SlapOnToast
I don't think it's fair to rate this, as I haven't played nearly enough to rank it amongst my completed list of games, but man... Nothing short of disappointed with Ghost of Tsushima. While I can lay the blame on the game itself for being so vapid to play and Sucker Punch for developing something so milquetoast after the InFamous titles, it's honestly all on me for fooling myself into thinking I'd enjoy an open world game for once. It can be nice to play a game like this every now and then to experience what's in vogue, but it's probably for the best that I dip out now and find something that I like playing wholeheartedly, rather than slog through a 30 hour epic solely because the same development house made games I liked 10+ years ago.
2021
More or less the same as it ever was.
I really do wish this was a Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze situation where I'd come out of this replay with a newfound appreciation, but unfortunately, I'm still not too keen on Super Mario 3D World. It's been a decently relaxing and fun playthrough, don't get me twisted! But there's still a lot of particulars that rub me the wrong way...
While I understand why it controls the way it does, I don't really jive with how limited and stiff it feels to play (Well, compared to the other 3D Marios). While the shift from full analogue to 8 way movement severely hampers Mario & Co.'s more complex moves, it does make the flagpole jump and special zones a cinch to pull off. Nobody wants to fail these climactic and joyful little moments just because of a slight twitch of the thumb, right? What I can't justify is STILL how awkward it is to start sprinting, especially when the 2D games had it all figured out in the 1980's! It's like driving a car with a spluttering engine with how stop and start it feels, in sharp contrast to the the smooth speed gradients of the rest of the series. I'm not naive enough to have expected them to fix these things, but it's the main reason why I kept my distance from this port for so long...
Perhaps more soul crushing is that the art direction is still as depressingly sauceless as ever, especially so after Odyssey's overabundance of style. I do genuinely love the work that went into the character and enemy models, but it's hard to appreciate them when the level theming is so, so general in nature. Nothing links them together in any meaningful way, and (outside of lazy gestures to the wonderful stage theming of SMB3 and the half-assed geometrics of SMW), the overworlds are baron wastelands that clinically represent some sort of environmental climate and very little else. Killing Miiverse, in effect, also gutted this game of a large part of it's original identity, like a government body scrubbing away layers of graffiti for a block colour paint job. There's no real heart behind any of it, to push it above being anything other than 'decent enough', despite aging incredibly well on a technical level, you know?
But hey, at least the music, in direct contrast, is still the best a Mario game's ever sounded? Not really sure what happened at the company that allowed their musicians to completely pop off during what's otherwise an aesthetically void period of their catalogue, but I'm all ears for it! And while I haven't said too much about the gameplay as a whole (it really is just 3D Land 2 in oblique projection), it runs a little faster now and collectibles are less of a hassle to collect, making it a smoother experience overal- Well, outside of the touch screen sections, but that's just the nature of porting a Wii U game, isn't it...
I initially thought it was a little strange that they bundled this with Bowser's Fury. Wouldn't you want the bold next step in Mario's journey to stand on it's own? But yeah, no, it totally makes sense after playing them back to back. They're both moderately fun experiences hampered by a lack of strong artistic and conceptual direction, settling instead on a generally high quality level of polish more than anything else. For the gamers, this is honestly what matters most, but as someone with a critical aesthetic eye, I can't help but feel underwhelmed that they'd return to something so... plain.
It's still fun regardless, but alas, it's more or less the same as it ever was.
I really do wish this was a Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze situation where I'd come out of this replay with a newfound appreciation, but unfortunately, I'm still not too keen on Super Mario 3D World. It's been a decently relaxing and fun playthrough, don't get me twisted! But there's still a lot of particulars that rub me the wrong way...
While I understand why it controls the way it does, I don't really jive with how limited and stiff it feels to play (Well, compared to the other 3D Marios). While the shift from full analogue to 8 way movement severely hampers Mario & Co.'s more complex moves, it does make the flagpole jump and special zones a cinch to pull off. Nobody wants to fail these climactic and joyful little moments just because of a slight twitch of the thumb, right? What I can't justify is STILL how awkward it is to start sprinting, especially when the 2D games had it all figured out in the 1980's! It's like driving a car with a spluttering engine with how stop and start it feels, in sharp contrast to the the smooth speed gradients of the rest of the series. I'm not naive enough to have expected them to fix these things, but it's the main reason why I kept my distance from this port for so long...
Perhaps more soul crushing is that the art direction is still as depressingly sauceless as ever, especially so after Odyssey's overabundance of style. I do genuinely love the work that went into the character and enemy models, but it's hard to appreciate them when the level theming is so, so general in nature. Nothing links them together in any meaningful way, and (outside of lazy gestures to the wonderful stage theming of SMB3 and the half-assed geometrics of SMW), the overworlds are baron wastelands that clinically represent some sort of environmental climate and very little else. Killing Miiverse, in effect, also gutted this game of a large part of it's original identity, like a government body scrubbing away layers of graffiti for a block colour paint job. There's no real heart behind any of it, to push it above being anything other than 'decent enough', despite aging incredibly well on a technical level, you know?
But hey, at least the music, in direct contrast, is still the best a Mario game's ever sounded? Not really sure what happened at the company that allowed their musicians to completely pop off during what's otherwise an aesthetically void period of their catalogue, but I'm all ears for it! And while I haven't said too much about the gameplay as a whole (it really is just 3D Land 2 in oblique projection), it runs a little faster now and collectibles are less of a hassle to collect, making it a smoother experience overal- Well, outside of the touch screen sections, but that's just the nature of porting a Wii U game, isn't it...
I initially thought it was a little strange that they bundled this with Bowser's Fury. Wouldn't you want the bold next step in Mario's journey to stand on it's own? But yeah, no, it totally makes sense after playing them back to back. They're both moderately fun experiences hampered by a lack of strong artistic and conceptual direction, settling instead on a generally high quality level of polish more than anything else. For the gamers, this is honestly what matters most, but as someone with a critical aesthetic eye, I can't help but feel underwhelmed that they'd return to something so... plain.
It's still fun regardless, but alas, it's more or less the same as it ever was.
If Square-Enix had half a brain and a lick of sense, they'd stop trying to push whatever dangerously shitty tech bro pyramid scheme they got conned into thinking was a good idea and actually use some of that Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn: Shadowbringers: Skywalker Saga money to do SOMETHING with this forgotten gem. I'd be personally fine with a port (with all the usual M2/Emulator bells and whistles a la save states, widescreen modes, etc.), but I wouldn't be offended at the idea of a remake/remaster of some kind. Hell, a sequel -spiritual or otherwise- would be pretty cool too, perhaps with some of the original creatives behind the first on board? Because you just KNOW they've got ideas cooking for another game like this...
I open this bombastically because, frankly, this game does as well. You're protecting the president of of Bergen from a particularly nasty coup d'état that's unfolding underneath the long shadow of an abandoned space elevator, and it only gets more 80's era Sunrise Studios from there. More important than any plot, however, is that it's an absolute BANGER of an action game too, a real standout mecha game that stands toe to toe with the best of the genre (Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner) by sheer virtue of being virtually rock solid on every front!
Now, I'm probably gonna rustle some feathers by saying this, but Gun Hazard here's the rare Squaresoft game that's not only great to experience, but to actually control and play for the fun of it, thanks to co-developer Omiya Soft's previous experience in the field of 16 bit mecha games (Assault Suits Valken, specifically). It's hard to really compare it to anything else, but the way you throw yourself about, float around and explode shit from carefully considered distances has an almost Cave Story level of bliss to it when you level everything up, feeling remarkably tactile and weighty for a Super Famicom sidescroller and just a delight to work with in general!
Oh, uh right. Better stop gassing the game up now and get to the other reason I began with talks of ports, remakes and sequels, hey...
So many of the actual 'role playing' mechanics here, from leveling up both yourself and your weapons, resource management, teaming up and giving commands to CPU (or P2, with a code) controlled partners of various builds and types, something else I'm probably forgetting, etc. are a just a little too under-cooked to matter in the long run, but enough of a hassle to wonder if something could've been done to make all this fluff more engaging. And I feel, in my heart of hearts, that some sort of rerelease could be a good excuse to flesh some of these ideas out or, at the very least, offer a 'hard mode' where they matter in a truly meaningful way! Because the game's just a BIT too easy as is, like someone was worried that it'd be too difficult for the casual player/RPG fan to beat?
It's a shame, but only a slight one, because that means more people'll get to see a team of expert artists and musicians flex their skills on a system that, at the time of release, was well considered 'last gen'. Yes, it's 1996, and sprite art on the Super Famicom's never been better, with effects mimicking natural sunlight and burning embers being especially stunning against the war torn deserts, the rolling countrysides and the cityscapes reduced to rubble in realtime you play through, stage by stage. And look, when I say that Nobuo Uematsu, Yasunori Mitsuda, Junya Nakano and Masashi Hamauzu manage to produce a sci-fi score well worth listening to outside of the game, who amongst you's really gonna contest it? Yeah, didn't think so...
..But thinking about the game in general, I'm of two minds: It's a DAMN solid action game that more people should ABSOLUTELY play in SOME FORM OR ANOTHER, but it's also a game that's begging to be elaborated on, expanded upon, perhaps realized to it's fullest potential. Letting the imagination wander, it's easy to imagine a timeline where Squaresoft and Omiya Soft went whole hog, having this whole little subseries that stands proud with the likes of Ace Combat and Armored Core, balancing run-and-gun war crimes with a minimum wage that forces you to strictly budget every refuel, reload and weapon purchase... Ah, it'd probably be a top seller on the Dreamcast 2, for sure!
Alas, one can dream... And hope that Square-Enix gets a grip at some point.
I open this bombastically because, frankly, this game does as well. You're protecting the president of of Bergen from a particularly nasty coup d'état that's unfolding underneath the long shadow of an abandoned space elevator, and it only gets more 80's era Sunrise Studios from there. More important than any plot, however, is that it's an absolute BANGER of an action game too, a real standout mecha game that stands toe to toe with the best of the genre (Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner) by sheer virtue of being virtually rock solid on every front!
Now, I'm probably gonna rustle some feathers by saying this, but Gun Hazard here's the rare Squaresoft game that's not only great to experience, but to actually control and play for the fun of it, thanks to co-developer Omiya Soft's previous experience in the field of 16 bit mecha games (Assault Suits Valken, specifically). It's hard to really compare it to anything else, but the way you throw yourself about, float around and explode shit from carefully considered distances has an almost Cave Story level of bliss to it when you level everything up, feeling remarkably tactile and weighty for a Super Famicom sidescroller and just a delight to work with in general!
Oh, uh right. Better stop gassing the game up now and get to the other reason I began with talks of ports, remakes and sequels, hey...
So many of the actual 'role playing' mechanics here, from leveling up both yourself and your weapons, resource management, teaming up and giving commands to CPU (or P2, with a code) controlled partners of various builds and types, something else I'm probably forgetting, etc. are a just a little too under-cooked to matter in the long run, but enough of a hassle to wonder if something could've been done to make all this fluff more engaging. And I feel, in my heart of hearts, that some sort of rerelease could be a good excuse to flesh some of these ideas out or, at the very least, offer a 'hard mode' where they matter in a truly meaningful way! Because the game's just a BIT too easy as is, like someone was worried that it'd be too difficult for the casual player/RPG fan to beat?
It's a shame, but only a slight one, because that means more people'll get to see a team of expert artists and musicians flex their skills on a system that, at the time of release, was well considered 'last gen'. Yes, it's 1996, and sprite art on the Super Famicom's never been better, with effects mimicking natural sunlight and burning embers being especially stunning against the war torn deserts, the rolling countrysides and the cityscapes reduced to rubble in realtime you play through, stage by stage. And look, when I say that Nobuo Uematsu, Yasunori Mitsuda, Junya Nakano and Masashi Hamauzu manage to produce a sci-fi score well worth listening to outside of the game, who amongst you's really gonna contest it? Yeah, didn't think so...
..But thinking about the game in general, I'm of two minds: It's a DAMN solid action game that more people should ABSOLUTELY play in SOME FORM OR ANOTHER, but it's also a game that's begging to be elaborated on, expanded upon, perhaps realized to it's fullest potential. Letting the imagination wander, it's easy to imagine a timeline where Squaresoft and Omiya Soft went whole hog, having this whole little subseries that stands proud with the likes of Ace Combat and Armored Core, balancing run-and-gun war crimes with a minimum wage that forces you to strictly budget every refuel, reload and weapon purchase... Ah, it'd probably be a top seller on the Dreamcast 2, for sure!
Alas, one can dream... And hope that Square-Enix gets a grip at some point.
2019
Less of a game and more of an interactive animation, as described by the developers themselves, but not particularly remarkable even under that label? You'll wish it were more tactile to interact with, that it did more with its themes of conformity and/or social pressure, and you'll especially wish it were a little longer overall. Very nicely produced animation and sound work, somewhat reminiscent of the work of Keith Haring and of late 00s flash games, if nothing else!
2017
It is what it is, which is an animated, interactive Where's Wally book with some breather minigames between pages. It's not often I felt like cracking one of those open and finding every little secret admittedly, but given how busy I've personally been lately, it's been the perfect thing to mentally wind down to! Very much recommended if you want to stare at a screen and click on things for a while, but much like the books it draws inspiration from, don't expect much to do after every folk has been unveiled? Can't imagine anyone expecting anything less, though...