mpd9394
BACKER
2022
Helps to have some knowledge of The Witness going in but not necessary to get humor out of the game
2022
Short and simple 3D platformer. Controls feel pretty nice but not a lot of challenge or substance to it
2011
Has a surprisingly large variation of weapons that all feel pretty good to use. The combat feels really solid and the artstyle is great like in all Supergiant Games. I was definitely impressed knowing this was their debut game. Can definitely see the seeds of what made Hades great planted throughout this game.
I didn't care for or follow much of the story though which is probably my biggest gripe with the game.
I didn't care for or follow much of the story though which is probably my biggest gripe with the game.
A fun, bite-sized 3D version of Celeste
2024
Definitely not at the same level of quality as the main Portal games but for a fan-made mod, its pretty well put together
2022
The artstyle and music are pretty chill and pleasing and I enjoyed the sense of exploration it instills...for the most part. While the world is very intricately put together, some of the geometry is a little annoying to decipher what you can and can't access. And some of the secrets are almost too well hidden for my liking.
I also never found favor with the combat system throughout my playthrough. Didn't like how the sword, dodge, and stamina system mixed or felt and just wanted to get through combat to continue exploring.
The coolest part of the game though was the manual mechanic. I was really impressed with how creative and clever that was even if I was never going to be patient or smart enough to figure out the endgame puzzles
I also never found favor with the combat system throughout my playthrough. Didn't like how the sword, dodge, and stamina system mixed or felt and just wanted to get through combat to continue exploring.
The coolest part of the game though was the manual mechanic. I was really impressed with how creative and clever that was even if I was never going to be patient or smart enough to figure out the endgame puzzles
Wowie Zowie! I struggle to imagine how a 2D Mario game could be better than this.
The wonder flower mechanics were incredibly creative and continued to delight from beginning to end. I can't count the number of times I started laughing or exclaimed in awe after seeing how the wonder flower would change the level.
Nintendo went above and beyond with the quality and quantity of animation in this game and it adds so much more charm compared to the other 2D games. Special shout out to elephant Mario squeezing his butt through a door.
The badges and badge challenge levels added a variety of fun mechanics to play and experiment with, the knock out gauntlets were a nice change a pace to try to figure out how to optimize your powerup loadout, and any level synced up to music brought so much joy. And the music was great throughout as well and delivers a handful grooves and bangers that I've come to expect from Mario games.
But maybe what surprised me the most was how Nintendo made an actual good online multiplayer and implemented it in a genius way. Creating separate instances that are synced across party members where you can't inhibit but can only help friends is so smart. Because they removed level timers (finally), my friend and I were always encouraged to explore every levels and try to find every secret. The game feels like it was designed to be 100%'d with a friend. And even though multiplayer and the standee system can remove some of the challenge the game offers (although there were still a handful of levels that still gave us many troubles), I would make that trade any day to be able to share the experience and joy of this game with a friend.
I can only hope Nintendo builds the next 2D Mario game from the foundation of this one because this is a winning formula that is, dare I say, wonderful.
The wonder flower mechanics were incredibly creative and continued to delight from beginning to end. I can't count the number of times I started laughing or exclaimed in awe after seeing how the wonder flower would change the level.
Nintendo went above and beyond with the quality and quantity of animation in this game and it adds so much more charm compared to the other 2D games. Special shout out to elephant Mario squeezing his butt through a door.
The badges and badge challenge levels added a variety of fun mechanics to play and experiment with, the knock out gauntlets were a nice change a pace to try to figure out how to optimize your powerup loadout, and any level synced up to music brought so much joy. And the music was great throughout as well and delivers a handful grooves and bangers that I've come to expect from Mario games.
But maybe what surprised me the most was how Nintendo made an actual good online multiplayer and implemented it in a genius way. Creating separate instances that are synced across party members where you can't inhibit but can only help friends is so smart. Because they removed level timers (finally), my friend and I were always encouraged to explore every levels and try to find every secret. The game feels like it was designed to be 100%'d with a friend. And even though multiplayer and the standee system can remove some of the challenge the game offers (although there were still a handful of levels that still gave us many troubles), I would make that trade any day to be able to share the experience and joy of this game with a friend.
I can only hope Nintendo builds the next 2D Mario game from the foundation of this one because this is a winning formula that is, dare I say, wonderful.
2014
Really good puzzle game that gets the most of its fairly simple mechanics. Having meta puzzles in the world and to unlock more sets of puzzles was fun even if some of the tetris puzzles got a little old after a while.
I was surprised at how invested I got into the story with the computer dialogue and thought that was really well written.
The core puzzles were good and always felt within reach even it required some deeper thinking. But I definitely wouldn't have been able to figure out all the stars without using online hints. And the final DLC levels were stupid hard and I ended up having to look most of those up.
Overall though definitely worthy of a play for anyone that likes the portal style of puzzle games.
I was surprised at how invested I got into the story with the computer dialogue and thought that was really well written.
The core puzzles were good and always felt within reach even it required some deeper thinking. But I definitely wouldn't have been able to figure out all the stars without using online hints. And the final DLC levels were stupid hard and I ended up having to look most of those up.
Overall though definitely worthy of a play for anyone that likes the portal style of puzzle games.
2019
Really creative game that uses perspective in very interesting ways. There was only a couple puzzles that required some thought though and most were just reliant on finding the object you could manipulate. It lost a little bit of steam for me towards the end when there was less focus on puzzles but the game didn't overstay it's welcome and still impressed me with the it's visual design.
2023
Really chill game with a focus on climbing. There’s a decent amount of collectibles and secrets to find but otherwise it’s best for just relaxing to some soft and ambient sounds and music and figuring out your way up the mountain. The art style is very pleasing as well.
The geometry can get a little buggy and I had a few performance issues on Series X but nothing that should stop anyone from playing
The geometry can get a little buggy and I had a few performance issues on Series X but nothing that should stop anyone from playing
2023
An absolute masterclass in game design. The mechanics are so well taught (only by audio cues nonetheless) and integrated that I found myself constantly trying to anticipate how puzzles would be solved. And I'd either be right or surprised, but both outcomes continued to leave me smiling. Both the art direction and sound design create a world and atmosphere that effortlessly induce a flow state and had me hooked until credits.
2021
A custom mod that serves as a worthy successor to Portal 2. The time portal is an ingenious way to add another layer all on top of all the mechanics offered from the first two portal games. The puzzle design was really well executed and provided enough challenge where a few chambers made me sit for awhile and really think through the steps needed to solve them.
Edit: Also played the co-op update with a buddy in local splitscreen because the online functionality didn't work. Was surprised we only got the three portals between the two us but the levels were still very well designed and still required a great amount of thinking from both of us. Would recommend the co-op puzzles as well
Edit: Also played the co-op update with a buddy in local splitscreen because the online functionality didn't work. Was surprised we only got the three portals between the two us but the levels were still very well designed and still required a great amount of thinking from both of us. Would recommend the co-op puzzles as well
2023
Really cool puzzle mechanics that keep getting introduced throughout all of the levels. I wish there was more because I feel like some the game barely scratches the surface with how they could be implemented in puzzles. The artstyle is really simple but nice and includes some fun filters.
unfortunately the story is mostly shallow lore and the voice acting is more grating than interesting
unfortunately the story is mostly shallow lore and the voice acting is more grating than interesting
2022
Still have to think with portals but this time the thoughts are ray traced
This game isn't perfect. I have my gripes with the difficulty of shrines, the amount of sky islands content compared to the other new areas, and that there isn't enough game design reason to encourage getting really creative with ultrahand builds. Even though the story was more engaging that BotW, I still wanted more character depth than what was presented. And I don't know if this game could have ever truly matched the full sense of discovery and exploration BotW brought me since it uses the same overworld map.
However, I still spent over 200 hours in this game wanting to discover everything new and what's changed with the old, wanting to experiment with items and toy around with building things just because, and wanting to push Link to becoming as OP as possible. Not many games can hold that desire in me for that length of time. Plus the music is still top-tier and the endgame fucking slaps.
I'd give it a 4.75/5 if I could but for this case I'll round up just for Cece's hat.
However, I still spent over 200 hours in this game wanting to discover everything new and what's changed with the old, wanting to experiment with items and toy around with building things just because, and wanting to push Link to becoming as OP as possible. Not many games can hold that desire in me for that length of time. Plus the music is still top-tier and the endgame fucking slaps.
I'd give it a 4.75/5 if I could but for this case I'll round up just for Cece's hat.