I know people cream their jeans about the first Psychonauts game but that wasn’t really my experience with it. Big uppies to the visual style and really unique level-design, but the controls and platforming were uhhhh… POOP?? It was still a really fun game, but I just didn’t find it to be the game that everyone held up so high at the time. There were things I found odd with it like how some powers were only useful for short sections of the game and then never again, and generally just how annoying it was to platform and move around. The story though? That shit rules, dog. Psychonauts uses everything in its crayola box bussy to personify ideas and mental concepts into living designs, be it through the enemies or the overall builds of the levels as they shapeshift around you. The levels were just as much characters as the characters were, and the exploration was rewarded with interesting character writing that was shown instead of told without force feeding you a novel of it at the same time. It’s a game that I wish I liked more and I think I’m only babbling about it because I reviewed it when I was new to this site and didn’t really understand how to barf up how I felt in words yet.

Anyways, this is a review for Psychonauts 2 and the short of it is that it was by and large a tremendous upgrade from its predecessor. My main gripes revolving around the game’s controls and camera angles flew right out the window pretty much immediately. Movement and platforming was so buttery smooth and that dodge roll they gave Raz might as well have renamed him Rizz instead. I was so happy that they gave most of the essential powers in the first few minutes, allowing you to play around with them from the get go. With the added addition of the new enemies, now just about every power has a place on the table, allowing you to dish out pain in any way that you see fit in the moment. While there are particular enemies that require certain powers to be exterminated, the Pyrokinesis and PSI Blast abilities still carried most of the weight. The Time Bubble power is pretty much a must have moving forward, and the upgrades to all of the abilities makes them so much more useful than some of the abilities from the first game. My only minor gripe with the combat was having to assign powers mid-battle through the power wheel. For whatever reason I just would not budge from removing Levitation from LT and anytime I had to remove it during a wave of Panic Attacks and Enablers, I did audibly groan but that only happened a few times in the late-game. I definitely appreciate the challenge even if it meant swapping hotkeys like I was playing a speedrunner’s version of ball in a cup. However, hitting the objects that dropped health would send them into the fucking stratosphere sometimes, which made them pointless in my time of dire need. I would say that my least favorite boss fight was the plant one just because it was probably the most restrictive, but that’s one boss out of several who generally made for some really fun segments.

Aside from this game basically Kingdom Heartsing me by being a direct sequel of a 2nd game that I don’t own the console to, it was still a groovy time from start to finish. While none of the levels hold their own version of “Milla’s Secret” nearly at the same intensity, it was still a rather warming story about a group of friends working through their regrets with the help of Raz. It’s a story that still “went there”, just in different aspects. I don’t personally need the most fucked up thing to happen that lands this game into another 4,000 Top 10 Darkest Moments in video games lists until the end of time for it to be compelling. People are still DYING, Kim. I found the deep dive into the other Psychonauts to be rather interesting as it helped build the world that exists outside of the levels to a higher detail, closer to the ones that represent the actual brains where all the showmanship is. Of course the actual brain levels are still the best part of the game too and a whole heaping of them really delivered. I found both the cooking and concert levels to be the stand outs, as they represented the chaotic unraveling, or re-raveling, of their mindscapes so well. Like honestly, is the character losing his damn mind through sensory overload or am I, because that was quite the adventure into horrible ASMR that I didn’t expect to fall into.

And that’s where this series really shines because who else is crafting level design in a way that really puts you in the shoes of it’s characters in the same way that Psychonauts does? Where it really asks you to maybe reflect on your own trauma by dousing you in colors and sometimes difficult climbing; where mental healing and overcoming your obstacles is truly the ultimate goal at the end of the day. As someone who has mental illness in my family, it’s such a tender way of showcasing forgiveness for not just someone else but also yourself. It’s exquisite art design that is packed in just about every crevice and corner with some sort of metaphorical punch to each character’s inner turmoil, whether they have an addiction, horrible regrets, or unimaginable shame. There was care in connecting the platforming mechanics to the overall visual storytelling that combines into this whirlwind of gameplay that tells its story, with narrative twists that really make ya go “ZOINKS”. Interactivity is so fucking cool, bro!!!!

With that too, the game still has its comedic beats of course. The comedy is still written in a way that isn’t competing with the more downer sides of the plot because it’s written in a way that understands when each tone has its place to shine and both lift the cutscenes up without overshadowing each other. That is an aspect of both games that still rings very true. Unrelated to this though, Raz is voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz who also voices Billy from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, which made his blood curdling screams that he makes upon falling off a ledge really funny to me for some reason. Dying really wasn’t an issue because I genuinely laughed every time he screamed, as horrible as that sounds.

Related to Raz’s voice though, my real complaint of this game, that is still rather minor, is that Raz honestly talks way too much. I know that I’m 3 years late to this game, but I’ve been noticing a trend lately with any game involving a puzzle that if you don’t solve it in 2 seconds, the characters feel the need to just blurt out the answer for you as if you can’t figure it out for yourself. I am all for accessibility features for kids and everyone else but I really wish you could turn off tips without having to mute the voice audio in the menu. Sometimes I just want to examine what I’m working with before jumping into it and I don’t need Raz backseating the shit out of me- “I need to focus more with my Clairvoyance to-” at every chance- “I hear some emotional baggage around”- he could get- “I think I need to connect blank with blank in order to progress the level” Raz, please, I beg of you.

But all in all, this was a really good time and I felt like it would be. I really wanted to like Psychonauts 1 a lot more than I actually did and when I heard this sequel turned out great, I was more than excited to play it. Overall, I found the levels to be a lot more memorable here as well. I’m sorry Milkman fans, but I have made a solemn oath to never lie in a Backloggd review unless it was about how good I am at the games I’m criticizing. While this game does have things that irk me, they’re really not something that dings it in any grimy way. I guess they’re just more of a personal preference. But, having played this and Portal immediately after beating Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, it was a huge breath of fresh air. Give me more games like this pretty please, please, please please.

Also, stop posting this fucking meme every November, you goddamn selective assholes. Whoever made this image and then dropped it into the piss ocean that is Xitter needs to answer for their crimes.

This is my favorite game of all time. I truly love this game. I got this game for my birthday. I fell in love with the world. All of it's bright colors. All it's quirky characters.

It was the first game that was mine. It was the first game I 100% completed. I have beat this game the most out of any game in my life. I have a lot of nostalgia for it.

Lets take off the nostalgia goggles for a second though. Here are some flaws.

Music note count resetting when you die or leave a world sucks. It was fixed in its sequel and the remaster released on xbox 360.

Controls can be bad. Trying to make certain jumps can be really hard due to a lack of depth. Flying controls are not great. Trying to aim a beak bomb is a bit infuriating.

Another flaw are the later levels. Even I kinda dread playing them. Especially Rusty Bucket Bay. It's a really unforgiving level.

Lastly, the final boss fight is horrendous. Still infuriating till this day. It's not a fun fight. Like every aspect of it relies on the worst controlling aspects of the game. It wants precise aim with eggs, flying, and beak bombs. Even with double max health, it is a challenge as the boss simply has too good of aim.

I recommend you play this though if you love collectathons, 3d platformers, or even light metroidvania aspects. I suggest playing the Rare Replay Version/Xbox Version as it fixes some of these flaws. Or emulate and save state often. It's not a hard game to complete or beat. Mostly a chill fun experience.

The remaster even adds the fabled Stop N Swap feature. Sadly it amounts to nothing in the end due to Banjo Nuts n Bolts being a mediocre game. One last thing the remaster offers is a bonus mini game in Banjo's house. If you like putting puzzles together, it's fun. Be warned it get stupidly hard though.

I'll leave you with this though. Banjo has a huge mod hack scene. I highly suggest if you like Banjo to find these hacks. Jiggies of Time(check out my review of it) is on par with the original and IMO better than Tooie. Banjo Kazooie is the game the keeps on giving.

A free Metroid clone passion project with a lot of love and care. Totally worth playing, especially since it is free.

I was not expecting much from this. It's a free game. It really surprised me though. It's not perfect of course. But it's one of the better metroidvania games I've played.

First and foremost, the music is full of bangers or they set the mood of the area well. Like some of them are Axiom Verge level good. The game also knows how to set the tone with silence and or spooky vibes.

The controls are mostly good. The game is very much a Metroid clone. It plays like Metroid. Some of the controls are jank. The double jump specifically either has weird timing or eats your input. The other kind of jank mechanic is charging up missiles. It just doesn't feel good. It takes too long and sometimes just refuses to do it. Other little things like directional aiming and have a crouch lock button can be annoying.

My biggest complaint are the bosses are not well balanced. They are tanky. They don't give enough ways to replenish health/missiles. Or the ways you can replenish stuff is slow. They do too much damage and have obnoxious hitboxes that extend too far or infuriating moves the stay on screen way too long. The 2nd to last boss is just annoying and doesn't make a lot of sense. As far as I can tell it had no way to replenish things. The final boss was actually fun though. My one issue was that it didn't signpost damage like everything else in the game. It just made a noise without any flash.

The map is small but fun to get around. All of the major items are visible on the map. However the single missile packs are not. Which is a bit annoying/disappointing. You just have to happen upon them or see a very hard to see glint. I wish they were also on the map. I would have collected them.

The areas are well varied. The enemies are good. It's yet again a Metroid clone so expect to take damage just trying to speed through rooms. Sometimes it's not worth the time to not get damaged. The art in general is pretty good.

The story is sure something. I didn't pay too much attention to it. It's pretty dark from what I gleamed from it. They do give you an option to play the game without the "triggering" data logs. That is a nice touch. And yeah, some of the data logs are a bit much and can be triggering. So good on the dev for that.

You can save at anytime. IDK what it really did though. As you always start from the recovery/checkpoint areas. The game does seem to save everything you do as soon as you do it. Good thing too. Because I did get stuck in walls twice. I restarted and it saved the items I just collected and the map progress. So the only real harm was having to walk back. Although it does feel you can def death warp to exploit the game for speedruns.

All in all, this free game was very good. I had a lot of fun with it. Axiom Verge is still better but it reminded me a lot of it. I'm very happy I gave it a chance. If you love Metroid or metroidvanias, don't skip out on this game. IT'S FREE!

the beginning of this game is great! nostalgic, colorful as heck, straightforward, honestly no complaints.

HOWEVERrrrrrr after zone 5 this game falls off, and it falls off hard. it is clear to me that the devs really didn't want you to pick amy. there are several sections of the game designed to have spin dash, but amy doesn't have that. so you just kinda have to jank your way through it and hope for the best. the level design of zones 5 & 6 are abysmal, and they leave you asking "why am i even playing this?"

if you do decide to play this, and you pick amy, good luck warrior. i believe in you. o7

Skyrim is the very definition of pure unfiltered SOUL. What else needs to be said about Skyrim that no other person has dared to say before me? It is quite simply one of THE games of all time.

Skyrim takes place 200 years after the events of Oblivion, Bethesda’s other classic gem, where the player is put into the shoes of their hand-crafted Dragonborn Chad or Chadette. A civil war has taken place between the Imperials and Stormcloaks, and your character begins their journey at the helm of their disarray. (I still remember, to this day, when Ralof said “Hey, you. You’re finally awake” to me on my first playthrough.)

After a dragon accidentally helps the player narrowly escape their own execution, you soon find out that not all Nirnroots sing a pretty tune. Turns out that dragons have been extinct for centuries and now they’re back. Once you meet Balgruuf, it’s over. He orders you to fight an incoming dragon before it wipes out the city of his people. Reluctantly, your character participates, only to find out that they are in fact what we would call a Dragonborn, also known as Dovahkiin. (For those who didn’t know.) These rare somebodies are people born with the blood of Dragons and therefore can wield the same powerful magic. Fucking banger. It is now up to you, the player, to play the game and stop the dragons in order to say that you have beaten the game.

With a healthy level of jank, you could say that the gameplay loop of this game has aged quite poorly. And I would agree. There is no shortage of unfun first person combat to be found here, in fact, there is literally so much of it. However, the jankiness of it all is what gives Skyrim that rough edge charm we all know and love, and therefore I would say that even though it’s a 2011 game, it’s actually held up quite nicely. It’s not often you see me praising an old game that is THAT old, so you just know that it has to be the peak of the RPG medium.

I really think this game gets a lot of heat nowadays for really no reason. Have you ever considered that maybe this game is supposed to be a fucking mess? Just download a truck load of mods and exploit the enchantment table in order to deal 1247083927028238 contact damage on the Bandit Outlaw preventing you from progressing through the cave. It honestly takes a lot of skill to beat this game without it crashing at least 764 times with all the mods you’ve downloaded, so maybe just get better at the game before giving up on it. You seriously have no idea what you’re missing and I actually threaten you to give it another chance. Jankiness is an element that can be bested with both time and practice and was in fact intentionally put into Skyrim in order to challenge the player’s ability to keep their cool. I admire Todd Howard for shaping me into a better man.

Did you know that the term, “I used to be an adventurer like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee” actually came from Skyrim? You can trigger this event when walking around town and speaking to any generic guard. Not even M’aiq the Liar knows that one.

Now let’s talk about some of the mid level designs. Ugh, if I have to complain about something it would be in this area here. Everytime I walked into a Dwemer ruin, I wanted to take all my anger out on Lydia again. The Falmer? The Automatas? The one big dungeon that’s almost as big as my Mom’s house? They make me want to drop this kino from a 10 to a 9 so bad, but I am a much stronger person than that. The nice thing is that you don’t have to go through them very often, but hoo-wee if I had ever seen bad design, it’s that. Not sure what the game devs were thinking with that one.

Disregarding that, some parts of this game really make you feel like you’re truly on crack cocaine. I mean, there’s really no way to fling yourself into the air without dying in real life so baiting a Giant to do it is like the next best thing. I took off all of my clothes, got 10,000 bounty in each town for killing the merchants and not even a single NPC gave a shit. It really made me feel like I was crafting the RPG adventure of my dreams. I once ignored all of the main quests and drank so much Skooma that I instantaneously died right in front of Delphine, and I’d do it again too. Anything to stick it to that bitch. There is no way she can convince me to do Spoiler, ever. Also, did you know that the dragon Paarthurnax is voiced by Charles Martinet, the original voice actor for Mario?

I really wish that I could play this game for the first time again so that I could become the ultimate Skyrim racist on my first playthrough. I was too nervous to go that route the first time, but I really think I missed out on something special there. Oh well, there’s 17 re-releases of this game that I can do that on!

Trophies: 76
Playtime: 20 minutes
Graphics: Potato
Music: Based

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdvClO0qYlcfWVA6WXd3oczS3hZSko-Zi&si=SFytVGI9TK3jm_Uk

Here are my scores for those who don’t know:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- A complete and utter masterpiece. The best thing I have ever played. I will be thinking of this one for generations to come. I got a tattoo about it on my back and will be naming my children after the main characters.

⭐⭐⭐⭐- It’s dogshit. I’ve never been more insulted in my entire life. If I could refund it I would but Steam’s horrible refund policy prevents me from refunding games after 65 hours.

⭐⭐⭐ - Anyone who likes this game should be imprisoned on death row. You are genuinely the worst person who ever worsted.

⭐⭐ - I wouldn’t even accept this as a gift. What are you? Anti-Santa?

⭐- It’s woke.

Happy April 1st, everyone!

A purposely clunky yet cute game.

This is a cute game with a cute story. I enjoyed it enough. I had fun with it. But I'm not in love with it like everyone else was at the time.

The controls are purposely annoying. But in a good way. Most of the time it's funny. Although a few times it can be kind of annoying. Sometimes the NPCs are frustratingly unpredictable. They can at times only zero in your main objectives despite you setting up multiple distractions. It may last slightly too long too.

All in all, a cute one time play through. It's goofy. It's cute. True to life to how a goose would act. It made for a good clip or two.

A perspective puzzler that lasts a bit too long.

This is a decent puzzle game. At first the puzzles are a lot of fun. But the gimmick sure does get old. At a certain point you are just doing the same thing over and over.

The story is fine. I don't remember it being especially great. It was fine for what the game is.

The puzzles are not too bad bad. Most of them are pretty clear. A few are too cryptic though.

The controls are...serviceable. It can get kind of annoying trying to make items larger or smaller. Trying to get the exact size you need can cause tedium. And that is the major problem. The tedium leads to the gimmick lasting too long. Too repetitive. Makes you want the game to end about an hour before it actually does.

Still a good game. Great to play once.

Cute puzzle/escape room game that suffers from nonsense puzzles.

This game looks pretty. The music is fine.

It has some great puzzles, some challenging yet rewarding puzzles and then a few nonsense puzzles. Like there were times where I felt like, "HOW WAS I EVER GOING TO KNOW THAT?"

It's a cute game. It's free. I liked it mostly. It controls well. But most games like this can be ruined by a few too many nonsense puzzles. Good game for free.

I lack a lot to say about this game. It didn't leave much of an impression on me. By the end I wanted it to be over. But I still had more to go.

It's fine.