Talking about Minecraft Xbox One Edition is weird because it's got a lot of things going against it. The latest update is based off Java 1.12 from 2011, and has been superseded by Minecraft (Bedrock), however this version is so special to me that I still love it.

I got this game solely to copy an Xbox 360 world to the latest verison of the game. Now, I have put over 150 hours into basically just one world, which is an experience that I haven't had in over 5 years. This game constantly brings me back not with empty promises of new features, but with a solid system. Not everything can be automated, so you actually have to do work and set things up properly for the long run.

World generation is so good. 5000x5000 worlds might sound bad, but you can experience everything a Minecraft world has to offer in that space. Every biome spawns, and it's actually fun to map out the full world to put on a wall. In fact, all of the achievements are really fun. I usually get all the achievements and then put the game down, but even mundane actions like building villager houses, expanding a farm, or even filling a chest with only acacia logs (yes I did it) has a sense of fun to it.

While you could argue that modern Minecraft offers this and more, I think less is more in the way of the experience. The controller makes all of your actions much more intentional, the smaller world size has you utilizing everything to the max, and the lack of automatic iron farms causes you to actually have to hunt for resources.

I love this version of Minecraft. I'll still play Java Edition with my friends, but when it comes to a single player experience, this is the only version that I will continue to consistently play. It's Minecraft, so obviously it's good, but this version now holds a special place in my heart.

Halo CE was one of the most groundbreaking shooters back in 2001, but how does it hold up today? Well, not too bad. The first 2/3s of the game are really fun to go through, with you being able to mess with tons of weapons, and still feel like you can have fun. The last section of the game to me feels almost like a slower Doom 2016, as I really only saw purpose in holding the AR and the Shotgun. The ending parts of the game are challenging but in all honesty, not very fun to run through.

For most of my experience in the game, I played using the original graphics, since they were more consistent and at times looked better than the remasters. The new graphics went too much for style, and wanted to show that off with the constant brightness displayed throughout, for some reason. In the final parts of the game, however, I found it helped in terms of gameplay since you could just see the entire room you were in instead of using the flashlight and only seeing a small portion. I get I’m “destroying the mood” or whatever but who cares, it’s my playthrough.

Overall it’s a solid title that can be outdated at times, but is still fun to run and gun through.

(Copied from GG)

Maybe it's just me, but I could not enjoy this game. The first 2 portions of the game could be cut out, and I think my enjoyment of the game would improve a ton. I think the fourth wall breaks work well, but the puzzle solving is just okay to making me want to rip my hair out. Therefore, the game itself just feels either boring just walking around the world, or annoying to complete the puzzles. I thought the entire game near the end had overall better pacing, and was a lot better story-wise, but since I was so close to putting the game down (if not for people encouraging me to play through all the way), I could have straight up not seen the last section and missed out on that. So, with the mediocre to bad puzzles and the poor story for 2/3 the game, I think Oneshot fell short of what I thought it was going to be.

(Copied from GG)

Peak platforming game right here. You think Rayman Origins has it all, then BAM: Rayman Legends comes out. Considering about 2/3 of Origins is in this game, you could hypothetically get most of the experience in this game as well. But basically, the highlights are the controls, the music, the level design, the art design, basically everything. It is easily the best 2D Platformer I have ever played, and I doubt anything will ever surpass it in the next decade or even longer. It is that good.

(Copied from GG)

Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst seeks to reboot the Mirror’s Edge franchise with a whole new world and story for Faith to explore, to a fault in my opinion. Some of the positives of the game include the graphical improvements, controls being better than ever, and combat being quicker. However, all of these improvements come with their downsides. The graphics being changed from all white to glass removed the charm from the original Mirror’s Edge, alongside the fact that the designs of the world as a whole sometimes feel out of place and just not very appealing. The downside with the controls (or an upside, depending on how you look at it) is how you have to unlock several parts of your moveset throughout the game. Finally, I personally think games that are more combat-focused generally just don’t work well, and while the shooting from the original game is fixed (by removing it), I find myself doing the same actions over and over to defeat enemies, because the penalty is fairly small for doing so. I like how Runner Vision is now able to be toggled between the new, classic, and old options, since jt allows anyone to handle the game however they want. I kept it on full, because in the open world, it was necessary for me since I didn’t know anything about the world. The world itself is designed well enough, but I do think you keep coming back to the same few locations too many times causing you to be like “oh, not THIS place again”. By the time I explored the new areas, the game was practically over by that time. Maybe it’s because I prefer exploring linear, yet unique areas rather than more open, yet repetitive areas, or maybe not.

Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst is a fine game, but in my opinion it held back by too many factors to really make it that great of a game to recommend. The original is better in many aspects aside from the shooting, and a few cryptic puzzles here and there, but nothing major.

(Copied from GG)

In an era where games tried too hard to be realistic, Mirror’s Edge’s simple design sticks out in a great way. You run, and your goal is simply to follow the red spots that highlight. It’s simple, but a great momentum-based parkour-running system make all parts of the game a blast to run through. The linear structure makes it easy to not get lost most of the time, but there were a few moments that left me a bit confused, but eventually I would solve them. The gunplay is also not the greatest, but that’s not a problem since the game really is meant for parkour and then small bits of combat second. The controls also are very different, but I was quickly able to pick them up. Overall solid game would recommend.

(Copied from GG)

Smash Brawl’s Subspace Emissary is a mode that I’m torn on but still turned out pretty fun. The collection of all the characters mixed with reveals that despite knowing who all was in the game, still had me excited when some characters showed up.

The general idea of subspace is done somewhat well, if a bit too lengthy. Generally, you’re a character or small group of characters and you have to complete a platforming segment with those characters. You get a few lives, and you either make it to the end and finish or fight a boss. It’s fine but for someone who isn’t entirely obsessed with fighting games it doesn’t appeal to me as much as something like a potential Mario Kart with a story mode might. It isn’t helped by Smash Brawl’s generally slow speed, making some areas feel too slow to control.

The fact that you switch characters constantly is super exciting because generally when I play Smash Bros, I stick to one or a few characters and call it a day. Here, you’re forced to use different characters and you have to be creative when you can choose who you take, which I enjoyed a lot. I felt some characters didn’t get the full utilization, however, since they were introduced too late for me to ever get to try them out.

The story is something that was cool to see, but it was a part of that “we can be dark too!” vibe that I felt Nintendo did in the Wii era. It reminded me of Super Paper Mario in that way. Not bad, just feels a bit off.

Overall, despite some issues, Subspace Emissary was still an incredibly fun mode with some pretty well done CG for the time. It’s fun and I think I would suggest it to those who enjoy Smash Bros. I don’t know how well the difficulty scales, but try it out and see how you like it!

(Copied from GG)