Stylish, funny and aesthetically gorgeous, VA-11 HALL-A is a very calm, casual game that is less focused on gameplay, and instead chooses to serve up engaging and relatable characters that are charming, sometimes larger than life, and incredibly memorable.

Seriously, this game is so important and I think everyone should play it at least once. It's the perfect game to just vibe with and have a good time. Learning about each character is such a joy, and of course, the immaculate presentation is the perfect accompaniment to it all.

Definitively my favourite game of 2022.

Signalis succeeds in crafting an incredible world for it's story and delivers an experience that is hauntingly terrifying but also incredibly engaging in its presentation and atmosphere. The retro style aesthetics and the classic survival horror gameplay are married well with modern sensibilities, so any classic tropes aren't bogged down by common pitfalls.

A stylish, melancholic, psychological horror game that anyone who is fond of games like Silent Hill will appreciate.

This is not a full review, but since I cannot see myself finishing this game right now, I really just want a space to share my thoughts.

First, the positives. This is a very technically impressive game; the action is silky smooth and the models are all great quality for the PSP. The menus and UI have a very clean and well designed look to them. However it really doesn't feel like there's a whole lot of originality to the visuals, the monster designs just kind of a gnarled mess and the character designs aren't anything to write home about. Even Aya herself has been downgraded from her older design, I feel.

And then the gameplay is... frustrating. I like the concept of it's core mechanic, the Overdive system. You have the ability to switch between the bodies of nearby allies to give yourself an advantage over enemies. Sometimes, it does offer a bit of strategic thinking. But I just, don't think it really works in practice?

The other mechanics are all really just, not enjoyable. Sometimes you just have to, target an enemy without shooting it and wait for a bar to fill, then you can order your squad to shoot it all at the same time. It feels weird to just, have to stop what you're doing, stop shooting, and wait.

And the cover system is just so awful. The little blocks you hide behind break all the time, and thing is, when you're reloading, you don't duck behind cover like you think you would. That would make too much sense. You just, stand up, out of cover, and the enemy can just, go to town on you. And levels last way too long, even at the beginning. And when you keep dying because the enemies have way too big of an advantage over you, it just makes it go on even longer.

Not knowing the whole story, I can't comment on all of it, but I can tell it's probably not going to be a winning narrative, when the game expects you to do read files just to learn about what is actually happening in the story. I'm not saying the game should tell you, but it should s h o w you and give you bits and pieces through the cutscenes. But after two levels I honestly just, didn't really have much interest in seeing where things would go.

There's just no soul to the story so far, and you're told things that were probably supposed to have some sort of emotional weight, but I just don't really feel anything because the story so poorly sets up who it's characters are, what they're like and what is even going on. If you didn't read the in-game lore encyclopedia, then you wouldn't have a single clue. A fucking codex shouldn't be required reading for the basic understanding of a story.

I haven't played the original Parasite Eve, or it's sequel, yet. But after giving this a try, I feel like my time would be much better invested in those games, instead of this.

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Translation: An OK licensed game that mimics DMC. Not going to set the world on fire but i'm glad this game exists at all, as a fan of the movie.

I'd heard so much about this game before jumping into it, and after getting through it, I can see why it's so beloved. It has it's faults, like the chapters are a bit uneven and there are some parts where the game just does not prep you for potentially game ending situations.

I thankfully did my research beforehand, so it wasn't too much of an issue, and most of those moments I could definitely attribute to the game just not wanting to hold your hand by design. And there are plenty of explanations about the ingame systems, so I can't complain about that too much.

The true star of this game really is the way it lets you create such unique builds for your characters. It sets itself up for so much flexibility. I feel that if I played again, I could go for such a different build and it would still work just as well.

The characters and plot that unfolds in this game is just stellar too. Full of grey morality, complex multilayered characters and a bittersweet ending that feels perfectly poignant.

There are some technical issues with this port that hold it back, such as the slowdown during visually impressive attacks. But these can be fixed with modding, if you care to do so.

The visuals are charming too, and the music has a great atmosphere to it.

I'll be thinking about this game for a long time to come, I think.

Well deserving of most of the praise it receives. Is that hype a little overblown? Undoubtedly. But it's not hard to see how revolutionary this was and why it changed the landscape of games when it first released.

And today, it's still immensely playable. The presentation is going to be the biggest point of contention for some people but I think those old graphics are a charm point if anything.

The story is great and while storytelling in games has evolved a lot since, I think that this story is still told very well and the cast is a fun and likable bunch. Some of them definitely needed a bit more development, but what's there is still great.

Might be one of the most entertaining and addictive rhythm games out there. The songs are all covers of western music, but most of them are just flat out improvements over the original, including its version of Jumping Jack Flash, which is perhaps part of one of the most hype conclusions to any game ever.

The comic scenes are really fun and give the game so much personality, while the gameplay is simple but absolutely fiendish on the higher difficulties. It really gets your blood pumping as you work on perfecting each song, just so you can survive. Your DS screen will take a beating, but it will be worth it.

Honestly one of the best platformers ever made. The analogue controls are super intuitive and fun to use. The graphics are simple and cartoony, and honestly have aged super well in my eyes. The soundtrack is super unique and catchy. Perhaps the only blemish are the voices, but they've got their own cheesy charm.

The monkeys themselves are the star if the show and you have to change uo your tactics constantly to catch them all. Backtracking to get any leftovers feels fun, as you don't quite know what to expect.

While the later games further improve the formula, this is a PS1 classic and absolutely worth your time.