Dark Souls is a well crafted game and it's easy to see why it spawned possibly one of the most iconic sub-genres since the "Doom-like".
The story and lore is intriguing, wrapped in mystery. So much is left up to the player to investigate that there are entire elements of the game locked behind finding and helping certain individuals that you can easily miss. When I went to face the final boss, I did so knowing I had seen only a fraction of what the world had to offer. Future playthroughs will probably be done with a guide to find the games many secrets.
The areas I didn't enjoy so much were the lack of good fast travel in the early game (shortcuts don't cut it when I'm still having to run for 5-10 minutes) that made backtracking a chore. I also think the games difficulty curve was a bit out of whack, with the end game being incredibly easy compared to earlier parts. This was probably due to some overpowered gear, but almost all of the final bosses consisted of me just running up and bonking them with my big club until they died. Very little strategy or learning attack patterns like in the early stages of the game. It wasn't until the final boss that I even had to change my load out so I could parry attacks, at which point the fight was trivial.
Overall, happy to finally play through one of the most important games of the 360/PS3 generation.