moonsmilk
2021
(updated with 1.0 content)
Does get a bit weeker as a full game, but I kind of appreciate the freewheeling, surrealist attitude Hrot takes towards its level design. Episode 3 has some particularly strong levels. Would be curious to see what this dev does next
Does get a bit weeker as a full game, but I kind of appreciate the freewheeling, surrealist attitude Hrot takes towards its level design. Episode 3 has some particularly strong levels. Would be curious to see what this dev does next
2002
(Switch emulation)
Super Metroid still probably my favorite of the 2D Metroids, but this has my favorite tone of the series. Willing to get a little darker and meaner than the series has gotten before or since. Nightmare still among the coolest and grossest bosses in games. No idea how I would have ever beaten this without save states.
Super Metroid still probably my favorite of the 2D Metroids, but this has my favorite tone of the series. Willing to get a little darker and meaner than the series has gotten before or since. Nightmare still among the coolest and grossest bosses in games. No idea how I would have ever beaten this without save states.
Game's probably at its strongest when it's playing around with lighting and vision (the flashlight and camera segments are real standouts). Really great use of minimalist Atari aesthetic, the rotoscoped cutscenes get unnerving because there's so little detail your brain fills in details. Would love to see Airdorf do more.
1999
I wish more demos were quick little vertical slices of the game like this. Neat to have Valve officially put this back into the main game.
Honestly wouldn't mind them expanding on the Wonder concept in a DLC, there's a lot of potential in the setup of the game teaching you mechanics and then playing around with them. Probably the best 2D Mario game in ages
Pretty much just more Amid Evil, which isn't a bad thing. Still such a wild array of colors
1997
(Nightdive version, mostly played on Steam Deck and Switch)
Nightdive port is just as incredible as Quake 1's, maybe a little more so. Probably the definitive way to play. As for the game, eh. It's got more color than Quake 1 and somehow less personality. The Strogg are almost cool but I really wish they went harder on the industrial body horror aspect. Now to play Quake II 64 and the MachineGames expansion.
Nightdive port is just as incredible as Quake 1's, maybe a little more so. Probably the definitive way to play. As for the game, eh. It's got more color than Quake 1 and somehow less personality. The Strogg are almost cool but I really wish they went harder on the industrial body horror aspect. Now to play Quake II 64 and the MachineGames expansion.
2023
One of the fun things about having to play catch-up on pretty much any Nintendo game from the past 25 years is I get to experience bangers like this for the first time. The Pikmin AI is kinda dogshit, but in a way that really sells the feeling of Pikmin being weird little guys.
(mostly played on Steam Deck)
Meets right at the borderline of shitpost and genuinely strong boom shooter design. Absolutely captures the feel of a barely held together Build engine mod your friend in high school made. If Redneck Rampage was good.
Meets right at the borderline of shitpost and genuinely strong boom shooter design. Absolutely captures the feel of a barely held together Build engine mod your friend in high school made. If Redneck Rampage was good.
2023
Wild that a Doom WAD may have singlehandedly started a renaissance for sales of House of Leaves
(version released on the Bethesda Doom port)
Final level is probably one of the better cyberdemon fights made with the tools the original Dooms had. Rock solid expansion to Doom II
Final level is probably one of the better cyberdemon fights made with the tools the original Dooms had. Rock solid expansion to Doom II
2023
The atmosphere is absolutely killer, really brings out the industrial nightmare hell of the Ishimura. Doom 3 levels of moody lighting. Story changes are a mixed bag, with some changes being noticeably better and some being noticeably worse. I still don't like the twist
2022
(mostly played on Steam Deck, some back and forth)
You can clearly tell what influenced the game (Silent Hill, BLAME and Alien being the most apparent ones but there's a lot to go around) yet Signalis feels like a synthesis of these influences and creates a really strong horror experience on its own. Probably more melancholy than scary, like the best Silent Hills
You can clearly tell what influenced the game (Silent Hill, BLAME and Alien being the most apparent ones but there's a lot to go around) yet Signalis feels like a synthesis of these influences and creates a really strong horror experience on its own. Probably more melancholy than scary, like the best Silent Hills
2022
(review based solely on part 1, mostly played on Steam Deck)
Really strong start. Gameplay is exactly as satisfying as you want from a boomer shooter. Atmospherically really tight, the Crypt is a standout level in this regard. Always wanted a game that captured Blood's unique vibe without having to put up with Blood's wild difficulty. Would need to see where this one goes before I put it in the top echelons of the genre, but if Part 2 is anywhere near as good, it should be a shoo-in.
Really strong start. Gameplay is exactly as satisfying as you want from a boomer shooter. Atmospherically really tight, the Crypt is a standout level in this regard. Always wanted a game that captured Blood's unique vibe without having to put up with Blood's wild difficulty. Would need to see where this one goes before I put it in the top echelons of the genre, but if Part 2 is anywhere near as good, it should be a shoo-in.
The original's long been on my list of games I gotta get to someday, would still be curious to play it someday. The remaster job is amazing and it's wild the most technically impressive game on the Switch didn't get full price.
Really love how the first-person perspective instantly lends an atmospheric quality to the worlds Samus explores. Even now, the vibe feels like nothing else out there. The endgame when you get into the nest is a little obnoxious with all the Metroids it spits at you, but otherwise, well worth finally getting around to Prime 1.
Really love how the first-person perspective instantly lends an atmospheric quality to the worlds Samus explores. Even now, the vibe feels like nothing else out there. The endgame when you get into the nest is a little obnoxious with all the Metroids it spits at you, but otherwise, well worth finally getting around to Prime 1.