RoyalFury
You can't get kitties to hunt with you in this version which lowers the score significantly. Play Freedom United Instead
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.
Probably the easiest game to pick up if you want to get into the series, very well balanced without getting too easy, colorful vibes and nice atmosphere.
1998
Podríamos decir que esta fué la primer experiencia de straming en vivo con ayuda del chat de la historia
Was feeling nostalgic for the Papa games and wanted to see if there was anything avaliable to scratch that itch.
I personally don't like the artstyle much, it tries to be cute and cozy and a lot of people are gonna see it that way but it's a bit uninspired to me. Is not UGLY, just not my thing.
These games thrive in making an enjoyable and relaxing gameplay loop, then slowly adding more complex steps to the process as to not make you fall asleep. Good Pizza Great Pizza does this pretty well, but very slow, and considering that I felt it even when the ingame days are so short makes the experience get repetitive fast.
There are one or two things that add a bit of quirkiness to the game, like how the only way to get eggplants is if you cultivate them yourself from a plant a customer gave you (also this game made me aware that eggplant pizza exists... to each their own I guess).
And speaking of the costumers, I appreciate them thanking you or saying something funny when you give them the pizza, but I can only take so much of "wow this is the best pizza in the universe I'm gonna marry it and invite you to the wedding". This sounds a bit mean but this is not always the case, sometimes you get people who cannot pay the full price of the pizza or only a part of it and it's up to you wether or not you're willing to waste reisources, the cost of these aren't that much of a problem, and those instances when you help them and they thank you feel nice.
There's a story that seems to be funny and a bit silly, but heartfelt in it's simplicity, I liked it, even though again, it goes pretty slow, so I didn't get very far on it... And Ii kinda don't feel like it at the moment.
It's a cozy game that you might maybe pick up to play for a few minutes once in a while if you feel like it, nothing more, nothing else.
Also I played the mobile version and that of course is full of adds, and daily bonuses, and adds between days that froze the game, and that DID ruin the experience a bit tbh.
I personally don't like the artstyle much, it tries to be cute and cozy and a lot of people are gonna see it that way but it's a bit uninspired to me. Is not UGLY, just not my thing.
These games thrive in making an enjoyable and relaxing gameplay loop, then slowly adding more complex steps to the process as to not make you fall asleep. Good Pizza Great Pizza does this pretty well, but very slow, and considering that I felt it even when the ingame days are so short makes the experience get repetitive fast.
There are one or two things that add a bit of quirkiness to the game, like how the only way to get eggplants is if you cultivate them yourself from a plant a customer gave you (also this game made me aware that eggplant pizza exists... to each their own I guess).
And speaking of the costumers, I appreciate them thanking you or saying something funny when you give them the pizza, but I can only take so much of "wow this is the best pizza in the universe I'm gonna marry it and invite you to the wedding". This sounds a bit mean but this is not always the case, sometimes you get people who cannot pay the full price of the pizza or only a part of it and it's up to you wether or not you're willing to waste reisources, the cost of these aren't that much of a problem, and those instances when you help them and they thank you feel nice.
There's a story that seems to be funny and a bit silly, but heartfelt in it's simplicity, I liked it, even though again, it goes pretty slow, so I didn't get very far on it... And Ii kinda don't feel like it at the moment.
It's a cozy game that you might maybe pick up to play for a few minutes once in a while if you feel like it, nothing more, nothing else.
Also I played the mobile version and that of course is full of adds, and daily bonuses, and adds between days that froze the game, and that DID ruin the experience a bit tbh.
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.
2014
I will never forgive Konami
I like shoot em ups and I like body horror, ESPECIALLY vintage japanese body horror, so I like this.
Is no Gradius so there's a couple of things here and there that could be better.
It's not too hard nor too easy for how short it is, and the last segment was fun.
Is no Gradius so there's a couple of things here and there that could be better.
It's not too hard nor too easy for how short it is, and the last segment was fun.
2009
Is a nice little way to tell a short and kinda heartfelt story.
2009
I remember playing this when I was younger and even I could tell it had it's shortcomings, BUT that transforming into animals was very fun as well as the stealth segments and some maps actually looked very pretty. The humor wasn't good even back then for me though...
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.
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.
1999
To fully appreciate this game we have to put it in context, Pokemon is in an unprecedented level of worlwide popularity, but the actual real Pokemon experience is played in a small box with monochrome pixels and 8bit compressed music. And then the N64 pops this out, in a time where 3D graphics were something so new and seemed so futuristic, suddenly the creatures that you grew attached in your tiny device could be seen fighting just like you (probably) imagined they whould look and sound like.
I cannot imagine what that whould've feel like, when technology looked so shiny and hopefull for the future, being represented on how your starter now could destroy all the other gym leaders and Elite 4 in what at the time looked in your head like the most HD 4K Ultra Max Graphics know to man.
The rearrangements of music are great, the models and textures are so full of life and personality; there are some details that are there to be noticed just for people who loved Pokemon, how certain Pokemon animations are consistent with a bit of their lore or just make sense (I love how agresively insane all of Kangaskhan animations look for example), they may look a bit overdramatic but come on, is fun to look at and pretty much what most of us pictured in our heads.
At it's core, this was supposed to be an enhanced experience rather than a fully traditional Pokemon game, all of the mentioned above being the selling point, and yet it has a lot more content than I expected, I can see myself as a little Pokemon obsessed kid playing this nonstop.
But does it hold up? In a way no, it has it's flaws and all here and there, and compared to other games is rather short... But take a look at what the current 3D Pokemon games are? You can say whatever you want about them but looking at this game I feel like something got lost over the years, with the way Pokemon are portraied specifically. Like, Rapidash's current 3D model looks like it has an orange plastic bag dangling from it's head, and here in the N64 they figure it out a way to make it look like a cascade of fire, to make most limbs look like they can have individual movement, to have animations that show some level of emotion when the Pokemon gets hit. Sure there were only 151 back then, less to animate compared to now but... you get the idea.
The different modes are fun too, and they can get surprisingly hard on later stages, I can't remember the last time I didn't just sweep on a team using super effective moves nonstop. The way the Pokemon and movesets are limited is a good idea to save space but also a nice challenge.
Overall this was meant to be an interesting novelty for any kind of Pokemon fan, I think is fun to revisit nowadays too, and by it's own is a bit flawed, but fun.
Don't have the parience to finish all the R2 battles though.
I cannot imagine what that whould've feel like, when technology looked so shiny and hopefull for the future, being represented on how your starter now could destroy all the other gym leaders and Elite 4 in what at the time looked in your head like the most HD 4K Ultra Max Graphics know to man.
The rearrangements of music are great, the models and textures are so full of life and personality; there are some details that are there to be noticed just for people who loved Pokemon, how certain Pokemon animations are consistent with a bit of their lore or just make sense (I love how agresively insane all of Kangaskhan animations look for example), they may look a bit overdramatic but come on, is fun to look at and pretty much what most of us pictured in our heads.
At it's core, this was supposed to be an enhanced experience rather than a fully traditional Pokemon game, all of the mentioned above being the selling point, and yet it has a lot more content than I expected, I can see myself as a little Pokemon obsessed kid playing this nonstop.
But does it hold up? In a way no, it has it's flaws and all here and there, and compared to other games is rather short... But take a look at what the current 3D Pokemon games are? You can say whatever you want about them but looking at this game I feel like something got lost over the years, with the way Pokemon are portraied specifically. Like, Rapidash's current 3D model looks like it has an orange plastic bag dangling from it's head, and here in the N64 they figure it out a way to make it look like a cascade of fire, to make most limbs look like they can have individual movement, to have animations that show some level of emotion when the Pokemon gets hit. Sure there were only 151 back then, less to animate compared to now but... you get the idea.
The different modes are fun too, and they can get surprisingly hard on later stages, I can't remember the last time I didn't just sweep on a team using super effective moves nonstop. The way the Pokemon and movesets are limited is a good idea to save space but also a nice challenge.
Overall this was meant to be an interesting novelty for any kind of Pokemon fan, I think is fun to revisit nowadays too, and by it's own is a bit flawed, but fun.
Don't have the parience to finish all the R2 battles though.
2021
Super cute art and animations and music. However progress is very slow, and like every current mobile game it's rampant with ads
Is better than the first one in all the important aspects, but especially on the controls, Crash actually feels good to play as. Is shorter but feels like a more complete game, even with how little variety it has.