I feel like there is some sort of subtle difference between horror and creepypasta that I'm desperately trying to define in my brain. This game feels like a creepypasta game. This game and maybe Contact. Maybe it's the aspect of lore. Lore based horror. In most horror games the horror is an antagonistic force you have to get through to beat the game. But in Omori you have to almost intentionally seek it out. You have to actively want to learn more about the horror aspects. It's less of an antagonistic force to defeat and more of a curiosity that gets you on its side through pure intrigue.

I don't know just kind of rambling in real time on the keyboard.

Games good. Looks pretty, nice art, good narrative.

I want more games like it.

The gameboy advance castlevania games are still good everybody.

This port has a little rewind function that is very convenient for farming enemies for drops. Pretty sweet.

Nathan Graves is my dad.

Francis York Morgan is maybe one of the most likable characters in any piece of fiction like...ever. Deadly Premonition succeeds and has such a prominent cult following because the aspects of the game that function and work are the same aspects that enhance the immersion in role playing York. You have to shave in the morning, eat breakfest, turn your headlights and wipers on in the rain. The story is engaging, the NPCs feel alive and interesting, and the roads always feel just a little to real to life in their length.

I want to be York and the game gives me a world and narrative where I can do just that. It does it so well that everything that should be "bad" comes off as charming and just adds to the experience.

The NPC facial expressions, the bad framerate, the standstill 3rd person shooting. I thought it was all really delightful. The switch port crashed on me like 8 times and it always brought a smile to my face.

This game overall is just kind of alright. You just cheese the luck stat and then you win. The story is mostly harmless. Doesn't really excel at any point but isn't offensive either.

Putting all of that aside though; now that it's nearly a decade old.

Does this game have the best video game box art...like ever? I don't know. I remember thinking at the time and still thinking now that the art on this sucker was just real good. I guess my biggest complaint is that the game itself wasn't as good as its iconic box art.

It's hard to describe what makes Earthbound so special. I've given up on it a long time ago. Whenever I get asked why I like this game or when I get challanged to pitch it I say, "I like Earthbound because the inventory system is fucking awful" and that normally ends that conversation pretty quick, but I really do mean it.

As games become more mainstream they have become almost exclusively designed by fans of video games. We the gamers have drank the koolaid and succumbed to best gaming practices. When it comes to the turn based RPG we know exactly what is to be abstracted and what is not and the player inventory has been standardized. Let my dude carry as much shit as he can and make the access to it convenient. 99 potions, no problem, you probably don't think about it too much. Stray from this accepted formula and you'll be punished.

But the year is 1994 and in comes Shigesato Itoi, a man who seemingly does not give a hoot about video games. He creates this inventory system that is just an absolute nightmare. It is openly antagonistic to the player. You've got 4 seperate small inventories, your characters equipped items and key items take up space, in battle you're limited to whatever that character is holding. A signifigant amount of gameplay is dedicated to just swapping items between each character.

and man. that rules.

Itoi was faced with a question and he did not approach it like a person who plays video games; "how does a video game character hold items" he approached it as a regular ass dude; "how do I hold items" and this is what he came up with. Is it convenient to the player? NOPE! but it's a small part of a big picture full of these quirks that make up Earthbound.

Earthbound is a video game that doesn't know it's a video game.

How Capcom got this game so right so early in the Gameboy's life is beyond me.

Aesthetically it's got beautiful sprites, a perfect horror atmosphere, and a wonderful soundtrack.

Mechanically it adapts very well to the Gameboys limitations by zooming in, slowing down, and adding a lot of verticality.

The story has good pacing, the RPG elements are fun, and the powerups are satisfying.

It's shorts it's sweet and it just executes everything so dang well. I can't get enough of this game.

The Yu-Gi-Oh TCG hit its peak for me from 2011 to early 2014 and this game encapsulates one of those formats. The core gameplay of buying packs of cards, building decks, and dueling randoms is simulated effectively and is strong enough on its own to keep me playing basically every Yu-Gi-Oh game.

Where this game differs, and unfortunately marks the end of, is in its story mode. Even with it's crummy 3D models, weird cowboy aesthetic, and bad racing minigame, the simple act of having a story mode completely changes the game feel. Playing as a character and physically moving around in a world contextualizes the deck in a more intimate way. The deck becomes a part of your character instead of a tool to accomplish your goal. It's the difference between playing a role in a role playing game and playing a card game in a digital card simulator. The difference is subtle but it's there.

I hope future games bring back story mode. If this game proves anything it's that they don't even really have to try that hard.

As an amatuer Hockey player of over a decade I have been skating a long long time. I've been to speed skating clinics and camps and I've taught children to skate. Ice skating is something that I am intimately aware of both consciously and unconsciously. When I skate I know how to use every muscle in my body to get the maximum amount of speed out of my stride.

Dustforce is the only game I've ever played that has the mechanical depth and varied level design to simulate a level of kinaesthetics comparable to real world motion. Playing a level in Dustforce gives me the same mechanical bliss that ice skating gives me. Ice skating being a thing that I passionately love and have dedicated more than half my life to.

Video games are cool.