VYZNDR
I know the whole point is not to have fun, but I didn't have fun not having fun.
The first (and only) fighting game that I ever considered myself semi-competitive at, although admittedly I was playing a broken top-tier character (I promise that I had picked out my main before they were even playable!).
Easy to pick up, a non-bloated character roster that's the perfect size to actually be able to learn matchups and some neat systems for learning faster like the "!" symbols to teach that you were hit by a high/low attack.
Easy to pick up, a non-bloated character roster that's the perfect size to actually be able to learn matchups and some neat systems for learning faster like the "!" symbols to teach that you were hit by a high/low attack.
2020
The right-stick drifting controls take a little getting used to but feels okay once you get it down and felt more satisfying once I tried out the more advanced cars that used brake to drift like in OutRun 2.
Character sprites are well drawn but the Live2D movement during all the story segments was a little overdone.
Character sprites are well drawn but the Live2D movement during all the story segments was a little overdone.
2021
UnMetal is a surprisingly fun take on the original Metal Gear.
In theory I should find the 2010's "Archer"-like humour grating but for some reason it just kind of works in this one.
The game maybe goes on a little longer than it needs to but no egregiously so.
In theory I should find the 2010's "Archer"-like humour grating but for some reason it just kind of works in this one.
The game maybe goes on a little longer than it needs to but no egregiously so.
2015
More of the Room - as always visually really nice and fairly standard, if satisfying, puzzles. Also as always, it feels like some interactibles don't always trigger as you expect them to (i.e. they're very visible from a certain viewpoints, but you have to back out and zoom specifically to it in order to make it an interactable object) so you can sometimes mistake these for simple decorations.
There seemed to be less of the hidden drawings behind the eyeglass stuff this time, which was nice.
The extra endings are probably best played with a guide as it's a lot of convoluted backtracking.
There seemed to be less of the hidden drawings behind the eyeglass stuff this time, which was nice.
The extra endings are probably best played with a guide as it's a lot of convoluted backtracking.
2018
Surprisingly relaxing "switch your brain off" kinda game. It's a little glitchy with the mouse cursor coming up every time I interact with certain objects and I need to right-click to get back.
Unfortunately the pacing drags at times with the occasional need of just having to grind the open world robbery to get your levels up before you can continue to the next story mission.
Unfortunately the pacing drags at times with the occasional need of just having to grind the open world robbery to get your levels up before you can continue to the next story mission.
2009
Picross 3D is an unexpectedly great take on the Picross formula. I think overall I prefer standard 2D nongrams but once you get the hang of the new clue types (circled and squared numbers) it really clicks.
Unfortunately, some of the time limits in the last half of the Hard-mode puzzles seem unfairly harsh, especially when some stages appear to require a bit of guesswork or intuition to solve.
Unfortunately, some of the time limits in the last half of the Hard-mode puzzles seem unfairly harsh, especially when some stages appear to require a bit of guesswork or intuition to solve.
2019
Yakuza 3 and 4 together feel like a bit of a low point for the series. They're still decent overall which is a testament to the quality of Yakuza as a whole, but 4's convoluted plot of double and triple crossing from all angles paired with a few unexpectedly hard boss fights made me start to lose interest by the end.
The new cast are generally quite likeable and I believe some of them have stuck around for the next games in the series, so I look forward to seeing them again.
The new cast are generally quite likeable and I believe some of them have stuck around for the next games in the series, so I look forward to seeing them again.
The emphasis on stealth works surprisingly well, although some of that was possible in the base Metal Gear Rising too. The Blade Wolf DLC was held down by a few platforming segments that were unfortunately quite tedious and didn't really add anything other than padding.
I've generally had fun with hack 'n' slash games even if I've never been particularly great at them - which is why I don't think I enjoyed the Jetstream Sam DLC as much as the base game. His moveset seems more suited for "advanced" play and I'm sure skilled players can do some pretty amazing stuff with him, but the DLC is too short for less skilled players like me to get a feel for him, but I didn't feel myself wanting to go back and replay it.
It was still really good, but the base Metal Gear Rising is a nearly flawless game so anything that doesn't "click" is going to feel worse by comparison.
It was still really good, but the base Metal Gear Rising is a nearly flawless game so anything that doesn't "click" is going to feel worse by comparison.
2022
I don't have much nostalgia for the 32/64-bit era of platformers and so Super Kiwi 64 didn't really hit hard for me. The controls felt good, although the ability to infinitely jump up walls using the dash attack meant I ended up not doing as much actual platforming or stage exploration as I was probably supposed to.
It's super short, thankfully, so it ended around the time I was thinking of dropping it anyway.
It's super short, thankfully, so it ended around the time I was thinking of dropping it anyway.
2019
Neat little puzzle game to play in short bursts on the bus, although the difficulty curve was quite uneven, with some quite complex stages showing up out of nowhere, followed by half a dozen extremely simple ones.
Only a couple of hours long overall, but any longer than that and it would have dragged so I was glad it didn't keep going past that.
Only a couple of hours long overall, but any longer than that and it would have dragged so I was glad it didn't keep going past that.
2019
I tried out Dusk Diver as it seemed like a nice and simple game to briefly scratch that hack 'n' slash itch. Unfortunately, it ended up being too simple, with extremely limited enemy variety and not having any reason to attacking using anything other than the same combo for the entire game.
All the combat stages have the same visual style and there's only one exploration area, really driving home the feeling that your experience in the first ten minutes of the game is no different from what you'll be doing 7 hours later.
All the combat stages have the same visual style and there's only one exploration area, really driving home the feeling that your experience in the first ten minutes of the game is no different from what you'll be doing 7 hours later.
I was worried that I was only loving the game due to the nostalgia hit - it certainly sparked some joy in me to see Don Corneo's mansion rendered in detailed 3D - but I think the game holds up on its own merits.
Combat switches from turn based to real time action, but uses an ability meter to emulate the ATB bars from the original in a system that mostly works, although I felt discouraged from using items that often as a full ATB charge for them felt too expensive.
The story holds up, with the weakest parts generally being the new content, especially the side-quests which feel too much like padding. Some of the new stuff fits in well though, other than the ending which seems to come up out of nowhere and doesn't feel remotely natural.
Combat switches from turn based to real time action, but uses an ability meter to emulate the ATB bars from the original in a system that mostly works, although I felt discouraged from using items that often as a full ATB charge for them felt too expensive.
The story holds up, with the weakest parts generally being the new content, especially the side-quests which feel too much like padding. Some of the new stuff fits in well though, other than the ending which seems to come up out of nowhere and doesn't feel remotely natural.
2023
Picross has always been an amazing puzzle game and that's never going to change.
Mega Picross and Colour Picross took me a little bit of time to get the hang of, but they're great twists to the format for when I fancy something different.
Mega Picross and Colour Picross took me a little bit of time to get the hang of, but they're great twists to the format for when I fancy something different.