I first played Link's Awakening on my 3DS years ago. I got it on the eShop one day after a Youtuber I liked was let's playing it, and seeing as I was a Zelda fan at this point, I figured I'd enjoyed it. I think I got up until Eagle Tower and dropped it? I at least don't remember ever beating this game. Fast forward to the beginning of 2022, I had just gotten the remake for Christmas and was excited to play it. I actually beat that version this time and had a great time. Now with this marathon, I can finally beat this version of the game. I think overall I might prefer the remake, but this version is still good and Link's Awakening is still a good game overall.

Also quick note before the review: I was originally going to play the three CDI Zelda's next but decided against it so I'm skipping those. I also know this is the DX version, and that technically released after Ocarina of Time, however the majority of this game is still the original Link's Awakening which released 5 years before OOT so I just decided to play this first.

Anyways, Link's Awakening. This released 2 years after A Link to the Past and compared to that game and even the Zelda games before it, this game's plot and general atmosphere is very different. The story this time around is pretty simple. This is the same Link as the one in ALTTP and he regularly goes out to sea to train in other countries in case of further threats. One day, a storm destroys the boat he is on and he is washed ashore on Koholint Island. This girl named Marin finds him and brings Link to her home where he wakes up to see her and her father Tarin. Link leaves the home hoping to learn what this island is about and how he can get off of it. Along the way, he meets an owl that tells him to escape this island he must get the 8 instruments of the sirens and wake the wind fish (who resides in a giant egg) with them. Halfway into the adventure however, Link finds out that the entire island may just be a dream created by the wind fish. Whether that's true or not, Link continues to gather the instruments so he can wake the wind wish and get off the island. It's a simple plot but the first thing you'll notice is that it's WEIRD. I did not mention Zelda because she is not in this game. No Triforce or Ganon either. The big staple characters aren't in this game, instead it's an entire brand new cast. You have Marin and Tarin, the other villagers of the town they're in. There are many animal NPC's through out the world, there's even and animal village too lol. The villagers eventually can't recall how long they've been on the island. Throughout the game you even start seeing things from other Nintendo games like the many different Mario enemies, a girl gives you her photo and she looks just like Princess Peach and there's even an enemy that looks and acts like Kirby. This along with the general plot gives this game such a weird, dream-like atmosphere. That's kind of a joke but it's true, they really did a great job at making this game feel like a dream. This is honestly my favorite aspect of this game; just how weird and different it feels from other Zelda games.


The general gameplay is similar to ALTTP, tho it's not quite as linear as that game. You're still going through dungeons and what not but they aren't marked on your map. It can be a bit cryptic at times, trying to figure out how to get into each dungeon, because now you have to find each dungeons respective key to unlock it. Besides that, the overworld itself is pretty fun tho it can get a bit tedious to backtrack through. There are a couple warp points throughout the world you can warp to, but I think there should've been more because even with them, backtracking is plentiful and it's not super fun in this game. The reason for that is, and it's the game's biggest issue, there's only two item slots in this game and stuff like the power bracelet and even the sword takes up a slot. I know this is a Gameboy game, so there was only A and B to work with but having to constantly switch between items to explore can get a bit tiresome. That plus when you don't have an item, needed to clear an object, equipped, an unskippable message appears every time to let you know you need that item. So, whatever you do, don't touch any rocks without having the power bracelet equipped. Like I said, this is my biggest annoyance in the game and while I still enjoyed the overworld despite this, it can be annoying due to these issues.

Exploring the overworld, you'll find many optional secrets just like ALTTP. Like that game, there are caves all throughout and you'll usually need a dungeon item to get whatever treasure is inside. The puzzles in these might actually be more complex than ALTTP's, either way it's good that they're back in this game. You'll also find those weird NPC's throughout the world as well. There's actually a long trade quest in the game, that you would think would be optional due to how long and exploration based it is but it's not. It's required at several points to progress and also the reward you get at the end of it is too. It's not the worst thing in the world but I had forgotten how to do parts of it so I had to look some of it up online so that might stump new players.

Next I want to talk about improvements this game makes compared to past games. This is a Gameboy game so obviously I can't compare its visuals to ALTTP but for a Gameboy game this looks super nice and compared to the first two Zelda games, this also looks nice than them. They did a great job with all the pixel art in this game and I can see why some people prefer this version of the game compared to the remake, based on the art style since it's super charming here. This game also improved on stuff from ALTTP as well funnily enough. You could collect items with you sword in Zelda 1 but not ALTTP for some reason, luckily, you're able to in this game again. I also found the Pegasus Boots better in this game due to you not needing to press and hold the item button again and again when you want to dash constantly. You just need to hold it and Link will start to dash on every screen he's on now. Something that's kinda weird compared to past game is the rupees. Every rupee that spawns in the overworld from cut bushes or defeated enemies is a single rupee. The only way to get more than that at once is with chests and they can give you 20, 50, 100 or even 200 rupees. It's an interesting change but probably a needed one since this was a Gameboy game and this game was already probably pushing the system to its limits.

The dungeons in this game are actually really solid. They're not as vibrant or as memorable visually as ALTTP dungeons however they're full of puzzles, maybe even moreso than ALTTP. That game has a bit more of a focus on combat, and I still might prefer that games dungeons just because of the aforementioned visual memorability. But even still, very good set of dungeons that even stumped me a bit at times. The items you get in these though are pretty solid. You have the aforementioned power bracelet, the magic rod from past Zeldas, the hookshot from ALTTP as well as the flippers. A lot of these are just older items but the standout item, and the one that actually makes the game more fun to play in general tbh, was the roc's feather. When you equip this, you can jump. That's it but it makes a world of difference in how you can play and can absolutely just destroy some bosses super-fast if you're skilled enough. If I didn't need any item to progress, I just went with my sword and the roc's feather. That was my go to set of items. There was an annoyance I had with the items. Since there's no way to speed up text, you'll be seeing the same dialogue for the map and compass over and over again. The map is fine since it's so short but the compass is like three times as long or something and they decided to let you know there's a new sound that plays whenever a chest is in the same room as you. That's cool...you don't have to tell me every time I do a dungeon tho! The bosses at the end of dungeons might also be an improvement from ALTTP. They aren't as flashy of course but they also don't require red/green potions sometimes to defeat, they all have dialogue this time which gives them more character and they're also just really weird or goofy which fits the setting of the game. I'd say they're overall maybe simpler to fight than ALTTP's bosses but simple doesn't equal bad. The final boss tho, had several different phases that took the form of bosses you fought in past games, and it also made use of several of Link's items. Because of that, it was easily the best boss in the game.

The soundtrack in this game, even tho its a Gameboy game, is really melancholic at times and is charming as hell. The signature Ballad of the Wind Fish(I sent Marin's version is easily my favorite song in the game. Mabe Village,Tal Tal Heights and the Ending Theme were my other favorites. The whole soundtrack is good however, and something else this game had over ALTTP is the fact each dungeon had their own unique theme. Now I can't say I prefer any of them over the two ALTTP had but they're still mostly solid here.

While I did have some issues that held this game back from being better than ALTTP, this is still a really solid Zelda game and one that is unique in the story it tells and the atmosphere it provides. It must've been amazing having a game like this on the go back in the day. Like I said as well, I do prefer the remake just because of the some of the improvements it made. I'm kind of known as the original game enjoyer, so for me to prefer a remake over the original is very odd. We'll get to that game way down the line but even if I like that one more, it doesn't stop this version from being good. It certainly has its own charm as well.

I think I'm going to take a small break in between this game and Ocarina of Time. I'm thinking maybe my Plants vs Zombies replay is next? Either way, stay tuned for that and then Ocarina of Time after in the near future!

Base game review

The first of the two DLC campaigns for DOOM Eternal that serve as the conclusion not just for Eternal, but to this modern era of DOOM’s story that began with DOOM 2016. Eternal was a game that pushed its mechanics and overall scale to astronomical levels. With Part One of The Ancient Gods (TAG for short), iD Software aims to push things even further. Despite their efforts, I’m a little bit mixed on their attempt to do so. While I ultimately believe the good things about TAG1 outweighs the bad, the things that are bad can lead to some degree of frustration that dampers the enjoyment.

While the DOOM Slayer might have put a stop to the Khan Makyr and halted the demonic invasion of Earth, his work isn’t done. With the Khan Makyr gone, Hell’s forces have taken over her homeworld of Urdak, and with the planet’s resources in their control, they now have the means to invade and conquer all of reality. With the help of Samuel Hayden and the UAC, the DOOM Slayer sets out to find the Seraphim, an ally from his past that can provide him the means to return to Urdak, so that he can finally end the demons once and for all.

The Ancient Gods continues the base game’s storytelling approach, meaning it still lacks a lot of context in regards to what’s going on. You do get the gist of what’s happening, but there are a lot of terms that can be difficult to keep up with and aren’t explained very well. That being said, it’s a DOOM game, so you really only need to know the bare minimum when it comes to story anyway.

The DLC comes with three additional levels: UAC Atlantica Facility, The Blood Swamps, and The Holt. These levels have some of the most intense combat encounters in the game (outside of the Master Levels, which are re-worked levels from the base game made to be even more challenging). After its original release, TAG1 was actually updated in order to reduce its overall difficulty, and even with the changes made, these levels will still give you a run for your money.

Atlantica is without a doubt my favorite level in the DLC and possibly the entire game, depending on how my replay of Ancient Gods Part 2 goes. The design of its combat arenas is excellent, memorable and feels like a very natural progression from the level of difficulty you experience at the end of the base game. They’re wide, with a lot of room to run around in. The Marauder controversy after the base game’s release had been going on for a while at this point, so when you get towards the end of the level and you have to fight two of them at the same time, it very much feels like the devs are paying attention to what fans were saying at this time, and that they trusted them to be able to overcome these enemies.

Atlantica also introduces a new environmental hazard: Turrets. These are mystical eyeballs sitting on top of a podium that shoot energy blasts at Doomguy from their position. You can’t get too close to them, otherwise the eyeball will retreat into the podium. They need to be destroyed using fast and powerful long distance projectiles like the Quick-Scope mod for the Heavy Assault Rifle, or a shot from the Arbalest. While these can initially be annoying, they’re pretty easy to take out once you’ve memorized their locations and gotten your aim up to snuff in order to take them out quickly.

The Blood Swamps are next, and for the most part, it’s a very strong level, with some of the most intense combat arenas in the game. It’s actually kind of flooring seeing the amount of super heavy demons the game throws at you during combat encounters, but it’s also really thrilling stepping up and taking them all on. This level also introduces a new enemy: The Spirit. The Spirit is a ghost demon that possesses another demon on the field, increasing that demon’s damage, speed, and resilience, making them a lot harder to kill and evade. After killing the possessed demon, the Spirit will exit that demon’s body, where it’ll be stunned for a moment, before it begins to possess another demon. The only way to kill a Spirit is to use the Microwave Beam mod for the Plasma Rifle, which shoots out a beam that holds demons in place before causing them to explode after a period of time. I don’t really like this new demon very much, and encounters with it really got on my nerves.

The Spirit feels like it was made solely for giving the Microwave Beam an actual purpose. Prior to the DLC’s release, the Microwave Beam was widely regarded as one of the least useful weapon mods in the game. It’s a slow method of killing demons, and using it hinder’s Doomguy’s movement, making him a sitting duck. Since combat in Eternal is designed around you constantly moving, this mod is inherently antithetical to that idea, so being forced to use it here kind of sucks, especially given how intense the combat arenas are. When the Spirit possesses a Hell Knight or a Baron of Hell, then it will hound you, and seeing either of those demons charging at you with their increased speed is genuinely terrifying. Furthermore, killing a possessed demon doesn’t mean it’s over, as you now have to use the Microwave Beam to finish off the Spirit, or risk it possessing another demon.

The Spirit might be a bit less frustrating on lower difficulties, I decided to play through this on Nightmare, the game’s hardest difficulty, since I’ve played Eternal so many times and wanted a challenge in order to keep my adrenaline up. On Nightmare though, the Spirit is a major threat even if it possesses fodder demons simply because of how much stronger the buff makes them. This is what makes the Spirit impossible to ignore, and why trying to kill it is so frustrating. If you end up killing the possessed demon in the wrong place at the wrong time, there’s nothing you can do about the Spirit without risking all of the other demons jumping your ass. Even if it seems like you’re okay to take it out with the Microwave Beam, another demon or a projectile might swoop in outta nowhere and take you out. There might be some strategy I’m not familiar with that makes the Spirit easier to kill, but I don’t know for sure. All I know is that I never really found a consistent and clear cut way of killing it, and a lot of my deaths came from trying to safely get rid of this god damned poltergeist.

Finally, there’s The Holt. The Holt is without a doubt my least favorite level in the DLC, and most likely the entire game as well. I really hate how The Holt’s combat arenas are designed. The arenas are usually multilayered and claustrophobic structures with tunnels that obfuscate demons and make it hard to keep track of who is on the screen and where they’re at. It also has what I feel to be the most extremely forgettable and boring music in the game. The Holt also introduces one more new series of enemies: the Blood Makyrs, and I’m not a fan of these guys either. They are flying, angel-like beings that protect themselves with an impenetrable shield of energy while shooting their own projectiles at you with their spears. They also have a melee attack they can perform that halts your momentum if you get too close to them. They’re completely invincible until they use a specific attack that causes them to drop their shield, after which, they can only be killed with a precise headshot from the Arbalest or the Quick-Scope for the Heavy Assault Rifle.

My dislike for the Blood Makyrs is partially a skill issue, while also tying in to why I dislike The Holt’s combat arena designs so much. Because of the design of these combat arenas, trying to get an accurate shot at a Blood Makyr when it drops its shield is a lot harder than it otherwise would be. This might have been the intention, but either way, it makes trying to kill it very aggravating. Once again, a lot of my deaths came from me missing their head and getting blown up by their attacks, or getting killed by other demons because I was focusing too hard trying to aim at them.

Despite being DLC levels, the team at iD spared no expense making them visually on par with the levels from the base game. Each level has a distinct look, feel, and atmosphere, thanks to their unique color palettes and themes. Atlantica is basically a giant oil rig out in the ocean with a lot of blues and stunning looking water and waves, The Blood Swamps are tinted in a sickening green shade with a lot of gas and fog, and The Holt has a reddish-purple color palette symbolizing the former paradise of Urdak’s fall to the demons. Much like the rest of the game, each level’s environments are absolutely stunning and have breathtaking scale to them.

I mentioned in my review of the base game that there was some behind the scenes issues regarding Mick Gordon, the composer for Eternal and DOOM 2016’s highly acclaimed soundtracks, that I didn’t have time to get into because of the review’s length. During Eternal’s development, Mick had to put the game’s score together under completely obscene degrees of crunch, and in the end, wasn’t even paid for a good chunk of his work. When Bethesda promised an official release of the soundtrack, Mick wasn’t consulted, and that soundtrack release was put together by an audio engineer who, with all due respect, didn’t do a very good job. The sound quality of Eternal’s formally released OST isn’t the best, and the music doesn’t sound quite as full as it did in 2016 OST release. After DOOM Eternal came out, Mick Gordon parted ways with iD Software. After Mick’s departure was made public, Marty Stratton, iD Software’s executive producer and the man responsible for Mick’s poor treatment, took to social media to slander Mick, calling him overly demanding and difficult to work with, and he used the power of NDAs to besmirch Mick’s name while he was unable to say a word in his defense. Years later, after those NDAs had expired, Mick Gordon was finally able to publicly defend himself with an extremely long blog post containing irrefutable evidence regarding how he had been treated during his time at iD Software. The fallout between Mick and iD Software is ultimately, very sad, as it was clear that Mick loved working on DOOM. I said it in my base review, and I’ll say it again here: Marty Stratton is a piece of shit, and the fact that he continues to work at iD Software today is disgusting.

With the departure of Mick Gordon, Andrew Hulshult was brought on board to compose the music for both parts of The Ancient Gods. Hulshult is an extremely respectable and skilled metal musician, and is well-known amongst the boomer shooter scene for his love of DOOM and other older shooter franchises. He did the music for modern day boomer shooter indie titles, such as Dusk and Amid Evil. He was the perfect person to replace Mick Gordon, and while I wouldn’t say that his work surpasses the base game’s soundtrack, his skills do shine here. Atlantica and the Blood Swamps’ music is very, very good, with a lot of heavy, yet catchy riffs that capture the game’s aggression and other-worldly feel. The Holt, like I previously said, is unfortunately rather lacking. There isn’t much guitar at all, and it's mostly just forgettable atmospheric bass and electronic noise, which adds further to the disdain I have for that level.

Part One of The Ancient Gods is a decent start to the conclusion of modern DOOM’s story. While it begins with a huge bang and some of the best content Eternal has to offer, as it goes on and the game experiments a bit more with enemy and level design, it unfortunately produces some mixed results that involve a lot of frustrating moments that detract from it a bit. I do think that the highs outweigh the lows though, and that it’s still worth a playthrough. I just don’t recommend playing through it on Nightmare difficulty like I did, unless you’re a completionist that really wants to master the game.

20 YEARS OF GAMING PART 10: HALFWAY POINT

Is Red Dead Redemption 2 a perfect game? Absolutely not. It's a 10/10 in the same way the Breath of the Wild duology are. If rating games was just about "things it does good vs things it does bad" then this game, nor those, would be anywhere CLOSE to a 10/10. And just to satiate that curiosity, I'll quickly run by the issues I do have with it so it doesn't look like I have Rockstar's 100 Work Week Bad Security Dick in my mouth.

Several systems are either super easy to take advantage of or not taken far enough in a way that ruins the immersion that the game otherwise dedicates a whole bunch of time to like the Wanted mechanic, NPC behaviors, weather and temperature, and more. There's a shit ton of trailing missions and some of the shooting galleries can get pretty repetitive. And Chapter V just generally kinda blows.

Now, all of that on its own would drag this game down to a 9 or even an 8/10. But what this game also has is some of the best visuals in any game, an incredibly engrossing open world with a ton of different ways to interact and have fun in it, some incredible music, excellent linear mission design, and one of the best stories in any video game. Arthur Morgan in particular is maybe the best protagonist in any video game ever and the story of him and his gang trying to make it in a dying world that's quickly outliving them is incredibly compelling. It's next level on a video, game, and narrative level so even if there are a good amount of issues I have with it when I really dissect it, the experience I had playing the game was so incredible and so engrossing, that I would feel dirty (at least right now) rating it at that 8 score I was considering. Anyway, onto the second half of this marathon!

Finally finished this and it genuinely blew me away. One of the most ambitious games ever made with a scope that still feels huge decades later. Probably the most deep, unpredictable and utterly insane story I've seen in the medium. It covers any themes they could get past the censors - mental health, organized religion, free will, classism, genocide to name a few. (I don't think the ESRB played past 10 hours.) The presentation is outstanding with dynamic in-engine cutscene direction not over-relying on FMVs. It's a wonderful looking work in general with 2D sprites in dense 3D scifi environments and awesome mech / biblical / eldritch designs. When a lot of other RPGs on the console were using prerendered backgrounds these fully explorable multi-level populated towns seemed magic. The 360 camera made me feel like I was peering into little dioramas. I also enjoy the combat! Fighter style combo inputs either on foot or in giant mechs with complex mechanics and amazing animation.

It's well known that the developers ran out of time and money on the second disc and it becomes apparent with how the storytelling style suddenly changes and it's not nearly as open. This can even be felt in the music with how there isn't nearly enough unique tracks to cover all the different scenes and locations. So Xenogears is categorically unfinished. Disc 1 is really consistent though and by itself is more compelling and fully featured than other entire games. It was one of the longest of its day. If Square had given the team what they needed to complete it as fully envisioned with a Final Fantasy tier budget, it coulda been the best damn RPG ever. Even with those limitations and some frustrating moments, I think Disc 2 really picked up and reeled me back in, and the last hours were peak fiction.

I don't love everything about Xenogears, even the story - it's definitely not flawless and could be brutal to get through at times so I wouldn't usually give a "10/10" BUT I strongly feel that it's a work of art. That rating represents the huge impression it made on me and my respect for the vision and creativity. Anything less wouldn't be right. It continually impressed me for 50 hours and the gameplay remained fun. It's not easily recommendable because of its unintuitive design and sluggish English text speed (you NEED to apply a text speed code). But if you love Chrono Trigger and FF7 you owe it to yourself to try it out... I consider them a holy trinity of sorts.

The way I got this game is... kind of embarassing honestly:

Back in 2010-ish, me and my siblings were watching the atrocious Sony live-action Smurfs Movie.

Absolute bad movie BUT there is a scene where the smurfs and the human characters literally play Guitar Hero. At that time my fathers enters the room, watched the scene and thought "oh that is so cool, I bet my kids will love guitars like me if I get them this game!"
They even hve in bundle a guitar controller, what could possibly go wrong.

SO yeah, this type of cringy product placement in bad movie actually works on people, and after a couple of rewatches of that movie and like a month, we ended up with this game.

And honestly I am not sure how regarded this one is compared to other Guitar Hero Games, but honeslty I have a soft spot for this one.
Not just because these types of games are honestly fun and energetic, but also because at the time it made me discover how much I love rock, and basically "shaped" my taste in music... not to mention that it was a blast playing it with crackhead friends that were also into hard rock and metal music.
Deep Purple, Linkin Park, Avenged Sevenfold, Fall Out Boys, Black Sabbath, DragonForce, The Runaways....
..to this day "Cherry Bomb, "Bat Country" and "We're not gonna take it" are stuck in my head because of this game, and I am sort grateful for that.

Aside from this there is not really a lot to say: aside for having a controller that takes a lot of space, I never remember having a bad time with this game... even tho I nevver been that good at the actual rhytmh.

Fun fact, I actualy thought at the time that the characters you unlock were actual real life rockstars.
I remember looking for albums for Johnny Napalm and Judy Nails and screaming "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY DON'T EXIST?"... that is kinda thinking back of itfunny

"people shit on the library mission all the time, but they forget that the rest of the game is designed just as terribly"
~someone who didn't know shit about shit (2020)

i've been a halo fan for nearly my entire life, but the earliest memories i have of combat evolved are hazy at best. in reality, i am a halo 3 diehard and that game has been the benchmark i've used to judge the series by since 2007

such was the mentality i carried into CE's 2011 anniversary release, where i not only completely misunderstood its level design, but also willingly botched its incredible visuals via the god forsaken toggle for 343's flashlight-phobic and all-around heinously unfaithful overhaul

where halo 3 boasts a wide range of vibrant landscapes and fast-paced, mostly bite-sized levels, CE takes a slower, more methodical and surprisingly tactical approach to shooting (mostly because meleeing isn't as useful as it would later become). stages are designed less around their geometry and more their enemies - all of which are competent foes that pose reasonable threats, especially on legendary, which i feel is the best and only difficulty that demands a solid grasp of the game's mechanics and highlights how useful every weapon really is

the assault rifle particularly gets a lot of undeserved flak. it's a real piece of shit if you just spray and pray, but if you know how to manage your recoil (i.e. tapping the trigger in bursts) it becomes a nigh invaluable midrange tool that can effortlessly dispose of anything that isn't shielded. and when you can keep elites busy dodging grenades (which should be simple, because you usually have 8 of them stocked) it's pretty effective on them as well

and regarding the elephant in the room that is "the library": y'all are still babies. how can you be upset about the stage that finally allows you to use a shotgun nonstop?! the flood are some of the most fun to fight enemies in any shooter, the weapon selection they offer is infinite, and yet you're upset that the halls are same-y in a game where all of the halls are same-y?? are you fucking mad?!?!

that last remark isn't a slight towards the stages at large, either. in fact, i find myself commending levels i've previously bitched about vehemently - most notably "assault on the control room" and its counterpart "two betrayals". the fuck was i even thinking before? one variant is purely ground-based and the other spends half its duration in the air. that's not even mentioning the completely remixed enemy variety or how differently paced the two missions are altogether

oh yeah - cool narrative too. it's simple, but still very interesting especially after completing the marathon trilogy and knowing how similar the two franchises are; right down to details like the flood initially being a scrapped concept from marathon 2 and the forerunners being very similar to the jjaro in general

anyway, very good game. 3's still better though!

Holy shit I was not expecting to have that much fun with this. Nightmare Kart is what happens when someone with too much autism plays a 24 hour marathon of Mario Kart and Bloodborne (or judging by the style this game is going for, Nightmare Creatures). It's a gothic horror hack and slash on wheels, with plenty of grotesque characters to see.

Now when I heard "Bloodborne as a 90's kart racer", I thought "That's probably gonna be fun for 5 minutes, not that great as an actual racer." Nightmare Kart looked at past me with spite, and proceeded to be an amazing and fun as fuck kart racer. The items are simple, yet enjoyable, and the track design is imaginative and fun. Although some mechanics that confused me were the difference between drifting and power braking (although that may just be me being an idiot), and tricks (which you have to do in the air, not while your jumping off a ramp, thanks Mario Kart muscle memory).

Oh, by the way, did you know this game has a story? I haven't seen a kart racer with a story in a long while. You play as the Hunter, racing through gothic streets, spooky forests, and Clock Tower-ass clock towers, all in search for the origin of the Nightmare you're all trapped in. It even has boss fights! Fun boss fights at that! I think Nicholas may be up there as one of my favorite bosses in a video game (he's just so much fun)!

All and all, this game was treat. I loved every second of it, and I might even go back to 100% it.

MAY THIS NIGHTMARE NEVER END!!

An extremely unique, if not occasionally obtuse, adventure that made for a fun and memorable 2 player co-op experience (we left the AIs disabled throughout the playthrough). While I'm usually not a fan of ARPG-style loot-based progression, it was always exciting to get a new highly-ranked drop, especially when it was loaded with interesting passives that encouraged trying out a new playstyle. There was also a ton of freedom when it came to building your character through the skill point system, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I personally played as the Wizard and tearing through hordes of enemies with various lightning bolts, ice storms, and fire balls consistently felt great. I eventually had multiple loadouts each with different selections of spells equipped; it was a blast swapping between them and really forcing myself to manage my resources effectively during some of the longer excursions.

As far as my gripes with Dragon's Crown go, I'd say my primary complaints would be with the often obtuse rune system that always felt a bit too difficult to use in the heat of the moment (skill issue perhaps), a lack of meaningful interactivity in some of the boss fights, and the relatively uninteresting story which culminated in what I felt was an underwhelming ending (though I understand the post-game is quite extensive). The local co-op also often felt like multiple single player games stacked on top of each other rather than a seamless multiplayer experience as only one player can adjust their equipment and accept quests at a time; they definitely could've put more effort into streamlining this. There's also the obvious elephant in the room, which are some of the pretty excessive female character designs; luckily, the art style present throughout the rest of this game is absolutely gorgeous, as we have all grown to expect from Vanillaware at this point.

there's often too much emphasis placed on the value of narrative that is intrinsically gamey - stories that 'can only be told within the parameters and constructs of a game'. the idea here is simple: one wants to demonstrate the value their medium can bring to the table, so naturally any stories that can 'only' exist as a game and would face extreme adaptational hurdles presents the most appealing case for games as art.

i think this line of thought is suffocating, though. leaving aside the fact that this thwarts and diminishes the potential and creativity of other mediums in adaptation, the kinds of narratives that are lauded for best-in-class video game storytelling are often entirely subservient to structure or gimmick, or engage in reflexive and banal meta exercises. what's more, i'd posit that most (maybe even all) video game narratives are only feasible within the context of video games. taking play seriously means looking for the syntax linking the abstraction of mechanics to traditional forms of storytelling and presentation and the bearing that the coalescence of the two has on emotion and thought.

all this is to say that 13 sentinels represents another homecoming for the 'stories that are beholden to complex ADV structure' genre, and that it distinguishes itself from the usual suspects with nothing but endearing and unrelenting passion for its subject matter while considering some surprisingly insightful meditations on japans relationship to the media environment its fostered since the post-war era. character interactions are really fun and they're easy to get attached to, its breezy and freeform format makes for some incredibly comfortable gaming, and yes - it takes a lot of skill to hold a narrative this ridiculously convoluted together. 13 sentinels is practically bursting at the seams, but it's pretty sharp in how it chooses to disseminate its key narrative points. i also found it refreshing in that its far more shoujo than it is shonen.

this is really more of a pulpy 3.5 than a 4 - it's pretty scuffed mechanically and even structurally. it loses a significant amount of steam in the last quarter of the game (having exhausted a lot of its appeal and doing itself no favours when the emotional resonance the final battle should have fails to land), its RTS component can be exhilirating but fails to integrate itself as essential within the ADV structure and is often unbalanced to its own detriment, and certain characters get relegated to expository mouthpieces with only the occasional bursts of charm buoying their place within the game (gouto being the primary offender here).

still, how can i argue with a game in which ultimately, the brash and youthful human spirit triumphs over the petty squabbles and needlessly labyrinthine overcomplications of adults?

You'll enjoy this wild ride of a story if you like any of the following:
- Total Recall
- Terminator
- Source Code
- Godzilla
- Shutter Island
- Pacific Rim
- Groundhog Day
- The War of the Worlds
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Matrix
- Macross
- Mazinger Z
- Evangelion
- Sailor Moon
- Megazone 23
- Steins;Gate
- Remember11
- Virtue's Last Reward
And a shit-ton of other works I haven't played/watched/read that I'm now interested in.

Right from the start, 13 Sentinels sucked me in with its intriguing concept and gorgeous artstyle and it didn’t let me go until I fully experienced all that it had to offer. I got this game during the pandemic when I saw that it was highly recommended by Masahiro Sakurai and Yoko Taro, but I let it sit on my shelf for three years until I finally played it, and I very much regret not playing it sooner.

13 Sentinels’ gameplay is divided into two different genres: half of it is an adventure game starring 13 different protagonists, each with their own narratives with multiple branches that eventually come together to form a single mindbending plot. The other half is a real time strategy game, where the protagonists pilot giant mechs as they defend their home from hordes of invaders. Admittedly, I don’t think that 13 Sentinels does anything better than titles from either genre, but it’s this blend of the two as well as the outstanding quality of its narrative as a whole that makes this game well worth playing.

As I’ve said repeatedly, the narrative of the adventure game half is incredible. However, as an adventure game itself, it’s solid, but by the books. Your “inventory” consists of plot points and objects that you can bring up during conversations or specific events, but the game makes it pretty clear what you’re supposed to use and when. There aren’t really any puzzles in this mode, though for some protagonists, you do need to figure out a specific set of steps in order to trigger a different branch of their story, otherwise you’ll end up repeating branches over and over. Some of these steps can be very obtuse, and I had to look a few of them up, but I didn’t have to do it very frequently and was generally able to figure out how to progress the story on my own. What it lacks in mechanical complexity, it very much makes up for in the complexity and quality of the narrative. I can’t stress enough how good it is. It might be difficult to follow at points due to the terminology of the game and the fact that events aren’t presented in chronological order, but there’s an in-game appendix that you can refer to that does a great job of helping to keep track of all of the different elements of the plot.

The RTS section of the game is also solid, but not spectacular, especially visual wise. The gameplay is visualized by triangles and various shapes representing enemy units on a neon grid. Compared to the gorgeous art and sprites of the adventure portion of the game, it’s kind of disappointing to see the RTS section presented this way, but it’s understandable considering the enormous amount of effort that must have gone into the art for the adventure portion. It almost certainly wasn’t feasible for the devs to maintain that same level of presentation for the RTS portion. As for the gameplay, I found this segment to be pretty fun and engaging, there’s a lot to learn at first, but you eventually get used to what upgrades you need to prioritize and how best to take down enemy units. The difficulty for this section felt very skewed. It has the typical easy-normal-intense levels of difficulty, and I mostly played it on normal, which felt too easy until towards the end, where there’s a pretty big spike in difficulty that really took me by surprise. This segment provides you with a lot of replay value, as it ranks how well you do each mission and gives you a lot of various upgrades for each pilot that allows you to tackle the missions again on the higher difficulty. Despite my enjoyment though, I don’t really see myself coming back to it to improve my score.

I also need to mention this game’s voice acting. I actually played this with the English dub, and it was phenomenal. It is leagues above the English dub for almost any game I’ve ever played, and that is no exaggeration. Each actor’s performance was tremendous. No one sounded out of place, everything felt very natural and I was absolutely sold and enamored with each character. The dub really helped to elevate the already fantastic narrative, and made each character feel like a real person. If you are someone who prefers to play Japanese games with Japanese voice acting, I highly, highly encourage you to give this dub a shot. You will not be disappointed.

13 Sentinels’ amazing narrative and unique blend of two very different styles of gameplay make for an extraordinary experience. Don’t hold off on this game like I did. If you enjoy science fiction stories, 13 Sentinels delivers one of the most in-depth, emotional, gripping, and thrilling narratives out there, with engaging albeit simple RTS gameplay that compliments it surprisingly well. I implore you to give this game a go. It’s an experience that definitely won’t be leaving my mind for some time.

More than 13 Sentinels: Aegis Pacific Rim is an enthralling visual novel that will take the player through a proverbial and literal loop in its phenomenal take on the science fiction and artificial intelligence.

For those familiar with my writeups, they'll know I don't really touch on story spoilers and that holds especially true with visual novels such as this. I will say, this story had me interested the whole way throughout even if my retention of said story was questionable at best. It gets rather convoluted, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The entire game being voice acted helped an astronomic amount with being able to parse the story's intricate narrative and keep me awake through its north of fourty hour (for me) runtime. Even reading a synopsis right now of what I couldn't fully understand/missed out on has helped me pull together what an awesome story this is. If you're a sucker for time travel in science fiction, 13 Sentinels is the game for you.

Previously I had been very adverse to Vanillaware's trademark character art style, but it really showed through in their most recent bout. Characters are all unique and varied from one another, realistic, and easy to remember... but the real hero is the drop-dead gorgeous environment/background art. Colours shine through and help breathe air into making the living parts of the game feel real. Trees have a beautiful green/red sheen to them, the sun shines on the school and cityscape with an artistic flare, and the actual city itself is strikingly detailed.

Gameplay in the RTS segment was funadmentally basic but also quite enjoyable. It's the right level of difficulty in a game like this where you have to think a little bit as to not destroy your party, but don't have to sweat it out in thirty minute long battles like you would in an Advance Wars. The visuals here were like eye candy for me though, lots of awesome bright colors, explosions, and lasers... what more could you ask for!

I'd strongly recommend 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim for any fans of science fiction and/or visual novels.