An experienced dev team's first foray into true 3D that, shockingly, gets it right all the way back in June 1996.

Absolutely rock-solid fundamentals which set the tone for the rest of the genre. Analog controls enable precise adjustment of angles which have huge downstream effects. A signature focus on momentum, combined with tricks both intentional and unintentional, birthed one of the most legendary and iconic speedrunning scenes of all time. Systems like this in a casual single player context, balanced to enhance rather than subvert challenges, are rare to find, and even the devs themselves never quite managed to recapture this particular flavor.

The level design here is emblematic of the early 3D era "golden age": enough detail and representation to evoke sense of place, but with the abstraction necessitated by the time's technology both facilitating dense layouts and imbuing the atmosphere with a surreal, dreamlike quality. No established formulas for success existed yet, so levels aren't overly concerned with providing the player a frictionless experience. Each expresses their own quirky character, something felt even more strongly than usual since gameplay is so contextualized by the precise placement of nearby geometry.

Shortcomings mainly occur in obtuse progression/secrets and a handful of stages (more concentrated in the latter half) that don't play to the game's strengths. Luckily, the huge modding scene has leveraged this fantastic foundation and learned from these mistakes to create a veritable cornucopia of visions, both vanilla-like and experimental, for you as a player to explore.

Yup, Quake is a pretty great game!

For a few years now, I’ve been wanting to replay the ‘Classic Era’, i.e. entries chiefly directed by Ryota Kawade, of Paper Mario’s two decades worth of span, gauging and regarding my thoughts about them potentially having changed over time. I never really got the drive to do so for a few reasons, mainly cause I’m stubborn and figured I’d have to replay its spiritual predecessor, Super Mario RPG, first despite thinking tepidly about it, but after a certain Let’s Player was about to wrap up their newly made playthrough of the game, I got bit by the crafty bug and decided now was a good as time as any to jump straight into it. Also, just to be clear here, I’m not gonna be That Guy about the newer games when going over the trilogy. I’m just as annoyed about the discourse surrounding those, and the franchise as a whole, as much as you potentially are.

Now, the development process is rather interesting, and something I’ve only seen gain traction during the last few years. I believe everyone knows about how this is an aforementioned spiritual successor of SMRPG, so I won’t gab too much about it, but there’s still curios available regarding the process before and during the game’s creation. Kawade first signed up to Intelligent Systems around 1994, trying to sign up as a planner but got wrapped up under the designer role due to it containing more openings. This meant that the initial works he’s done for Nintendo were uh, Galactic Pinball for the Virtual Boy, and the SNES version of Wario’s Woods. Around the time production for PM64 began, he joined up with technical supporter Hiroyasu Sasano and of course Shigeru Miyamoto, working alongside notable figures within Nintendo and IntSys’ alumni such as art director Naohiko Aoyama, other directors like Toshitaka Muramatsu and Hironobu Suzuki, veteran programmer Kenji Nakajima, even a couple of Fire Emblem cross-connects of varying intensity such as Kaori Aoki reigning in as one of two writers (though strangely, I got zilch on the other half, Kumiko Takeda, all credits on this person tie back to this game only), Kenichi Nishimaki and Yuka Tsujiyoko to work on sound and music respectively, and finally Mitsuru Matsumoto to also contribute to programming. This was when its shape was truly beginning to form during the 4-year period, by both positing the spent time on creating the battle system in a way that’ll satisfy both the younguns and the older crowd, and arranging the map and puzzle elements within the world to put together a conveyance of this 2D-on-3D approach via pastel colors and paper-style aesthetics closely tied to Aoyama’s concept design. Digging into the factoids of the creation gave me a greater sense of appreciation of the acclaimed charm and wit this game, and the following two titles, are known for.

Often the second thing you hear about the game, it’s captivating seeing how much attention and care was placed onto the world of the Mushroom Kingdom given the frame this was released in. SMRPG might’ve been one of the first pioneers of deepening the well of what’s possible with the Red-Clothed Plumber and Co.’s nature, but within the Mid N64-GameCube period of Nintendo’s history, the company fully began to branch away from the preclusive normalcy, and slackened to a degree that allowed experimentation with its emblematic hallmarks. The usual Toads have a fair bit more going on with their lives, commonly depicted foes such as Koopas, Goombas, etc etc. can be composed as simple denizens of the world, and there’s still many new faces and races to converse with, either reworked from what was available before or brand new types altogether. The map structure, trying its best to strictly fit the mold of a storybook novel, pines the locales you’re appointed to reach traveled to and fro via foot, transportation methods such as a train or a tuna whale, or even within the confines Toad Town itself thanks to a vacant house, a magical flower garden you helped to nurture, and a starry-studded airspace per the completion of the Star Spirit rescues. About the only time you aren’t trekking or hopping over to an established spot over to a new locale is with the cold regions over at the northern end, but considering most of the area is compacted on Shiver City with only selected members able to visit Starborn Valley, it makes sense. Compounding this with Toad Town Sewers opening up or the populace tending to have new routines and idle banter to share as you continue further into the game, and the holistic ethos heightens the, if you permit the Gamer Speak, “feeling of a genuine, lived-in world”. Each time I play or watch this I find something new to warmly dote over, such as the bits of backstory and regular continuation of NPC arcs, the obvious references to various aspects of the Mario world, or even just the little things such as the way text is displayed and presented giving each set of species and individuals their own way of “speaking”, a concept that’s shockingly bare nowadays.

Helping with that is just how damn funny the core package is, having many gags like with the Buzzard encounter in Chapter 2, the backside of Toad Town’s bulletin board, practically everything to do with Jr. Troopa and the Peach segments which I’ll get into later, various idle chatter you can trigger, I’m pretty glad this is still a game to garner some guffaws and chuckles out of me. I'm also kind of shocked I wasn't too into the OST the last time, I wouldn't say it's quite up there with some of my favorites in the other series but previously mentioned Yuka Tsujiyoko did a great job at setting the mood, thrill, bouncy mysticism, and peaceful reflection. Like before, and just as pompous to say, it ties into this feeling of interpersonal connection, especially with how certain beats pan out that stand out even amongst the multitude of other Mario RPGs that have released after this one. This just has me wondering why the heck I've been so dismissive over this for years, it couldn't have been because the aforementioned fandom dilemma cause I try my best to steer clear from that BS nowadays in any form. Maybe it was just from being a dumb teen...

As for the headliner, the battle system gets a hearty mention. Pushing aside the malarkey of this “being one of the few good turn-based RPGs”, there’s a surprising amount of depth and complexity for what’s supposed to be a straightforward frame. With Mario as the main character and therefore the DPSer, partners in this game serve personal roles and jobs to help out, whether that’s as a technician (Sushi and Bow), raw damage (Bombette and Parakarry), straightliners (Goombario and Kooper), or support w/ a pierce damage analog (Watt). While not every partner’s upgrades are wholly worthwhile (or in Lakilester’s case, are severely undercut from prior alternatives), the compartmentalization over these attributes nudge you into trying different strategies and tactful mindsets for a majority of the runtime. Helping with this are several status ailments that can be applied through various means, including the game's Special equivalent Star Power, whereby using up a certain amount of gauges nets you a move that can quickly turn the battle to your favor. Inflicting ones such as Dizzy or Sleep can tighten the HP and Flower Point use:reserve ratio during each bout, which makes this a nice bridge for newcomers to learn the ropes of battle management for other RPGs such as the SMT and DraQue franchise. The prime star of the mechanics, though, is the badge system, which to aptly sum up is closely related to FF7’s Materia system. By nabbing the necessary Badge Points from a level up, and continuing on with the game’s flow, you have a plethora of options to set up a playstyle. Trying out most of the known builds - Evasion, Damage, Danger, Defense, Flower-Oriented, HP-Oriented to name a few - led to a lot of fun moments and personal accomplishments because of it, some of which surprised me since I tended to stick with a rigid style before doing this. Sure, not all the badges are good, but there’s enough on the platter to at least satisfy the curiosity, especially since a hard cap of 30BP means you’re gonna have to think hard about which ones will be more important for the given circumstances.My level format majorly went to BP, sometimes FP which maxes out at 50, and only HP which also maxes out at 50 when absolutely needed, allowing to max out on the first two but barely be underneath the latter’s, but there’s some wiggle room to try and focus on a particular stat for a good while if you want to be daring.

Dissecting the overworld layouts, they’re structured as open environments that tend to feed into each other in one way or another, which frankly is rather esoteric to me due to growing up with the sequels’ linear, more rectangular design, which I can surmise is also why this game doesn’t typically get criticized for its backtracking nature. For instance, Chapter 5, being set within the Yoshi-populated Lavalava Island, spends its first act on trying to reach the volcanic mountain, only to find there’s no feasible way to climb up to it. This then funnels into the second act, where you must find and rescue five Yoshi kids, with the help of a Cheep Cheep named Sushi, off to the side of the village’s path, guided in a way where their location is not only visible with implications, but also allowing you to uncover shortcuts to mitigate the backtracking to either the whale or the village. The final act goes all-in on the linear dungeon aspect, having all of its necessary requirements laid within each room you happen upon after each line down, only ever going back here and there for the optional goodies. It’s this sort of design principle that keeps both the world’s whimsy feel in check, along with not becoming too taxing that it harms the player’s enjoyment. To be clear, though, the backtracking can be egregiously tedious, and while it's usually tied to side activities - and even then, the main offenders are chunks of the hidden Star Piece panels first batch or so of Koopa Koots’ requests, and perhaps Tayce T recipes if you’re meticulous about 100%ing the game - it's rather inductive that times the main story lean heavily into this that it largely suffers. Toy Box in Chapter 4, even with skipping animations, battles, and mashing through dialog, has you going in-and-out its garishly kiddy playground, following up on a line of objectives that can help uncover the next path, being an outlier with its near-hallway design, a maximum amount of four times, only cut down to three due to prescience from either a previous playthrough or looking it up for one sequence. The excess of planning and requirements suddenly thrusted upon the player is much akin to walking around at a theme park and partaking in the fantastical, fantasy dreamscapes, only to then be snatched off to the side to look after bratty tykes after causing mischief with the common folk. If you want my truncated thoughts on the chapter rankings, it’s 3 > 7 > 8 > 5 > 1 > 2 > 6 > 4, with only the latter two being ones I don’t have much positive thoughts on aside from two exceptions.

Ironically, another issue I have stems from overbalancing to the other extreme of being too simple. Perhaps this is due to potential spoilering by later Mario RPGs released in the early 2000s, but it doesn’t sit quite right that the personality depth most of the partners have here are about as expanded as Mallow’s from before, which is to say, slightly moderate. It’s not that they’re bad per se, but the routine of introduction, exploration, then hastened partner-up doesn’t bode well when you consider the numerous alternatives of 25+ hour RPGs you can find on the PS1 from the same generation. While everyone is able to apply some scant comments here and there to help establish their roles, the only ones to wholly escape this predicament are Goombario thanks to his Tattle ability fleshing out his casual yet inquisitive diction, Bow due to having the greater focal point in the events of Chapter 3, and perhaps Parakarry since when’s another RPG gonna let me use a Mailman. Super Paper Mario has a contrasting yet fundamentally similar issue, but that’s in due time, the bottom line here is that I like the cast, yet not adore them. It also sucks this is one of those RPGs that suffers from a “slow start” of sorts, specifically in that the game’s too rigid in its early wheelhouse to really let you experiment with what it has to offer. Hyperbolizing the point it “gets good” doesn’t work since it doesn’t actually last that long, but I’d wager that putting the emphasis on build maintenance over at the end of Chapter 1 instead of the end of Chapter 2 would go a long way to make the early replays more tolerable to digest. Also not really a fan of how some chapters tend to have a fair bit of padding here and there and/or battles typically get slotted into a rote checklist as it goes on, resulting in me mashing through just to get a move on, but to be fair the amount of RPGs I feel escape this sort of rut can be counted on like one hand.

All that said, I definitely feel like Paper Mario 64’s one of those games that’s more than the sum of its parts. Granted, individually each gear range from good-great, but coming together makes it one of the most tightly made RPGs under the Nintendo banner, and is one of a handful of games I feel many people can be able to get something out of even if they’re not fans of the genre. I mean, I’m sure the numerous mods such as Black Pit, Dark Star, and even one that, from what I’ve seen, is an analog of Cooking Mama and Overcooked, an ongoing decompilation nearing completion, and some challenge runs including additional modifiers that are available thanks to Patcher64+, speak for itself: it’s a beloved cult classic. Only thing I’m bummed about is its ease of access, cause having to rely on Nintendo’s exacerbating emulators in a market where the N64’s overall state is slowly but surely getting better - for this replay, I used Ares due to it having access to CRT shader options, but for someone with a lighter set of PC specs I suggest using RMG or perhaps simple64 instead - is rather saddening to witness. I’m not asking for a full-on remake mind you, but an actual port or the NSO N64 stuff being legitimately good would be much appreciated.

Hopefully my bias for the sequel didn’t show too much, cause I do want to stress that not only does this stand strong on its own, there are legitimately aspects of it that I do find better here than in its successor… but that’s to be unraveled in the next storybook.

A "rougelike" DLC story for a game that uses that genre in the loosest definition possible.

For brevity sake, check out my review on the base game as this DLC isn't about doing things radically different or new.(https://backloggd.com/u/AlphaOne2/review/971762/) The rougelike is really just randomly generated dungeoneering, with a slightly harsher punishment for death where you lose a lot (or all, depending on difficulty) of your earned force. In case you didn't read the old review or forgot, force is used to progress through the game's skill tree. You earn a looooooot of stat ups using it, and you also use it for unlocking new spells and valuable items. Regardless, everything else you earned prior to death is kept, hence rougelike being a poor descriptor.

Just like the base game, this DLC wants you to become absurdly powerful. Like, the most overpowered character you can possibly be. Able to cast magic that starts as standard fireballs, and end with summoning lasers so large it kills hundreds of enemies off screen as all their loot gets magnetized towards you. All the other progression systems are here as well (equipment leveling, crafting and upgrading, magic leveling, item trading, and so forth). One of the more notable additions is the style system. Think more of a class system in other RPGs, but they don't change your playstyle too much in comparison. Each style comes with their own passive bonuses and one unique skill that's on a short cooldown. A magician can recover the magic meter on the spot, or a samurai will do a iaido slash as the demon gets cut in half a second later, or a assassin will teleport behind the enemy and stab them in the back. They aren't a game changer, but it is fun experimenting with them as leveling up styles will also earn permanent stat ups.

How are the random dungeon exactly? Crude and sloppy, but admittedly pretty fun. Namely due to the enemy placement. Each stratum has 9 floors. Early in the stratum enemies are relatively straight forward and spaced fairly normally. But by floor 6 the dev just seemed to not care anymore and will just randomly place twenty high level monsters in a room that attack the very instant you enter their domain. Doubly worst if these monsters can inflict debilitating status ailments like paralyze or webbed. It's actually comical how little restraint these monster closets get the further you get into the game, and they aren't rare by any means. You start getting into the habit of holding down to immediately readying your shield anytime you enter a new room, cause there's a high likelihood you'll get sucker punched by a horde of photo-shopped monsters on the otherside.
At the same time, this actually makes it pretty fun. There's a great satisfaction overcoming something so blatantly unfair and unhinged, and being rewarded with gold, loot, experience a plenty that hits me in the dopamine tenfold. And even though I played this game on hard, I never died from these relentless ambushes. Certainly came close, but you have plenty of tools to conquer these ridiculous enemy layouts. Magic gives you invincibility frames, which combined with how absurdly busted some spells are makes these things both unfair but also not frustrating.

I am a little disappointed with the lack of new in this DLC. The enemies and many boss fights are recycled from the base game, and the story doesn't go nearly as hard as it either. Though the game does warn that this DLC has massive spoilers if you hadn't played the original, so I unfortunately can't recommend this if it were standalone. This DLC is more of a abridged retelling of the base game, but as a dungeon crawler with a different main character. Again, do not expect anything truly unique.

And you know, if I ever get the hankering for Astlibra Revision again I think I might play this instead. With the nature of the random dungeons, you are experiencing more of forward momentum during your grinding sessions as you descend further down; whereas grinding in the original has you walk back and forth between the same exact areas over and over. Not to mention this is 20 hours versus 50 hours. The DLC is lengthy but not too obscene as the base game, if you feel like replaying it from start to end.

Plus now you can dress up your main character and that shit is a plus in any game ever.

To say that the movement in Pseudoregalia does all the heavy lifting would be at least slightly disingenuous, but it cannot be downplayed how smooth and expressive the traversal is. The depth at play here is one thing; there's so many advanced techniques and interesting ways to progress through rooms that one could get it in their head that they're sequence breaking. Hell, they might be.

But what really solidifies this as a must-play - the true testament to how wonderfully designed this package is - is how much the rooms and map compliment said movement.

Pseudoregalia expects the player to explore, but more than that it expects the player to invent. Once all the abilities are unlocked, there's no need to take intended paths through its interconnected areas. Players forge their own paths by chaining wall-kicks, canceling ground pounds and maybe even learning how busted side-flips are. Nothing feels out of reach, and everything feels within the realm of possibility when it comes to level layouts.

This game isn't perfect. There's no map system (it's coming in an update), the game is relatively short, and aside from two specific encounters combat isn't particularly engaging. Sore spots, for sure. One could even make the argument that the low polygon count and low resolution textures make the game a bit bland looking, though I'd counter that with it being part of the N64-inspired charm. It truly doesn't matter anyway. To say these blemishes take away from the joy of playing... That's more than slightly disingenuous.

This game is a masterfully tight and well-crafted experience. It's a blast to control and a joy to discover. Absolutely worth the play whether or not you're planning on jacking off to the goat lady.

Are we so gullible? Do we as an audience not demand anything from our art? There's no story, no new mechanics, no real characters, no interesting or enjoyable visuals, no compelling gameplay, no original ideas at all in fact. Is a faceless strawman to antagonise really enough to get millions of people to play an Unreal Engine asset flip made as artlessly as possible? Is no one else actively disturbed by how blatantly and gracelessly this rips mechanics from every popular game of the last 2 decades, without integrating any of them together whatsoever? Has art ever felt this cynical before?

Feel free to discount my opinion. I am a 'salty Pokemon fanboy' after all, and I only gave this game an hour or so of my not particularly highly valued time. I personally just prefer the art I engage with to care for the art form it sits within, even a little bit. Palworld hates video games. It sees nothing more within them than a collection of things to do and hopes that by shovelling a flaccid farcical version of as many of them as possible into your mouth it will somehow constitute a 'video game' when all is said and done. It doesn't. I'm deeply saddened that so many gamers think so lowly of our art form that they genuinely think this is acceptable.

This is the only racing game I know of that has incorporated a theme, in this case the idea of a “turning point” and implementing it into all these different aspects to create a unified and beautifully made game. The gameplay is centered around drifting around corners and turns; the managers you meet are in what can be called turning points in their lives and as the Prix progresses move on from the past and towards the future; the final race of the Grand Prix takes place on the last day of 1999, the literal turning point between two millenniums; and of course this being the last Ridge Racer on the PS1, serving as a turning point for the series. The fact that this game released with a 60 FPS version of Ridge Racer 1 to show how far the series has come on the same platform really ties everything together as well. Overall a phenomenal title and my favorite racer. also has good music.

The annual Backloggd Barbie: Explorer speedrun 10 dollars cash prize challenge official results:

1st - Vee NEW WORLD RECORD TIME : 2 hours 43 minutes
2nd - MagneticBurn: Gave up on the third level
3rd - Me: Gave up on the second level
4th - Lena: Gave up on the first level
5th - Jumbo Josh

Some ingame events are based on the moon phase

Not some ingame moon

The fucking real life moon

Such an utterly deranged schizo mechanic deserves 4 stars

Thank you Kira Miyazaki truely Kino Field

Wish I didn't feel totally bitter about how the 'R' games are handled - the one-dimensional kid-proofed characters, the stock 3d look that clashes with the otherwise great 2d art, the continued lack of content variety that all the 5th and 6th gen games had, the weird e-sportsy vibe despite being a PARTY game, and abysmally unfinished story modes.

And goddamn that story mode, we're talking a game that's not even undercooked - they never started cooking at ALL. They go for a weird BOTW/Frontiers-esque content structure with open areas and skrunkos to collect, and mix it up with these tower defense sections. But there's no level design! At all!! Just endless roads of blocks to destroy and a few cannons!!! When you do the tower defense missions on the attacker's side, they all end in 20 seconds! And the AI in the defender's side missions literally cannot put up a fight! I cheesed through the entire game by putting conveyor belts in front of destructible blocks, and not once did the AI think to stand 1 tile lower and lay a bomb. This is internal mockup levels of un-done.

And they do a boss rush in a game with only 3 non-final bosses!! The only saving grace is the villain of all things, who's one of the only villains in a kid's game i can think of whose master plan is to kill himself?????

Bomberman was up there with Sonic and Mega Man as my favorite franchises in childhood. Sonic's been in a rough state for a while but the projects are ambitious often enough for gems to come out now and then - Mania, Frontiers and the racing trilogy are all winners in my book. Mega Man is dead again after being resurrected once (11 was FIVE years ago now????), but at least Capcom is doing due diligence with all these high-polished collections and a fairly respected gacha. Bomberman can't even get oil in the pan, man, they breathed life back into this series with a fucking porn game, these 2 console titles pale in comparison to the old stuff, they axed their battle royale into a side mode when it made zero money, and they don't even have the decency to re-release the older titles. Is a Hero port too big of an ask? Can even one of the 16-bit games appear on NSO??

I'm glad the series is back in any form at all, but I feel so bitter these projects can't get as much budget behind them as those GameCube games did. When it comes to disappointing, Konami never disappoints.

I've been trying to get to this review, but every time I start it, I think about eating handfuls of delicious Pikmin and I get too distracted. I like to imagine myself lying flat on my belly with my mouth open, hundreds of Pikmin lined up and marching right down my gullet. As you can imagine, it's hard to write a review with such decadent fantasies dancing through my mind.

If I could, I would shrink myself down to Pikmin size, and like Captain Olimar, I would gain their trust. There are so many Pikmin that they would never notice one or two of their own missing. Rather than satiate myself on many Pikmin, I can gorge myself on one. A plump Pikmin roasting over an open fire, filling my nose with such smells, my ears with the gentle crackles and pops of its searing flesh... Ah, a delight for the senses.

By the time my many crimes are exposed it will be too late. My belly will have popped, come undone like some flimsy seam on an old overworn shirt, and they will have to roll my bloated form into the autopsy room. "Cause of death: overconsumption of Pikmin," they'll note. "At least the bastard died with a smile."

i purposefully added this game on igvn igbd igdb what the fuck just to talk about how you cum on enemies

the version says 0.49 but im pretty sure the developer isn't gonna update the game any time soon and if he does it's probably gonna be another release entirely and anyway hes busy with furry porn on his patreon so it's fine I can put this as completed

so you know im furry trash and this is the ultimate confirmation

this game is a shoot shoot gamey game like megaman but instead of a robot twink you play as a horny fox whose projectiles are cumshots and that is exploring a sauna where everyone's naked and weirdly aroused

the game is pretty simple but I was not expecting how fun it was to just roam around the controls are tight as hell and while the projectiles ballistic is weird since youre gonna shoot from a really low point (the knotty dick if you didnt get it) some flying enemies are gonna be kind of hard to shoot down but nothing that crazy

you get your upgrades at the end of each levels either for your health or for your damage and something that I really liked was the fact that you can put different tails up your ass so that your charged cumshots will have different shapes or trajectories thats fun as hell it's not explicitly said that they're butt plugs but come on just look at the game

also after you kill the enemies you can exploit their junks for masturbatory purposes like either fuck the lizards brains out or jump on tanukis humongous dicks so either way you can have your fun with them

so that's the meat of the game nothing more nothing less and you can actually get pretty OP if you play long enough like I did 3 consequent playthroughs and I felt like a bukkake king filling the entire thermae up

the final boss is obviously the shark (TITLE DROP !!!!!!) and after the battle ends you get one of 2 sex scenes whether you beat the crap out of him or get owned and so youre left with a top or bottom animation and thats it that's the end of the game have fun

i prefer the bottom one honestly you get to see the sharks double dick creampie-ing you so yeah but they're both good on their own

this review was better in my head I don't think anyone is gonna play this but I had to talk about this or I was gonna explode

also yeah in the cover he got his dick out and the pixel art is really good might i say

This game is A Lot and so it's kind of hard to fully put into words what it felt like to me by the end.

Starting with the gameplay: It is indeed heavily inspired by the old Max Payne games. However the enemy selection feels a lot more like it's from an old 90s FPS like Quake or Unreal. Meanwhile the level design, quick kills and soundtrack make it feel a litle bit like Hotline Miami. All in all the levels get a little bit tedious, but I got around most of that by bumping up the enemy damage and item healing to 1,5. There are a lot of genuinely satisfying moments in the game where you perfectly line up a headshot right at the critical moment. Even better is when you enter a room, enter bullet time, land 6 headshots in a row so fast that your resource bar is still full afterwards and cleaning up with the shotgun. While some of the levels do drag on a bit and there are a lot of them... these Perfect Moments make it feel all worth it to me.

At the start of the game you have a kind of heavier, surreal take on From Dusk 'til Dawn to wrap up the early vibe. Max Payne, Quake, Hotline Miami, From Dusk 'til Dawn... those influences kind of wrap up the aesthetic at the start. Though of course not quite because Hotline Miami has an electronic soundtrack. El Paso, Elsewhere pumps an electronic hip-hop OST and boy does it work. Not all of the tracks are instant favourites but some levels are kind of defined by how PERFECT the track is. "BREAK SHIT" being my personal favourite. Even if it's not your usual favourite genre I'd say it's worth sticking with it just for those absolutely Perfect Moments.

So the real story behind the game starts to become clear about halfway through and it gets pretty heavy. I won't spoil anything but there's a recurring theme that ties in with the protagonists substance addiction. Basically the protagonist has gone for a very long with something that was terrible for him in the chase after those Perfect Moments. Interestingly, the game makes a point of saying that the chase for Perfect Moments doesn't have to be a bad thing in and of itself. As he says at the very early stages: A good death is almost no work at all, you just need to pick the right moment for a just suicide mission. A good life is something you have to commit to every day. It's easy to find one quick perfect moment and commit to it, even knowing that it will only get worse. Yet picking the harder option will lead to many more Perfect Moments down the line.

The game is also very obviously limited in terms of production resources and it shows. While some will complain that this makes it feel cheap, I think it's truly impressive how beautiful the game looks at times. A lot of levels do not have any roof, which I assume started as a result of time constraints. The game even acknowledges that this is a thing and kind of explains it away as a part of the entity that's creating these levels. Rather than feel like lampshading though, this feels like the most natural thing in the world. Even if you had your doubts on that one, you do find maps with roofs later on and the protagonist even comments on how this makes his life more difficult. When there's no roof you can scout rooms ahead, you can snipe flying enemies, you can navigate to the pillars of light that mark your level objectives. With a roof? No such luck. On top of this, the game has some of the most surprisingly beautiful shots that I've seen in gameplay since Bloodborne. The player perspective, props, level architecture and skybox sometimes line up to make something absolutely beautiful and you'll almost feel silly that you doubted the game's graphics in the face of these Perfect Moments.

The reason that I keep emphasising those Perfect Moments in both the game and the narrative is that I kind of feel like they are meant to be tied together. You put up with some tedious gameplay for those Perfect Moments. You put up with the somewhat generic ambient score in order to hear the next track from the "Real" OST. Just like the protagonist you have to decide whether the hard parts are worth the payoff and you have to decide whether sticking with it is an addiction or a productive project.

I don't entirely know whether this was even deliberate but I have to assume it was at least partially so. Certainly I feel like the story did not need as many levels as it did if they wanted to only serve the gameplay. Either way I find it hard to even say whether I like that they did the game this way. It's hard to say whether the tedious stuff was worth putting up with just for the game to make its point about Perfet Moments. Yet then the fact that I am even pondering the question kind of validates the choice, right? Was the game more like the Perfect Moment that comes from getting yourself ice cream as a reward for going through your hardships or is it closer to the Perfect Moment that comes from being seduced into an addiction? I have to believe that its the former.

Hi, I'm Joey.

Sorry, it's been a while since I played catch.

So you'll have to forgive me if my aim is off.

Nice throw!

You want to know how I've been?

I haven't been great lately.

I know we only started playing, but I can't pretend things are fine.

I should be honest, I haven't been great for a while.

Watching that ball pierce the air, I thought I should break the silence.

Maybe that was inappropriate, I'm sorry.

Good one!

What's that?

You don't mind?

I appreciate that, thank you.

It can be hard to get others to lend you an ear when you need it.

Why am I down?

Good question, I don't fully know.

For a while I thought it was missed medications.

Something tangible and real I could blame it on.

But I'm starting to think that's not the case.

You really don't mind talking about this?

If you'd rather just play catch that's okay too...

Okay, if you're sure...

I suppose it's fitting to have a heart to heart while we play catch.

We're taking turns.

Allowing each other space and time until we're called upon.

Sorry, just a silly thought.

I don't think it's the medication though.

At least, not anymore.

It feels more and more like a part of me is missing.

Maybe it always was, maybe I was just made aware of it...

★☆☆☆☆

Maybe what I'm missing is people.

It feels like people come and go a lot in my life these past few years.

I don't blame them, of course, things don't last forever.

But I still miss them.

Some were in real life. People move. People change.

I guess that's true online, too.

I'm guilty of coming and going myself.

It feels harsh in retrospect, but sometimes I feel so afraid and trapped and I have to run.

I'm sure it's that way for others, too.

I wonder if they know I miss them?

I wonder if they miss me, too.

★★☆☆☆

Maybe what I'm missing is time.

Since graduating university and the whole COVID thing, time doesn't seem the same.

I always have too much, but too little.

But when I feel like I have too much, it's nice to while it away.

Like we're doing now.

Thanks for playing with me, by the way.

I know you could be spending your own time in other ways.

With other people.

It's nice to be able to just talk.

When I feel I have too little time, I again become scared.

I fear I've spread myself too thin, made too many promises.

Like I'm trying to do too much.

And so much of it feels fruitless. Like the only one who cares is me.

Or worse, that not even I care.

Maybe that's a sign I shouldn't do the things I don't care about.

But that abandonment hurts as much as the slipping of time does.

★★★☆☆

Maybe what I'm missing is myself.

It feels all the time like I'm living a lie.

Like I'll break kayfabe at some point, and the old me will show itself.

But I know the old me is the same me as the me I am now.

Sorry, that was a marble-mouthed way to put it.

Still, it's as if I've given parts of myself to others.

And to the things I make and do.

Without giving myself time to regenerate those parts.

It's as if I'm letting genies out of bottles and hurriedly trying to shove them back in.

Like I'm scared of the consequences of my own actions.

I think I'm scared that I am who I am.

That my relationships, my life, simply are the way they are.

And sometimes things go great, we get to go a little longer.

Just like when one of us catches or throws perfectly.

We get to keep things going a tiny bit longer.

Just like when we reach a new level.

We get a deeper bond, a sense of fulfillment, and get to keep going.

Only I've been missing too many throws, fumbling more catches than I make.

And I know that one of these times, I'll turn to grab the ball.

Pleading that things can continue a bit longer.

Only to turn around, and see another person I'm playing catch with leave.

See another piece of myself leave.

★★★★☆

I'm sorry, I don't mean to cry.

This is supposed to be a nice game of catch.

And you were so nice to let me talk about myself.

And I've gone and ruined it.

Things always end up like this.

Maybe that's why I try not to get close to others.

I end up hurting them just as I hurt myself.

I end up needing more and more affirmation and validation.

I take and I take without giving back.

I'm making things worse, aren't I?

I just know when this is over, I'll have to go back to pretending things are fine.

And they just aren't.

★★★★★

If it's alright with you, I'd like to stop playing catch for now.

Thanks for letting me talk your ear off.

Despite the tears, I really enjoyed this.

And I really hope you'll play with me again.

Maybe next time I won't be so sad.

But maybe I will.

And maybe it won't matter.

Uhmm... I know this might be silly.

And that we don't really know each other that well.

But I hope I get to see you again.

Get to hear your voice again.

And until the next time, I hope with all my heart that things go well for you.

Or get better for you.

And until the next time, I will miss you tremendously.

Not because I'm sad you're gone.

But because I was so happy you were here.