VeryRealFiamma
2023
[4/12/24]
THIS IS NYT CONNECTIONS WE CLOWN IN THIS MOTHERFUCKER BETTER TAKE YOUR SENSITIVE ASS BACK TO WORDLE
But seriously it's cool having to increasingly think further outside the box for each category. The Brits are laughing at us because y'all complain that it's not just "match the four words that start with C" and other baby shit
THIS IS NYT CONNECTIONS WE CLOWN IN THIS MOTHERFUCKER BETTER TAKE YOUR SENSITIVE ASS BACK TO WORDLE
But seriously it's cool having to increasingly think further outside the box for each category. The Brits are laughing at us because y'all complain that it's not just "match the four words that start with C" and other baby shit
[12/28/23]
I'm starting to realize that I enjoy some of the more personal stories from Kiryu over some of the larger scale events like the whole Tojo v. Omi fight in 2 and whatever the hell was going on in 5. I dunno, I kinda forgot because it was too damn long.
A lot can happen in the 30 since Kiryu's story started, huh? So many characters have aged, and it's bittersweet. At least Kamurocho is as flashy as ever. The combat makes more sense here than in Kiwami 2, Onomichi is alright, and I'm finally used to the XP system here. Only took me 5 games since it's premature debut since I played them chronologically.
For a game focused on being the supposed end of Kiryu's story, it feels weird that it's actually that and doesn't really focus on other Yakuza mainstays. When Akiyama is the most prevalent returning character that isn't Date or Haruka, you know something's up. This journey is more focused on Kiryu as time catches up to him, and for a game subtitled "The Song of Life", it's fitting that family is the big focus of the game.
Anyway, I think this game is good in the same sense Yakuza 3 is good. Gameplay isn't the strong suit, but after two relatively bombastic adventures, something that gives Kiryu instead of the Dragon of Dojima time to breathe will always be welcome. I just don't think this is as good as an ending for Kiryu's story as it could have been. I hope Infinite Wealth or even Gaiden makes up for it.
I'm starting to realize that I enjoy some of the more personal stories from Kiryu over some of the larger scale events like the whole Tojo v. Omi fight in 2 and whatever the hell was going on in 5. I dunno, I kinda forgot because it was too damn long.
A lot can happen in the 30 since Kiryu's story started, huh? So many characters have aged, and it's bittersweet. At least Kamurocho is as flashy as ever. The combat makes more sense here than in Kiwami 2, Onomichi is alright, and I'm finally used to the XP system here. Only took me 5 games since it's premature debut since I played them chronologically.
For a game focused on being the supposed end of Kiryu's story, it feels weird that it's actually that and doesn't really focus on other Yakuza mainstays. When Akiyama is the most prevalent returning character that isn't Date or Haruka, you know something's up. This journey is more focused on Kiryu as time catches up to him, and for a game subtitled "The Song of Life", it's fitting that family is the big focus of the game.
Anyway, I think this game is good in the same sense Yakuza 3 is good. Gameplay isn't the strong suit, but after two relatively bombastic adventures, something that gives Kiryu instead of the Dragon of Dojima time to breathe will always be welcome. I just don't think this is as good as an ending for Kiryu's story as it could have been. I hope Infinite Wealth or even Gaiden makes up for it.
2009
Actual modern classic, even if it just as simple as "plant the one that hard counters that kind of zombie".
2019
Very fortunate that I managed to stumble upon the Risk of Rain franchise solely because Spotify recommended me Chanson D'Automne. That led me to playing the first game. Pretty good, even though it's slow.
This game, however, might actually be the best roguelike I've ever played.
Every character is so unique, the ability to stack multiple of the same item is unique among roguelikes, and holy FUCK the soundtrack. I never understood the term "eargasm" until I heard this series's music.
This is the greatest stress test I've ever played.
This game, however, might actually be the best roguelike I've ever played.
Every character is so unique, the ability to stack multiple of the same item is unique among roguelikes, and holy FUCK the soundtrack. I never understood the term "eargasm" until I heard this series's music.
This is the greatest stress test I've ever played.
2012
[12/1/2023]
Halo 3 and Halo: Reach were both appropriate endings to the Halo franchise, both for the narrative and for the series. Historically speaking, however, if it's popular and the people keep asking, it'll never end.
As 343 Industries's debut game, Halo 4's largest issue (of which it has many) is that it has to follow up what is probably the best first-person shooter trilogy ever. This challenge is made even more difficult when the trilogy in question is famous for its story, and that said story was already wrapped up. The Covenant is gone, the Flood is gone, and humanity is saved. Even Bungie knew this, and their final two releases were set during Halo 2 and before the trilogy respectively.
So what exactly happened during the time that Master Chief was asleep, and what does he deal with now? Well, the Covenant. Again. They're a splinter faction of the original Covenant, though, which I can honestly see. As for the new enemies, we have the Prometheans. God, these guys suck. There's only three, so unlike the Covenant's six(?) that have unique roles, these guys serve multiple purposes and they're unfun to deal with. The Knights are the main enemies, being pretty tanky while also having the heavy weaponry, the ability to teleport short distances, and the ability to summon a Watcher. Crawlers are fast, fragile enemies that are the least annoying to deal with, not much to say about them. Watchers, though, fucking suck. They fly, pester us with their pistol shots, can shield other Prometheans, can throw grenades back, can ressurect fallen Knights, can spawn in Crawlers and Turrets... man. They force you to take them out first. But you want to kill the threats with more firepower first. But you'll have a harder time if Watchers are present. There are too many roles for only three enemies to fit into, and it makes Prometheans such a chore to deal with.
Ammo, for some reason, is also another issue. Why do I feel like I'm using the Famine skull whenever I play this game? Constantly swapping weapons is a thing, but this is too much.
Jumping from aliens to the people responsible for everything in the series is such an odd jump. This doesn't change in the next game. All in all, Halo 4 is definitely... a first step. Surely they don't fuck up even more.
Halo 3 and Halo: Reach were both appropriate endings to the Halo franchise, both for the narrative and for the series. Historically speaking, however, if it's popular and the people keep asking, it'll never end.
As 343 Industries's debut game, Halo 4's largest issue (of which it has many) is that it has to follow up what is probably the best first-person shooter trilogy ever. This challenge is made even more difficult when the trilogy in question is famous for its story, and that said story was already wrapped up. The Covenant is gone, the Flood is gone, and humanity is saved. Even Bungie knew this, and their final two releases were set during Halo 2 and before the trilogy respectively.
So what exactly happened during the time that Master Chief was asleep, and what does he deal with now? Well, the Covenant. Again. They're a splinter faction of the original Covenant, though, which I can honestly see. As for the new enemies, we have the Prometheans. God, these guys suck. There's only three, so unlike the Covenant's six(?) that have unique roles, these guys serve multiple purposes and they're unfun to deal with. The Knights are the main enemies, being pretty tanky while also having the heavy weaponry, the ability to teleport short distances, and the ability to summon a Watcher. Crawlers are fast, fragile enemies that are the least annoying to deal with, not much to say about them. Watchers, though, fucking suck. They fly, pester us with their pistol shots, can shield other Prometheans, can throw grenades back, can ressurect fallen Knights, can spawn in Crawlers and Turrets... man. They force you to take them out first. But you want to kill the threats with more firepower first. But you'll have a harder time if Watchers are present. There are too many roles for only three enemies to fit into, and it makes Prometheans such a chore to deal with.
Ammo, for some reason, is also another issue. Why do I feel like I'm using the Famine skull whenever I play this game? Constantly swapping weapons is a thing, but this is too much.
Jumping from aliens to the people responsible for everything in the series is such an odd jump. This doesn't change in the next game. All in all, Halo 4 is definitely... a first step. Surely they don't fuck up even more.
2018
[12/3/23]
This is the combat people were complaining about? Dude, all I had to do was press B!
That aside, I like the slower pace this game has for the majority of it, especially after the events of the previous two games. Very wholesome to see Kiryu in his dad arc, taking care of several orphans. The yakuza part of the story, however, was definitely the weak aspect. I don't blame the people who say that this game has "substory vibes" because of that. Pretty wholesome, though.
I liked this more than Kiwami 2. Probably third on my list right now.
This is the combat people were complaining about? Dude, all I had to do was press B!
That aside, I like the slower pace this game has for the majority of it, especially after the events of the previous two games. Very wholesome to see Kiryu in his dad arc, taking care of several orphans. The yakuza part of the story, however, was definitely the weak aspect. I don't blame the people who say that this game has "substory vibes" because of that. Pretty wholesome, though.
I liked this more than Kiwami 2. Probably third on my list right now.
2019
[12/21/2023]
This game has... a lot.
Yakuza 4 had the benefit of primarily taking place in Kamurocho so that the casts each character has deepens the world contained entirely within it. This benefit gets even cooler when each of their stories eventually intersect. So naturally, we gotta follow up the fourth game having 4 characters with the fifth one having 5, but in order to not retread old ground we force them into different cities. As for the characters in question, Kiryu (obviously), Akiyama (the GOAT), and Saejima return. The two new characters are Shinada, the definition of washed, and Haruka. Shinada's fighting style is focused on weapons and his tackle making him the most unique fighter, and Haruka is a teenager and cannot fight. Instead, we play rhythm minigames so she can pursue her dreams of becoming an idol. Lots of rhythm minigames here.
Honestly, playing Kiwami to 5 made me realize that there had been so many layers added at this point in the series that Yakuza 0's story being more streamlined felt very necessary. I'm not going to assume that this game did poorly outside of Japan when it released, but there had to be something that this game lacked that 0 had. It's probably just the fact that 0 was a new starting point, and that this is the fifth fucking game.
Also, enemies are everywhere holy SHIT
This game has... a lot.
Yakuza 4 had the benefit of primarily taking place in Kamurocho so that the casts each character has deepens the world contained entirely within it. This benefit gets even cooler when each of their stories eventually intersect. So naturally, we gotta follow up the fourth game having 4 characters with the fifth one having 5, but in order to not retread old ground we force them into different cities. As for the characters in question, Kiryu (obviously), Akiyama (the GOAT), and Saejima return. The two new characters are Shinada, the definition of washed, and Haruka. Shinada's fighting style is focused on weapons and his tackle making him the most unique fighter, and Haruka is a teenager and cannot fight. Instead, we play rhythm minigames so she can pursue her dreams of becoming an idol. Lots of rhythm minigames here.
Honestly, playing Kiwami to 5 made me realize that there had been so many layers added at this point in the series that Yakuza 0's story being more streamlined felt very necessary. I'm not going to assume that this game did poorly outside of Japan when it released, but there had to be something that this game lacked that 0 had. It's probably just the fact that 0 was a new starting point, and that this is the fifth fucking game.
Also, enemies are everywhere holy SHIT
2015
[1/4/24]
I can't believe this was the first game I beat this year. I also can't believe I actually replayed this game.
Holy shit, what the fuck happened here? The story tries to do the Halo 2 thing of dual protagonists, except one of those two, Fireteam Osiris, is full of people nobody gives a shit about and also Buck from Halo 3: ODST. The other is Blue Team, comprising of Master Chief and three other Spartans nobody who exclusively sticks with the games would recognize. They focus on the Promethean aspect, something that was introduced one game ago, way too much. The "Covenant", a splinter faction of the original, has their leader killed off at the beginning with little fanfare. The game feels like it gets cut off at the end of the second act. Also, Cortana's alive because she got sent to a planet called Genesis where she effectively became immortal. The story's just very forgettable, and that's like the worst sin you can commit. What gives?
How I see it, it's the push to turn Halo into a multimedia franchise and its very apparent effects on the main games. This game is preceded by Halo: Nightfall, a miniseries that's also Locke's (the leader of Fireteam Osiris) origin story. It's just for one character. I can let that slide. The game's followed by a novel focusing on Chief's return to the UNSC and it's probably followed with a book for every member of both teams if I know this series well enough. Halo 4 tells a relatively self-contained story. Halo Infinite has a start, focuses on Discovering Hope and is deliberately left open at the end (which is when the campaign DLC would have taken place... it still hurts). And I already said that Halo 5 feels like it gets cut off. Halo 2 Anniversary used to have a cutscene where Arbiter would tell the story of that game to Locke as well. If only the vision they had for this game at the time was the actual story. It had something going about Chief and Locke butting heads but instead we just got a group chasing after Chief when we weren't playing as him. And when we did confront him? Probably the worst fistfight I've ever seen. Man, the whole marketing campaign could be a paragraph in itself.
I hate this. Why does it need to be connected to everything? Why can't the games themselves contain the main story instead of merely a snippet? Why do I need to boot up another game to see a cutscene for something that didn't even happen? What even is the point of expanding the universe other than trying to make more money? I assure you almost nobody gives a shit about the ODST crew's antics as Alpha-Nine. And I'm confident absolutely nobody gives a fuck about Guilty Spark actually surviving getting nuked by a Spartan Laser. Or the history of the Forerunners and why they needed to activate the Halo rings the first time. Or ancient humanity which is like the worst thing I've seen come out of this franchise that isn't in this game or this game itself.
I don't say shit like "This isn't (X)" when it comes to anything that deviates from the norm (not 100% Halo 3) like a particular subsect of Halo fans but the artstyle, narrative continuing to go down the Promethean lane, giving the bird to Halo 4 and that one guy who based the dynamic between Chief and Cortana off of his own struggles with losing his mother to dementia during development, and sidelining Chief make this game far more insulting to a fan. I can't imagine the slap in the face this must have been to longtime fans if many of them interpreted Halo 4 as one.
Also the multiplayer has lootboxes. Super Fiesta gives this game another point because it's the best version of it in the series solely due to the weapon variants.
Not cool, 343.
I can't believe this was the first game I beat this year. I also can't believe I actually replayed this game.
Holy shit, what the fuck happened here? The story tries to do the Halo 2 thing of dual protagonists, except one of those two, Fireteam Osiris, is full of people nobody gives a shit about and also Buck from Halo 3: ODST. The other is Blue Team, comprising of Master Chief and three other Spartans nobody who exclusively sticks with the games would recognize. They focus on the Promethean aspect, something that was introduced one game ago, way too much. The "Covenant", a splinter faction of the original, has their leader killed off at the beginning with little fanfare. The game feels like it gets cut off at the end of the second act. Also, Cortana's alive because she got sent to a planet called Genesis where she effectively became immortal. The story's just very forgettable, and that's like the worst sin you can commit. What gives?
How I see it, it's the push to turn Halo into a multimedia franchise and its very apparent effects on the main games. This game is preceded by Halo: Nightfall, a miniseries that's also Locke's (the leader of Fireteam Osiris) origin story. It's just for one character. I can let that slide. The game's followed by a novel focusing on Chief's return to the UNSC and it's probably followed with a book for every member of both teams if I know this series well enough. Halo 4 tells a relatively self-contained story. Halo Infinite has a start, focuses on Discovering Hope and is deliberately left open at the end (which is when the campaign DLC would have taken place... it still hurts). And I already said that Halo 5 feels like it gets cut off. Halo 2 Anniversary used to have a cutscene where Arbiter would tell the story of that game to Locke as well. If only the vision they had for this game at the time was the actual story. It had something going about Chief and Locke butting heads but instead we just got a group chasing after Chief when we weren't playing as him. And when we did confront him? Probably the worst fistfight I've ever seen. Man, the whole marketing campaign could be a paragraph in itself.
I hate this. Why does it need to be connected to everything? Why can't the games themselves contain the main story instead of merely a snippet? Why do I need to boot up another game to see a cutscene for something that didn't even happen? What even is the point of expanding the universe other than trying to make more money? I assure you almost nobody gives a shit about the ODST crew's antics as Alpha-Nine. And I'm confident absolutely nobody gives a fuck about Guilty Spark actually surviving getting nuked by a Spartan Laser. Or the history of the Forerunners and why they needed to activate the Halo rings the first time. Or ancient humanity which is like the worst thing I've seen come out of this franchise that isn't in this game or this game itself.
I don't say shit like "This isn't (X)" when it comes to anything that deviates from the norm (not 100% Halo 3) like a particular subsect of Halo fans but the artstyle, narrative continuing to go down the Promethean lane, giving the bird to Halo 4 and that one guy who based the dynamic between Chief and Cortana off of his own struggles with losing his mother to dementia during development, and sidelining Chief make this game far more insulting to a fan. I can't imagine the slap in the face this must have been to longtime fans if many of them interpreted Halo 4 as one.
Also the multiplayer has lootboxes. Super Fiesta gives this game another point because it's the best version of it in the series solely due to the weapon variants.
Not cool, 343.
2014
[11/17/2023]
Dude.
This game.
Where Halo 1 created a franchise, Halo 2 created a world. Two, actually. Where we saw Master Chief's accomplishment and commendation from the previous game, we saw Thel 'Vadam's failure and punishment. The UNSC's duty to prevent total galactic destruction, the Covenant's dogmatic pursuit of the Great Journey. Doubling the size of the world and its stories by expanding upon the Covenant to be more than just genocidal aliens, evolving the story and conflict to become more than a simple "humans vs. aliens war" story, helped elevate this game and the Halo series to legend status.
This and Halo 3 are constantly fighting for the position of my absolute favorite FPS of all time. Halo 2 wins by the slightest margin by virtue of the worldbuilding. Perfect sequel, and sets up an incredible finale with Halo 3.
Also, unlike CE Anniversary, this game's remaster actually looks good!
Dude.
This game.
Where Halo 1 created a franchise, Halo 2 created a world. Two, actually. Where we saw Master Chief's accomplishment and commendation from the previous game, we saw Thel 'Vadam's failure and punishment. The UNSC's duty to prevent total galactic destruction, the Covenant's dogmatic pursuit of the Great Journey. Doubling the size of the world and its stories by expanding upon the Covenant to be more than just genocidal aliens, evolving the story and conflict to become more than a simple "humans vs. aliens war" story, helped elevate this game and the Halo series to legend status.
This and Halo 3 are constantly fighting for the position of my absolute favorite FPS of all time. Halo 2 wins by the slightest margin by virtue of the worldbuilding. Perfect sequel, and sets up an incredible finale with Halo 3.
Also, unlike CE Anniversary, this game's remaster actually looks good!
[10/22/2023]
This is what I've been waiting for, baby. 10 years since the last new 2D Mario, and like 17 since the last great one with New Super Mario Bros. on the DS. If that game wasn't so important to me growing up, this would have dethroned it.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the wake-up call for many a person who thought that 2D Mario would never escape New™ Hell. From the moment you expose your eyes to it to the very end of the 100% journey, it's like the team saw everybody complaining about the New series and chose to give them exactly what they wanted, right down to omitting the word in the title.
I figure I can start with the first thing you see: the artstyle. Mario and the crew (12, by the way! first playable appearance of Daisy in a mainline game as well but I'll let it slide) have new life to their movements, the whole game reminds me of that one Van Gogh-esque stage from New Super Mario Bros. U, and every single creature from the playable characters to the small talking flowers shows some sort of emotion. Goombas react in fear when you stomp one of their brethren and most enemies start freaking out if they see a fireball or bubble coming towards them. I'm not going to call the New series "soulless", but I am going to say that it now looks extremely basic compared to Wonder, as opposed to it looking just basic in the years prior.
Mario games live and die on their level design, and this game's lively as can be. No two levels ever utilize the same enemy or mechanic as their main gimmick with the exception of the obligatory challenge levels. The poison jungle theme continues to be my favorite in a 2D Mario since 2006 (except you NSMB2 fuck you for merging it with the beach world). Each level is then further distinguished with the Wonder Flowers. They're optional, but you'll be missing out on some of the most creative level design in a Mario game yet if you skip them. While some Wonder effects are reused, the levels they're reused in are distinct enough for them to stay fresh. The levels themselves are split into different categories, from your traditional stages ending in the iconic flagpole, to bite-sized challenges to spice up the journey, to arenas where you need to defeat all enemies onscreen, to puzzles that demand you remember you have a brain to decipher. It's like the team saw the shit people were making in Super Mario Maker and took notes on how to fully realize these ideas.
The Super Mushroom and Fire Flower return, and the latter's got a couple of adjustments to help make it feel better. You can now hurl fireballs while crouched, and you're no longer limited to just 2 of them anymore. The three new power-ups, too, are fun. The Bubble Flower is worthy of being a mainstay among its Fire and Ice counterparts; the bubbles' purely lateral movement alongside the abilities to go through walls and be a temporary platform to bounce off of give it insane flexibility. The Drill Mushroom is good as-is and has the potential to also be a mainstay, functioning as a way to hit enemies from below like a Spiny helmet from SMM and deal multiple hits with a Ground Pound faster than usual in addition to its ability to dig into the ceiling and floor to avoid danger, but I feel like another movement-related ability could have helped it and the level design using it. Maybe something like Ground Pounding the floor resulting in digging deeper than usual before slowly returning to the surface, or running into a wall at full speed to drill into the wall to reach otherwise blocked off areas. It's a power-up all about movement, but it's scratching the surface of what it could be. The Elephant Fruit is this game's gimmick power-up. You know the ones. They only appear in one game and rarely return, even in spinoffs (looking at you, Cape Feather, Superball Flower, Carrot, Propeller Mushroom, Gold Flower, Super Acorn.) You're larger, can do pretty wide melee attacks, and can toss out water if you have some. Melee attacks are a property that other items have had before, and throwing water serves few purposes if you don't care about coins. It's cool, but not cool enough to return as its niche use is level specific. The Super Leaf can already do melee and fly. It's why all the other flying items never return. The Elephant Fruit will probably share the same fate.
With a game with this many new mechanics and enemies, the boss fights are bound to be the most unique we've seen since NSMB. Nah, have 4 Bowser Jr. fights where you jump on him (more than three times, wow!) and 3 Bowser-themed comveyor belts where you approach it and jump on a switch like it's 1985. This is the weakest part of the game for me, and this sentiment isn't unique at all. I was hoping that the game took a Yoshi's Island-esque approach where the new enemies or some variant of it are the bosses, or where said enemy gains the Royal Seed (the game's MacGuffin) like another game that I'll get exiled for mentioning and creates effects throughout the world they occupy. The one sign we're hot (cold? it's been 11 years) off the presses of the New series. At least the final boss fight rocked.
All in all, this game fucking rules and is the best Mario game we've gotten since Galaxy. I like the Mario franchise a perfectly normal amount to have beaten this game in 2 days and to have written this little about it.
This is what I've been waiting for, baby. 10 years since the last new 2D Mario, and like 17 since the last great one with New Super Mario Bros. on the DS. If that game wasn't so important to me growing up, this would have dethroned it.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the wake-up call for many a person who thought that 2D Mario would never escape New™ Hell. From the moment you expose your eyes to it to the very end of the 100% journey, it's like the team saw everybody complaining about the New series and chose to give them exactly what they wanted, right down to omitting the word in the title.
I figure I can start with the first thing you see: the artstyle. Mario and the crew (12, by the way! first playable appearance of Daisy in a mainline game as well but I'll let it slide) have new life to their movements, the whole game reminds me of that one Van Gogh-esque stage from New Super Mario Bros. U, and every single creature from the playable characters to the small talking flowers shows some sort of emotion. Goombas react in fear when you stomp one of their brethren and most enemies start freaking out if they see a fireball or bubble coming towards them. I'm not going to call the New series "soulless", but I am going to say that it now looks extremely basic compared to Wonder, as opposed to it looking just basic in the years prior.
Mario games live and die on their level design, and this game's lively as can be. No two levels ever utilize the same enemy or mechanic as their main gimmick with the exception of the obligatory challenge levels. The poison jungle theme continues to be my favorite in a 2D Mario since 2006 (except you NSMB2 fuck you for merging it with the beach world). Each level is then further distinguished with the Wonder Flowers. They're optional, but you'll be missing out on some of the most creative level design in a Mario game yet if you skip them. While some Wonder effects are reused, the levels they're reused in are distinct enough for them to stay fresh. The levels themselves are split into different categories, from your traditional stages ending in the iconic flagpole, to bite-sized challenges to spice up the journey, to arenas where you need to defeat all enemies onscreen, to puzzles that demand you remember you have a brain to decipher. It's like the team saw the shit people were making in Super Mario Maker and took notes on how to fully realize these ideas.
The Super Mushroom and Fire Flower return, and the latter's got a couple of adjustments to help make it feel better. You can now hurl fireballs while crouched, and you're no longer limited to just 2 of them anymore. The three new power-ups, too, are fun. The Bubble Flower is worthy of being a mainstay among its Fire and Ice counterparts; the bubbles' purely lateral movement alongside the abilities to go through walls and be a temporary platform to bounce off of give it insane flexibility. The Drill Mushroom is good as-is and has the potential to also be a mainstay, functioning as a way to hit enemies from below like a Spiny helmet from SMM and deal multiple hits with a Ground Pound faster than usual in addition to its ability to dig into the ceiling and floor to avoid danger, but I feel like another movement-related ability could have helped it and the level design using it. Maybe something like Ground Pounding the floor resulting in digging deeper than usual before slowly returning to the surface, or running into a wall at full speed to drill into the wall to reach otherwise blocked off areas. It's a power-up all about movement, but it's scratching the surface of what it could be. The Elephant Fruit is this game's gimmick power-up. You know the ones. They only appear in one game and rarely return, even in spinoffs (looking at you, Cape Feather, Superball Flower, Carrot, Propeller Mushroom, Gold Flower, Super Acorn.) You're larger, can do pretty wide melee attacks, and can toss out water if you have some. Melee attacks are a property that other items have had before, and throwing water serves few purposes if you don't care about coins. It's cool, but not cool enough to return as its niche use is level specific. The Super Leaf can already do melee and fly. It's why all the other flying items never return. The Elephant Fruit will probably share the same fate.
With a game with this many new mechanics and enemies, the boss fights are bound to be the most unique we've seen since NSMB. Nah, have 4 Bowser Jr. fights where you jump on him (more than three times, wow!) and 3 Bowser-themed comveyor belts where you approach it and jump on a switch like it's 1985. This is the weakest part of the game for me, and this sentiment isn't unique at all. I was hoping that the game took a Yoshi's Island-esque approach where the new enemies or some variant of it are the bosses, or where said enemy gains the Royal Seed (the game's MacGuffin) like another game that I'll get exiled for mentioning and creates effects throughout the world they occupy. The one sign we're hot (cold? it's been 11 years) off the presses of the New series. At least the final boss fight rocked.
All in all, this game fucking rules and is the best Mario game we've gotten since Galaxy. I like the Mario franchise a perfectly normal amount to have beaten this game in 2 days and to have written this little about it.
A side story set around the same time as the first two-thirds of GTA IV's main story, The Lost and Damned is honestly a bit underwhelming. It feels like it ended way too soon, and there are only a select few new vehicles and weapons out of the ones introduced that are actually worth using (looking at you, Bati 800 and Assault Shotgun). I suppose the $10 price tag on the Xbox Store is acceptable for the amount of content.
Also, the film grain. I hate it.
Also, the film grain. I hate it.
2015
[11/1/2023]
Scrolling through the list of games on Xbox Game Pass always ended with me facing the lineup of 8, soon to be 9, mainline entries in the Yakuza series at the bottom of that list. The more times I scrolled through out of boredom, the more they showed up, and the more interested I was in trying the series out. The out of context moments and the fact that one of my favorite streamers is a fan of the franchise helped too. So, I eventually took the plunge on the 17th of October of this year.
The game's a prequel, but that doesn't mean that the whole game exists only to set up the future games or be filled with name drops that would confuse somebody whose first game is the prequel (looking at you, Resident Evil 0, or something like that I never played it). Thank god for that. This is the first game in a while to actually grip me in its story. I originally planned to do one chapter a day, but eventually it ended up becoming two chapters a day, and even three on a good day.
The gameplay's fun if you enjoy walloping people in a variety of ways and also hitting people over the head with a variety of objects. The combat's at its most thoughtful in one-on-one fights, to be honest. It kinda felt like a fighting game the moment I realized I could whiff punish and be whiff punished. Slugger Majima rules.
Depending on how much I like the next couple of games, I honestly might blaze through the series in the span of a few months before Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth drops. If my time with Yakuza 0 means anything, this is a good sign.
Scrolling through the list of games on Xbox Game Pass always ended with me facing the lineup of 8, soon to be 9, mainline entries in the Yakuza series at the bottom of that list. The more times I scrolled through out of boredom, the more they showed up, and the more interested I was in trying the series out. The out of context moments and the fact that one of my favorite streamers is a fan of the franchise helped too. So, I eventually took the plunge on the 17th of October of this year.
The game's a prequel, but that doesn't mean that the whole game exists only to set up the future games or be filled with name drops that would confuse somebody whose first game is the prequel (looking at you, Resident Evil 0, or something like that I never played it). Thank god for that. This is the first game in a while to actually grip me in its story. I originally planned to do one chapter a day, but eventually it ended up becoming two chapters a day, and even three on a good day.
The gameplay's fun if you enjoy walloping people in a variety of ways and also hitting people over the head with a variety of objects. The combat's at its most thoughtful in one-on-one fights, to be honest. It kinda felt like a fighting game the moment I realized I could whiff punish and be whiff punished. Slugger Majima rules.
Depending on how much I like the next couple of games, I honestly might blaze through the series in the span of a few months before Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth drops. If my time with Yakuza 0 means anything, this is a good sign.
2016
This isn't a review; I think "eulogy" is the more appropriate word here.
It's the 1st of October, 2022, and Overwatch is 2 days away from being shut down for good as it gets replaced by Overwatch 2. Overwatch 2 definitely won't be as huge, especially with the various controversies Blizzard's gotten in in the past year or two.
God, I remember the era of when Overwatch was a core pillar of the cultural zeitgeist back in 2016 and 2017. I think it really started to fade away as soon as Brigette was either revealed or released. After that, it all went downhill.
I've been with this game since the end of the first anniversary event, I think just after the patch that nerfed the hell out of Roadhog, so I'm not a day one player. I am, however, aware of all of the ups and downs the game has had. There is a lot of downs post-Brigette. But I kept playing, because it was the one game that my friends and I play. It was fun! But, that was 2017. It's gotten to a point that I haven't genuinely enjoyed playing Overwatch in the past 3 years. None of the magic is there anymore, and it doesn't look like it's coming back any time soon.
Overwatch 2 has a very slim chance of being fun to me. But I hope, for my friends' sakes, that it is. I can't do this anymore, man.
TLDR; I miss old Overwatch. I miss the early days of a game in general.
It's the 1st of October, 2022, and Overwatch is 2 days away from being shut down for good as it gets replaced by Overwatch 2. Overwatch 2 definitely won't be as huge, especially with the various controversies Blizzard's gotten in in the past year or two.
God, I remember the era of when Overwatch was a core pillar of the cultural zeitgeist back in 2016 and 2017. I think it really started to fade away as soon as Brigette was either revealed or released. After that, it all went downhill.
I've been with this game since the end of the first anniversary event, I think just after the patch that nerfed the hell out of Roadhog, so I'm not a day one player. I am, however, aware of all of the ups and downs the game has had. There is a lot of downs post-Brigette. But I kept playing, because it was the one game that my friends and I play. It was fun! But, that was 2017. It's gotten to a point that I haven't genuinely enjoyed playing Overwatch in the past 3 years. None of the magic is there anymore, and it doesn't look like it's coming back any time soon.
Overwatch 2 has a very slim chance of being fun to me. But I hope, for my friends' sakes, that it is. I can't do this anymore, man.
TLDR; I miss old Overwatch. I miss the early days of a game in general.
2007
This review contains spoilers
[11/19/2023]
Yes, I'm spoiler tagging Halo fucking 3. You need to play these if you haven't.
I already said that Halo 2 and this game are always at odds when it comes to being my favorite entry in the series alongside my favorite FPS ever, but whenever I complete Halo 3 again, it just makes that competition even more tight.
The end to a trilogy that started 6 years prior, this game goes all in on the cinematic angle to really drive the "Finish the Fight" point home. With uneasy allies following the Elites breaking off from the Covenant back in Halo 2, Truth's turn from heel to even heeler heel, the Flood's desperate final push for complete galactic saturation, and the foils of Master Chief and the Arbiter reaching the climax of their respective arcs being put together to become an iconic duo while working alongside Miranda Keyes, Sgt. Johnson, and the Elite Shipmaster, it's also aiming to keep bringing in surprises to the very end with the highest stakes possible. These events are aided by the best soundtrack in the series, all thanks to that piano.
My only real complaint is that Arbiter's arc was definitely planned to have a more elaborate resolution. He does not exist as a character between killing Truth and the end of the game. His one-liners are still badass, though. I don't have an issue with Truth becoming an outright villain, though. I'd assume he'd show his true colors and become even more dogmatic after becoming the sole Prophet of the Covenant. I'm sure there's something about religious movements being hijacked in there somewhere, even if the pre-existing one was equally murderous.
It's not unpopular to say that Halo 3's reputation is probably carried by the combined hype of being the third game in an extremely popular series, Halo 2's cliffhanger ending, and its marketing campaign. But with the approach to the campaign they took, they absolutely knew, and it worked out so damn well. Halo 3 is the spitting image of sending something out with a bang.
Yes, I'm spoiler tagging Halo fucking 3. You need to play these if you haven't.
I already said that Halo 2 and this game are always at odds when it comes to being my favorite entry in the series alongside my favorite FPS ever, but whenever I complete Halo 3 again, it just makes that competition even more tight.
The end to a trilogy that started 6 years prior, this game goes all in on the cinematic angle to really drive the "Finish the Fight" point home. With uneasy allies following the Elites breaking off from the Covenant back in Halo 2, Truth's turn from heel to even heeler heel, the Flood's desperate final push for complete galactic saturation, and the foils of Master Chief and the Arbiter reaching the climax of their respective arcs being put together to become an iconic duo while working alongside Miranda Keyes, Sgt. Johnson, and the Elite Shipmaster, it's also aiming to keep bringing in surprises to the very end with the highest stakes possible. These events are aided by the best soundtrack in the series, all thanks to that piano.
My only real complaint is that Arbiter's arc was definitely planned to have a more elaborate resolution. He does not exist as a character between killing Truth and the end of the game. His one-liners are still badass, though. I don't have an issue with Truth becoming an outright villain, though. I'd assume he'd show his true colors and become even more dogmatic after becoming the sole Prophet of the Covenant. I'm sure there's something about religious movements being hijacked in there somewhere, even if the pre-existing one was equally murderous.
It's not unpopular to say that Halo 3's reputation is probably carried by the combined hype of being the third game in an extremely popular series, Halo 2's cliffhanger ending, and its marketing campaign. But with the approach to the campaign they took, they absolutely knew, and it worked out so damn well. Halo 3 is the spitting image of sending something out with a bang.
2013
[11/11/2023]
I was planning to write a review for this game three days ago, when Risk of Rain had turned 10 years old. Unfortunately I was too busy playing Survivors of the Void on my Xbox because it finally released. That, and buying Risk of Rain Returns. Least I'm only three days late.
As I said in my Risk of Rain 2 review, I encountered a song from this game that would eventually lead me to discover this series. Best accidental discovery of my life. Eventually, I played the games in early 2021.
The original Risk of Rain is overshadowed by its sequel so hard it makes Street Fighter II look like a minor improvement in comparison. Stage traversal is the largest issue with this game. You can't move while attacking unless you're playing Huntress. It's so easy to accidentally loop because it's bound to the same button as normally going to the next stage. You need to kill every enemy before progressing to the next stage. Plenty of issues that add up to a pretty unenjoyable experience if you played Risk of Rain 2 first. Thankfully, I didn't do that.
That being said, though, this game's unique among roguelikes for its infinitely scaling difficulty and ability to pick up multiple of the same item. You could choose to beat the game normally, or you could collect so many items that you become a demigod, only smited by equally strong monsters should you last long enough. I wish more roguelikes would have a loop system like this game does.
Risk of Rain is more of a novelty to come back to 10 years after its initial release. It's gonna feel like even more of a novelty with Returns out. Beautiful game when you get the hang of it, and an even more beautiful soundtrack. Becoming God has never felt so satisfying.
I was planning to write a review for this game three days ago, when Risk of Rain had turned 10 years old. Unfortunately I was too busy playing Survivors of the Void on my Xbox because it finally released. That, and buying Risk of Rain Returns. Least I'm only three days late.
As I said in my Risk of Rain 2 review, I encountered a song from this game that would eventually lead me to discover this series. Best accidental discovery of my life. Eventually, I played the games in early 2021.
The original Risk of Rain is overshadowed by its sequel so hard it makes Street Fighter II look like a minor improvement in comparison. Stage traversal is the largest issue with this game. You can't move while attacking unless you're playing Huntress. It's so easy to accidentally loop because it's bound to the same button as normally going to the next stage. You need to kill every enemy before progressing to the next stage. Plenty of issues that add up to a pretty unenjoyable experience if you played Risk of Rain 2 first. Thankfully, I didn't do that.
That being said, though, this game's unique among roguelikes for its infinitely scaling difficulty and ability to pick up multiple of the same item. You could choose to beat the game normally, or you could collect so many items that you become a demigod, only smited by equally strong monsters should you last long enough. I wish more roguelikes would have a loop system like this game does.
Risk of Rain is more of a novelty to come back to 10 years after its initial release. It's gonna feel like even more of a novelty with Returns out. Beautiful game when you get the hang of it, and an even more beautiful soundtrack. Becoming God has never felt so satisfying.