hermanbloom
91 Reviews liked by hermanbloom
All cat-chievements %100
I'm not one to gatekeep, but if you're not gambling as much as possible at the end of every stage then you're playing the game wrong.
I loved everything about this game. I would not change a thing.
Well, except Max's face. I would change his face. BUT OTHER THAN THAT IT'S PERFECT!
Well, except Max's face. I would change his face. BUT OTHER THAN THAT IT'S PERFECT!
Nightmare of Decay
2022
Listen, when you walk up behind the first enemy in the game and they do that head turn you know what you're getting into, and it's a pretty good one of those.
F-Zero GX
2003
I was doing that one campaign mission where you have to do the race against Evil Captain Falcon and Eviler Captain Falcon, and I kept on losing by like half a second over and over. Probably an hour into trying it I was once again about to come in 3rd, when the spirit of Captain Falcon himself took over my body. I swerved and slammed directly into a mine that was near the end of the track, which ricocheted me into another mine, which then blasted me over the finish line in a clear first place. You remember that Nascar guy that rode the wall and won the race?
I felt that rush.
I felt that rush.
Fantastic DLC. It somehow manages to feel completely different from the main game, but fit right in at the same time. The endings are depressing af though.
Clearly, people have had wildly different experiences with this game. Obviously having played Suikoden to understand what this game is trying to do helps, but even if you're intimately familiar with the Suikoden series, you may come away from this game disappointed. It suffers from an extremely noticeable lack of polish. Bugs aplenty, many cases of written dialogue not matching up with the voice acting, and many elements of the game seem suspiciously unfinished as if they ran up against time or budget constraints. There are a lot to very reasonable critiques to be made of this game.
But fuck everything I just said because this game is a masterpiece. The amount of heart you can feel in every aspect of the design makes this a very successful attempt at a love letter to the Suikoden series. The game is mostly very polished in the areas that really matter. The combat is flashy and fun with excellent art and animations. Recruiting characters is almost always a joy as each newcomer adds something new to the experience. Town development drags towards the end of the game but it's very easy to unlock the important quality of life features and important side content, with the rest being mostly for fun.
Overall, if you like the Suikoden series, you owe it to yourself to play this game. Full stop. You may not love it, but the amount of passion on display here should be enough to convince anyone that this is a genuine effort to revive one of the most beloved (and almost entirely forgotten) RPG series of all time.
But fuck everything I just said because this game is a masterpiece. The amount of heart you can feel in every aspect of the design makes this a very successful attempt at a love letter to the Suikoden series. The game is mostly very polished in the areas that really matter. The combat is flashy and fun with excellent art and animations. Recruiting characters is almost always a joy as each newcomer adds something new to the experience. Town development drags towards the end of the game but it's very easy to unlock the important quality of life features and important side content, with the rest being mostly for fun.
Overall, if you like the Suikoden series, you owe it to yourself to play this game. Full stop. You may not love it, but the amount of passion on display here should be enough to convince anyone that this is a genuine effort to revive one of the most beloved (and almost entirely forgotten) RPG series of all time.
I got stuck on the shifting room maze thing in the Proving Ground. I frequently found myself wondering "so what do I do, exactly?", and it was kinda just one too many times. I did like the game when I was able to follow along what I was expected to do to progress things.
I enjoyed every second.
Lords of Exile
2024
It's alright. The controls are a bit janky and not in an intentional way to mimic NES Castlevania. They can be a bit unresponsive. Bloodstained Curse of the Moon 1 & 2 did Castlevania throwback way better.
A phenomenal video game adaptation of Plato's Cave Allegory. The giant boobs were a huge improvement on the original text.
Super Castlevania IV
1991
Dude that Mode 7 spinning hallway goes so hard.
soulja boy was wrong this time
anyway it might be one of the best games ever made. goes from an already amazing experience into a meditation on the process of making games as a whole. even if blow is a dork on twitter he's very insightful when it comes to game design, and the bonus levels are literally the same length as the original game with much cooler mechanics. great shit
anyway it might be one of the best games ever made. goes from an already amazing experience into a meditation on the process of making games as a whole. even if blow is a dork on twitter he's very insightful when it comes to game design, and the bonus levels are literally the same length as the original game with much cooler mechanics. great shit
Karateka
2012
It's real weird to have a combat system based on music stings, but have some of the enemies just not have sound cues. Punching the bird was fun though.
Max Payne
2001
The gameplay loop didn’t do it for me, but this story still rules.