Ventus_Infernus
An amazing improvement to XC3’s gameplay and a love letter to the Xenoblade series in general, this was well worth checking out and I’m so glad to have played this as a massive Xenoblade fan.
While not quite as good as the base game, I enjoyed Episode 2 immensely! It had some creative set pieces in the mines, some fun standoffs, and a really fun driving section that paced out the other parts quite well!
The hunters were a really fierce addition, and really didn't make you feel safe in any situation they were involved in. Made taking them out cathartic, but the game knew this and had a final segment with, like, 20 of these things. Holy crap.
Also, shout out to Valve for giving the overall gaming community the biggest cliffhanger of all time, if only for how long they've been hanging off it waiting for a follow up. Maybe Half Life Alyx has it, but I won't be able to play it for a good while.
Even so, it's been really fun checking out this series and I can officially say I'm a fan. Time to join the crew of people begging for Half Life 3!
The hunters were a really fierce addition, and really didn't make you feel safe in any situation they were involved in. Made taking them out cathartic, but the game knew this and had a final segment with, like, 20 of these things. Holy crap.
Also, shout out to Valve for giving the overall gaming community the biggest cliffhanger of all time, if only for how long they've been hanging off it waiting for a follow up. Maybe Half Life Alyx has it, but I won't be able to play it for a good while.
Even so, it's been really fun checking out this series and I can officially say I'm a fan. Time to join the crew of people begging for Half Life 3!
A fine follow up to the base game. Sadly some parts weren't as interesting, especially with the reuse of the power box puzzles throughout. And the new zombies introduced here are really annoying to take down, given they have tons of health, rush at you really fast, and use grenades. Kind of busted, I feel.
Still, a fun time as anything in this game would be.
Still, a fun time as anything in this game would be.
2004
This game is so fucking good, man. It takes the best parts of Half Life 1 and just adds to it, being more physics based and doubling down on that feeling of being a man against the world, with every turn leading to another onslaught of enemies gunning for you relentlessly.
The shooting feels so much smoother and is satisfying to get right, the gravity gun was fun to experiment with, the vehicles- while a bit jank at times- were a fun pace breaker and had some cool puzzles, and the pacing felt way better too! Didn’t have any sections I wouldn’t want to go back to this time cause they all were fun to go through.
Valve hit it out of the park once again, and I am excited to try out the expansions for it just to see what else this game has to offer.
The shooting feels so much smoother and is satisfying to get right, the gravity gun was fun to experiment with, the vehicles- while a bit jank at times- were a fun pace breaker and had some cool puzzles, and the pacing felt way better too! Didn’t have any sections I wouldn’t want to go back to this time cause they all were fun to go through.
Valve hit it out of the park once again, and I am excited to try out the expansions for it just to see what else this game has to offer.
1998
While an incredibly groundbreaking game with its use of gameplay based storytelling and immersive exploration, I wasn’t able to fully get into this game.
The first and latter parts ranged from good to great, but the middle section felt way too long and tedious to the point where I legitimately wasn’t having fun at that point.
Despite that, I’d still recommend it. Especially since I do think a lot of this stuff is more a me thing than a deal breaker for others.
The first and latter parts ranged from good to great, but the middle section felt way too long and tedious to the point where I legitimately wasn’t having fun at that point.
Despite that, I’d still recommend it. Especially since I do think a lot of this stuff is more a me thing than a deal breaker for others.
(Played through the Phantasy Reverie Series)
This game is most definitely an improvement from Klonoa 1 in terms of general stage gimmicks and ideas, with a pretty good story and characters. It’s nothing I felt was mindblowing, but was still worth trying out to see what this series had to offer!
I feel there’s plenty of potential for Klonoa nowadays, but Namco hasn’t been as interested. Either that or they’ve been hoping for one of these games to be a bigger success, given their rereleases of Klonoa 1, and I do hope that the Phantasy Reverie Series is able to bring back interest in the IP, even with its faults.
This game is most definitely an improvement from Klonoa 1 in terms of general stage gimmicks and ideas, with a pretty good story and characters. It’s nothing I felt was mindblowing, but was still worth trying out to see what this series had to offer!
I feel there’s plenty of potential for Klonoa nowadays, but Namco hasn’t been as interested. Either that or they’ve been hoping for one of these games to be a bigger success, given their rereleases of Klonoa 1, and I do hope that the Phantasy Reverie Series is able to bring back interest in the IP, even with its faults.
Despite liking both games well enough, I am going to be critical of this collection cause…damn is this kinda disappointing.
It feels less like a remaster and more like a port with bare bones visual upgrades (which unfortunately many companies attribute remasters to) and feels like a large case of missed potential. It doesn’t even include the other Klonoa games that many probably can’t play as easily now. I’m glad it exists so Klonoa 2 finally gets a new release, but I sincerely wish for better for this series moving forward.
It feels less like a remaster and more like a port with bare bones visual upgrades (which unfortunately many companies attribute remasters to) and feels like a large case of missed potential. It doesn’t even include the other Klonoa games that many probably can’t play as easily now. I’m glad it exists so Klonoa 2 finally gets a new release, but I sincerely wish for better for this series moving forward.
Want to specifically give a shout out to this incredible bundle cause…let me be honest, I’ve seen so many reviews of these games already and I’ve found almost all of them say the exact same stuff I would, so I’ll give a short summary.
Portal 1 is amazing and worth its short length as an introduction to the series, and Portal 2 is perfection incarnate. I love these games. And the port job done here allowing for even gyro controls is so good and allowed me to enjoy them that much more.
Portal 1 is amazing and worth its short length as an introduction to the series, and Portal 2 is perfection incarnate. I love these games. And the port job done here allowing for even gyro controls is so good and allowed me to enjoy them that much more.
As Michael Rosen might say, “It was great. Really great.”
Sly 3 is not as strong overall as Sly 2, but still has some great moments and keeps the great storytelling that made this series so investing for me, capping off Sly’s adventures in a satisfying way. (Until it’s officially made canon, I am not accepting Thieves in Time as that)
The biggest difference is the larger variety in mission types. I didn’t realize it before, but Sly 2 did rely a lot on similar gameplay throughout. I never minded it too much, but I do understand that grievance looking back.
This game has tons of different stuff to do and characters to play as well. While not all have full control, they show up often to give their own spin on the usual gameplay and are pretty fun to play as to boot. Again, not all are winners, but it helps the games pacing overall.
The one big difference here though that unfortunately hurts the game the most…is the removal of clue bottles. While they were a bit annoying to find sometimes in Sly 2 (and especially 1) I did like them as a reward for exploration and using your platforming skills to traverse every inch of the maps. Without that, there’s not much use in exploration. You just look at these maps as set pieces for missions which…isn’t terrible, but not exactly as interesting as that game.
With all that said, Sly 3 is still great and a worthy end to this Goated trilogy. It’s endlessly charming and has been on my mind a ton ever since I beat them all. Seriously, someone needs to bring this series back! I know Sly’s story is done, but surely others in the cooper lineage could have their own stories after.
But that’s just wishful thinking. And me wanting to forget about Thieves in Time.
Sly 3 is not as strong overall as Sly 2, but still has some great moments and keeps the great storytelling that made this series so investing for me, capping off Sly’s adventures in a satisfying way. (Until it’s officially made canon, I am not accepting Thieves in Time as that)
The biggest difference is the larger variety in mission types. I didn’t realize it before, but Sly 2 did rely a lot on similar gameplay throughout. I never minded it too much, but I do understand that grievance looking back.
This game has tons of different stuff to do and characters to play as well. While not all have full control, they show up often to give their own spin on the usual gameplay and are pretty fun to play as to boot. Again, not all are winners, but it helps the games pacing overall.
The one big difference here though that unfortunately hurts the game the most…is the removal of clue bottles. While they were a bit annoying to find sometimes in Sly 2 (and especially 1) I did like them as a reward for exploration and using your platforming skills to traverse every inch of the maps. Without that, there’s not much use in exploration. You just look at these maps as set pieces for missions which…isn’t terrible, but not exactly as interesting as that game.
With all that said, Sly 3 is still great and a worthy end to this Goated trilogy. It’s endlessly charming and has been on my mind a ton ever since I beat them all. Seriously, someone needs to bring this series back! I know Sly’s story is done, but surely others in the cooper lineage could have their own stories after.
But that’s just wishful thinking. And me wanting to forget about Thieves in Time.
This game is so fucking cool, man. The more I look back on it the more I appreciate so much of what it does. It refined the controls to something a bit more comfortable and pushed further into the concepts they dabbled with in Sly 2, ditching the level by level format they started with and doing something much more open and unique.
Basically, this is an explorative platformer now, having you go around larger maps doing multiple missions to work towards a bigger job at the end, usually being a heist. It works in many different scenarios and mission types which allows for a similar feel to the original while making everything you do feel like a stepping stone towards your ultimate goal.
It helps that the story is really good and keeps you invested in what happens throughout, having the same strong characters but fleshed out more and given more time to do fun stuff and charm its audience. This series most definitely has one of my favourite casts of any game in this genre, and even in general.
It’s obviously not perfect, some missions can be annoying at times, and while playing as other characters is cool…I did find it harder to really do much as Bentley and Murray cause they lack the mobility Sly has and have to find specific paths to get to where you want them. Not to mention Bentley just cannot get away from enemies if they see him.
Still, a true highlight in my look at PS2 games. Will definitely be in my top 30 and may get higher with time!
Basically, this is an explorative platformer now, having you go around larger maps doing multiple missions to work towards a bigger job at the end, usually being a heist. It works in many different scenarios and mission types which allows for a similar feel to the original while making everything you do feel like a stepping stone towards your ultimate goal.
It helps that the story is really good and keeps you invested in what happens throughout, having the same strong characters but fleshed out more and given more time to do fun stuff and charm its audience. This series most definitely has one of my favourite casts of any game in this genre, and even in general.
It’s obviously not perfect, some missions can be annoying at times, and while playing as other characters is cool…I did find it harder to really do much as Bentley and Murray cause they lack the mobility Sly has and have to find specific paths to get to where you want them. Not to mention Bentley just cannot get away from enemies if they see him.
Still, a true highlight in my look at PS2 games. Will definitely be in my top 30 and may get higher with time!
Despite its faults, this is still a great game and a testament to the classic PS1 style platformer. It takes a lot of cues from Crash, having zany enemies that die in a single hit with items that let you tank hits along linear but mildly explorable level design.
What gives this game its own identity though is its theming around thievery. You need to avoid lasers and spotlights throughout, using your skills to get around traps and enemies in a thief-like way. It’s really cool, even if said skills don’t always work as you’d want them to.
This game definitely feels a bit jank, which is usual for an earlier game but it stands out the most in this one. The game wants you to do stuff that sometimes feels unwieldy with the options you have, especially with how weird the death-planes can be at times.
But my biggest frustration for sure is…the mini games. These range from alright to infuriating, usually having weird controls or just feeling mindless and annoying to deal with. Later games improved on this greatly, and it makes these look worse cause of it.
Even still, it remained fun throughout even if the final level made me rage a bit by the end.
What gives this game its own identity though is its theming around thievery. You need to avoid lasers and spotlights throughout, using your skills to get around traps and enemies in a thief-like way. It’s really cool, even if said skills don’t always work as you’d want them to.
This game definitely feels a bit jank, which is usual for an earlier game but it stands out the most in this one. The game wants you to do stuff that sometimes feels unwieldy with the options you have, especially with how weird the death-planes can be at times.
But my biggest frustration for sure is…the mini games. These range from alright to infuriating, usually having weird controls or just feeling mindless and annoying to deal with. Later games improved on this greatly, and it makes these look worse cause of it.
Even still, it remained fun throughout even if the final level made me rage a bit by the end.
A remaster this game deserves, and is taking the place of the original simply for how much it improves the original with better graphics and controls! Any faults the original had outside of that won’t exactly be fixed if it ruined the experience for you, but if you love it like me this will just be the same amazing game…but even better.
Freaking incredible! This game improves so much on the first game and I already loved that one!
The combat is smoother and more intense, with real boss battles now instead of the usual escape sections, which do return but are used in conjunction with the bosses, and a ton more variety in attacks and abilities.
They also made the game way more alive with tons of NPC’s and quests to make the game more interesting, while incentivizing exploration like always. It’s so fun doing so yet again, and the stuff you get to play with makes it fun to just traverse different areas.
Also, story is sad. But good. But sad. Please check it out on anything but Switch if you can. While it runs okay on there, there is a lot compromised like performance, graphics, load times, and you’ll notice a good few technical issues here and there. I played it on Switch cause I had to, don’t judge me.
The combat is smoother and more intense, with real boss battles now instead of the usual escape sections, which do return but are used in conjunction with the bosses, and a ton more variety in attacks and abilities.
They also made the game way more alive with tons of NPC’s and quests to make the game more interesting, while incentivizing exploration like always. It’s so fun doing so yet again, and the stuff you get to play with makes it fun to just traverse different areas.
Also, story is sad. But good. But sad. Please check it out on anything but Switch if you can. While it runs okay on there, there is a lot compromised like performance, graphics, load times, and you’ll notice a good few technical issues here and there. I played it on Switch cause I had to, don’t judge me.
A truly beautiful game I’m so mad at myself for putting off for so long. I played it first on Xbox One and loved it, but kept stopping at some point without properly beating it.
Well, that changed this year cause I finally did so, and man…this feels surreal to play on the Switch, but it runs and looks as good as I remember! The backgrounds, animation, and especially the music are amazing and some of the best in the Metroidvania genre.
Honestly, I like that this game doesn’t follow the usual trend of bleak oppressive atmospheres that most others in this genre go for. It does have those moments, but it feels more welcoming and cozy, which I think made it easier for younger me to get through cause it didn’t seem as intimidating.
That being said, this game is still brutal. One wrong move can spell death, especially with the spikes that are deadly in this game. And enemies are incredibly aggressive and can catch you off guard often. It’s a lot like how Samus Returns is often described.
Still, it’s a fun challenge, outside of the usual stump points Metroidvania’s are known for. I had multiple moments of “Where do I go now?” which brought me back to my early Metroid days. Ah, the times of not a very specific path forward and wandering aimlessly for hours…those were the days…
Well, that changed this year cause I finally did so, and man…this feels surreal to play on the Switch, but it runs and looks as good as I remember! The backgrounds, animation, and especially the music are amazing and some of the best in the Metroidvania genre.
Honestly, I like that this game doesn’t follow the usual trend of bleak oppressive atmospheres that most others in this genre go for. It does have those moments, but it feels more welcoming and cozy, which I think made it easier for younger me to get through cause it didn’t seem as intimidating.
That being said, this game is still brutal. One wrong move can spell death, especially with the spikes that are deadly in this game. And enemies are incredibly aggressive and can catch you off guard often. It’s a lot like how Samus Returns is often described.
Still, it’s a fun challenge, outside of the usual stump points Metroidvania’s are known for. I had multiple moments of “Where do I go now?” which brought me back to my early Metroid days. Ah, the times of not a very specific path forward and wandering aimlessly for hours…those were the days…
2022
So the guy who made Tattletail went on to help make this game? I guess the signs were there, but it was still weird hearing confirmation all the same. Still, really glad the dude achieved that much from that game.
With that being said, Neon White was…pretty damn good. I love the way it incentivizes you to speedrun through the levels, finding the best routes either from the games guidance or your own ingenuity.
The style is also awesome, having a weird filter that feels almost nostalgic throughout, with some really good music that gives you energy necessary for many of these challenges. It’s calming, yet has a fast tempo that keeps you going.
My one gripe is…the gifts. They’re sometimes fun to go for, but I did find certain ones made me have a worse time overall, going against my instinct of rushing through and needing to figure out what specific way I needed to collect them. They get you great rewards, but I just wish some were a bit less obtuse, just to save a bit of my sanity.
The story itself was more in depth than I expected, with tons of artwork and dialogue. While it’s not always amazing, I do enjoy it. Something that I found funny and charming more often than not.
Overall, it was a fun experience. It’s too bad getting all the gifts is so annoying cause I do recommend anyone interested in the story should get them. Just don’t feel bad about looking up the strategies to obtaining some. I know I had to.
With that being said, Neon White was…pretty damn good. I love the way it incentivizes you to speedrun through the levels, finding the best routes either from the games guidance or your own ingenuity.
The style is also awesome, having a weird filter that feels almost nostalgic throughout, with some really good music that gives you energy necessary for many of these challenges. It’s calming, yet has a fast tempo that keeps you going.
My one gripe is…the gifts. They’re sometimes fun to go for, but I did find certain ones made me have a worse time overall, going against my instinct of rushing through and needing to figure out what specific way I needed to collect them. They get you great rewards, but I just wish some were a bit less obtuse, just to save a bit of my sanity.
The story itself was more in depth than I expected, with tons of artwork and dialogue. While it’s not always amazing, I do enjoy it. Something that I found funny and charming more often than not.
Overall, it was a fun experience. It’s too bad getting all the gifts is so annoying cause I do recommend anyone interested in the story should get them. Just don’t feel bad about looking up the strategies to obtaining some. I know I had to.