I played this a bit around its time of release, and I just now went through the whole thing.

There's a kind of simple earnestness that's special to the early indie revolution, especially before gamergate made everything so bitter and hateful. There's a sense of wonder in those years, like every dev was just SO excited that they got to make games, too. The obvious fourth wall breaking and dialogue poking fun at longstanding genre conventions are relics of a time when we all sat wide-eyed at all the games that felt like they were made by real people for once, people we could hang out with and who loved games themselves.

We take that all for granted now, but when you go back to a game like this, it's nice to sink back into the hope we all had at that moment. As gaming became democratized like it never was before, we got little beautiful passion projects like this.

A clear step down from the original which at least keeps the core appeal intact. Small mechanical improvements like combining the katana and guns into one weapon are absolutely points of progression, but the level and boss design provide absolutely nothing that you didn't get before. The spectacle and action movie vibe fall away as the game progresses, and by the end I was kinda happy to be done, even though it was absurdly short and what I played was a good time. The extra characters and arcade mode might bring out what's supposed to be better about this one, but I haven't taken the time to play with them much.

Worth a play if you like the first game, but ends up feeling more like glorified dlc than anything.

Shockingly smooth and charming Diablo clone. Gets along almost entirely on [ g a m e f e e l ] .

It's weird, though. It's mechanically simplified compared to the big obvious pillars of the subgenre and doesn't have half the atmosphere or lore or sheer audiovisual beauty of a Diablo. Yet it works just fine. The combat is so smooth and at times frantic that it feels more like playing something like Gungeon but with a bigger emphasis on ability synergy.

Good to smash through in one sitting, I wonder if it's worth getting into the postgame?

100%ing a childhood game you had trouble with is an incredible feeling. Might need to do this with a few more. Reminds me that I've put in a ton of energy to get better at games and it's been worth it.

The first fully untimed and goal-based game in the series was my favorite as a kid and still is now. It sits at this beautiful place in Tony Hawk mechanics before useless shit like rage and getting off your board were added but when spine transfers and other movement-enhancing mechanics were in place. It's as tight and lean as could be. Everything here works the best it ever did and there's no bullshit.

The humor is mostly on point, but some mean-spirited jokes about sex trafficking and homeless people are Not Great. Most of it is so juvenile and harmless in a way that's still as charming as ever.

The game I was hoping for years and years ago on the Black Mesa Source forums. I'm so glad to have it, and nearly every change makes it superior to the original game. I was thinking of calling this the canonical version of Half-Life throughout much of my playtime until I got to Interloper, a chapter within Xen which makes you slam into a wall of really obnoxious plug "puzzles" (read: spam e on everything and plug shit in wherever it lets you) and jumps which as far as I can tell rely on slamming your face into the walls until it happens to shoot you upward. Oh and the vorts say the same 3 voice lines repeatedly. Everything looks the same. It's painful.

Needless to say, this absolutely ruins the pacing of the lategame and killing the tension. I suggest skipping the Interloper chapter. I loved original Xen and I love this Xen too as long as that's removed.

Incredible game, if flawed.