Skylian
2014
I'm sure that for people who love the 2D platformer, Shovel Knight is an excellent time, and I did find a lot to love about it. The narrative is barebones but cute, the songs range from decent to superb, and the art is a callback to it's NES forebears while perfectly casting it's own whimsical little world.
But the 2D platformer is just not my genre.
The whole game was a large exercise in frustration for me. I just don't have the sense to quickly intuit the correct sequence of inputs I'm meant to do to progress, or the dexterity required to actually perform those inputs. I frequently found myself bashing my head against a wall until I miraculously was able to make it through. Each checkpoint was a gift from God, shielding me from having to trudge through hell again. My final death count was around 23 per level, which probably speaks to how long and how agonizing each level was.
The only part of the gameplay that I thoroughly enjoyed was the bosses. My ineptitude carried over here, but curiously, my frustration did not. Every death felt much more fair here; where falling into a pit or spike trap instantly kills you, a boss attack will damage your health, which gives the player more breathing room to recognize patterns, and come up with plans in their head. Combined with unique and varied design, the bosses truly test skill in a way that doesn't feel overly punishing.
Shovel Knight is a love letter to action platformers of a bygone age, and it's success helped usher in a new age for both 2D games and the indie scene. But in being that appreciative piece, it alienated me, and created a state where I just wanted the game to be over, long before the credits were set to roll. However, despite my lack of appreciation for the game, I do not want to take anything away from the success that Shovel Knight is. Yacht Club has something to truly be proud of here.
TLDR: My ass needs to git gud
But the 2D platformer is just not my genre.
The whole game was a large exercise in frustration for me. I just don't have the sense to quickly intuit the correct sequence of inputs I'm meant to do to progress, or the dexterity required to actually perform those inputs. I frequently found myself bashing my head against a wall until I miraculously was able to make it through. Each checkpoint was a gift from God, shielding me from having to trudge through hell again. My final death count was around 23 per level, which probably speaks to how long and how agonizing each level was.
The only part of the gameplay that I thoroughly enjoyed was the bosses. My ineptitude carried over here, but curiously, my frustration did not. Every death felt much more fair here; where falling into a pit or spike trap instantly kills you, a boss attack will damage your health, which gives the player more breathing room to recognize patterns, and come up with plans in their head. Combined with unique and varied design, the bosses truly test skill in a way that doesn't feel overly punishing.
Shovel Knight is a love letter to action platformers of a bygone age, and it's success helped usher in a new age for both 2D games and the indie scene. But in being that appreciative piece, it alienated me, and created a state where I just wanted the game to be over, long before the credits were set to roll. However, despite my lack of appreciation for the game, I do not want to take anything away from the success that Shovel Knight is. Yacht Club has something to truly be proud of here.
TLDR: My ass needs to git gud
2015
As a person who is terrible at platformers not called sonic the hedgehog, this is an evil, evil game with some fuckass difficulty. There are so many sharp directional change inputs that after a while I found it easier to use the thumbstick after a while. The amount of screen shake that's used made me close to nauseous at points. Even though 2/3rds in I just wanted it to be over, I can't deny the amount of heart and excellent platforming design present, even if I'm crap at it.
cute lil vn about queer youthhood. Hit maybe a bit too close to home.
Really good but the fact I have to wait for other people to be interested before I can fight a boss just kills the experience.
2021
Too much substance to be a shitpost but coated in so much edgy humour it can't feel genuine.
It leaves me baffled. Confused. Perplexed.
I'm just amazed this didn't blow up online. Feels like it would've been the perfect viral game, akin to Doki Doki Literature Club.
It leaves me baffled. Confused. Perplexed.
I'm just amazed this didn't blow up online. Feels like it would've been the perfect viral game, akin to Doki Doki Literature Club.
That was so uniquely bad that I am compelled to write my first review on this site.
As I see it right now, the largest issue with Final Fantasy XIV Online's narrative is the Warrior of Light. For a position that is meant to allow the player to roleplay; as if they were there in Eorzea themselves, the role allows shockingly little agency. The player character would be no worse served by the role of a wet noodle for the amount of choice and character that they have.
The treatment of Yotsuyu is abhorrent. From a half-baked villain who was given a "sympathetic" backstory in the eleventh hour, to nothing more than a child who was lost and afraid, Stormblood has given Yotsuyu zero agency, and creates a character that is so bereft of meaning, apart from showing cruelty for the sake of it.
Stormblood was a simple tale of revolution with not much substance to it. And honestly, I was alright with that. Even if I would prefer the expansion that explicitly deals with imperialist geopolitics to do so with more nuance and care, nothing in Stormblood was mishandled enough for me to be seriously offended. But the 4.x patches thus far, especially 4.2 and 4.3, have left me with a seriously bad taste in my mouth, and have left me much more sour on Stormblood as an expansion. I find myself really disliking this story arc for XIV, and can only hope 4.4 and 4.5 serve as a satisfactory prelude to Shadowbringers, whose adherents praise so loudly you'd be forgiven in thinking it was the second coming of Christ.
Also, fuck the fact that the Duty Support isn't available for Trials. It really dampens the tension of a scene when there's a big buildup to a fight, but it takes 15-30 minutes of being in the Duty Finder to actually play that fight.
As I see it right now, the largest issue with Final Fantasy XIV Online's narrative is the Warrior of Light. For a position that is meant to allow the player to roleplay; as if they were there in Eorzea themselves, the role allows shockingly little agency. The player character would be no worse served by the role of a wet noodle for the amount of choice and character that they have.
The treatment of Yotsuyu is abhorrent. From a half-baked villain who was given a "sympathetic" backstory in the eleventh hour, to nothing more than a child who was lost and afraid, Stormblood has given Yotsuyu zero agency, and creates a character that is so bereft of meaning, apart from showing cruelty for the sake of it.
Stormblood was a simple tale of revolution with not much substance to it. And honestly, I was alright with that. Even if I would prefer the expansion that explicitly deals with imperialist geopolitics to do so with more nuance and care, nothing in Stormblood was mishandled enough for me to be seriously offended. But the 4.x patches thus far, especially 4.2 and 4.3, have left me with a seriously bad taste in my mouth, and have left me much more sour on Stormblood as an expansion. I find myself really disliking this story arc for XIV, and can only hope 4.4 and 4.5 serve as a satisfactory prelude to Shadowbringers, whose adherents praise so loudly you'd be forgiven in thinking it was the second coming of Christ.
Also, fuck the fact that the Duty Support isn't available for Trials. It really dampens the tension of a scene when there's a big buildup to a fight, but it takes 15-30 minutes of being in the Duty Finder to actually play that fight.