Finished the first ending of this game and decided while i'm definitely sticking with it to probably full completion levels, I think I am ready to rate and review it personally. At first I wasn't getting it at all, mostly because I didn't bother to look at the controls, but eventually I died enough times to be afforded the luxury of eating corpses and managed to use a slightly less shit gun and I was pretty much sucked in from then on. There were still moments that were somewhat annoying in difficulty (i'm thinking of the bog level) but much of the difficulty felt rewarding to overcome, like getting round the giant mech monsters in Mall Madness or finally beating the boss in Archon Grid. I love games that make me actively want to go back into places and explore them again, and this game seems all about that as you are able to go back to any level with any different equipment, there's all sorts of hidden items to be found and hidden levels too. It almost feels like the perfect cocktail of elements that get me addicted to a game, and i'm really nowhere near finished with it but I definitely already love it.
I have now beaten pretty much all of the things, including the purchasable level's three evil tendrils, the headquarters' secret level hp sponge boss and also running across a dark plain away from hundreds of golems towards a giant orb in the sky. That's what kind of game this is honestly. It's definitely fair to say that pretty much everything about the game has stuck to me, from the incredible aesthetics to every feature that you wouldn't find in other shooters of the style right down to just kicking a damn door open which should be in every single shooter game because it is a god-tier addition. I don't know if i've got to the point of completion yet as there are a few implants and weapons I haven't got a hold of yet but all in all this game has stuck with me strongly, basically embedded itself in my head which is essentially exactly what I think the game hopes for, and it is one that will probably influence everything I ever do. So yeah i'm probably gonna kill some people 10/10

Love FPS games and have especially been enjoying modern ones that add their own little twists on the retro format (Cruelty Squad, Dusk) recently, so this being "the most innovative shooter in years" naturally made me want to play it. I remember when this one came out, and the really unique look and feel definitely made it extremely interesting but I never got round to it, so it's nice to finally get round to it. Shame the story is so short because i'd love to have had more levels to play with the really interesting mechanics of this game, obviously the whole time moving when you do aspect is the main draw and it's extremely fun to get to grips with and very satisfying to get right. Having the normal speed replay once you've beaten the level is a really great touch. Entering spoiler territory (not that the story is that deep), the body switching thing was a little less of a draw than figuring out the time stuff, but a lot of fun to incorporate into a run of a level. Love the weapons, especially love the general items you can use to disarm or stumble an enemy, such as the snooker balls in one level or whenever you get to throw glass bottles around. May have to give the endless mode a few goes because I can see it being the sort of thing that's very addictive when you get on a roll with it. Overall a great game, just wish there was a bit more.

I loved Breath of the Wild, and I wish I could love this game too. I wish this game gave me the same feeling of exploring a desolate world gripped by this hanging sense of dread, instead of this treading the same ground where little has changed. I wish the new abilities really did anything for me other than just be frustrating, seemingly punishing creativity, rewarding building another car or just feeling like you've a set of abilities that this world wasn't designed for. I wish the new locations of the game were worth exploring, that they might have recaptured that bliss of discovery the first game had instead of being sparse in the worst ways possible or yet again frustrating. I wish I could use the ascend tool to actually ascend out of the underground instead of being forced to do it in four or five pre-picked little places in the whole underground and otherwise be encouraged to fast travel. I wish weapons weren't so useless unless you glued an ugly horn or rock to them. Every change to this game, or new addition, just feels like a downgrade. By the time I got towards the end of the game and they just went "now fight an unending horde of bastards on your way to two boss fights with multiple phases" i'd decided my response was finally going to be "no". I can't say I hate it, because structurally it is the exact same game as Breath of the Wild, with the exact same world, exact same gameplay and exact same plot. There are minor alterations but it is essentially a carbon copy. That said those minor alterations are all detrimental for me, and that made this one of the more disappointing games i've played when summing up the whole experience. Maybe one day i'll go back to it and have a proper, less cynical go at things. I slightly doubt that though.

I've been obsessed with the aesthetic of games like Earthbound and Chrono Trigger for a long time, but now is the time that i've brought myself to play further than Peaceful Rest Valley and beat the game, and as expected when I actually dive head first into something I was already in love with the style of, I now love it even more. You could argue the gameplay is relatively whatever, I'm no JRPG aficionado for sure but I got a lot out of the battles here. Boss fights felt legitimately challenging but never in a cheap way, always in a way where it felt rewarding to beat them even if it only took one try. The earlier stages of the game are definitely the most difficult though it isn't the easiest game (at least it wasn't for me, i'll fully admit i've never been the most amazing at games) and there were a lot of areas that chewed me up and spat me out before I got through them. Scaraba's pyramid being the main one though it wasn't even as bad as a lot of places where the difficulty has been painful in games before and I still felt compelled to press on because by that point, the game had me hook line and sinker. The main thing that I think everyone thinks of with Earthbound is its off the beaten path personality, charm and sense of humour (maybe only matched by the Stanley Parable in terms of games i've played) which really dragged me in, this game is really funny but deeply personal and sweet and sad and many other emotions, it really is a rollercoaster ride in that regard. The story is amazing, the themes of childhood and growing up and how it is all interwoven into how the game plays and how you interact with the people and places, even some arguably throwaway lines strike a deep chord because of how much thought clearly went into writing everything here. It really connected with me on many levels because of all these funny and emotional moments to be found. The ending is beautiful, I don't want to spoil it much but it really had me, the final boss was a real rewarding moment to beat but in a much more emotion filled way than other bosses purely because of how the fight plays out. This is getting very samey but that is mostly because the points I made are really the main things I love and also I am rubbish at writing. Either way, this is a thoughtful, hilarious, and pure joyous journey of a game that drags you in and will make you remember the time you have with it, and made me feel hollow once I beat it like I didn't know what to do with myself after it. It may even make you remember times you've had before and think about how things change. A very wanky reviewer note to end on.

Arkham Asylum was a great game and despite having since loved Spider-Man since first engaging with the Arkham series, this is for my money the best superhero game ever. Where Asylum had a simple but effective story, City's story is fantastic. This time it's (from what I know) a mostly unique Batman story, with great twists and turns without straying too much from the source material, but always having its own strong identity. City's world is also fantastic, it feels like a real living criminal underworld with incredibly well done personalities for the more prominent characters. Joker is once again a particular stand-out, but most of the villains more important to the story such as Strange, Penguin, Freeze and Two-Face are very well done too. The side missions are a lot more prominent than the predecessor, where instead of just a pair of collect-a-thons, we have some genuine thoughtful side-quests that give prominent features to some of Batman's less lauded rogues. Zsasz is far better here than he was in Asylum for my money, he is sinister and downright evil as all hell compared to Asylum's portrayal of him as mostly just an obstacle. The Hush missions are phenomenal and only serve to annoy me more that Knight missed the boat so badly with him. Deadshot is done well, Mad Hatter's brief appearance is really strong, and Azrael is interesting if a little underdeveloped. That said there is also the Riddler. I love the Riddler as a character and I think that side of him is done justice here, but i'll be damned if I ever do his side-quest again when I inevitably pick this game back up for another run through. The rescue missions are fun and the final mission is good too, but after the 50th "go here, break a panel and the trophy is behind it" I was really to pull my hair out. I always love the actual riddles in all these games but the trophies have never been something I went after, and unlike my surprise enjoyment of them in Asylum this time I think i'd made the right call previously. It didn't hurt my enjoyment of the playthrough though, because this game and world in general are so damn strong. I'm looking forward to the new Spider-Man 2 game coming out, if only because I desperately crave more games like this one, as I think this is the very peak of a superhero game and one of my favourite games of all time.

So wow, this was a real kick in the teeth. Super Metroid was definitely challenging but this game really takes the cake with it. I've read that the first playthrough here is one of the toughest experiences in the series and, though having only played this and Super Metroid, I can fully believe it. Pretty much all enemies hit for a fair whack of a damage, bosses are a real pain the first few runs through before you get used to them, this game really just kicked my ass and a few times it wasn't in a "rewarding to beat" way but a "holy shit fuck this" way, if you'll pardon the language. There were absolutely moments of greatness that I'd expected coming off the back of Super though, the atmosphere while not quite as peak as its predecessor is definitely strong. Whenever SA-X shows up its almost survival horror like as you are completely useless to face it and have simply to run and hide and hope for the best. A couple of the bosses were intriguing and rewarding in presentation and defeat respectively, namely Nightmare and the second fight with the security robot. However, a couple more of the bosses were absolutely painful to fight including but not limited to that bastard spider and the plant thing's entire room being like a single room bullet hell. I'm still glad I played this game, it bringing out my violent tendencies a few times aside. Fusion is a worthy sequel to Super, continuing the story in an interesting way, and definitely keeping up (though never quite matching) the fantastic atmosphere and exploration that you'd come to this series for. Not sure if I could play it again though, I value my heart-rate a little too much.

Maybe the best Arkham DLC ever? That will be a debate for another time, but i think for what it is these are four genuinely compelling additional side quests that work really well alongside the rest of the game, feeling more like an addition to the main game than a separate piece. Mad Hatter is always fun because they tend to do very well with him stylistically, and this is no different as his level is short but very visually entertaining. Ra's al Ghul's side quest presents the player with an interesting choice that I think is more complex than right or wrong, especially considering Batman's no killing rule. Killer Croc is done quite well though I felt considering how they teased him in City, and how genuinely nerve-wracking his level is in Asylum, it could have been a bit more personal. Mr. Freeze's level is fantastic, mostly for the great story that continues the interesting sympathetic route that the other games portrayed him in, and tied his thread up in a very satisfying way. Sometimes nice endings are just nice. That said, this isn't essential or anything, none of these side quests reach Zsasz or Pyg levels of great, but they're a lot of fun to do and all entertaining looks into the Arkham world.

I'm a big fan of classic shooters, retro shooters, boomer shooters or whatever you call them, so naturally I love the overall style of this game. I definitely agree with the overwhelming majority opinion that it wears its influences proudly on its sleeve but that is of course not a bad thing, the whole game plays like a cheesy 80's horror film or like a fan-made Blood spin-off and (incase you couldn't tell) that's awesome. However, the Wendigos are heart attack inducing nightmare creatures, and I am a coward, so I have not actually made my way through this whole game yet, and there is a strong chance I may never do so purely through being a massive wimp. Maybe one day though, I love everything about it that isn't the huge palpitations certain parts of the game cause me.
I've come back to this one much later, having spent a year vaguely wasting my time and deciding finally to finish Dusk. I'm very glad I did because, despite not being perfect or even my favourite of its kind, I definitely have a slightly higher opinion of the game. Though i'm not really emotionally cut out for horror, the atmosphere is fantastic throughout. Visually it's probably the most stunning retro shooter i've ever played, with some really ambitious areas to set levels in that really stick out in my head, similarly to Blood (a major influence on the game) where that carnival level has stuck with me forever, here you have some phenomenal looking places that really fit the murky cult vibe. I was going to say the most ambitious visual style of the shooters i've played, but then again i've played Cruelty Squad, so that would be lying. Gameplay-wise it's nothing hugely differentiating from the genre, though I do love some of the little touches such as being able to duel wield pistols and shotguns, much like Cruelty Squad (getting another mention)'s door kicking it feels like something that just belongs in the genre. I think it goes a bit over the top towards the end with all the enemies, in a bit of a Doom 64 way near the end (without trying to spoil anything), but it's nothing I couldn't get past so I can't hold it against the game too much. Overall just a really good playing experience, something that I generally look for in any game of this type. A big success and one I will definitely at least try to play again.

In the realm of classics I really have not played that much, and coupling that with the fact that i'm slowly running out of internal hard-drive space and NES games are very very small files, I felt compelled to give this a shot. I definitely enjoyed myself, though i'm still not much of a platformer fellow (besides maybe being a bit of a fiend for Rayman Origins several years ago). I fully understand the huge influence and beloved nature of the game, considering a lot of what occurs here has been reused, reworked or referenced in other Mario or general platformer games ever since it was released, and I definitely appreciate it a lot but I feel that at least on my first playthrough it was great but didn't blow me away. That is perhaps because I don't platform very often, perhaps because I didn't grow up with it, and perhaps because I was just a little bit shit at it, but that's ok as I definitely enjoyed myself. Although I would like to say, Worlds 7 and 8 are a pain in the arse and kicked my teeth in multiple times, felt like a hell of a difficulty spike but perhaps I was just not very good and being quite lazy. Either way, I enjoyed it and I get why it's such a huge historic game.