It is actually not hard to describe what Hylics is but it is hard to describe what it is exactly. Only interpretation of the facets of the game. To me Hylics was all about changing shapes. Morphing. Twisting, Distorting, Changing. The whole game feels like a post-world. Humans don't exist anymore only the objects and that which is human-esque but is not human. Hylics creates a kind of melancholic and solitude with its world and art and music. You have little sparks with the other characters of the game but it all feels a little estranged. By design. The gameplay is pretty average at best for an RPG but I think it's actually alright because I believe the main part of this game was its exploration facet rather than its fighting mechanics. The fights in themselves are set pieces too to be viewed and played with. Though I can't help but wonder if it would have been fun to be able to interract in the fights to a deeper extent rather than what is provided in the game. Maybe a kind of morphing mechanic where you use your mouse to fuse different parts of clay to create a spell or something. The whole world is a-move, twisting and turning. Little creatures explode when you touch them, some share esoteric words. The feeling of being there is so excellent in this sense that I still feel really positive over the fighting.

Thumper is...a missed opportunity.
An absolute droning game. I stopped enjoying it around level 5, but I pushed onwards. Now I drop the game right at the end boss of level 9.

It's an on the rail action music game, with visuals that remind me of the Metalheart aesthetic. It gives Thumper a very surreal and distinct look from other games.

The most positive part of thumper is some of its little gimmicks to make levels more interesting. In particular, the one unlocked in level 8.

Thumper is cohesive, but because of this, it is also incredibly boring. A lot of level patches end up being repeated. Feeling the same. It doesn't help that the same hitsounds are being used throughout the entire game, which honestly ends up boring the living hell out of you by the end of it. You could tell me certain levels from 7 were in 6 and I would believe you. It really isn't much of a difference.

This will of "holding together a cohesive style" ends up damaging every corner of the game. Whether in sound effects, level compositions or visual style.

The biggest crime Thumper has is making it more difficult by just speeding the gameplay up. I feel that is incredibly cheap for a "rhythm game". It would have been much better to tone down on the speed but make more complicated levels. (in general, some actual good music would be nice.)

I think Thumper is a very disappointing game where the original thrill of the first levels never comes back after they are completed.

Thumper lacks better levels, better music and better visual design. You have such a cool aesthetic to work with yet most of the levels end up feeling too similar. When the gameplay feels boring, you atleast want some dynamic visuals to enjoy. But alas.

In conclusion, the game and its gameplay mechanics have potential. But it falls very short of even reaching that potential.

Maybe this game is more fun on VR. I have no clue.

I'm coming back to this game after a very long time of being away from it. This is partially a replay as much as it is an original visit for me. Why? My first play of Super Mario 64 was actually when the DS remake of it was released.

Having that out of the way... I completed this one with 70 stars! Some courses I attained all the stars...others not so much. But I had a lot of fun revisiting this title. I ended up growing warm towards the camera angles. Why? I think certain areas are particularly designed to use this function for its platforming. (such as getting the red coins in tick tock, stage 15) Through that I felt warmth towards the function because it was inherent to the game overall design rather than a limitation.

Though why i choose to give this game a 3.5/5...? Well I just don't like certain things. I think the bowser fight is a mediocre feeling and pales in comparison to the actual level the fight is placed in. I know Mario games have never been particularly good at boss fights but man...I really disliked those fights lol. I did enjoy the fact that the third stage of final bowser ends up destroying a lot of the island space into a star shape. That was a proper difficulty increase strategy.

Also the flying... I just can't. I had a similar problem in skyward sword. This may be a skill issue problem but my god it gave me so much trouble. Tough to control. I did however like how the swimming felt! incredibly relaxing.

Even if I think the red coin placements/levels were cheap. I did think in general that every level within a stage is able to show the whole stage in a natural way. I ended up exploring much more through those specific quests. So through the different quests the whole level became more stronger embedded into my mind. My love for them grew. I especially loved unique dynamics such as stage 15 and stage 13.