Gungrave introduces every level with the smash-header "Kick their asses." Gungrave is about one thing, kicking ass. Or more succinctly, shooting ass. You hardly aim, you don't reload, you hardly move. You mash a button and in response things either die or explode. Grave walks in a straight path, blazing everything in his way and taking every bullet wordlessly and painlessly as a combo builds in the corner of the screen. Get too close and he lifts a coffin from his back and swings it, insta-killing almost anything in its trajectory. The gunfire blows out the music and audio quality, and the gorgeous hard-black cel-shading lights up with muzzle flares as the screams gradient into the wailing jazz in the background. Gungrave is as primal as a video game can be without losing its status as pure, true art.

perhaps the purest expression of simple beauty in a videogame ever, and easily my definitive example of what games can be as works of art. Katamari Damacy isn't as profound as Pathologic, as prescient as Metal Gear Solid 2, or as impactful as Yume Nikki, but what it represents as a capital G Game is something beyond anything else I've experienced. The most simple aspects of how it should feel to PLAY a videogame are the highlight here, it's never complex or intricate and never tries to be, accomplishing so much more through the sheer refinement of it's basic mechanics and the impeccable aesthetic presentation that surround them. One of the best soundtracks ever, some of the most effective gameplay progression ever, and Make the Moon is THE best final level -- maybe the best level period -- in any videogame I've ever played. So incredibly rewarding, and after everything the credits roll on a truly beautiful, transcendent moment that's stuck with me ever since the first time I saw it and will probably stick with me for the rest of my life. Seriously, I still tear up every time I hear Katamari of Love. One of those canon games, if we ever reach a point at which a "videogame canon" can be determined. I hear people say We Love Katamari is somehow even better than this, which is naturally pretty hard to believe, but I've been meaning to emulate it for years now. Maybe I'll finally get around to that soon...

Team, Unite Up!

as of 2/23/2023, this just barely didn't make it onto my list of favorite games. this was my first platinum game and the game that converted me into one of their most violent fans. This game is the cure for every design trend that plagues modern video games. This game is a cure for boredom and apathy. This game is the cure for clinical depression. This is one of the most confident, over the top, self-assured, experimental, and successful games of all time. Of course, the game was a commercial failure, but who the fuck even cares. The Wonderful 101 exists, and you get to know about it. Take pride in being one of the few who get to achieve Nirvana. Take solace in the fact that in the hell world we have to live in, sometimes, just sometimes, a team with a vision and passion for an art form gets to put their all into making a product by and for the people who truly want to see that art form brought to the apex of what it can achieve. Play this, laugh at the jokes, be inspired by the story, and continually improve at the combat. Show Geathjerk what for. We only need one Wonderful 101 to last us a lifetime.


(my only issue with the remaster is that the new version of Tables Turn blows and I wish there was a toggle back to the original)

It's 2023 and developers still haven't figured out how to top the personality in this games animation. Mind-blowing to think this game is over 20 years old when most modern titles feel so stiff and lifeless in comparison. The artists and engineers at Naughty Dog absolutely nailed the feeling of controlling a tangible character with a real sense of weight interacting with their environment. There's just so much charm in Jak's exaggerated cartoon-like movements as he leaps, bounds and flings himself through the varied platforming obstacles the game has on offer. Watching him raise his legs as he wades through shallow water and snow or how his body contorts and stretches when jumping and attacking to emphasize momentum and impact- it looks and feels fantastic and is still practically unmatched to this day. Even something as simple as Jak's run animation is so satisfyingly smooth and fun, weaving side to side, his clothes and hair moving and reacting dynamically with each step while Daxter bobs up and down, perched on his shoulder. It's the small details that really sells it and helps bring these characters to life.

Anyway, this is just about as perfect as a collectathon gets, featuring all the staples you'd expect from the genre but polished to perfection in typical Naughty Dog fashion. It really feels like a culmination of the lessons and skills learned from their time working on the Crash series, taken to the natural next level both artistically and mechanically, with its top class animation work, breezy, tropical island vibes and a focus on precise platforming challenges, only this time in a much bigger and more impressive sandbox to play in. Also worth noting that it's the first game to feature seamless loading in an open world, setting a new precedent for the time.

10 Precursor Orbs out of 10.