...I AM A ROCKSTAR!
Oh man, this is gonna be a tough review. There's so much I love about this game, so much it might be a new favorite of mine. Okay let's get into it...

Our game opens with the protag, Chai, jamming out to The Black Keys and waiting in line to get into Project Armstrong, an effort by Vandelay Technologies to give robotic prosthetics to those needing of them. One surgery later, and he's got a new arm... and a MP3 player in his chest? AND KILLER ROBOTS AFTER HIM?? Seems something went awry! However, it's not all bad, as said MP3 player has integrated itself into his new robot arm and is giving him strange musical superpowers. Not wanting to get killed by robots, he heads out to look for an exit.

This leads me into the gameplay and oh my god it's so good. I suck at rhythm games and I suck at most hack n' slashes, but put em together and you have a match that could rival peanut butter and chocolate. It's hard to describe, the feeling of landing combos, the shouts of "HEY! HEY! CHAI! HEY!" as you turn robots into scrap metal, it all...rocks!! Although there are a few things that annoy me, mostly enemies with shields. Enemies with shields require you to summon your friends, Peppermint and Macaron to break them for you (oh and Macaron can be especially annoying since his shield take two attacks to break and his attack takes the longest to recharge). Oh, and speaking of characters...

The characters are one part of Hi-Fi Rush that didn't grab me at first. Chai and our deuteragonist, Peppermint, start rather annoying. One an annoying dumbass, the other an annoying smartass. It's not until we meet Macaron and his robot buddy CNMN (pronounced cinnamon) that things get good. Chai and Peppermint go through some development, 808 is adorable, Macaron is a big lovable teddy bear, and CNMN is deadpan in all the right ways while still having a lot of heartwarming moments. The heads of Vandelay are a lot of fun too. Rekka is pro-wrestler turned boss with anger issues, Zanzo is a massive JoJo reference that you beat by draining him of all his budget, Korsica is probably taken the most serious by the game, Mimosa is and egocentric diva with a fantastic boss fight, Roquefort is a no-nonsense grumpy old man with an even BETTER boss fight, and Kale is the big bad, evil as hell, multimillionaire who you really want to punch in the face. All and all, the cast is amazing and fit the games tone to a T. I would get into the story, but most of the actually reveals are character based and spoilery, most of the actual story is just "Corpation plans to use robot limbs to mind control people, go stop em" and to be honest, that's all I need for a game like this.

OH SHIT I ALMOST FORGOT TO TALK ABOUT THE SOUNDTRACK! HOW DID I FORGET!? Uh...the soundtrack is really good! I tend to have a hard time talking about music other than "it's good!" or "it fits the tone!" and Hi-Fi Rush's music does both of those, but something about it just feels GOOD. The original tracks are amazingly made and the licensed tracks fit the mood perfectly. A part near the end set to Whirring by The Joy Formidable almost made me cry while I was playing.

So, that's Hi-Fi Rush, a game that is now one of my most favorites. I could gush about it for a few paragraphs but I feel like I'd either end up spoiling the game or repeating myself. I love this game with every fiber of being and I'm so glad I got to play it. How sadly ironic that Tango Gameworks fell to very villain of this game. Fuck you microsoft.

It's been a while I was this excited for a game - and it lived up to that feeling.

Crow Country isn't a perfect game, as there is a complete lack of difficulty on the both the combat/puzzle side, with the combat especially being less than interesting, which obviously leaks into all parts of the experience. But, outside of that, everything else is pretty much perfect. The story is well written with a neat concept and a couple of fun twists, the PS1 graphics are just stunning, the music is terrific, (to the point where I'm excited about the soundtrack releasing), and the entire experience is so obviously lovingly crafted by people who understand survival horror.

Moving forward, while it's perhaps not the best of the genre, it's hard to think of a more beginner friendly, yet still amazing, intro to this style of survival horror. Definitely wish it was a bit longer, but would much rather be left wanting more than sick of it all by the end. Truly such a memorable time, and one that I'll definitely revisit.

9/10
Game #29 of 2024, May 15th

Shelving this one because the “escape the eruption” sequence at the end of Act 3 genuinely started to give me a migraine

It’s like all of the wonkiest aspects of the game came together into one glorious mess of platforming hell

My frustration DEFINITELY doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that I’ve been asked to work late 3 days in a row now, why do you ask?

EDIT 5/10: ok I stopped whining, went back and 100%-ed the game. The story, art, and characters are cute/interesting and some of the controls are pretty fun if unpolished. Like there are times I would be platforming then just get stuck on the ground. Nothing would be around me I’d just be stuck like my feet were glued to the ground and I’d have to jump again to recenter myself. Also the fact that half of the game feels like its centered around gliding through caves with one hit kill spike traps makes me want to send myself to the spirit realm

I really wanted to love this game. It had an interesting premise, beautiful visuals, and some really enjoyable platforming sections that reminded me of the latest Prince of Persia game. Unfortunately, the combat arenas become tedious; it's very easy to get soft locked into an unavoidable series of attacks until you die over and over again. Along with the frustrating combat, there were far too many instant kill environmental hazards with terribly vague hit boxes and a reliance on lengthy autoscrolling sections around the boss battles that just became a chore. I felt I had to see it through to the end to see how the story concluded, which – despite having some touching moments throughout – led to quite a weak conclusion.

It was very tempting to make this a spoilered review, to provide examples, to talk about specifics.

In the end I decided it wasn't worth it. Suffice it to say that Anodyne 2 is a rare beast: a game made by people who know how to make a game and choose not to. It is cavalier in its disregard, but not in the slapdash, unbound way that amateur and outsider attempts often are. It is smartly constructed, satirical without being too on the nose, quietly amusing, bitter, incisive. The game itself is one of discovery, both in play and theme. To talk about the specific ways is to rob someone else of the chance to find out how, and why.

I'd put off Anodyne 2 for long enough. Sephonie was one of my favorite games I'd ever played, Anodyne had a bunch of really fun moments, EtO had the best core gameplay of any of the Analgesic games, and even All Our Asias proved meaningful w/o any inherently fun aspects. No matter what, I felt that Anodyne 2 was going to be disappointing to me, as I had envisioned it as one of my favorite games ever before even playing it.

It was better than I really thought it could be.

Gameplay is pretty simple, with some fun platforming and a slight expansion of Anodyne 1's 2d sections, both of which mostly serve as a method to experience the true joy of the game - the music, visuals, and characters that make up each of the game's lovely locations. So many places in this game will forever be seared into my memory, as each place feels so distinct and so foreign - while also being instantly nostalgic, something accomplished through both 'beautiful ps2 but better' graphics, as well as one of my favorite soundtracks from any game ever.

But despite all the praise I just gave, the part of this game I can't stop thinking about is the writing. It was my favorite part of Sephonie, and lo and behold, it's my favorite part of its predecessor as well. It's ability to go from hilarious to sad to 'rethink your entire life' is awe-inspiring, and there are so many moments that you can't do anything but just pause the game and think about. Anodyne 2 is truly a special experience among special experiences, and a game that will be hard to displace as my favorite thing I played this year. And it's January.

10/10
Game #3 of 2024, January 15th.