So I didn't end up finishing the game because I forgot to save and lost hours of gameplay, but I made it about two thirds of the way through and watched what I didn't complete. There's a lot of interesting ideas, I actually like the phone mechanic and the therapist segments but I found the gameplay lacking.

I didn't care for the running segments, and the Nightmare world lacked the punch seen in previous titles. The fog in Silent Hill was switched out with snow, and the industrial horror aesthetic of the Nightmare world was replaced with ice. It's an interesting choice but overall ineffective.

The narrative was good and I think a lot of the themes present are intriguing. To me, this is similar to Silent Hill 4: The Room in the sense that the gameplay wasn't as good as the main trilogy but the story, atmosphere and other mechanics made it very interesting.

Although, Silent Hill 4 is a lot better than this.

What a cute, fun little game this is. I've never played a Pikmin title, but if the gameplay is similar to this, then I gotta get to those games.

I just had a lot of fun, platforming around the cleverly-designed levels, and using the tinykin you find and free to unlock new areas. I know some have criticized the art but I personally didn't mind it. I loved the soap bar you could glide on, and then the rails you could unlock to traverse around more easily.

I think this game is a very appropriate length for what it is and doesn't outwear its welcome. Overall, I had a lot of fun!

Most of my experience with the Twisted Metal franchise comes from playing Twisted Metal 2 a lot as a kid and looking back on it fondly. Until now, I had never actually revisited any of the PS1 titles, partially out of fear that none of them would remote hold up in the present day. I started the original Twisted Metal after it was added to PS Plus Premium and originally, I was put off. Oh boy, this did not age well I thought.

My mistake was starting out as Sweet Tooth, whose movement is a bit slower than your average vehicle. I tried out Warthog and then everything kind of clicked. I understood the mechanics of driving and shooting and started actually having fun. I'm not gonna say the gameplay is anywhere close to perfect because it is still outdated, but I had a lot of fun getting the platinum for this. There's a reason this spawned a bunch of sequels and has somehow stayed relevant. It's just a good time.

Platinum trophy #134
Platinum #10 of 2023

I finally got around to this after the announcement that is leaving Playstation Plus shortly.

I think Stray is a good game that sticks out because of two elements; the purr-tagonist and the design of the world. It's genuinely fun to explore because the setting is so interesting. I think without this element then the catch of playing as a cute cat would get old really quick. I also think the game is at a very appropriate length for what it is.

I don't think it is completely engaging on a gameplay level but provides you with enough to stay invested from beginning to end and it is absolutely worth a play, especially if you have PS Plus.

Platinum trophy # 133
Platinum #9 of 2023

As I do with games that I pick up and drop shortly after, I'm not gonna rate this because I didn't see enough of the game to give it any kind of fair rating.

But this is just not for me. Souls-like as a genre is not for me. I wish it was, because they are just massive right now. You boot one up, create a character, get dropped into a world and get destroyed. I just lose my patience with these games very quickly. I'm not curious enough to learn the mechanics. I'm not curious enough to explore these worlds. These games don't represent why I like games and why I play.

This is extra disappointing for me because I quite liked the demo. I like that it isn't as slow, heavy and trudging as a From Software title. I like that it has a jump button! But that's about it.

I enjoyed just walking around in a fucked up environment and interacting with it, but the actual content of the story and the way its portrayed is pretty amateur if I'm being honest. Some of these ideas are good but are presented in a pretty cheesy way.

This only reinforces how I feel about Konami re-entering the video game space. I'm not convinced they know what they're doing. Metal Gear Survive, Contra: Rogue Corps, taking on a bunch of Silent Hill projects, remaking Silent Hill 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3...I just don't think they can pull it all off and I'd love to be proven wrong, but this didn't give me the most confidence.

I gotta be better about not accidentally destroying my saves on my SNES classic.

Anyways, I did not finish FFV (I lost hours due to a save issue) but it’s really great so far. Typically it’s not mentioned in the same breath as IV or VI and I can understand why, but it’s still excellent. The 16-bit Final Fantasy formula with these three titles is immaculate.

The soundtrack is a bit of a step down so far but there’s lots of really interesting ideas. I love the Job system. I love how there’s dragons instead of airships. You spend a lot more time on a ship in this one as opposed to IV. The story is engaging enough so far, again a bit of a step down but by no means bad. Character designs I find aren’t as creative as other entries but the enemy design is still top tier.

My hope is that they’ll port the Pixel remasters to console and I can start fresh from there (and they fix the font, but I’ll take anything.)

(via Castlevania Anniversary Collection on PS4)

I've never played through the original NES trilogy of these games so I figure why not get started. It's a great game, but when dealing with games as old as this one, I try my best to view it through the lens of what it must have been like to play this on your home console back in the day, as well as a modern sense. It plays very similarly to the other pre-Symphony of the Night entries that I've played, which was very welcome. It's not quite like Mega Man where the first entry is forgettable and the second entry is where it becomes great. This series was great from the very beginning.

But holy hell is it fucking hard. I'll be straight up, if I didn't play this via the Anniversary Collection with saves I would not have beat it in just a day. Stage five was brutal. The final boss fight took a good few tries too. I got it, but I definitely felt the anger and sheer determination necessary to make it through. (I watched some videos of no damage runs and I'm just like...I'll never be that good at video games).

Anyways, great game! Love all the names in the credits.

I found this to be a step up from its predecessor in nearly every way, telling a more compelling narrative with better mechanics, graphics, environments and performances from the actors. The gameplay felt very iterative and not at all obnoxious. I say obnoxious because I feel like I’ve played a lot of games (sequels in particular) that introduce new mechanics for the sake of it, to the point where new tutorials being added frustrate me. I didn’t find that to be the case here because each new mechanic complimented each other well.

However, certain mechanics did wear on me as I continued to play it. The walking, adventure game-esque elements eventually grew old because this game is a bit longer than the first one. Some of the puzzles could have been taken out and the pacing would’ve been improved. Seriously, every fucking door in this game is locked. Whoop, gotta find a way around. Again.

I wish it wasn’t locked at 30 FPS but it didn’t harm my experience with it, although I cannot ignore that 60 FPS would have made for a smoother experience.

Overall, it’s a great game.