Yeah, it's gotten a little lamer in the last 7 years, and it's clearly a French interpretation of what American high schools (? is this a college? what is this school??) are like, but. I dunno. This still really really works for me. Arcadia Bay has such a strong sense of place that helps build this really specific vibe. It makes me wistful.

I think, even now but especially at the time, there were so few games about a female friendship set in the real-world present day that it was almost novel. Any complaints about mechanics or certain choices being unequal feel nitpicky, and my issues with the story (the canon ending feels too unceremonious to me, for one) kind of wash away in the grander context. It does a great job making you feel the weight of certain decisions even when you know they won't matter all that much in the end.

I was so enamored with this back in the day that I still don't have a good sense of its general reception. Is this a milestone game of the 2010s, or did it just arrive at a pivotal moment in my personal relationship to the medium? Because I definitely started treating games differently after this.

I get a bit defensive at this becoming a meme game as one of my earliest memories is picking it out as the game I wanted at Circuit City. I lived the Gex life, spoke the Gex language, walked the Gex walk. Not only that, I didn't have a PS1 memory card for years so everytime I sat down to play Gex or Spyro it was with the intention of completing it in one sitting.

Spyro is a very lovely game so no issues there, but Gex? You go play all of Gex in one sitting and tell me you don't feel some darkness creeping into you. I am curious if Gex gave me genuine mental decline.

It's a very fucked up game, the game is notorious now for its fucking nonsensical humor that has never made sense to anyone, but I think the game's camera should be more infamous. If Earthworm Jim 3D didn't exist this would be a contender for most violent game camera, the way it whips and snaps is unpleasent and unnatural, like the guy who programmed it was working on secondhand knowledge of what the third dimension was.

Gex's controls are actually pretty tight, but his weightless jump and lame tail attack really bring into stark contrast how much more fun it is to play as Mario. Mario is weighty, requires finesse to get good with, and has a ton of moves that can segue into each other. Gex can jump and maybe even bounce if you are feeling spicy.

Which is a shame because some of these levels are creative, they look downright incredible for the hardware, with really great animations, lighting and texturing. Soul Reaver runs on the Gex engine, which is a funny enough sentence I'm injecting it here for you to deal with.

I think there is fun to be had with Gex, it's not just fucking terrible to play like aforementioned Earthworm Jim 3D, it showcases more passion and creativity than most 3D mascot platformers, it's just a shame it's so fucking annoying just SHUT UP Gex fucking ZIP IT.

I never got really into the Arkham games, but I did play this one through a number of years ago. This summer, following a little wave of rekindled personal batmania after The Batman, I bought the Return to Arkham trilogy for a steal. I could have skipped this one, but I decided to play it again, and I'm glad I did!

What else can be said about the game that infamously 'really makes you feel like you're batman?' The game has aged pretty well, although the crowd combat isn't as novel as it once was, and I have never been the biggest fan of the TwIsTeD character design, although I do like the general environmental art direction. This version of Arkham Asylum is pretty distinct and memorable.

The island feels intimate enough that I actually ended up going back just before the end for all of the riddler stuff, which I didn't think I was going to bother with, and I felt like they were scattered in a way that hit a pretty good balance between giving a little extra something and being frustrating or redundant (helps when you have the maps).

I wish that there had been more of the stealthy takedown sections, because those really shine. And while the crowd combat still plays well, it's clear the devs knew it would impress for the time, because thug fights play into a good number of the boss fights rather than just giving bosses their own distinct moves.

Anyway, I've already said more than I expected to. It's a solid game from a game-ier era of games, for better or worse. Eager to see how the sequels play.