basedgod420
Bought on the merits of Toree, and for the low cost of a toonie, but overall I would say that there is not as much substance as the Toree games, with sloppier mechanics. That being said, this game does have a lot of heart, and that counts for something! A nice little homage to the collectathons of my youth.
1995
good puzzle game, love the little fairies hanging out in their forest homes or volcanoes or whatever, love making the blocks explode.
2016
This review contains spoilers
Went into this blind, and was blown away. the seamless integration of the puzzles, the mood, the score, every little detail worked together to pull me in. This game is scary as shit: black water drags you under, dogs rip out your throat, and I was genuinely in shock when the guards gunned me down for the first time.
This is the kind of experience I look to in video games, one that I could not get from another piece of media.
This is the kind of experience I look to in video games, one that I could not get from another piece of media.
2019
It was cold out so I ate a weed edible and covered myself in blankets and booted this game up. Felt great running around the island talking to the little animals, 8/10 game, 10/10 cozy levels though.
2018
laugh out loud funny, banging soundtrack, more undertale, what not to love?
1992
This is my 3rd fav Sonic game (after Mania and CD, I know, sacrilege) but I think it might objectively be the best sonic game? I love the aesthetic: banging soundtrack, great enemy design, very well paced, and damn have those parallax scrolling backgrounds aged like a fine wine.
a warm blanket of a game, the first game I ever beat as a kid. My grandparents bought an N64 to play golf games on (and to lure their grandkids over for more visits) and I think back on the days hunched over in front of the CRT in their backroom fondly!
I know everything there is to know about this game, and going back to it always feels good. I think as a whole I prefer the sequel, but this was my first, and will always be a favourite game.
I know everything there is to know about this game, and going back to it always feels good. I think as a whole I prefer the sequel, but this was my first, and will always be a favourite game.
2021
Best dollar you can spend on the switch
2021
The long awaited return of 2d Metroid did not disappoint. Movement feels great, and the new items are all great additions to Samus's standard arsenal. I like that this game teases classic moves for so long before giving them to you, making you wait what feels a lifetime for standard early game stuff like the morph ball or super missiles. Not too much to say about this really, the plot is goofy but I am not really playing Metroid for the plot. I'm happy that this is a challenging as it is, and will be running through on hard mode in the future.
Played as part of the Castlevania Advance collection on the switch, Aria of Sorrow lived up to my expectations. I was a huge fan of the DS sequel as a kid, and the system in place in Dawn of Sorrow are also in effect here. I love the soul collection system, and the exploratory gameplay the post SOTN castlevania games have mastered.
The enemy design and animation is a true feat, and maybe my fav sprite art on the GBA? Really love how everything looks in this game, and how good the movement and action feels.
My only real complaint is that there is a noted spike in difficulty about halfway through the game which lead to a lot of deaths on my end (which is fine, I am always down for some challenge) but oftentimes a room would be a gauntlet of many brutal enemy types and it left me feeling like the only option was to bolt through new areas as quick as possible. This isn't the worst thing, as the tension of trying to find a save room after running a gauntlet of awful rooms was fun, but it did lead to some frustration after some deaths that sent me back a long ways.
I am all for hard games, but sometimes the layout of an area felt like the designers just slapped a bunch of shit together and were like "fuck it, that will work". This wasn't enough to totally hamper my experience, and I would def play this game again to go for the alt endings.
The enemy design and animation is a true feat, and maybe my fav sprite art on the GBA? Really love how everything looks in this game, and how good the movement and action feels.
My only real complaint is that there is a noted spike in difficulty about halfway through the game which lead to a lot of deaths on my end (which is fine, I am always down for some challenge) but oftentimes a room would be a gauntlet of many brutal enemy types and it left me feeling like the only option was to bolt through new areas as quick as possible. This isn't the worst thing, as the tension of trying to find a save room after running a gauntlet of awful rooms was fun, but it did lead to some frustration after some deaths that sent me back a long ways.
I am all for hard games, but sometimes the layout of an area felt like the designers just slapped a bunch of shit together and were like "fuck it, that will work". This wasn't enough to totally hamper my experience, and I would def play this game again to go for the alt endings.
Final Fantasy 8 is the 4th game of the series I have completed, and the first in which I feel like I have an understanding of the tropes and what to expect going in.
This game has a lot going for it, I love the aesthetic and the absolutely insane plot. The soundtrack is very sick, with an obvious prog influence, and Squall may be my favorite of the FF protagonists I have played as so far. The way the story makes you slowly understand his cold demeanor is handled very well, and in general I think the forced splitting of the party in a number of sections worked well for making me care about the characters, though I do prefer the "each town gives backstory on the party" structure that won me over in 7.
The structure of the plot itself falls victim to some rough pacing, especially in the initial few hours of the game. It would have been a better starting point to have the game open with the party on their SEED Exam, and not explain what was happening, then have it reveal that these were child soldiers who are in killing machine school. Speaking of which, it's really funny to me that this plot point is never explored more in depth. These children are being trained as high level mercenaries, and are being sent to enact coups, and not once does anyone slow down and question the ethics of the situation. Really funny imo.
The junction system is something that I didn't really love, but I respect the effort that went into trying to build a new system from the ground up. That being said, the GF animations are wayyyyy too long, and it's a chore to use your summon in battle as you are going to be locked into watching the same minute long animation on repeat. I actually like the draw system, and think it's an interesting way to force the player into making hard choices in battle.
Finally, as far as plot points go, I love that this game has it all: time travel, amnesia, going to space, doing a political assassination against an evil witch who is the president. Really dumbass stuff, delivered totally straight faced. You gotta respect that.
This game has a lot going for it, I love the aesthetic and the absolutely insane plot. The soundtrack is very sick, with an obvious prog influence, and Squall may be my favorite of the FF protagonists I have played as so far. The way the story makes you slowly understand his cold demeanor is handled very well, and in general I think the forced splitting of the party in a number of sections worked well for making me care about the characters, though I do prefer the "each town gives backstory on the party" structure that won me over in 7.
The structure of the plot itself falls victim to some rough pacing, especially in the initial few hours of the game. It would have been a better starting point to have the game open with the party on their SEED Exam, and not explain what was happening, then have it reveal that these were child soldiers who are in killing machine school. Speaking of which, it's really funny to me that this plot point is never explored more in depth. These children are being trained as high level mercenaries, and are being sent to enact coups, and not once does anyone slow down and question the ethics of the situation. Really funny imo.
The junction system is something that I didn't really love, but I respect the effort that went into trying to build a new system from the ground up. That being said, the GF animations are wayyyyy too long, and it's a chore to use your summon in battle as you are going to be locked into watching the same minute long animation on repeat. I actually like the draw system, and think it's an interesting way to force the player into making hard choices in battle.
Finally, as far as plot points go, I love that this game has it all: time travel, amnesia, going to space, doing a political assassination against an evil witch who is the president. Really dumbass stuff, delivered totally straight faced. You gotta respect that.
2017
Was really hoping for something great here, but overall came out of the experience thinking "that was fine". It honestly kind of washed over me, and the mechanics never really stuck with me. I have a lot of nostalgia for the classic Mario Golf Rpg's, and was hoping this would scratch that itch, but it ended up being a pretty neutral experience in general.
2017
This game plays like a dream, with unique level concepts that are well implemented. One of the better modern collectathons I've played, would love to see what this group could do with more budget. A more polished version of this could be Game of the Year material.
2017
Cute! Great example of a simple concept being implemented in a cool way. The pixel art is gorgeous, the soundtrack is great, and completed the goals in each level are all really fun! Would love to see more Nintendo fund more lower budget games like this.
2001
My second Final Fantasy game, after 7, and I was really wondering if I would like it as much as I liked 7. Love the aesthetic, despite the absolutely insane character design, and the setting is great. The plot hooks drew me in, and despite how unlikeable Tidus is, the other characters make up for it.
The thematic focus on each characters individual struggle to break free from the cycle of violence perpetrated by the structures that define us is a little heavy handed, but I do appreciate the use of each character as a way to explore the many different ways these structures can influence who we are, on a micro level and a macro level.
The characters of this game didn’t resonate with me in the way that the characters of 7 did unfortunately. Lulu and Wakka are pretty one dimensional, with Wakka’s crisis of faith seeming like it’s going to be a bigger jumping off point for his character that never really comes. Rikku is also mainly a tool to dump exposition on the Al-Bhed, while Kimahri does have more of an actual arc than the other characters, but I still didn’t really connect with him as he was often sidelined during the games' big moments. Yuna and Auron are different stories. I found both of these characters were very compelling.
Tidus is annoying, and I feel like he doesn’t ever really get a redemption arc to make him a likeable character.I feel like a lot of my gripes with Tidus could be chalked up to some truly atrocious voice acting. I don’t think the V/A really understood the assignment, and I feel like one of the huge issues with his character is that the tone of the voice actors performance doesn’t really match the tone of the circumstances in the game. It’s also unfortunate that the rerelease doesn’t allow you to choose the Japanese Dub, as in general the voice acting is pretty cringe (though I do appreciate the unintentional camp of this era of early V/A in games).
I really liked the combat system in X, and loved agonizing over moves while trying to predict a pattern that would help me survive some of the tougher fights. A few of the late game bosses are pretty punishing, and the turn system really ups the tension. The sphere grid is also really great, and while it was intimidating at first, after getting the general idea of how to plot character growth it was really rewarding to bust the builds.
Finally, when the screamo track kicks in while fighting [REDACTED] at the end of the game,you best be wilding out, as its insanely hype.
The thematic focus on each characters individual struggle to break free from the cycle of violence perpetrated by the structures that define us is a little heavy handed, but I do appreciate the use of each character as a way to explore the many different ways these structures can influence who we are, on a micro level and a macro level.
The characters of this game didn’t resonate with me in the way that the characters of 7 did unfortunately. Lulu and Wakka are pretty one dimensional, with Wakka’s crisis of faith seeming like it’s going to be a bigger jumping off point for his character that never really comes. Rikku is also mainly a tool to dump exposition on the Al-Bhed, while Kimahri does have more of an actual arc than the other characters, but I still didn’t really connect with him as he was often sidelined during the games' big moments. Yuna and Auron are different stories. I found both of these characters were very compelling.
Tidus is annoying, and I feel like he doesn’t ever really get a redemption arc to make him a likeable character.I feel like a lot of my gripes with Tidus could be chalked up to some truly atrocious voice acting. I don’t think the V/A really understood the assignment, and I feel like one of the huge issues with his character is that the tone of the voice actors performance doesn’t really match the tone of the circumstances in the game. It’s also unfortunate that the rerelease doesn’t allow you to choose the Japanese Dub, as in general the voice acting is pretty cringe (though I do appreciate the unintentional camp of this era of early V/A in games).
I really liked the combat system in X, and loved agonizing over moves while trying to predict a pattern that would help me survive some of the tougher fights. A few of the late game bosses are pretty punishing, and the turn system really ups the tension. The sphere grid is also really great, and while it was intimidating at first, after getting the general idea of how to plot character growth it was really rewarding to bust the builds.
Finally, when the screamo track kicks in while fighting [REDACTED] at the end of the game,you best be wilding out, as its insanely hype.