RoyalFury
Best story and themes, the Pokedex has some pretty odd looking mons but most look very nice once you get used to them, lots of places to explore for this franchise and fantastic soundtrack.This is where objectively the mainline Pokemon games peaked
2006
A true masterpiece, fantastic from it's artistic presentation and gameplay, easy to pick up and rewarding to master, with a colorful world just begging to be explored. The story is simple yet full of both comical and emotive moments, especially at the end, the final boss is one of the best I've ever encountered in gaming, taking advantage of everything you've learned so far, not to mention the incredible music. This is a game everyone should try at least once on their lifetime.
This review contains spoilers
Have you ever experienced the feeling when encountering a new piece of media, might that be a book, movie, music, game... that you feel from the very beggining that it was made for you? That you realize from square one that this is going to be something that caters to your tastes all the way through? Something that impacts you deeply for a long time or even the rest of your life? There have been many games for me that had done this, the top five you can see on my profile, but Soul Reaver is probably one of the more special and personal ones to me and the only reason is not there is because I can't decide which of the other five should I exchange it with.
God there's just... so many things that I want to say about this game and it'll still feel like it whouldn't be enough.
I still remember vividly the first time many years ago booting up the game and seeing the intro cutscene, which I highly recommend the person reading this to do on YouTube, and being completely enamoured with everything. The music that scales up as the cutscene goes, the character design that is just SO late 90's/early 2000's horror-esque, the narration which is just so epic and catched my full attention immediately, the scenery that has these warm hues that contrast with the tension of the entire thing, the moment Raziel is thrown to the lake of the dead bein during a warm orange sunset, it ending with the tentacle mass that is the room of the Elder God, and the Elder God itself claiming that "you are worthy" after experiencing centuries of torture. Nothing compares to me.
Since we are talking about "worthy", Raziel is such an interesting character to me. If you don't know the full extent of the lore it doesn't impact you as much but the game makes a great job on being very clear that Raziel has a very important role on the bigger scale of Nosgoth's destiny, the imagery of him being a doomed messiah, how when he falls at the beggining or glides his model reminds me of an angel (the credits have art that reflect this as well), his mission of saving the land tie him with destroying his previous master but at the same time discovering the truth of himself and his brothers only to kill them, and how in a way he is mirroring what Kain did and suffered centuries ago. Is so tragic, so compelling, so well written.
And the writting, man the writting. Not just on the intro but throught all the game, something made by people who know how to write and WANT to write a story, want to write the dialogues of these characters like an epic tale unfolding in front of you. Don't want to sound like an old person being all "back in my day things were better", but I don't like how something like this is not as common anymore, maybe because in current times it whould be seen as too edgy or
pretentious? I don't like the way how current writting is full of ironic banter towards the craft, stuff like this feels so cool and genuine and rich. I mean, even the tutorial is narrated that way, and I adore the way the characters talk.
Quick mention here for the music, which I think is stellar and that every single track is amazing and very unique, who whould've thought that an indie electro pop band could do such a banger OST for such a grimmy looking game?
The world of Nosgoth might be dying, but it also feels like it was lived in. The entire map is so full of details that enhance this, mural paintings, decorations, exquisite architecture, all of it inspired by multiple cultures but implemented so masterfully that it feels like something new, a unique set of lands with their own customs and beliefs. All of this with a strong gothic influence of the time, plus the nice color palletes it has, it does feel very vampiric to me.
And speaking of the enviroments, they are fantastic for platforming, not sure what it is but even when climbable places can be kind of obvious sometimes, the architecture of certain buildings makes it feel like it was not intentional. I mean this as like, the programmers saw real life buldings and modeled the in game ones based on how climbable they looked, like it was natural. And the gliding ability opens the space so much, exploring can be so fun.
And speaking of exploring, some people claim this to be the first "3D Metroidvania" but it doesn't have the RPG elements that truly defines those games (leveling up, different equipments, stats, etc), so I feel like this is more closer to "the first 3D Metroid like", and what an exceptionally good game it is at that, the use of 3D spaces is phenomenal for exploring, puzzles, platforming, and so on.
And the main mechanic, the biggest thing for when it comes to playability. Changing between the spirit and material realm not only serves the narrative cohesively, but is basically having two maps on one. The already massive world map can be re explored at any time on a twisted and cold new look and to explore a new geometry with new platforms or places that open up to explore or solve puzzles, AND which also serves as a way to replenish your health or to catch up with souls that might've escaped you on the physical realm.
Ah, also the soul mechanic is so cool? If you don't feed on an enemy soul it can fade into the spirit realm and turn into a stronger enemy? Or if you didn't destroy the body of the defeated enemy it can turn it back to life? Genius.
This is a game that I've noticed, is not very talked about despite being so innovating on many aspects for it's time, in so many things that even with this long ass review I barely scratched the surface of it, the few people that know and finished this game will tell you how good it is, how many new things it did right, then why isn't it remembered as much as the other classics?
This is where the few hiccups Soul Reaver has pop up, you start to notice areas way too big being used only to guard a single glyph. Glyphs whose power is not really that useful once you unlock the fire or light one, how at the end of the game it feels like a rushed series of puzzles, how the human citadel has no bigger purpose, how it seems like there's a brother missing, how the ending (which looks super cool I love that last cutscene) is a cliffhanger. And then if you look into it you find out that massive parts of the game had to be cut. Areas that connected everything together further, characters completely scrapped with story and mechanics so unique as well, deleted from existence so late in development that their lines were even translated into every language the game was avaliable at, how the glyphs were going to serve to solve more complex puzzles, how there was supposed to be an ending.
I feel it is a bit unfair thinking of what it coul've have been, when the game as it is is amazing and I love it, but I can't help but wonder had the vision been fulfilled could Soul Reaver be remembered as the innovative classic that I feel it deserves to be remembered as? I think that there are some rumors about a possible remake or reboot but idk, it is a good chance to implement everything back but I feel part of the game's essence was due to the time it came out in, but who knows, it still has a lot of stuff going for that I haven't seen other games try...
Back then when I played this on my Dreamcast (which is the port I recommend the most, it runs better and looks better, I think the PC version is based off this one too) I never could go that far, the console was an used gift and lacked a memory card, so no saving for me. And yet every day I whould repeat the same cutscene and the same tutorial with the same joy, and every day I whould try to go a bit further, which was hard since I liked the maps so much that I whould explore the same places over and over. With the years I lost the console and the game, but it remained a fond memory of my childhood. Untill now, when I could finish it for the first time (only lacking the 100% because I missed a heath upgrade somewhere...), and I don't know if you could call this nostalgia, sometimes you like something as a kid and when you grow up not anymore or you experience it further and the magic wears off. But for me, for this game, it was that feeling of wonder the entire time, with every new thing that I avoyded spoilers of for years I loved it all the way, every aspect still caters to my tastes and for what I tend to look for in media.
Please give this game a chance.
Somehow it feels like it was made for me, and that it was waiting for me all these years, is such a feeling of satisfaction to finally give this story (some sort of) closure and truly give it the title of one of my favorite games of all time.
God there's just... so many things that I want to say about this game and it'll still feel like it whouldn't be enough.
I still remember vividly the first time many years ago booting up the game and seeing the intro cutscene, which I highly recommend the person reading this to do on YouTube, and being completely enamoured with everything. The music that scales up as the cutscene goes, the character design that is just SO late 90's/early 2000's horror-esque, the narration which is just so epic and catched my full attention immediately, the scenery that has these warm hues that contrast with the tension of the entire thing, the moment Raziel is thrown to the lake of the dead bein during a warm orange sunset, it ending with the tentacle mass that is the room of the Elder God, and the Elder God itself claiming that "you are worthy" after experiencing centuries of torture. Nothing compares to me.
Since we are talking about "worthy", Raziel is such an interesting character to me. If you don't know the full extent of the lore it doesn't impact you as much but the game makes a great job on being very clear that Raziel has a very important role on the bigger scale of Nosgoth's destiny, the imagery of him being a doomed messiah, how when he falls at the beggining or glides his model reminds me of an angel (the credits have art that reflect this as well), his mission of saving the land tie him with destroying his previous master but at the same time discovering the truth of himself and his brothers only to kill them, and how in a way he is mirroring what Kain did and suffered centuries ago. Is so tragic, so compelling, so well written.
And the writting, man the writting. Not just on the intro but throught all the game, something made by people who know how to write and WANT to write a story, want to write the dialogues of these characters like an epic tale unfolding in front of you. Don't want to sound like an old person being all "back in my day things were better", but I don't like how something like this is not as common anymore, maybe because in current times it whould be seen as too edgy or
pretentious? I don't like the way how current writting is full of ironic banter towards the craft, stuff like this feels so cool and genuine and rich. I mean, even the tutorial is narrated that way, and I adore the way the characters talk.
Quick mention here for the music, which I think is stellar and that every single track is amazing and very unique, who whould've thought that an indie electro pop band could do such a banger OST for such a grimmy looking game?
The world of Nosgoth might be dying, but it also feels like it was lived in. The entire map is so full of details that enhance this, mural paintings, decorations, exquisite architecture, all of it inspired by multiple cultures but implemented so masterfully that it feels like something new, a unique set of lands with their own customs and beliefs. All of this with a strong gothic influence of the time, plus the nice color palletes it has, it does feel very vampiric to me.
And speaking of the enviroments, they are fantastic for platforming, not sure what it is but even when climbable places can be kind of obvious sometimes, the architecture of certain buildings makes it feel like it was not intentional. I mean this as like, the programmers saw real life buldings and modeled the in game ones based on how climbable they looked, like it was natural. And the gliding ability opens the space so much, exploring can be so fun.
And speaking of exploring, some people claim this to be the first "3D Metroidvania" but it doesn't have the RPG elements that truly defines those games (leveling up, different equipments, stats, etc), so I feel like this is more closer to "the first 3D Metroid like", and what an exceptionally good game it is at that, the use of 3D spaces is phenomenal for exploring, puzzles, platforming, and so on.
And the main mechanic, the biggest thing for when it comes to playability. Changing between the spirit and material realm not only serves the narrative cohesively, but is basically having two maps on one. The already massive world map can be re explored at any time on a twisted and cold new look and to explore a new geometry with new platforms or places that open up to explore or solve puzzles, AND which also serves as a way to replenish your health or to catch up with souls that might've escaped you on the physical realm.
Ah, also the soul mechanic is so cool? If you don't feed on an enemy soul it can fade into the spirit realm and turn into a stronger enemy? Or if you didn't destroy the body of the defeated enemy it can turn it back to life? Genius.
This is a game that I've noticed, is not very talked about despite being so innovating on many aspects for it's time, in so many things that even with this long ass review I barely scratched the surface of it, the few people that know and finished this game will tell you how good it is, how many new things it did right, then why isn't it remembered as much as the other classics?
This is where the few hiccups Soul Reaver has pop up, you start to notice areas way too big being used only to guard a single glyph. Glyphs whose power is not really that useful once you unlock the fire or light one, how at the end of the game it feels like a rushed series of puzzles, how the human citadel has no bigger purpose, how it seems like there's a brother missing, how the ending (which looks super cool I love that last cutscene) is a cliffhanger. And then if you look into it you find out that massive parts of the game had to be cut. Areas that connected everything together further, characters completely scrapped with story and mechanics so unique as well, deleted from existence so late in development that their lines were even translated into every language the game was avaliable at, how the glyphs were going to serve to solve more complex puzzles, how there was supposed to be an ending.
I feel it is a bit unfair thinking of what it coul've have been, when the game as it is is amazing and I love it, but I can't help but wonder had the vision been fulfilled could Soul Reaver be remembered as the innovative classic that I feel it deserves to be remembered as? I think that there are some rumors about a possible remake or reboot but idk, it is a good chance to implement everything back but I feel part of the game's essence was due to the time it came out in, but who knows, it still has a lot of stuff going for that I haven't seen other games try...
Back then when I played this on my Dreamcast (which is the port I recommend the most, it runs better and looks better, I think the PC version is based off this one too) I never could go that far, the console was an used gift and lacked a memory card, so no saving for me. And yet every day I whould repeat the same cutscene and the same tutorial with the same joy, and every day I whould try to go a bit further, which was hard since I liked the maps so much that I whould explore the same places over and over. With the years I lost the console and the game, but it remained a fond memory of my childhood. Untill now, when I could finish it for the first time (only lacking the 100% because I missed a heath upgrade somewhere...), and I don't know if you could call this nostalgia, sometimes you like something as a kid and when you grow up not anymore or you experience it further and the magic wears off. But for me, for this game, it was that feeling of wonder the entire time, with every new thing that I avoyded spoilers of for years I loved it all the way, every aspect still caters to my tastes and for what I tend to look for in media.
Please give this game a chance.
Somehow it feels like it was made for me, and that it was waiting for me all these years, is such a feeling of satisfaction to finally give this story (some sort of) closure and truly give it the title of one of my favorite games of all time.
After finishing Silent Hill four times in a row I wanted something cuter to cleanse my palate a bit, and did this fully deliver!
The entire world Klonoa was intentionally made to look like a children's fantasy storybook, something that you whould read a kid before sleep to have sweet dreams, this is not only one of the prettiest PS1 games I've seen, but it might be the one with the strongest art direction. Everything from the colors, character and level design, even the way characters talk in cutesy gibberish during cutscenes, but some things like names are clearly heard, like we're listening to some fantasy language, it all oozes that childlike joy that I also relate a lot to some artistic trends from Japan during the late 90's (specifically the movie Catnapped or Little Nemo) and that I also consider very pretty and nostalgic.
I wasn't expecting the game to be a bit sad at times. Of course it is still within what you'll expect from a fairytale where our hero or their world must go through some hardship, it was a surprising touch that added a bit more to what is a simple yet very enjoyable story if you still remember those old childhood fables.
Gameplay is simple, but it takes advantage to every avaliable action that can be performed into a 2.5D space to the max. Making the player able to see platforms on a different plane that you can later explore gives a great sense of depth to the levels, moreso in the cases when we can interact with them by throwing enemies (quick detail here that I forgot to mention, the enemies on their ball forms are adorable, every single one could make great plushies) or just to keep the space consistent. Even the lackluster glide Klonoa does makes all the difference in some late game jumping distance.
A small detail that I notice is that besides map modeling, only the bosses are fully 3D modeled, I don't know if it's just me but I think it may be a way to convey how otherworldy and different these enemies are now that they are influenced by the power of nightmares, Ghadius being in that state constantly adds a bit to his presence...
Overall a very cute and worthwile experience (even if a bit short compared to other platformers), with fantastic visuals, cute and heartfelt vibes, and great music.
The entire world Klonoa was intentionally made to look like a children's fantasy storybook, something that you whould read a kid before sleep to have sweet dreams, this is not only one of the prettiest PS1 games I've seen, but it might be the one with the strongest art direction. Everything from the colors, character and level design, even the way characters talk in cutesy gibberish during cutscenes, but some things like names are clearly heard, like we're listening to some fantasy language, it all oozes that childlike joy that I also relate a lot to some artistic trends from Japan during the late 90's (specifically the movie Catnapped or Little Nemo) and that I also consider very pretty and nostalgic.
I wasn't expecting the game to be a bit sad at times. Of course it is still within what you'll expect from a fairytale where our hero or their world must go through some hardship, it was a surprising touch that added a bit more to what is a simple yet very enjoyable story if you still remember those old childhood fables.
Gameplay is simple, but it takes advantage to every avaliable action that can be performed into a 2.5D space to the max. Making the player able to see platforms on a different plane that you can later explore gives a great sense of depth to the levels, moreso in the cases when we can interact with them by throwing enemies (quick detail here that I forgot to mention, the enemies on their ball forms are adorable, every single one could make great plushies) or just to keep the space consistent. Even the lackluster glide Klonoa does makes all the difference in some late game jumping distance.
A small detail that I notice is that besides map modeling, only the bosses are fully 3D modeled, I don't know if it's just me but I think it may be a way to convey how otherworldy and different these enemies are now that they are influenced by the power of nightmares, Ghadius being in that state constantly adds a bit to his presence...
Overall a very cute and worthwile experience (even if a bit short compared to other platformers), with fantastic visuals, cute and heartfelt vibes, and great music.
1998
This review contains spoilers
I was not expecting to like this game much, but I loved from the second the narrator started talking about the story of the great battle against Zarok, a heroic tale of good vs evil. And the you find out that it was a lie, and it's so funny.
Sir Daniel's tale of redemption is very charming and noble, I'd argue that the game, although making fun of him, raises the point that anyone can be a hero, and sure Fortesque's a bit of a coward but he DID march in the front line in battle, and finally being able to properly guide a small army to victory at the end is a great touch. Getting made fun of across the game for your death is funny, but in a way is encouraging you to try harder to succeed in your quest.
And another thing that encourages you to try harder is the level design, man is it good. Levels are short but build with many paths that eventually connect together, you can finish them fast if you know what to do or if you need to revisit them later.
Of course you have to talk about how this game looks and sounds. The gothic atmosphere is fantastic, I see people calling it "Burtonesque" and I see the inspiration, but it takes influences from many other twisted places, a detail that I love is that I feel like the developers got inspired by actual old medieval paintings, I say this for the colors and the designs of some creatures, animals and Zarok's final form specifically. At one point in the level "The Lake" you go underwater and see weird blue elephants swimming, I'm not sure if it was intentional but it reminded me of old bestiaries and how they mistook some animals for others or tried to mix animals that they knew to try and represent others, idk if they tried to represent something like that in here but I really liked it. But although charming and colorful this game is from a time where "kid horror" was stil horror, there's implications of darkness and death all over the place, some enemies looks and sound terryfing, hell at one point you find a kind of zombie that's impaled to the ground and tries to run towards you to try and stab YOU with the stick coming out of it's body.
This world also feels so alive, there's little bits of lore that come back all over the place, the stories behind certain places, how you get a mention of Zarok's champion being killed shortly after you, and then you fight him at the end of the game! Is amazing.
What hinders the experience a bit is the difficulty, or rather how the game handles it. Sir Daniel feels stiff to move, heavy, and the running momentum is hard to start and to end, this thematically makes sense, him being a skeleton came to life after centuries being stiff in a tomb, but some levels just are not kind to his moveset. At one point I started to think that this game was "baby's first Soulslike", mostly due to some things I noticed in level design, the chalice mechanic, and how 50% of your deaths are going to be you slipping and falling to the abyss somewhere you didn't see properly. Plus I swear some enemies later on are straight up unfair, I bet some developers just thought "this is late game we should make the enemies harder uhhh, I know give them more health/a way to shield, make their hitboxes insane and raise the damage", Sir Daniel's own hitboxes do not help, thank goodness I was going for 100% the second you get the Magic sword is an instant relief.
Leaving that last bit behind, this game was right up my alley, an epic quest for redemption in a gothic land, I loved it a lot :)
Sir Daniel's tale of redemption is very charming and noble, I'd argue that the game, although making fun of him, raises the point that anyone can be a hero, and sure Fortesque's a bit of a coward but he DID march in the front line in battle, and finally being able to properly guide a small army to victory at the end is a great touch. Getting made fun of across the game for your death is funny, but in a way is encouraging you to try harder to succeed in your quest.
And another thing that encourages you to try harder is the level design, man is it good. Levels are short but build with many paths that eventually connect together, you can finish them fast if you know what to do or if you need to revisit them later.
Of course you have to talk about how this game looks and sounds. The gothic atmosphere is fantastic, I see people calling it "Burtonesque" and I see the inspiration, but it takes influences from many other twisted places, a detail that I love is that I feel like the developers got inspired by actual old medieval paintings, I say this for the colors and the designs of some creatures, animals and Zarok's final form specifically. At one point in the level "The Lake" you go underwater and see weird blue elephants swimming, I'm not sure if it was intentional but it reminded me of old bestiaries and how they mistook some animals for others or tried to mix animals that they knew to try and represent others, idk if they tried to represent something like that in here but I really liked it. But although charming and colorful this game is from a time where "kid horror" was stil horror, there's implications of darkness and death all over the place, some enemies looks and sound terryfing, hell at one point you find a kind of zombie that's impaled to the ground and tries to run towards you to try and stab YOU with the stick coming out of it's body.
This world also feels so alive, there's little bits of lore that come back all over the place, the stories behind certain places, how you get a mention of Zarok's champion being killed shortly after you, and then you fight him at the end of the game! Is amazing.
What hinders the experience a bit is the difficulty, or rather how the game handles it. Sir Daniel feels stiff to move, heavy, and the running momentum is hard to start and to end, this thematically makes sense, him being a skeleton came to life after centuries being stiff in a tomb, but some levels just are not kind to his moveset. At one point I started to think that this game was "baby's first Soulslike", mostly due to some things I noticed in level design, the chalice mechanic, and how 50% of your deaths are going to be you slipping and falling to the abyss somewhere you didn't see properly. Plus I swear some enemies later on are straight up unfair, I bet some developers just thought "this is late game we should make the enemies harder uhhh, I know give them more health/a way to shield, make their hitboxes insane and raise the damage", Sir Daniel's own hitboxes do not help, thank goodness I was going for 100% the second you get the Magic sword is an instant relief.
Leaving that last bit behind, this game was right up my alley, an epic quest for redemption in a gothic land, I loved it a lot :)
2014
I will never forgive Konami
There's too much to say about this game and what it represents in so many levels, especially if you played it after experiencing Ocarina of Time.
The tone is completely different from the very beggining, the intro cutscene showing a vibrant Clock Town full of life and the impending doom that's looming above them.
The three day cicle fixes something that a lot of games inevitable suffer from, the routine of the NPC's feels more natural and makes them more alive, the map although small compresses so much more stuff to do and see, so much more people to talk to, and most actually having something worth listening.
Of course what draws almost everyone is how weird, or rather, sad this game is, the people of Termina know that they're going to die, they actually say it out loud, the detail of the guards breathing heavily in the last day while looking at the Moon but refusing to move from their place is something that has stuck with me for years. There's so many dark implications presented up front of the personal dramas of this world, very unlike anything Nintendo has done before or after.
And another thing I really love about this game is both how it sounds and looks, the original pieces of music composed for this game fit perfectly with the places they're designed too, they sound a bit less like ambience and more like actual music trying to tell you a story about where you are. And for the looks, you expect such a game to be dark and grimmy, but is overly colorful and oniric in looks, it's almost like an attack to your senses at times and it works so well with the themes.
It is inevitable to compare this game to OoT, considering that is pretty much a sequel that uses the exact same engine and reuses most models, but Majora stands in it's own by a simple fact, Ocarina is the golden pedestal of the Zelda series by their creators, what they compared each of their games to for years. Majora is what the series true potential could be, because with what is essentialy so little change they created a completely different and in my opinion, more heartfelt experience, maybe it was a product of circumstance, but I am glad that it exist, especially in a world where this kind of games are almost impossible to come across anymore.
I could say more but it'd be spoilers, and this game is worth going in blind
PS I also recommend playing OoT first if only to feel a better contrast with pretty much everything.
The tone is completely different from the very beggining, the intro cutscene showing a vibrant Clock Town full of life and the impending doom that's looming above them.
The three day cicle fixes something that a lot of games inevitable suffer from, the routine of the NPC's feels more natural and makes them more alive, the map although small compresses so much more stuff to do and see, so much more people to talk to, and most actually having something worth listening.
Of course what draws almost everyone is how weird, or rather, sad this game is, the people of Termina know that they're going to die, they actually say it out loud, the detail of the guards breathing heavily in the last day while looking at the Moon but refusing to move from their place is something that has stuck with me for years. There's so many dark implications presented up front of the personal dramas of this world, very unlike anything Nintendo has done before or after.
And another thing I really love about this game is both how it sounds and looks, the original pieces of music composed for this game fit perfectly with the places they're designed too, they sound a bit less like ambience and more like actual music trying to tell you a story about where you are. And for the looks, you expect such a game to be dark and grimmy, but is overly colorful and oniric in looks, it's almost like an attack to your senses at times and it works so well with the themes.
It is inevitable to compare this game to OoT, considering that is pretty much a sequel that uses the exact same engine and reuses most models, but Majora stands in it's own by a simple fact, Ocarina is the golden pedestal of the Zelda series by their creators, what they compared each of their games to for years. Majora is what the series true potential could be, because with what is essentialy so little change they created a completely different and in my opinion, more heartfelt experience, maybe it was a product of circumstance, but I am glad that it exist, especially in a world where this kind of games are almost impossible to come across anymore.
I could say more but it'd be spoilers, and this game is worth going in blind
PS I also recommend playing OoT first if only to feel a better contrast with pretty much everything.
1998
I have a "tradition" to 100% this game at an average of once per year. In some aspects is pretty superior to other platformers from it's era while it lacks in some aspects compared to others. I'm not sure if it has aged as well as I think but is very fun to play once you get used to the movements and the surprising speed in which you can finish a level.
This is a classic for sure and one of Rare's best games from that time, flaws and all; level designs is colorful and fun, music is sublime and characters are full of personality, the final boss fight is long and hard but a learning experience that becomes very rewarding when beaten.
I just love this game a lot and is such a breeze to play every time for me.
To close I'd like to recommend the XBox version a bit more for first time players, since it adds some quality of life improvements.
This is a classic for sure and one of Rare's best games from that time, flaws and all; level designs is colorful and fun, music is sublime and characters are full of personality, the final boss fight is long and hard but a learning experience that becomes very rewarding when beaten.
I just love this game a lot and is such a breeze to play every time for me.
To close I'd like to recommend the XBox version a bit more for first time players, since it adds some quality of life improvements.
Kirby gameplay with the game design of a Metroid like game is a genius idea, however it lacks interesting and distinctive zones that could help the player memorize the map sections or remember something interesting to come back to later.
The in game map doesn't help, in fact nothing s explained to the player, and although I can see some people liking that I personally find it annoying.
This is also around the time where the art style in Kirby games slightly changed and I don't like it. I can't point exactly what it is but it feels a bit more "generic platformer levels" compared to the previous entries that had some sort of "celestial" or "space" or "faraway starland" vibe to then, vene if it was just in some graphical textures or color palletes.
However this still plays like a dream which is something Kirby never fails at, the co-op is an improvement from previous games and the fact that you can use the AI in solo play can result in interesting puzzle solving.
I wish they could give this formula another try, with better understanding of this somewhat niche genre and Forgotten Land's 3D movement we could have the pieces for an incredible Kirby game.
In the meantime I'm just not entretained enough with this one to see it through, at least for now...
The in game map doesn't help, in fact nothing s explained to the player, and although I can see some people liking that I personally find it annoying.
This is also around the time where the art style in Kirby games slightly changed and I don't like it. I can't point exactly what it is but it feels a bit more "generic platformer levels" compared to the previous entries that had some sort of "celestial" or "space" or "faraway starland" vibe to then, vene if it was just in some graphical textures or color palletes.
However this still plays like a dream which is something Kirby never fails at, the co-op is an improvement from previous games and the fact that you can use the AI in solo play can result in interesting puzzle solving.
I wish they could give this formula another try, with better understanding of this somewhat niche genre and Forgotten Land's 3D movement we could have the pieces for an incredible Kirby game.
In the meantime I'm just not entretained enough with this one to see it through, at least for now...
1996
This game had an undeniable impact in the industry, and is still a good play experience today, but it has not aged well compared even with other plataformers of it's time. Mario controls a bit clunky, the movement that was so praised back in the day does not feel the same anymore. The level design is great, but again is flawed in small aspects of visuals and some unfair obstacle placement here and there.
Overall is still a very nice and fun game to play, but it clings a lot to it's status in the gaming world.
Overall is still a very nice and fun game to play, but it clings a lot to it's status in the gaming world.
1999
This review contains spoilers
I finished the game for the first time some months ago (I got the bad ending which I actually liked, is this the first instance of a game going "the protagonist is dead and it's all on his head" played seriously?), but I did abstain myself from giving it a solid veredict untill I experienced at least another ending, just to be fair.
I've avoided spoilers for this game for literal years, something about the general vibes I got from the few glances I got from this game told me that it was worth it untill I could finally play it, and I was right.
I want to start with the obvious, I think that this game is beautiful. The thing with the fog hiding the city enough so that it can render properly (that gaming fun fact everyone knows) works so good in action, I think the misterious atmosphere is great, it feels oppresive but in a way a bit relaxing, and the illusion of a map of such size on a ps1 is impressive even if you know what's going on. I love the care in which the city was built, I surprised myself thinking "wow I whould actually like to spend a small vacation here, fog and monsters aside this looks like a pretty town", the details on the structures and shops and houses are very charming, and that adds to the uneasiness of them being fully abandoned.
I feel this way towards the Other World too, I am a fan of old horror movie sets, body horror and stuff. I truly believe that they are aesthetically pretty.
Oh and the cutscenes look very good for the time, very expresive and good looking faces.
The main thing of course, the meat of the game it's the horror. This is one of those pieces of media that you know were super influential to many that came after and when you experience it you get why. Just the starting premise, the anxiety of a father looking for his lost daughter alone is nerve wracking, and things keep piling on and on and on.
The oniric, almost hypnotic feel of it all, coupled with the fixed camera in some areas sell the experience as a horror tv show or movie perfectly.
And for a while that was it for me, I explored a bit, moved on with the story, the monsters stopped being scary and started being annoying mostly, I got the bad ending and I was ready to leave it as being a spooky gaming experience.
And then there on the screen on big golden letters it reads "New Fear".
I immediately started a new playthrough.
I think that not seeing the intro cutscene is intentional, being pitch black before Harry wakes up again at the very beggining. To me that alone made something click, the cyclical nature of the horrors and everything that Silent Hill represents, it's all a special neverending nightmare for every character involved, it was genius.
I explored more, I discovered more that the game has so many little secrets and references.
I started being more careful with enemies since the difficulty was up, I started rationing my ammom started being more careful on my routes, I started actually fearing the ringing of my radio, at one point I just turned off the light and walked through hallways solwly avoiding enemies prayind that they won't bump into me so I whouldn't have to make a run for it just yet. The real danger had set in for me and I loved it.
The more I discovered of the characters too, but especially Alessa, with the full context of Silent Hill being a manifestation of the horrible trauma that she cannot escape from, not even with death, and how said trauma swallows everyone else and her town, all thanks to the hands of the people that were supposed to protect her, a child, her mother and doctor. I feel bad for not being able to articulate this better, but the more you look into certain parts of the game with those lenses it makes some details hit you harder, that classroom with the single desk at the end of Nowhere hit especially hard for me...
Harry's involvement into this feels like a coincidense but something tells me that it was not, especially with what I saw getting the Good Ending the second time around, how much can you step into the physical manifestation of the psyche of a suffering person untill it merges with a part of you? This was what (can potentially) kill Cybil, what can it do to Harry or his daughter.
There's too much to talk about this game and a lot has already been said, I'll just leave it at that by the end of playthrough number 2 I was enchanted with it all.
Something sinister yet beautifull calls you to Silent Hill, and to me that's proof of the game acomplishing it's goal.
Eh what the hell, another playthrough won't hurt.
I've avoided spoilers for this game for literal years, something about the general vibes I got from the few glances I got from this game told me that it was worth it untill I could finally play it, and I was right.
I want to start with the obvious, I think that this game is beautiful. The thing with the fog hiding the city enough so that it can render properly (that gaming fun fact everyone knows) works so good in action, I think the misterious atmosphere is great, it feels oppresive but in a way a bit relaxing, and the illusion of a map of such size on a ps1 is impressive even if you know what's going on. I love the care in which the city was built, I surprised myself thinking "wow I whould actually like to spend a small vacation here, fog and monsters aside this looks like a pretty town", the details on the structures and shops and houses are very charming, and that adds to the uneasiness of them being fully abandoned.
I feel this way towards the Other World too, I am a fan of old horror movie sets, body horror and stuff. I truly believe that they are aesthetically pretty.
Oh and the cutscenes look very good for the time, very expresive and good looking faces.
The main thing of course, the meat of the game it's the horror. This is one of those pieces of media that you know were super influential to many that came after and when you experience it you get why. Just the starting premise, the anxiety of a father looking for his lost daughter alone is nerve wracking, and things keep piling on and on and on.
The oniric, almost hypnotic feel of it all, coupled with the fixed camera in some areas sell the experience as a horror tv show or movie perfectly.
And for a while that was it for me, I explored a bit, moved on with the story, the monsters stopped being scary and started being annoying mostly, I got the bad ending and I was ready to leave it as being a spooky gaming experience.
And then there on the screen on big golden letters it reads "New Fear".
I immediately started a new playthrough.
I think that not seeing the intro cutscene is intentional, being pitch black before Harry wakes up again at the very beggining. To me that alone made something click, the cyclical nature of the horrors and everything that Silent Hill represents, it's all a special neverending nightmare for every character involved, it was genius.
I explored more, I discovered more that the game has so many little secrets and references.
I started being more careful with enemies since the difficulty was up, I started rationing my ammom started being more careful on my routes, I started actually fearing the ringing of my radio, at one point I just turned off the light and walked through hallways solwly avoiding enemies prayind that they won't bump into me so I whouldn't have to make a run for it just yet. The real danger had set in for me and I loved it.
The more I discovered of the characters too, but especially Alessa, with the full context of Silent Hill being a manifestation of the horrible trauma that she cannot escape from, not even with death, and how said trauma swallows everyone else and her town, all thanks to the hands of the people that were supposed to protect her, a child, her mother and doctor. I feel bad for not being able to articulate this better, but the more you look into certain parts of the game with those lenses it makes some details hit you harder, that classroom with the single desk at the end of Nowhere hit especially hard for me...
Harry's involvement into this feels like a coincidense but something tells me that it was not, especially with what I saw getting the Good Ending the second time around, how much can you step into the physical manifestation of the psyche of a suffering person untill it merges with a part of you? This was what (can potentially) kill Cybil, what can it do to Harry or his daughter.
There's too much to talk about this game and a lot has already been said, I'll just leave it at that by the end of playthrough number 2 I was enchanted with it all.
Something sinister yet beautifull calls you to Silent Hill, and to me that's proof of the game acomplishing it's goal.
Eh what the hell, another playthrough won't hurt.
1988
Let's see if I can play and log a couple of spooky games this month, tis the season.
I'm just gonna repeat what user Armorchompy said, aesthetic are great but it's at a crossroads of being both pretty basic and pretty hard, although I personally enjoyed the enemy variety that pays homage to those old slashers that we all know and love, and some levels having diffent paths can help you cheese it out a bit sometimes.
Still it can be a bit frustrating with some unfain enemy placement and stuff, much like Ghosts and Goblins part of the challenge is also about memorizing them ans well as the not so hidden traps.
Maybe I'll play it here and there in the following days eh idk.
I'm just gonna repeat what user Armorchompy said, aesthetic are great but it's at a crossroads of being both pretty basic and pretty hard, although I personally enjoyed the enemy variety that pays homage to those old slashers that we all know and love, and some levels having diffent paths can help you cheese it out a bit sometimes.
Still it can be a bit frustrating with some unfain enemy placement and stuff, much like Ghosts and Goblins part of the challenge is also about memorizing them ans well as the not so hidden traps.
Maybe I'll play it here and there in the following days eh idk.
1999
It's difficult to give a concrete rating to a game that has been around and changing with the internet for more than two decades.
On one hand it created and for a while dominated the niche subgenre of the browser pet sim, but as the years went by many others surfaced that either did things different enough to grab players attention away from it, as well as adding quality of life improvements to keep them playing.
I haven't checked it out in a while so I'm not sure of it's current state, and I can't say that it's an experience that I'd recommend to people who have never tried a game like this before.
Is one of those experiences that unfortunately is not the same as it once was and relies a lot on it's community to be enjoyable.
But if you love collecting 20+ years worth of items, trophies, collectables and so on who am I to stop you?
However if you're interested on the history of the site (which is fascinating to me) I highly recommend checking out any documentary essay on youtube that you can find on it, the stuff that this game has brought up to the table and all it's controversies are incredible.
On one hand it created and for a while dominated the niche subgenre of the browser pet sim, but as the years went by many others surfaced that either did things different enough to grab players attention away from it, as well as adding quality of life improvements to keep them playing.
I haven't checked it out in a while so I'm not sure of it's current state, and I can't say that it's an experience that I'd recommend to people who have never tried a game like this before.
Is one of those experiences that unfortunately is not the same as it once was and relies a lot on it's community to be enjoyable.
But if you love collecting 20+ years worth of items, trophies, collectables and so on who am I to stop you?
However if you're interested on the history of the site (which is fascinating to me) I highly recommend checking out any documentary essay on youtube that you can find on it, the stuff that this game has brought up to the table and all it's controversies are incredible.
1994
Having Sky in the name is perfect because the main character is very floaty in his movements, but it feels very good to control! The platforming is perfect for the ways you can move around and it expands more with the power ups you unlock, this really is one of the more fun SNES platformers I've played so far.
The art direction is great, is so weird seeing a fantasy world inspired by Hindu aesthetics and mythos, and visually it looks beautiful, the spritework is very pretty, and I personally really liked the enemy design, the fantasious approach is very good, and the creative approaches in the design of the bosses is something I loved.
I really liked the power ups and you can use them in surprisingly creative ways in some places. This makes the game very easy sometimes but honestly I like when you're a bit overpowered in games, is fun as long as it's fair and this is a good example, with the most basic instance how you can sacrifice using a power up in exchange for health, how certain bosses become laughably easy with the correct attacj pattern, so on and so forth.
The only things that push this game down for me is that one, this game is ridiculously short, and if you knowwhere to go in the two labyrinth levels then you can basically finish this game in around two hours, there seems to be some hints that MAYBE there where plans for it to be even a bit longer, with stuff like the flying levels being so short and few.
The second problem I feel is some slight dificulty spikes, which I put in the category of "very easy but very stupid", you know the ones, where you can see that the mistake was on you but the game is made in such a way that making said mistake is also thanks to the way the game itself works. The prime example whpuld be the true final boss which literally consist of just two attack patterns but if you get hit you can die in one or two hits. This however happens very few times across the game.
Overall this is a very good package of a game that had the potential of being more, but is very nice just as it is anyways.
The art direction is great, is so weird seeing a fantasy world inspired by Hindu aesthetics and mythos, and visually it looks beautiful, the spritework is very pretty, and I personally really liked the enemy design, the fantasious approach is very good, and the creative approaches in the design of the bosses is something I loved.
I really liked the power ups and you can use them in surprisingly creative ways in some places. This makes the game very easy sometimes but honestly I like when you're a bit overpowered in games, is fun as long as it's fair and this is a good example, with the most basic instance how you can sacrifice using a power up in exchange for health, how certain bosses become laughably easy with the correct attacj pattern, so on and so forth.
The only things that push this game down for me is that one, this game is ridiculously short, and if you knowwhere to go in the two labyrinth levels then you can basically finish this game in around two hours, there seems to be some hints that MAYBE there where plans for it to be even a bit longer, with stuff like the flying levels being so short and few.
The second problem I feel is some slight dificulty spikes, which I put in the category of "very easy but very stupid", you know the ones, where you can see that the mistake was on you but the game is made in such a way that making said mistake is also thanks to the way the game itself works. The prime example whpuld be the true final boss which literally consist of just two attack patterns but if you get hit you can die in one or two hits. This however happens very few times across the game.
Overall this is a very good package of a game that had the potential of being more, but is very nice just as it is anyways.
1992
I'm giving it an extra half point only because of the visuals.
It's still the same basic beat em' up experience from the last one, but this one felt worse, the enemy placement and patterns are even more unforgiving, your own movements are so slow and stiff compared to them that it gets more and more frustrating, especially knowing that if only the reaction time between animations was slightly better this game could be more bearable.
There's also the fact that a lot things feel lazier, there's even less enemy variety and the traps are just... there.
I wish this played better, I wish I liked this more, the bosses look fantastic and the game is still a homage to the gory horror and slasher movies that I like so much, but the cheap things that I can forgive from those movies and even elevate them for me do not save this game at all.
It's still the same basic beat em' up experience from the last one, but this one felt worse, the enemy placement and patterns are even more unforgiving, your own movements are so slow and stiff compared to them that it gets more and more frustrating, especially knowing that if only the reaction time between animations was slightly better this game could be more bearable.
There's also the fact that a lot things feel lazier, there's even less enemy variety and the traps are just... there.
I wish this played better, I wish I liked this more, the bosses look fantastic and the game is still a homage to the gory horror and slasher movies that I like so much, but the cheap things that I can forgive from those movies and even elevate them for me do not save this game at all.