The next game in this Zelda marathon, A Link to the Past, is a breath of fresh air. While I didn't particularly like Zelda 1, and I definitely didn't like Zelda II, this game was different. This was one of the first Zelda games I played I believe, yet this was only my 2nd time fully beating it. I had seen plenty of randomizers before, but I haven't fully beaten this game in like 10 years. As I stated, this game was a breath of fresh air because, as opposed to the first two games, A Link to the Past is really great.

This game ditches the side-scrolling platformer adventure RPG Zelda II went for and is more in line with how Zelda 1 does things. It's top down again, there are no more RPG mechanics like Zelda II and the game isn't absolutely brutal like Zelda II. In fact, it's easier than the first game, tho I still died weirdly often funnily enough. Anyways this is all for the better as the direction Zelda II was going in, just did not do it for me at all.

The story this time around, and it focuses more on its story than the first two games, actually takes place before Zelda I and II. Before the events of the game happen, Ganondorf manages to open the gateway to the Sacred Realm where the Triforce is hidden away and he obtains the Triforce for himself. Knowing he was evil and this would lead to catastrophe, the king of Hyrule ordered seven sages to seal the gateway up along with Ganondorf inside. A long battle ensues but, in the end, the gateway was sealed. Many years later, horrible events start occurring and so the king of Hyrule believes it to be related to the sages seal. Finding out it was not that, he puts out a reward for anyone that can help him with these troubles. A wizard named Agahnim comes alone, seemingly fixing these troubles with his magic. He becomes close to the king and all is well for a while. However shortly after, people start to suspect something is wrong with Agahnim. He starts abusing his power. He eventually casts spells on all the soldiers to turn them evil, and kidnaps maidens that were descended from the sages, using their powers to try to open the seal himself. The game then officially starts, with Link having to save Zelda from the dungeon of Hyrule castle. Once Link saves her, she and him meet up with the priest of a nearby sanctuary and he tells you some of the details I just told you. It's now Link's job to get 3 pendants to obtain the Master Sword, eventually having to rescue the maidens (and Zelda she gets kidnapped too) from each of the dungeons that reside in the Dark World and in the end defeating Ganon. That was a lot but yeah this game is more story-focused than the other two and I like that. The story isn't mind-blowing, and I think Ocarina of Time honestly did the story way better since it's pretty similar to this game's but it's still a solid first attempt at this type of Zelda story.

Actually, getting into the gameplay tho, it's basically Zelda 1 but more polished. It's more linear than that game and holds your hand more but is also more engaging. You actually have a map for the overworld and there are always markers showing you where you need to go next. Some might see this as maybe too hand-holdy, but compared to Zelda 1's cryptic and more directionless nature, I'll take this any day over that. Another thing this game does better with its overworld is the secrets. Gone is every secret being a completely random bush to burn or wall to blow up. If there are bombable walls, they have a crack in them to indicate they can be blown up. Outside of that, the secrets are way more different. Sometimes you'll have to fall in a hole or well to end up in a cave and to get rupees or pieces of heart. (That's another change too, pieces of heart are now a thing, and you have to get 4 to make a full heart container). Sometimes you have to use the dark and light world to your advantage and switch between both to get secrets. Sometimes there are little minigames you can play to get items like pieces of heart. The secrets and ways you get items in the overworld are just so much more interesting here compared to the randomness in Zelda 1. There's a reason future Zelda's stuck with this format.

Dungeons this time around are more fleshed out and are more puzzle-like. Instead of having to push a block, find keys and maybe bomb some walls, A Link to the Past introduces many new concepts in its dungeons. One dungeon you're going in and out constantly through entrances in the overworld. Another is full of ice and thus the palace has ice physics. Another involves you having to use an item to create a platform on some tracks, letting you ride them to your destination. These never feel too gimmicky either and always come naturally. The dungeons are great in this game, far better than Zelda 1 and 2's, but I can't say I absolutely love them. Some are better than others (Skull Woods gave me big issues for some reason) and I generally prefer 3D Zelda dungeons more just because they usually have much more distinct aesthetic to them compared to these. Still tho, these dungeons are very enjoyable..especially the endgame ones. Tho Ganon's tower is brutal I gotta say lol.

The items you get from the dungeons, and I guess outside of them too, are pretty solid tho some are situational. The hookshot became very iconic from this game onwards and is used a lot in the 2nd half of the game. The bow and arrow, while not used a ton in this game, is fun and also became iconic. The hammer has its uses throughout the game but is pretty situational. The medallions damage enemies, tho I never really used them for that purpose much, and otherwise are only required very rarely. This game introduced bottles which are a nice addition as you can store faries in them to revive Link. This game does have several kind of forgettable items and also situational ones you won't use outside of battle or even often at all, but it also introduces some series staples as well, so I'd say it was a good selection of items overall.

The bosses at the end of dungeons are generally really good. They're all distinct visually, and some are even iconic enough to appear in future Zelda titles. Arrghus for example, basically reappears in Majora's Mask under the name Wart. Moldorm appears as a boss in Link's Awakening and A Link Between Worlds. The bosses are generally good, tho sometimes they can be a bit annoying. Mothula for example is incredibly hard without magic and the fire rod. Even with that, it's still difficult because of all the spike blocks in its room. Trinexx you basically NEED to have magic, the fire and ice rod, to even attack it or else you're shit out of luck. The game tells you a couple times throughout the game, when you'll basically need a green potion for a dungeon. They aren't kidding either. Cuz, I had a red or green potion almost every time before I started a dungeon. Luckily rupees are incredibly easy to get in this game, maybe the easiest game to rack up rupees, and a shop that sells green and red potions has a warp next to it which is handy (oh yeah, I forgot to mention you can warp with the ocarina once you get the song to summon the bird which is extremely helpful to warp throughout the Light World). Either way, besides some frustrating ones, the bosses are overall a big improvement from the first two games.

I mentioned the Dark World before and yeah, that's this games big thing. A ways into the game, you obtain the mirror. When you're in the Dark World, Link will turn into a bunny. When he uses the mirror tho, he can go back to the light world and leaves a little warp on the floor that he can use to go back to the Dark World. There are also several warps naturally strewn across the world that Link can use to warp to the Dark World if need be. Anyways, the reason Link is a bunny in the Dark World is because anything that's there morphs into a monster or an animal or whatever. Link cannot attack as a Bunny, but as soon as he first goes go to the Dark World, the dungeon that appears not even a minute after that happens holds the Moon Pearl. This let's Link go to the Dark World without turning into a bunny. Personally, since there's almost nothing in between you first going to the Dark World and getting the Moon Pearl, I would've liked if you got the moon pearl a bit later since it kind of felt pointless that you turn into a bunny only to not have to worry about that pretty much ever soon after. That's a minor nitpick tho, just something I thought about with this replay. Anyways, the whole Light World Dark World gimmick is very well done here, and it leads to some really cool secrets throughout the game.

The OST is great this time around. Zelda 1 already had a very solid soundtrack, and not only does this game have a new an improved version of the overworld theme, it also has some awesome new tracks along with some that become series staples. Zelda's theme makes its first appearance here and its a fantastic version of the song. Both the Dark World theme and the Dark World dungeon theme are also fantastic and fit the darker atmosphere the Dark World provides. This is even the first appearance of the Kakariko Village theme and as someone that played OOT before this game, I always thought that was very fascinating lol. Anyways this game's ost is iconic for a reason and has some of the best songs in the series.

While I did list a couple minor issues I had with this game, this truly is a massive step-up from the prior games. There's a big reason this is a classic and is still played today (whether it's the vanilla version or with randomizers). Now I do prefer Ocarina of Time personally, tho I guess I won't truly know until I replay that next, but if I'll give anything to this game over Ocarina, it's the fact the pacing is way faster and its a lot easier to just dive in and replay. That and visually it does look a lot cleaner. Anyways, I was going to play the CDI games, but I realized the hassle to get an emulator working for them wouldn't have been worth it for how supposedly bad they are. So, Link's Awakening DX is next in this marathon, look forward to that review coming soon!!

This is the start of a series of reviews that I’ve titled “The Great Zelda Binge”, where I’ll be reviewing all of the single player mainline entries in The Legend of Zelda series, as well as their various ports. The Legend of Zelda is my favorite video game franchise. It’s that childhood game series that remains near and dear to my heart to this day, and is immensely responsible for my love of the medium in general. Writing in-depth reviews on each mainline entry in the series is my way of paying tribute to it, as well as finally forcing myself to catch up on a couple of stray titles in the series that I just haven’t gotten to yet. Some friends of mine, Reyn, Quent, Steinco, and PT are also doing similar Zelda marathons, and I highly recommend giving their reviews a look as well.

All that being said, despite my proclaimed love for the franchise, I will admit: coming to appreciate its very first game is rather difficult. The original Legend of Zelda lays down an enormous amount of groundwork for the series. It is more or less the template that the vast majority of games in the series would follow going forward. Despite being a strong foundation to build upon, ultimately, that’s all the first Zelda is: a foundation. It’s a primitive game that understandably has numerous issues that end up being addressed in future entries of the series.

Ages ago, the kingdom of Hyrule was in possession of the “Triforces”, which were golden triangle-shaped objects imbued with mystic power. The Prince of Darkness, Ganon, led an army of monsters to attack Hyrule in order to seize the Triforces and wield their awesome abilities for himself, so he could plunge the world into darkness and rule over it all. After he acquired the Triforce of Power, the princess of Hyrule, Zelda, split the Triforce of Wisdom into eight separate pieces and hid them throughout the kingdom in order to keep Ganon from obtaining it, while sending her attendant, Impa, to seek out someone with the courage to defeat Ganon. After learning about what the princess had done, Ganon imprisoned Zelda and sent his monsters to track down Impa, who at the last minute, was saved by a young man named Link. After Impa tells Link about everything that’s happened, Link’s sense of justice causes him to resolve to find the eight pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom, rescue Zelda, and stop Ganon’s plans to take over the world.

The Legend of Zelda is a game that’s meant to recreate a traditional fantasy adventure. It’s a top-down, action-adventure game rooted in the concept of exploration, of going out into the world and uncovering all sorts of secrets and battling evil monsters during your quest to rescue the princess. The game starts Link off in the Overworld, which is where you’ll spend a majority of your time traversing. After obtaining the wooden sword from the cave on the starting screen, you set out into the world. There’s a lot you will find throughout the land of Hyrule. You can discover special items that Link can use either in combat or while exploring, such as the boomerang, which can stun enemies, or the bombs, whose explosions can damage enemies and reveal hidden caves and pathways. There are hordes of monsters that you encounter, as well as various caves with merchants you can purchase items from, and even secret individuals who will grant you a reward for finding them. Despite the game’s ethos being rooted in exploration and discovery, its biggest problem is that it’s designed in a way that doesn’t make exploration enjoyable at all. In fact, blindly exploring in this game is downright painful. The Overworld in particular is absolutely miserable to traverse if you don’t know where to go or what to do.

Almost every screen in the Overworld is overrun by all sorts of different monsters, and I do mean overrun. You can’t go a single screen in any direction without a mob of enemies immediately spawning in and hurling projectiles at you. At the start of the game, Link is particularly fragile, it doesn’t take more than a couple of hits for him to go down. Dying causes Link to respawn with only three hearts at the starting screen with the cave where you find the sword, and while you can obtain items and upgrades that will make Link live longer, I can’t imagine most people figuring out how to find them on their own.

I will be completely up front: I used a guide for the Overworld sections of the game, and if you plan on trying this out for yourself, I highly recommend you do the same. The particular guide I used, which was found on zeldadungeon.net, specifically has you go out and obtain a number of items and upgrades as the very first thing you do in the game. It’s very understandable why the guide has you get them. A couple of these items, specifically the Heart Containers and the Blue Ring, are particularly important to get as early as possible if you want to keep yourself from dying to a single touch, as they give Link additional health and lessen the amount of damage he takes from enemies respectively.

This ties into what I believe to be the biggest issue of the game. A number of these special items and upgrades are located or tied to secrets you can find throughout the Overworld. These secrets include hidden merchants who you can buy items from, old men who will give you additional Heart Containers, and the occasional friendly monster who will pay you an amount of rupees (the currency of The Legend of Zelda series) for discovering them, which you would otherwise have to collect by grinding enemies. While you could consider the game’s secrets to be optional, as it is possible to beat the game without them, choosing not to seek them out will make things much harder for you. The problem is that the game’s secrets are hidden in an extremely poor fashion. They will usually be hidden in caves that you have to discover by bombing specific walls, or underneath bushes that you have to burn using the Candle item. However, you have absolutely no way of telling what wall can be bombed or what bush can be burned. When it comes to bombs, you can only carry a limited supply, and the Candle can only be used once per screen. Unless you want to go through the utterly insane process of bombing every single wall you see, or burning a single bush, leaving the current screen and then returning to burn another one, then you will not find these (in my opinion) highly necessary upgrades.

The pieces of the Triforce are all located in places known as labyrinths, which are underground maze-like locations filled with traps and enemies. Labyrinths are where you’ll find a majority of special items in the game, as each labyrinth has at least one item for you to find. The end of each labyrinth features a showdown with a boss guarding a piece of the Triforce. Upon defeating it, Link will earn a Heart Container and he’ll also be able to collect the Triforce piece the boss is guarding. After completing all eight labyrinths and gathering all eight Triforce pieces, Link can then set out in search of the final labyrinth in Death Mountain, where Ganon and the Princess reside.

The labyrinths are relatively simple to explore compared to the Overworld. They typically consist of various rooms where you just fight enemies on your way to find the dungeon's key item and then the boss. You’ll occasionally need to push a random block in a room in order to unlock a stairway to a hidden passage as well. About halfway through the game, however, labyrinths do require you to bomb specific walls in order to progress, and you run into the same issue that you have with the Overworld: you have no way of knowing what walls to bomb, which can cause you to waste them. If you’re not using a guide during the labyrinths and you’re playing the game either via an emulator or on Nintendo Switch Online, you’re going to want to use the rewind feature very often just to make sure that you don’t waste bombs trying to figure out where to go.

Labyrinths are also where you’ll be doing the most combat as well. Combat in this game, despite being simple at heart, does get more complex than you’d expect. You can only thrust your sword in the direction that Link is currently facing, meaning you have to frequently move and position yourself according to the enemy’s moving patterns so that you can hit them without getting hit yourself. Certain enemies can only be attacked at certain angles, though as you progress through the game and get more upgrades, you can just start to tank hits from weaker enemies and mash your sword, which is admittedly rather lazy and does make the combat less engaging than it would otherwise be.

Its presentation is about what you’d expect for the NES. Its visual style is simple, yet iconic all the same. It makes great use of the NES’ color palette to simulate various climates that you explore, such as green forest areas, brown mountain areas and deserts, and blue lakes and rivers. It’s only got about five music tracks, but again, it's some of the most iconic music in all of video games. The main theme in particular is up there with Super Mario Bros’ overworld theme as one of the most well known video game songs of all time. Koji Kondo made do with what he had to work with, and he did a damn good job, he truly understood the assignment.

The Legend of Zelda, despite not quite earning my enjoyment, still earns my respect at the bare minimum. Technically, almost everything that I would come to love about the series is here, but what’s here is rather unrefined. It’s a game that I’m happy to have completed for the sole purpose of being able to say “I beat Zelda 1”, but otherwise, it’s not really a game I can recommend to people nowadays unless you are adamant about experiencing Zelda’s roots. It doesn’t accomplish its goal of providing an enjoyable exploration-based experience primarily because of the way its upgrades and certain items are distributed and hidden, but the building blocks for future Zelda titles are there. The series wouldn’t be around without it, and plenty of other games wouldn’t be around without it either. It’s a necessary first step on the path to something far greater.

There is a scene here where Cooper gives BT a thumbs up and BT tries to do the same for a moment before giving him a thumbs up back, and I start smiling like an idiot before I pull a thumbs up myself, and all I'm thinking the whole time is, "Man, I'm way too easy to please."

I genuinely believe that, outside of the ridiculously fun combat system, the best decision made here was to give the hulking Evangelion a personality of its own. Not the snarky, know-it-all techno-babbling AI, but just an intelligent robot that doesn't necessarily know everything outside of its specialization on the battlefield. The exchanges between Cooper and BT are both hilarious and compelling, generating immense interest in their evolving relationship. Of course, the campaign is fairly short-lived, but it does wonders at crafting memorable moments through those interactions spliced in between the chaos of militia and titans.

BT, you will always be famous.

(PS. THE "WHEN YOU GET TO HELL, TELL EM VIPER SENT YA" AND "DODGE THIS" WAS FROM THIS GAME????? THAT'S SO COOL)

Understanding context is a virtue when it comes to learning why any form of media is the way it is. It can help someone enjoy something even more, but it could also wrap around and bring even more questions to how people could bear with it.

In the second stage, you are immediately met with bats who linger on the ceiling waiting for you to trigger their response of leisurely meandering somewhere towards your vicinity. Their pathing still baffles me after about five playthroughs, and I have yet to get past this part without taking damage, but sometimes these bats like to shatter reality and start hanging from within the blocks that make up the real estate of the stage. On the original tiny Game Boy screen that is of watermelon coloration due to it's dot matrix lcd screen, when the bats decide to do this little parlor trick they may as well become completely invisible to the player. It's a nice convenience for new players of the modern era who don't need to deal with this visual impairment, unless they decide to seek out playing on the original hardware.

...I don't recommend it.

This game is slow, we know this. The horse named "slow" has been beaten to such a near-death state that it resuscitated the horse, only for it to be beaten once again within an inch of it's life once more, in some kind of fucked up cycle. Castlevania never usually came installed with blast processing, and it surely doesn't exist here, but I'm going to be real. I just got used to it. Believe me, I feel bad for Christopher Bee's crippling boneitis, but it was something I just started looking past, because the rest of the game is very much built around this even steadier pace, as enemies aren't exactly breaking the sound barrier either in their method of attack. The punishment of your whip getting demoted after any hit is excruciating, especially for new players, and the lack of sub-weapons to properly strategize for areas aren't exactly helping as the "strategy" is quite simply "don't get hit" or "get good".

These are all things I can get past by simply "getting good", and I could even potentially say I enjoy these aspects the more I master the game, much like any other Castlevania experience, especially with such a simpler approach. As you could imagine, there is exactly one thing that is crippling in this game's ability to have a lasting heartfelt impact upon me, and it's something that would hinder any game, whether it was Aria of Sorrow or Elmo's Letter Adventure. That is of course, the copious amounts of button inputs getting dropped by the slowdown that can be triggered by things as minor as two enemies appearing on screen. It becomes a fun gamble wondering if Christopher Bee will jump straight up instead of where he's supposed to go in a hair-raising climb in everyone's favorite autoscrolling section with instant death spikes. This isn't something done by a bad emulator or a bad controller, this is an experience I've had playing this in the AV Collection on both my Switch and PC, as well as Lame Boy on my DS years ago. I would get this same problem playing with my Hayabusa fight stick with six frames of runahead on a MiSTer. That's just how badly unoptimized and poorly programmed the game is, if it wasn't already obvious by the random code you'll sometimes see on the screen just from casual play.

The Adventure was an obvious rushjob from both the aspect of it's gamefeel, as well as in many sections of the game that felt like they were barely playtested. The bridge in stage 2 will sometimes spawn the giant eyeballs that roll across the screen in such a way that you will have no choice but to take a hit, because hitting two of them rolling from the right will create a pit that's too wide to jump across, thus oops. The infamous autoscrolling third stage has a vertical climb that will train you to constantly be on the move and stay at the top of the screen, but there is a part where you must jump across platforms that will fall as you land on them. Attempting to jump across these platforms too early will make you faceplant into an invisible wall, as the autoscrolling screen had not yet made your destination accessible yet, oops. In the final stage, there are two very suspect rope climb screen transitions. One will lead you to a guaranteed hit from a bouncing ball projectile fired by one of the phallic looking monsters that are attached to the floor if it decides to fire upwards, thus necessitating a climb back down and then back up in order to reset the screen, and hoping our buddy fires downwards instead so we actually have a chance to avoid the incoming projectile. There is another rope climb later that demands crackshot reaction to quickly go up and get into position in order to avoid a scythe thrown by a hooded miscreant.

It's all very shoddy and obviously made on a tight schedule, and these are all things I wouldn't point out if I hadn't decided to try and beat this on the third loop, where Christopher Bee takes triple damage. I probably would've eventually beaten the final stage, if a new Picross game hadn't have come out for me to suddenly snap my focus away from this odd "kuso-great" entry. Yes, I'm going to admit. I enjoyed myself trying to learn and adapt to this mysterious game. It's not an entry I would ever say is "good", but I do believe it's punched down on a little too hard these days. As of this post, The Adventure holds an average user rating of "1.64" here at Boys Love, putting it below the likes of nefarious entities such as Diablo Immortal, Farmville, and Spyro: Enter The Dragonfly. Damn.

It's a shame that Konami didn't let The Adventure stay in the oven a bit longer, because with fixes to the terrible slowdown, ironing out some poorly balanced sections, and perhaps not having you be able to be demoted all the way to the weakest whip would probably allow it to maintain a healthier long term relationship with the modern audience. Instead of becoming a cherished "cute" game with a small amount of stages like Super Mario Land, it's harshly spat on and considered one of the worst games in the entire franchise.

For myself, the most disappointing aspect about The Adventure is actually the final boss music that plays when you fight Dracula's infamous "flying meatball" form. It begins intimidating enough with a bellowing intro growl, descends into a furious barrage as if a struggle against ultimate evil has begun, then it goes into a heroic melody as if the final blow is about to be struck....but this heroic melody suddenly loops and the track restarts back to the struggle. It perfectly captures The Adventure itself, something that could've potentially had been viewed as an underrated classic and be viewed favorably for years to come, only to have it's legs suddenly chopped from underneath it as the composer was on a tight schedule and had a dentist appointment to get to, apparently just like everyone else on staff at the time.

My advice is play it and give it a respectable amount of time, maybe you'll still hate it, or maybe you'll see the intent it had and give it a bit more slack. Regardless, your opinion is yours to keep, much like my own and you're free to throw bricks at me.

I could also just be masochistic too, who's to say? That fifth loop with one-hit deaths sounds pretty appealing to me, ngl.

No creative naming with this one, they just said “no bullshit” Cats and Dogs. Damn, they were right. I cannot seem to recreate my own dog though, so this shit sucks actually!!

I find it so funny that as soon as something involves pets, game developers lock the fuck in. Take the dog escort missions in FF7 Rebirth for example, just a straight up renaissance of craft for such a miniscule event in that 100 hours of game. Petting a dog is now seen as a mandatory mechanic right next to photo mode and fishing, vaporizing the psychos on r/petfree into ashes. Cats & Dogs is no different here as it adds in so much extra content just for the sake of celebrating pets. New artwork, decorations, furniture, the paintings that your Sims can make, food recipes, and even introducing an entire Sims Instagram feature just for taking dumbass photos of your cat. They knew what they were doing and the pets are integrated pretty well. They genuinely add to the life of your Sims by being their friends, instead of being their props.

Not met without controversy of course, since The Sims 3 Pets included horses. A lot of horse girls dunked on this one for only including what’s listed on the label. Personally, horses were nice for the open-world setting of The Sims 3 but that game came at the cost of your PC using your entire town’s electricity grid. So, I can see why they were left out initially. They’ve been added after the fact now so I guess it doesn’t matter anymore. (I don’t have this one yet though.)

Even without horses, there is still a lot here to enjoy. Personally, the ability to craft whatever abomination you want using the CAS Editor is funny enough. They come with their own traits that range from beautiful baby boy to dubious asshole. And of course, they can breed and create their own generational legacies depending on how crazy you want to get with it. I have seen some randomized Eldritch beings walking about, baiting me into adopting them. If I had less self control I would put them out of their misery THE FUN WAY, but it's gonna take more than a purple, sweater wearing dog named Goober to sway me into this responsibility. I think that’s why a lot of the stray animals are sick to be honest, they’re pulling on your heart strings. Do not fall for their manipulation!!

As for how they actually play and function with the rest of the gameplay, it’s overall rather smooth. However, you can’t play as them which I find to be a bit of a bummer personally. Thankfully, mods exist and I need to use them because I am an impatient person. I don’t really need to create a whole life story for each pet I make, but it’s just nice to manually cancel out when a pet is being annoying instead of waiting for your Sim to yap at them about it. You can level up a Pet Training skill to make it a bit easier to deal with the annoying parts of owning a pet though. There’s also the Friend of the Animals Aspiration which rewards you with befriending random pets a lot easier, so that is just itching a scratch I know some people have. You can also collect feathers by sending a cat to destroy the local wildlife. Ummm, don’t do that in real life.

Lastly, in a similar vein to the Dine Out expansion, you can buy and run your own Veterinarian office. If you don’t mind watching animals vomit and pee everywhere, sure. I would say that it runs a lot better than owning a restaurant, although it still comes with it’s own chaos. Managing employees who sit around and do fuck all can be a bit of a chore, but you’ll be doing most of the work anyways. Figuring out what is causing an animal’s illness is like solving a little puzzle, which is neat for a time but it’ll eventually come down to memorization at the end of the day. Since you build skills for healing animals, I found it really nice to use it on my own pets so that I wouldn’t have to travel to the vet office every time they fell ill. The only way that pets can die though is through old age, so don’t worry about seeing some doggy dog death that you won’t expect. However, it's all fun and games until Grim shows up on their birthday and then I want to beat his ass. Definitely not a pack that you need if you obviously don't care about having animals in your game, but it's a fun one nonetheless.

And that vet office? There’s one automatically placed in Brindleton Bay, which is based off of New England. I got my Dunkies watching my dog tear my couch apart. This shit is awesome actually!!

It's genuinely insane how the development team had some pretty good ideas going forward, but then completely went backwards on it. I get that the game is free and all that, but it reminds me of the Injustice mobile games a lot, especially the menus. The menus are a mess to navigate through, especially with all the in-game currencies there are all of a sudden. I feel like the beta had a way better idea on how to be a game than this did, which is a shame. This is far from the worst free game I've played, I've become a sort of expert in that department so I'm able to tell, but we'll have to wait and see with updates if it can and will improve on this full launch. Unless the Samurai Jack leaks are true, in which case the game is actually a 10/10 and this review is mute.

Street Fighter IV is really fantastic! It seems to have innovated the Street Fighter formula on nearly every level, and remains a blast to play today.

First off, the upgrade to 3D graphics from Street Fighter III was pulled off masterfully, and the game looks gorgeous. There is definitely a little bit of age showing in it, but all of the characters really do look like the game’s hand drawn artwork came to life. Also, the stages this game offers might just be the best in the entire Street Fighter series. Each one is full of life and atmosphere (Something that is aided by this game's wonderful music), and beautifully textured with a bit of a watercolor look. Add in the many moves and actions with paintbrush stroke effects applied to them and you get a really perfect artstyle that has aged amazingly well.

Now the number of improvements to the actual street fighting gameplay is simply waaaay too high to count. Everything just feels very fluid and fun. There is an excellent character roster that quite possibly could meet the needs of every single different playstyle on the planet, and the newly introduced Focus attack (This game's version of drive impact) can be a pretty significant game changer once you know how to use it. On top of this there are now 2 super bars; one that charges primarily from you attacking, and one that charges solely by you getting hit. This really helps out players that might struggle a bit with defence, while also being great at rewarding those who want to push themselves to be more aggressive. It’s all a really superb evolution of the games that came before it.

As is essential to every Street Fighter game, Street Fighter IV comes with a pretty awful barebones story with the worst dialogue you've ever heard, and they've even thrown in some really low budget anime cutscenes this time! Despite their poorly told stories each character (aside from abel, I hate u abel) is bursting with personality and charm on top of their already diverse movesets. There are even a select few characters (Gouken) that are actually interesting story-wise. Like I said it's basically a street fighter requirement to have a terrible story so it really doesn't bother me in the slightest here. I should also mention that outside of the story there are a few pre-rendered traditional intro cutscenes, and they all look quite spectacular and have great music to go along with them, despite them being completely inconsequential to the main story.

I want to say that the main problem with this game is a lack of content, as when you enter the main menu, the gameplay options you have consist of Multiplayer, Arcade, and a very barebones challenge mode. But the more I think about it, the less I think it's that major of a problem. The game already has a huge character roster so there are a good few arcade routes to go through. Saying that however, I did blow through the entire arcade mode in about a day or two so I guess it really depends on the person. Like I said before, I don't mind bad stories in fighting games, but I just wish the game put in more effort in other areas if it insists on having such a bad story. Kind of like how Street Fighter 6 has world tour mode. All in all however it's a very small hiccup in a very great game.

So TLDR: Go play Street Fighter IV right now if you like fighting games, it's pretty Fun. With lots of personality, excellent gameplay, and all the classic quirks of the Street Fighter franchise, you’re missing out if you don’t play this one.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger was a surprisingly good game that put the series back on track after the disaster that was Call of Juarez: The Cartel. But did it truly redeem the franchise?

I loved the style of the game; it had a lot of personality. The cel-shaded graphics and comic book-inspired visuals gave it a unique look that set it apart from its predecessors. The narrative structure, with the protagonist Silas Greaves recounting his exploits, added a layer of charm and unpredictability as his stories often changed mid-mission, altering the gameplay dynamically.
The story was pretty good, with a blend of fact and fiction that kept things interesting. Silas's journey through the Wild West, interacting with legendary figures like Jesse James and Billy the Kid, was entertaining.
The gameplay itself was arcadey and fun, focusing on fast-paced gunfights and satisfying combos that rewarded precision and style. The skill trees allowed for some customization, letting you tailor the gunslinging to your liking.

Gunslinger was a game that definitely delivered, standing on par with Bound in Blood as the best in the series. It was a return to form, recapturing the essence of what made the series enjoyable in the first place.

Despite its success, Gunslinger was the last Call of Juarez game. The license is no more, and you can't buy this game anymore. The franchise seems to have been consigned to history, and it's a damn shame. Call of Juarez had so much potential, and it's disheartening to think it will remain dormant forever.

For whatever reason, the list of game studios that make good DLC is surprisingly small. While sometimes varying wildly in quality, the Borderlands DLC tends to rank favorably among its peers - but Borderlands 3 presents a strange case where I think I like its DLC even more than the base game itself. Its evident why that might be the case with Moxxis Heist, its essentially a small slice of Borderlands 2 in Borderlands 3, but its interesting just how much more captivated I was even despite a reduction in setpieces and boss quality.

Id attribute this to the fact that the Handsome Jackpot is absurd first, serious second. Borderlands 3 centers everything around the urgency of the doomsday twins, whereas Moxxis Heist is a story about capturing an abandoned space casino from the debt-based Mad Max society that was left stranded there. Frankly, this is Borderlands humor at its best; of course due in large part to another playable character reprisal of Pre-Sequels own Timothy “Doppelganger” Lawrence offering a surrogate Handsome Jack performance, but Heists satire of big bank espionage is also just the right amount of manic and spontaneous. To me this is the superior version of Borderlands 3 and it suggests to me the franchise still has gas in the tank - it seems it was really only an issue of execution.

“...We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.”

- United States President John F. Kennedy's "We choose to go to the Moon", 1962 speech.

"Magnificent Speech. Ain't it? But how is it relevant?"

“Uhh well sir. Kinda evokes a similar ideology about our mission. Ya know in Outer Wilds(OW). Plus our newest astronaut for the program has some interesting logs to see. I think you should see them.”

“Hmmm. Reports are only forwarded to me urgently for outstanding experiences. And you say he has one?”

“Without a doubt sir, I think it may shed some light on why the speech is given among other things. Though do mind his first day. The results were… not pretty on initial impressions. He also tends to label our project as a game/simulation at times while referencing relative sci-fi films… Which is odd, but not harmful.”

“Hmph, I’ll be the judge of that. He better not write anything concrete. Due to the secretive nature, it’s imperative to keep things close to the chest so to speak. If I find SPOILERS in the above mediums. I’ll expel him post-haste and zero remorse.”

Log 1 - An extremely short slow, boring beginning to a grand adventure

Initially I thought learning about space and whatnot boring. Yet decades later on I couldn't help but amusingly remember those naive days. Here I am weeks after joining the program. And I must say The Outer Wilds is odd. I signed what felt like books of NDAs, and the only thing I can definitively concerning this secretive game is that it evokes a whirlwind of cathartic emotions. Steadily rising higher despite its demure appearance. Steam succinctly describes; “open world mystery about a solar system trapped in an %^&(%^& loop.” With bolded phrases such as: “Welcome to the Space Program! Mysteries of the Solar System… A World that changes over time and lastly grab your intergalactic gear!" Statements sound interesting at a glance, but nothing to entice everyone except those with an interest going farther than our little globe in real life. Pointing at the biggest question of 'how,' 'what' & 'why' during your stay here are primary motivators to unearth the beautiful diamond. And I must whisper after trying for a small amount of occasions…

My first impressions weren’t positive. I love getting to the action real quick. So when I'm delegated to walking and reading early on. Doesn’t excite me to move on especially since I already want to progress past the atmosphere. And usually, there’s a clear prerogative of what to do. Here there’s not a hand-holding overarching narrative to follow consistently. You have to build your own goals and discover what lies in the vastness of the universe a bit. A central 'plot' does exist though, so don't worry if you think this is purely a sandbox. Moreover, upon finishing the basic tutorials on thrusters, scouters, signalscope and finally getting the launch codes. Took 30 minutes flat and I was ready to sleep. However, once I entered my ship and said goodbye to my friends. Activating thrusters and Yahoo! We're in space! Didn’t have difficulty navigating the solar system… Until I ventured to a distant foreboding sphere. Where my breath was taken away and silenced. And my previous hurdles are eradicated. Wish I could march back in a hot instant to slap my past self silly for thinking ridiculous nitpicks. Because I’m so glad to be wrong.

“If it wasn’t for the last sentence. I would’ve ordered you to flag him for disposal.”

“B-b-boss?”

“Nevermind. The 2nd record better impress. Or else…”

Log 2 - Appreciating the fear of the unknown

I’ll try to describe my emotions on the first planet. Any interstellar film or game worth its salt needs to evoke the presence of horror, hopelessness, anxiety, and tension. We can use examples from earlier works like Alien(1979) by Ridley Scott or Mass Effect(2007) series. The former needs no introduction where we see struggling survivors encountering a deadly alien threat. Managing to keep our suspense intact and the ‘surprise’ of what occurs in the future moving. Among other elements of horror such as fear. The latter presents a decent spread of hostile and friendly species to converse. Yet the traits differ. You never know what to expect despite talking to them. The element of ‘surprise,’ is inherent in the above aspects. Thus I am treated to a host of emotions I find unsettling. But not off-putting. The closest example I think is during a segment of Independence Day(1996). Where the protagonist must venture off on a final mission. Not a spoiler, most films have this action during the last act. A final hurrah. I felt a sense of uncertainty despite cautiously maneuvering my small vessel in an unknown place. Feeling lost and embracing the zero-g is a sense I felt intimately. The sentiment is further connected to a growing climb of wonder and excitement. Upon discovering something I found incredible and increased my resolve to learn further.

“Boss, you’re smiling.”

“What?! Nonono bits of food stuck in my mouth, had to move my teeth a bit.”

A cough is heard.

“A-anyway let’s move onto the 3rd report please.”

Log 3 - Fleeting wonder and magically enraptured from beginning, middle, and end

One of the main pillars is Wonder and magic is everywhere. The sensation of actually embarking on a solo declaration is fulfilling. Discovering new facets you seldom knew before is equally as powerful. Encountering and struggling against different varied biomes is a treat both planet-wise and in astral territory. Mirrors our lived life in making goals and acting upon them in a unfamiliar environment. Ya know the first moment you see snow? And you wanna build a snowman immediately? Remember those memories. The awe and jaw drops are plentiful. I’m reminded of the second when I first became enchanted by Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace(1999). Not because of the cool action sequences as a kid, but the big ol question mark on my face witness Tatooine. A harsh desert with a cornucopia of species living around. Beyond the nearly unlivable conditions, my eyes were glued to the racers speeding along the canyon highways in a deadly race. Different from NASCAR, the Olympics, horse racing and plenty vehicular competitions out there. The phenomenon never escaped as I climbed higher in age brackets. Games and films both share a wonderful quality to capture something different, and unique. We gaze and transport ourselves into a fictional world to our liking, dislike and nuances in between. Exploring, discovering, being lost, trails connecting pieces of lore. And starting anew, reborn with the knowledge gained. A gratifying cycle emerges. I can’t escape. But do I need to? Hmmm…

Capturing the immediate and prolonged interest of any individual varies. The dullness I experienced initially reversed course upon investing additional time. Helped by a strong point. Every 22 minutes a [censored] occurs. [Re%^&*ing] my character with intact launch codes. And crucial wisdom gained previously. Ready to start another venture. I wasn’t enthused on the mechanic early on. But after hours passed by unnoticed, I realized it's an innovative narrative helper. Demonstrating the consequences of our historical actions and what methods we can induce next. Not adhering to strictly player-centric design. The state of everything continues with or without our actions and causes self-reflection. The last point is significant. I’ll touch on it later as I dive into the process of elimination and frustration. On the opposite side, I calmly steered my cruiser to another location since the previous place scared me enough to not travel back there till I scrounged up extra courage. I traveled to a decently fast-moving object which I didn’t think was possible. Landed surprisingly safely. I was riding high on the accomplishment. Until I came upon an old recording. Turns out an ancient civilization left their findings! I learned a clue and after checking what I could, which isn’t a whole lot. I return to my vessel. Only to witness it’s not there! I recall what my translator deciphered revealing the cause. I facepalmed not registering the different data prior to later. I promptly yeeted myself into the sun to restart. What a horrible 2nd try. On my third attempt, I traveled to a fresh site.

You know the idiomatic expression the third time's the charm? Well let me tell you how it's true. I can’t dive into specifics of what I saw. In terms of relatability and vibes, I found it breathtaking. An animated film I still love today is called Treasure Planet(2002). A story about a young lad coming across stories of a cool wandering pirate with the ability to disappear with nary a trace. To the point he has amassed a great treasure. Enchanted by his tales, he resolves to follow in similar footsteps. I won’t discuss anymore, but if you splice the movie with Interstellar(2014)’s planetary discovery, with displayed awe in both protagonist's facial expressions. Then you can figure out what my face turned into. The sentiment is unsurpassed and instantly hooked me to delve deeper into the cosmos and what mysteries to unearth, understand, and utilize to the fullest extent. The magic of discovering other passages connecting to clues and answering my questions left me satisfied to a greater degree I would equate to circumspect. A notion I love to bits when connecting wonderful lorebuilding.

“Hmmm. I don't appreciate disclosing the exact minutes, but I'm happy he at least censored the important bits. To leave fresh greenies their own imagination.”

Gently smiling. The assistant silently passes the 4th transcript. Wondering if it was a trick of their eye, but they swear a slight smirk instantly emerged before vanishing. A blink if you miss it event.

Log 4 - For now a little step. Later, a giant leaps for lorebuilding

The fourth spot I journeyed to I would equate to a familiar segment from Interstellar(2014) except mixed with an animated film called Titan A.E(2000). Both deal in matters of heavy topics I won’t spoil. But it is deep and conjures mature themes. Enhancing OW’s careful lore building. Mirrors similar human fascination with space and what can we glean from minute information given to us using advanced technology. Using a suit and gadgets helps us to create a better picture. Although it can be hypothetical we can at least infer with evidence and prove claims. Therefore, I can’t help but smile whilst I'm reading texts of dialogue again where previously I thought was boring.

The genius of worldbuilding worth its salt is the ability to strongly capture an individual’s attention and let the user form their conclusions based on information given from religion, culture, laws, physics, and other info. There's merit in connecting. In video games, we discern this through dialogue given by NPCs and books we can read. Two elements work in tandem to enrich the player beyond the main plot. For better or worse, we identify an excess and perhaps too little in some cases. Here, a careful methodology concerning the non-handholding story and vital lore texts emerges. Maximized to the fullest effect I'm astounded to witness from a non-RPG. And I’ve played a decent amount removing the RPG element. What blows my mind further is the placement of lore exercised to the fullest limit. Knowledge is extremely instrumental in conducting further actions. Thereby the primary strengths result in the varied text. Ancients in humorous stories and hobbies full of quirks yet it doesn’t detract from their passion in their craft. Goals, missions, incentives, and purpose all become linked and shared. Far from piling an ever-stuffing pinata or treated to a plate made by a five-star restaurant. Rather familiar... a certain fella I watched growing up from Discovery channel. Dr. Michio Kaku who can break complex terms into explanations like I'm five format. With a dash of compelling interest. Then cooked to an extent I'm savoring the taste. With the power of my handy ship reports, I can connect lore automatically. Arrows lead me to my next destination based on evidence previously. And data entries compiling alternative bits to complete an informational packet. Categorized, neatly in concise portions of longer post-it notes. It is a miniature, but effective companion twisting the noggins in my brain not too hard unlike the Talos Principle. Disregard thinking it could be a chore. Quite the opposite.

Throwing out conventional design. From coding to world-building- constructing a trail that is rich, emotive helped by sound design, and purposeful. Yet it does not retain the intrinsic building blocks we usually associate with storytelling; the character ‘A,’ will detail information to us to character ‘B.’ We read text records instead. Some may see this as boring as hell as did I, early on. But stick with it, and you will see the splendor of their capabilities. The genius and creativity of the writings revolve back to the narrative, the curiosity. Then the question arises. What is the underlying incentive that moves the participant so much to continue? I’ll answer that by pointing to the sky beyond our planet and asking “What lies beyond outer space? And what else can we derive from there?” The incentives look plain, but usher in a tug-of-war gently luring me into the mystery and eating the delicious carrot. And it's funny because my philosophy teacher posited multiple questions to extrapolate from anything similar to the pursuit of education, and the limits of our current understanding of science. He used a pencil as an example. Why is it sharp? Why is the material wood? Can it be broken? What is the eraser made of? How long does it take to create a single pencil? What’s the cost? Why am I using a pencil instead of a pen? These questions can be applied coming across each concept or tangible stuff during a sweep in OW. Yet it doesn’t become a chore to look underneath every nook and cranny. Purpose and clues which lead to further clues and discoveries in a cyclical manner rewarding the patient and observer. Listening and understanding are key component blocks in understanding things greater than we initially perceive. Lean into the minimalistic design without being overbearing. There is enough to ride the fine line of not extracting over-complicated to the point of excess. And I 100% believe 99% of everything here is gold. Loan Verneau(Other designer) emphasizes the characteristics from a 2020 Noclip documentary.. “Minimalism is actually advantageous.”

“Boss, here’s some grub. You should eat ya know.”

“Yeah yeah don’t worry, I'll eat when I finish chronicle 5. Don’t worry.”

The assistant turns around, rolls his eyeballs around, and cheekily smirks as he watches his employer avidly reading more entries. He nonetheless hands him the fifth log.

Log 5 - Secrets, have secrets. And the critical usage of tools

Much in a minuscule vein of the Marvel Cinematic Universe(MCU) Avenger films, there’s always a layer behind a character or plot and usually you can apply the concept to films and videogames in reading behind the scenes or underneath the underneath. Underlying messages, themes, and possibly commentary on a variety of issues without implicitly being said. OW operates similarly. I follow breadcrumbs, I learn additional details, shifting the layers of my comprehension from literal, non-literal, lateral, etc. A delicate move that eases youngins and removes the over-complicated. Toeing the very fine edge of a black hole. Not descending entirely, but enough to make me struggle. My thinking process was in overdrive to determine various possible links. Frustration and impatience emanated from my head. Almost to the point I wanted to put this as a negative. But taking a deep breath, re-evaluating my options, the process of elimination, and a cool head kept my logical process running smoothly and not overheating such as a PC.

I hesitate to call this a 'puzzle' cause it's not. In the vein of Portal & Talos Principle. Where it is clear and linear of what you have to do. Definitely puzzle inspired. Elements through the environment in a non-intrusive manner. Designed in a way to be beginner-friendly yet as you gradually hit the end credits slowly ramp up. Not too cryptic and not too direct. Easy to connect the dots in my opinion. Forgive me for not enclosing the exact method or describing further, once again spoiler territory. But if you enjoy those ‘puzzles’ I mentioned earlier, then probably the process is favorable of how the developers implemented here. Tying to the lore and narrative. Enriching my overall experience, akin to pursuing an oasis in the desert after days of not eating or drinking. I was hungry, thirsty, and ravenous to continue. Here’s a hint, use the rumor and ship records to help you pinpoint possible solutions. It may not matter much early on but try to make it a habit to check. The results will surely surprise you.

Moreover, the tools gained are used to the fullest effect. You can attain most of them by equipping your suit. But also don’t forget about them! I can’t track the countless occasions I died forgetting to equip my gear. Don’t be a silly fool like me. Remember! It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this! A special craft, jetpack, scouter, translator, signalscope, A reliable suit equipped with an oxygen tank and fuel for the jets! You’ll need these essential tools before descending on new ground. Lest you die of lack of oxygen heh. The tools are a nice fusion mixing into the raw fun immediately. In expected and unexpected ways. I lost sight of my liner. Heh easy peasy, I use my jetpack to jettison slightly into the atmosphere where I can behold an overview of the planet I'm currently on. And it's fun wrestling with different forces of gravity. A past memory allowed me to soar freely, enjoying the freedom of zero-g. And testing the effects of denser gravity life. Is a super struggle to jump a mere foot. Such careful implementation, where physics and movement are acted upon deserves special praise. Always fun to test out various gravitational fields and actively maneuvering my ship based on my momentum is satisfying by demonstrating you can’t easily become a master with enough tools and tricks at your disposal. Revolves back to always something fresh to learn and discover and using that knowledge is priceless.

Navigation I found to my pleasant surprise isn’t tough. To me, I found the experience easy to get a sense of orientation to decide your ensuing travel destination. Helped by the fact you have your globe compass. Thankfully entire locations are not absurdly complex. Plenty of locations are developed with care. Distinct enough to stand on its own. Standing in the middle of nowhere, you undoubtedly easily find themselves lost on where to forge next! Well, my friend the signalscope is a radar, compass, and a handy sound detector. Simply following the source can lead to incredible discoveries! A reliable suit can protect you from various hazards so keep an eye on your health! It’s not just the vastness of the unknown that can be scary. I’m reminded of the warning Stephen Hawking once said regarding alien civilization. Maybe that will help or not. Who knows… Anyway! You should use the scouter. While it seems useless in the beginning to throw a pocket-size machine out in the distance rendering images such as mobile Mars rovers. Invaluable in checking out what’s in the distance. You rarely know what kind of matter you’ll come across. If safe to land, dangerous terrain to traverse, hell the additional light source emanating is vital in scouting too! In the darkest of moments, I determine solace in the illumination. Lastly, a handy translator to decipher old texts. Minus this little guy, I probably would’ve quit entirely! A tool to transcribe what was said long ago. Man. Wish we had this for our main cast back in Arrival(2016).

“Arrival is a damn fantastic film! A must watch along with the other sci-fi films touched on.”

“I agree, boss. Weird they haven’t watched Kubrick’s famous space film. Think he could’ve had substance to articulate about him.”

“True, perhaps they have not watched the film yet… Shame.

“Best of the best… Ah, here's the latest text.”

Log 6 - It's okay to make mistakes. History is full of them

I believe one of the hardest and maybe underappreciated qualities is to capture the attention of an individual for a prolonged period depending on the fun factor. Overcoming obstacles, finding new treasures, discovering secrets, winning against an opponent completing an objective, and my favorite is learning supplementary erudition that can be used retroactively to encounter alternate paths and solutions to obstacles. A slice different from metroidvanias with required items/abilities to progress. Similar, but different from how a rogue-lite conducts after failure. Operates by handing you enough necessary devices, not ability-gating, but sending them off at their own pace is an immensely enjoyable endeavor. 'If you can go there, you can reach it.'

But also exhibit a manageable learning curve. Thereby allowing astronauts and astralfarers to continue unabated without major insurmountable hurdles. A phenomenal example is akin to Mario falling into the abyss and we restart immediately is a simple and earliest example. Here the presence of failure and not giving up is palpable. Embracing mistakes can often lead to interesting outcomes. Making the most of what you can do within a limited ordeal reminded me heavily of my recent trip to Japan. Where I tried to do the most of what I could physically do while staying within ‘x’ amount of days. You have to embrace the logistics and persevere to rise above average motions to do as much as possible. Granted you don’t have to follow the ideology to a T. I love doing whatever you want at your leisure.

My experience in Japan was a proverbial light-bulb in parallel history of what I conducted. I didn’t come to this realization til dozens of attempts of failing, dying, and befuddlement. Concerning the failed attempts. I stand and try again. It is why I appreciate the [blank] loop occurring within 22 minutes clever. Sure a restart is feasible, but considering the full breadth is not player-centric. Enough distinct events occur within a small time frame. I won’t bring out anything explicit. But this core facet is a robust pillar holding up what makes OW remarkable. I’m reminded of the Apollo program to reach the moon after a world superpower equivalent entered the race by sending Yuri Gagarin as the first person to fly in past our blue home. Countless citizens of the Liberty Nation felt fear of being left behind. I was never born during that era, but the texts in history books detail the significance greatly of landing on the moon. The sensation of rivalry, anxiety, feasibility, capability, and what if’s are borne fruit within the OW project. How many adventures will my tiny craft be able to exert? Before I redo the whole start again? What untouched goals can I scrounge aside from virtually landing on my moon? Can I fulfill my mission parameters? And most importantly why am I doing this myself?

As a student and lover of world history: encompassing socio, technological, cultural, and countless others. Fascinating to grasp, but also our experiments to blast outside our atmosphere. The simulator has an alluring way of increasing my curiosity constantly. By approaching early interstellar travel through a museum. You don’t need to understand everything inside, but I find what’s displayed enchanting. Unseen creatures cute but terrifying. Text writing given in an untraditional manner. Artifacts changing senses of physical orientation and the mysterious Nomai talked in reverent tones leave me intrigued for new material. Teasing me, luring me to learn extra. It's lovely, the devs managed to send me into a similar fascination I had long ago as a young lad. I was enthused on entire interstellar matters and reliving the experience now. In a distinguishable manner by actively transforming a viewer's perspective into that of an active participant. “I read tales of cosmos history” takes on a whole new meaning when I traveled to the “moon and beyond.”

Despite my slight struggle in the beginning. The journey is bloody significant it in my honest opinion. It's up to you to decide the methodology a journey will advance. They say ignorance is bliss. And knowledge is power. Blah blah blah. Entertain the two notions and subsequently witness a slow, but gripping plot of pioneers embarking on treacherous expeditions and meritwhile voyages. Embracing the unknown like a partner steadily balancing their fear on a tightrope. To what end? Up to you! For what awaits fellow travelers mainly a wonderful trek to the stars.

Log 7 - My Mixed Feelings is Zero, as I Expected

I’ll be frank. I have zero mixed feelings. No negative nitpicks, and frustrations were due to the fact of my inability to jump the gun and Rambo my way to the credits. A shameful bad habit I still have trouble deterring myself from. Although, I’m glad I played until I finished the final act. The lesson I gently reminded is exercising a lesson in patience. Breathing deeply and re-focusing on my priorities whilst undergoing a process of elimination. Determining what I haven’t explored and what I couldn’t pass before, but with extra information gained. Surely I can do what I was unable to before. The backtracking wasn’t a sore spot. And sure the beginning can be slow, but I believe it's worth delving into to understand fully the tutorials. Gently nudging the player through the do’s and don’ts of star travel and the dangers that come in your travels. I’m at a sheer loss to add anything concrete regarding suggestions and I cannot for the life of me conjure meaningful examples. Everything is self-contained and at your disposal to succeed. Mayhap a gentle reminder that self-reflection is key and organizing your next list of priorities transitions into an easier task to undergo were vital to remember. Here’s a tip reviewing what you already accomplished might bring a different insight. Keep notes my friends!

“Kid already left huh? Damn. My is stomach hungry. But that can wait. I have naught urge to eat nor sleep right now.”

“Funny, I too experienced the same feelings after I entered the organization.”

Log 8 - Stories & mysteries. A positive appraisal

I always love heavy stories. It's the primary reason I look for within the medium. Everything else 2nd. So I'm extremely shocked to play a title where the plot is [redacted] in a way I didn’t expect. I’m no stranger to storytelling methods of unreliable narrators, ludo narrative dissonance, and connecting essential literary elements to craft a compelling plot. A climax full of importance and gawking. Supposedly with a loveable cast as well. I received none of these yet achieved an indescribable experience using a non-traditional progression. Which I find enormously challenging to describe in minute details. Within the confines of the simulator, I encountered many memories I don’t believe I'll forget. A stack I reminisce fondly. An aspect, so moving is a solid top quality. Ever seen any seven wonders on Earth? Or presumably some iconic nature-made landscape to leave you breathless? Same energy! In my struggle, all that's left are the sensations conjured during the moment and everlasting memories. Usually, players detail the conclusion as the ultimate moment. Others, the journey. And for a certain side the beginning. As I take my final steps into the end credits I can chiefly remark that everything is priceless, precious, and potent passion resonating to my very heart.

“Yes, I do agree the overarching story has incredible value striving towards. It's enormously challenging to display in a raw form. But I sincerely and wholeheartedly agree with their assessment.”

“Oh man, two left. Nights getting late… I have work in the morning... Meh I'll keep reading.”

Log 9 - Tips, hints, and a single weird outlier- A confession and the choice

Despite what I said early on with having zero mixed feelings I will confess to using a FAQ and hint guide near the very last stretch of my playthrough. I won’t say specifics. I primarily missed two things but I already knew beforehand and the execution. I simply missed the diminutive connection. This isn’t advocating to check FAQ or a guide. Merely suggesting if you need help. Or contacting a close friend. A blind playthrough is still highly recommended. However, this doesn’t deter me from gently conveying if you’re struggling to be careful of spoiling yourself on YouTube or a harmful thumbnail blatantly showing what to expect. It is extremely rare I would resort to such a tactic considering 99%, I found everything by myself and I suspect if I hadn't checked I would’ve eventually found the answer. I don't think there’s harm in searching for hints/tips since its impossible for every person to be on the same wavelength in understanding and processing logical thinking. It's why we don’t notice universal praise 100% of the time and barely to none flaws in every single product made. There’s always something to remark.

“Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I’ll give their assessment a valid shake. It's honestly impossible to make a program and run to the finish line. Hitting the mark consistently. Playing blind to successfully reaching the ending every instances without help. The ultimate undertaking is still not within our capability. But by fine-tuning it we can achieve a close number to the triple digits. I believe Noclip demonstrates the history and the multiple developmental iteration stages in getting there. Seems the work was very challenging, but worth it. Cool guys. Was nice watching behind the scenes.”

“Oh. The last texts…”

Log 10 - The Final Log

I think the testament to a magnificent quality is the ability to grab anyone from any reasonable age and outside of searching for auxiliaries fully explore and in their understanding comprehend what is given. To an extent where the player deeply appreciates what is conveyed through memorable experiences, deep themes and reigniting a blazing heart of what makes videogames so moving. In neither too complex nor too simple aspects. Rather it strives to hit every range in the spectrum to capture the essence of what I feel is the zenith of pure discovery, supreme wonder, and incredible satisfaction through the act of accomplishment. At the very core, the devs toe the fine line to the point of frustration. Excelling in qualities I look for. And punches its weight limit beyond the super heavyweight class. Heck, shooting for 100% isn’t required either! You don’t need to worry on performance achievements. They're akin to extra credit points. A relief in my eyes. Thereby lodging a wonderfully thoughtful fun loop that keeps me coming back frequently until the final track is conveyed. Danny O'Dwyer, from Noclip puts it in the best way possible.

“...Outer Wilds is more than the sum of its parts. It's the type of game that leaves you with a feeling that can’t be explained. It has to be experienced.”

I echo the same sentiment. The herculean effort the developers at Mobius Digital created is truly one of a kind. Infrequently have I played a science fiction type hitting utterly the things I love and fear from the cosmos yet contained in a moving revolving door of themes tiny and grand. I found the grand finish line of my expeditions. Sure there were bumps on the road to get there. But OW travelers experiences hardship differently and manages to resolve them in a method to their satisfaction. For me. The venture was arduous yet left me with a marvelous sense of immense satisfaction. A sensation anyone knows intimately. Whether it's to defeat the most difficult boss, triumph over the hardest puzzle, climb the tallest pillar, or journey a thousand miles whilst completing many mini-challenges. The same feeling never escapes. The moment of victory, the HUZZAH always reigns supreme. A phenomenal caliber reverberates in spades beyond my imagination. Always surprised me to the nth degree yet ne'er blew my suspension of disbelief into a catastrophic supernova. Elevating by not prescribing to conventional designs. Connecting the sweet Chekov’s gun beautifully comparable to an intricate web. Whereupon I was helplessly comprehending every morsel of lore and thus achieved a peak Everest of worldbuilding. Through gaining knowledge. And harnessed to the maximum effect. Removing egregious copy paste areas. This wasn’t the largest universe I’ve explored, nor the prettiest graphically nor does it contain a tour de force soundtrack and an always gripping plot to unearth coupled with a loveable cast. Doesn’t hit the limit of fun gameplay. Outer Wilds is none of these. Yet the sum of its parts as Danny eloquently said earlier along with playing as blind as possible are the hallmarks benefiting an increased multiplier to the X degree. Tying the above to excellent points by a duct tape machine and launching my ship to uncharted territory is an unparalleled impression.

I implore any curious souls looking for an excellent sci-fi space adventure such as this as a one hell of a wake up palette cleanser to try between games, game pass, or even if they had an experience a stark contrast to mine then that’s entirely fair and valid. What matters is how your journey started, during, and ended. What you find at the closing of the day is the sincerest conclusion you reached with both hands and mind. Literally and figuratively. For better or worse. The cosmos exists, but so do we. And thus we venture forth to the stars. Undeterred, unbowed, and unflinchingly in the face of its daunting expanse, striving past our normal means. Similar in some respects to a tiny excerpt from a famous speech proposed decades ago.

.
.
.

"Oh by the way Boss. I have something to report-"

The assistant gradually opens the door to the office. There he spies his superior sleeping soundly in the chair snoring softly. Peering closer he witnesses the final log close to his chest.

He sighs softly and gathers a jacket nearby to drape over him. But in doing so, a light object falls to the ground.

A piece of paper.

“Oh for me?”

The assistant reads the confines slowly. Eyes growing wider as paragraphs fly by until...

A single final line…

10/10 - Get me their number. We need to talk.

References and additional material:
1962 - JFK Moon speech
2020 - The Making of Outer Wilds - Documentary by Noclip
Before I play: Outer Wilds - Useful tips!
Spoiler safe FAQ - literally saved my bacon. No joke
My spoiler thoughts of Outer Wilds
Special thanks to Hotpoppah, _YALP & Phantasm for recommending OW to me.

Call of Duty 2 is a classic that, just like the first game in the series, brings back some great memories for me.
This game throws you into the thick of World War II with three different campaigns, allowing you to see the war from the perspectives of American, British, and Soviet soldiers. Each campaign offers a decent variety of missions and environments, keeping the experience fresh and engaging.
The historical accuracy is pretty good. Whether you’re storming the beaches of Normandy or fighting in the streets of Stalingrad, the game does a great job of making you feel like you're part of the action. Some missions are intense, some are suspenseful, capturing the chaos and heroism of WWII battles.

Unlike many shooters at the time, this game ditched health packs in favor of regenerating health. This made the game feel less frustrating compared to its predecessor, allowing you to stay in the action without constantly hunting for health packs.
The main menu of Call of Duty 2 was a nice touch, with a very war-ish song and theme that set the tone perfectly.
Graphically, Call of Duty 2 was a leap forward. It looked good back in the day and still holds up pretty well.
Both Call of Duty 1 and 2 laid the groundwork for the series with their straightforward WWII gameplay. However, the modern "Call of Duty" games have expanded and evolved into something entirely different, the difference is stark. While today's games offer a lot more in terms of features and content, there's a certain charm and authenticity to the older titles that I miss.

I wish they would remaster the older Call of Duty games, as they were the ones most true to the series' roots. Call of Duty 2 remains a classic, and an underrated game, reminding us of what the series used to be and how it is now.

As someone who enjoyed BotW, I couldn't bring myself to buy and play TotK. Part of it is me missing the classic Zelda formula from the other 3D titles, but mostly because TotK just appears to be more of the same as BotW. I'm not sure if I'm ready to purchase this 60-70€ game and dive into another massive world that feels way too familiar. Instead, I decided to revisit one of my favorite franchises of all time and go back to its roots. I'm excited to finally explore the 2D classics I never had a chance to play as a kid!

It's fascinating to see how far the franchise has come. It has shaped countless childhoods and left a lasting mark on the history of video games. And to think, it all started here.

Having grown up with the beloved 3D titles and knowing how Zelda games have evolved over the decades, I think it's understandable not to be particularly impressed with this one. However, I can still appreciate it for what it is. Personally, I have severe fatigue from the BotW formula and wish Nintendo would reinvent it once more, as they have so many times before. Because Zelda deserves more than being just another bloated open world experience that seems to plague most modern adventure games.

Sights & Sounds
- A Little to the Left is a gorgeous game dripping with mid-century Realism. Many of the levels and their contents look like they were ripped directly for a 1950s home ec textbook
- The use of color is also nice. I liked how most levels used a restricted palette, giving each a screen print sort of feel
- While the soundtrack wasn't bad, it did feel a little out of tune with the visual style. Given the artwork that harkens back some 70-80 years, I would have expected the genre of the backing tracks to follow suit. While they are a pleasant mix of dreamy synth, ethereal piano, nicely varied percussion, and playful back-and-forths of plucked and bowed strings, the style feels contemporary and out of place
- I rarely feel motivated to mention sound design, but A Little to the Left does a great job in this regard. The various clinks, whooshes, clatters, and scrapes you'd expect to hear while shuffling various objects around are faithful and instantly identifiable. It really does capture the auditory experience of rummaging around in a messy drawer for a book of matches

Story & Vibes
- I don't wander into the "cozy organization puzzle game" world very often, but unlike the last one of these I played (Unpacking), there's not really any attempt at storytelling. Just clean, organize, and watch out for that ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ cat
- Although the vibes are indeed mostly cozy, I bumped into some frustration when trying to figure out some of the alternate solutions to certain levels. Those wound up crashing the party enough that I wound up using a guide when I circled back to solve everything. Some of the solutions are fairly insipid, and I don't know if I would have gotten there naturally (looking at you, pen level)

Playability & Replayability
- Your enjoyment of the game is wholly dependent on how much you enjoy this style of gameplay, and perhaps the tasks of tidying and organizing as a whole. Do you find it meditative and satisfying? Then you're probably going to enjoy this experience, especially with its pretty visuals. Do you find it boring and frustrating? Then don't even bother considering
- The gameplay can be almost wholly described as "click and drag object to correct spot". Beyond that, you occasionally stave of incursions from your luxurious Persian cat
- I don't have any compulsive need to organize, so I'm probably not gonna revisit this one

Overall Impressions & Performance
- I'm still undecided on how I feel about this sort of game (not that I've played many of them). All I really have to compare it to is Unpacking. While I liked the unspoken narrative of that title, I kinda hated the "puzzles". With so few restrictions, I found myself mostly piling up garbage into technically correct positions and moving on to the next level. A Little to the Left, on the other hand, gives you the satisfaction of feeling like you're actually solving a puzzle by adding set solutions, but the lack of any motivating pretense means that the whole experience feels a bit pointless. It made me wonder why I was bothering to tidy up my virtual cutlery drawer when my real one is a jumbled mess. Oh well. At least it motivated me to finally reorganize a few of my actual kitchen's messy cabinets
- I feel like I write this on a lot of point-and-click games that I wind up playing on Steam Deck, but the same thought applies: the trackpads are sufficient, but M/K would have been smoother

Final Verdict
- 6/10. A passably satisfying experience with some pretty visuals and slick foley work, but little more. I mildly enjoyed the organization gameplay, but if you don't, you're going to have a much worse time