It's such a shame that a decent game like Starfield has the worst beginning to a game possible. Multiple times during the first 20 hours I wanted to give up, but I'd just spent like 40 quid on this so I was going to finish it. At about hour 15 I started seeing signs of improvement, and then at hour 20 I felt like the whole world had opened up and everything finally made sense.

Past the 1 day trawl, Starfield offers a unique game with some incredible moments. The story is pretty good and the characters are well thought out. Combat is satisfying, but very easy. The different dialogue systems are amusing (always a highlight for me personally) and actually have an effect on the world around you. The different cities in the game are a huge highlight for me as they stand out as some of the most memorable and atmospheric from the last few Bethesda titles. Even the spaceship combat is fun once you get your head around the controls

Starfield got a lot of hate, and it probably deserved it. But if you're a true Bethesda fan, you'll stick it out and realise that this game is at least a bit better than it was first made out to be - but AS IF I'm going to new game+ this one, nooope

Edit: Remembered the fast travelling and lowered my rating by half a star. Absolutely shocking choice on the devs part, feels like they didn't play their own game

As someone who'd never touched a fire Emblem game, or really even knew what they were about - I was blown away!

The art style, the addictive combat + strategies, the characters, story, music... damn.

My main qualms with the game lie with how if you're new to the series and lose people early game (post tutorial), it really screws you in the late game with no chance of recovering.

I'm really looking forward to playing whatever next one I decide on though, especially now I have an understanding of the mechanics!

Played the 2024 remastered version

I think I enjoyed this game more as a spectacle. These remastered versions did not get the attention they deserved as they did something that not many remasters do: kept as true to the source material as possible. They did this to the point that there is literally a button on the controller that instantly switches between the old and new graphics, something very fun to do every so often.

In terms of the game itself, it has it's strengths and weaknesses. What Tomb Raider set out to do in 1996 was phenomenal, an Indiana jones style 3D video game, and they achieved that. However the combat is terrible, and unfortunately common, some of the puzzles just require to look around for ages, and the camera can be really, really bad at times.

However what's left is a cinematic puzzle platformer that takes you through some cool environments with some satisfying moments. The lack of music in tomb raider could be looked at as a negative, but actually I think using the music in the moments it does gives you a sense of achievement, which is powerful in itself.

I definitely think retro game enthusiasts should give this a try if they haven't touched the original Lara Croft games due to age, especially since the saving system has been buffed to the max, allowing to to save + load wherever, whenever

Played on Switch

Played "coop" with a friend. I denote coop with speechmarks because I would no longer consider this coop. This form of playing is the equivalent of only having one controller and taking turns when your friend dies, except for some reason you need 2 controlllers.

A great followup to DKC with a bunch of unique levels that seem to focus on unique mechanics / mechanics used uniquely per level.

I feel I struggle to say much different about this compared to the original as it feels basically like DLC rather than something totally new. But then again, they didn't get DKC wrong so why would they change too much?

The music, art, sfx are all Rare at their peak. The gameplay is Rare at their most evil as this is one of, if not the hardest Nintendo platformers I've ever played while still being a ton of fun.

Played on Switch

This game is really hard to rare, but I'm going to try and avoid my bias as someone that loves the mario series

While this is a platformer from the mid 80s, this game holds up pretty well today. However, where the game struggles (like hitboxes / rng movement), makes losing EXTREMELY frustrating - especially with the life system where, if you lose, you have to go back to the beginning.

Saying this, if you are already proficient at platforming, the majority of the game is pretty easy. I'd say the main challenges come from world 7 and ESPECIALLY world 8. I reckon 75% of my time spent playing this game was in the last few levels. But the difficulty made winning the game that much more gratifying.

The game is colourful, music is decent but repetitive, sound effects are OK.

Just glad to be done with it

Considering this is a 3D platformer from '99, I really wasn't expecting much and if anything was ready to give it a good go before giving up

Instead I got one of the most unexpected joyful games I've played in a while! While the original Rayman clearly had a world in mind, it was plagued with old 2D platformer tropes that felt uninspired. This world was clearly created for the 3D and has fared far better to time.

While the game isn't perfect, with camera issues and not-so-stellar combat, the levels and variety of gameplay more than makes up for it. I never felt like the game was repeating itself, the minimum collectible requirements for each level weren't high at all, all topped with the perfect length of the game (7ish hours) made for a fun retro experience.

I've got to mention though, without spoilers, if I failed the boss fight once or twice more I might have dropped this rating - introducing a new, disorienting mechanic to be the main part of the final fight is a very odd choice

The third game in the Yoshi series is a return to form after whatever they were trying to do with Yoshi's Story

I played coop with my partner, who is not used to platformers. While the coop mode isn't perfect (the camera system really sucks and some mechanics behave very strange due to there being an extra player), it was a ton of fun.

The decision to stick with, and truly embrace, the theme of 'craft' was exactly the right call. I think this especially deserves highlighting in the middle of an era where the mario games were quite similar in art-style. The levels, mechanics, NPCs etc were all fresh "crafted" versions of the mario classics.

Collecting all the wool in the levels gives you an instant reward in another playable Yoshi skin, which was fun to mix up once in a while and gives a realistic goal that encourages you to fully explore each level.

My main issues apart from the camera/coop mechanics are the bosses being uninspired/easy/repetitive (apart from final boss, kind of), the menu music is awful (which is a shame because there are some absolute bangers elsewhere in the game), and often buggy menus.

I've been playing a lot of the first/early installations of the many Nintendo franchises recently, and what strikes me about Animal Crossing in particular is that they clearly hit the nail on the head first try.

The fact that this game has almost all the classic Animal Crossing mechanics and quirks that make it so loveable and recognisable is very impressive. I think even the most casual New Horizons player could pick up Animal Crossing and not feel like 'wow this is old and clunky' etc.

There obviously are some big differences that differ this from the rest of the series, like the grid map system that's tied in with the camera, as opposed to a 'globe' sort of view - but to be honest I don't mind it so much, it even feels like a nice twist from playing the modern versions.

My main issue with the game is that the gameplay becomes quickly repetitive and there isn't a whole lot to do apart from make money. There are almost daily random events, but they're usually over in a minute or so. If I played this in 2001 I'm sure I would have been hooked and could have played this almost daily for a whole year, but I'm 30 hours in and without changing the season manually, I've ran out of stuff to keep me interested (there's really not much to do in winter).

The villagers, art style, music, museum, furniture/interior design aspect - it's all genius and stuck the landing so well that it's mostly unchanged 20+ years later. While I would still just recommend people to play the latest game, of if they're looking for something more retro I'd still just recommend Wild World - however I'm glad I got some solid hours in.

Finally finished the main quest of this game, over 10 years after first buying+playing it

With modded UI + graphics overhaul, Skyrim is a beautiful game - if not slightly repetitive in level design + general gameplay (after a while). The levelling system is great, but imperfect. There are bugs galore.

But in the end, Skyrim is Skyrim and there's nowt you can do about it. You can play this game 20+ different ways and probably still feel that excitement when you start in that cart and hear, "ah, you're finally awake"

While I'm not a fan of "realistic" war games, by which I mean based off of the real world and modern conflicts, the campaign of Modern Warfare Remastered was (mostly) a good time.

Some missions / sections of missions are a bit rough around the edges in terms of gameplay - however most of them were well crafted, giving an all-rounder experience as you take on all kinds of missions.

The graphics look great, considering this came out the better part of a decade ago, I begin to question how Nintendo haven't caught up.

The story is slightly contrived and uninteresting apart from some more cinematic and (what I assume were supposed to be) emotional moments.

Wouldn't play again but if you're a CoD fan, or simply like modern warfare themed games, this is quite literally the game for you

As much as I'm not a fan of stealth games, the story and world kept me playing this all the way through. While I feel like sometimes it could be a bit harsh with the lack of resources it gives you (especially at the end), that is definitely intentionally part of the challenge, no matter how frustrating.

In my opinion, spoiler free, the ending did not quite stick the landing. It's hard to end a game so intrinsically story-driven in a way that's going to satisfy the player finishing their 10+ hour journey, while also setting up a sequel.

Would 100% recommend to have a playthrough if you get the chance. I played it alongside a friend or two over a few sessions and it was great fun - the game is just as entertaining to watch as it is to play, which is a difficult sweetspot to hit.

An example of a game that has aged beautifully with time, though not without it's flaws.

A genre defining game that set the bar high for all future metroidvania games, the combination of the pixel art (high attention to detail), music (incredibly catchy), and gameplay (difficult but not too punishing) - I wouldn't be surprised if this is the best game of the system.

Unfortunately, 30 years does have a toll on games - notably the map system, while heavily appreciated, has many imperfections (that I hear are resolved in later iterations). On top of this are the classic issues with games of this era such as save points and bland boss battles that only use high damage + high health. With that said, and to avoid spoilers, they do add a couple great twists during the final boss that easily made up for the others.

If you've not stepped food into the metroidvania genre, but are a fan of platformers / adventure / puzzle games - this is genuinely still a great place to start!

For a game that only takes about 10-15 hours to complete, this is pretty fun! I'm impressed by the randomly generated dungeons and you definitely get that "numbers go up" feeling which is always nice. However I'd say that this gets pretty repetitive by the 10 hour mark, and the gameplay doesn't really change no matter what you're doing. The only replayability I could see is playing as the different classes, and even then I could imagine that could get dull

Art style is awesome and I can see how it's inspired many modern games since. The sound design is pure 90s vibes and I'm all here for it. Glad I got to experience some PC gaming history with this one!