Splatoon 3 is a tough but often rewarding shooter unlike any other, aside from the others in the series. Having started with the 2nd game, I'm a leg down in terms of long-time fans. Even so, following this series has always been fresh and exciting.

This review also provides me with the unique opportunity to lay down my own personal ruleset going forward on backloggd. I've finished Splatoon 3's story mode, but as support continues its likely that more story content will be added. All the same, if I'm to log the game, it seems as though the point at which it is suitable for me to rate it - in its entirety - is almost exclusively up to my own judgement. I feel as though after logging about 100 hours of gameplay and having finished but not 100% completed the games story mode, I'm in a suitable position to log it.

This is a natural stopping point for most players. I've experienced the breadth of the game's content. That said, you can safely bet I'll be playing for hours and hours to come.

The gameplay loop, the community, the style, the lore, the way the DLC looks... it's hard not to love a game that leans into itself so much as Splatoon always has.

For starters, I haven't played the original RE2 game, but I have played the first one.

I think this is great!! From what I can tell, the best parts of this game are from the original. It seems they've done a great job of adapting it to be it's own thing however. I had a great time all the way through Claire and Leon's stories. Lots of charm all throughout, accompanied with iconic characters.

After having watched the cutscenes from the original now, I can safely say the adaptation was about as good as they could have possibly done. Epecially given the direction they went with their idea of a "remake." The replayability is evident going through all these menus, but my next step is to play the RE3 remake.

I have to start by saying this is somewhat fittingly my third Resident Evil game ever. My experience has only been with remakes thus far, (although you could have fooled me into thinking the first game's "remake" was the original.) Also, I'm not even a little bit familiar with the original game, so in terms of how it was adapted I'm at a loss. I can only speak to my experience.

Playing this back-to-back with the RE2 remake has its pros and cons. I loved seeing how it connects the events of the first two games together. Jill is a hardened badass now and the acting in this lets that really shine. I felt like I was getting a lot better at the games having just played the 2nd one, and I think this game recognizes that and naturally ups how many zombies you face and the intensity of it all.

I certainly caught myself spending some of the quiet atmospheric moments in this game letting my mind wander off to the topic of "remakes." The Resident Evil series has always been pushing the boundaries of its genre, with the 4th main series title alone redefining 3rd person shooters, spawning an entirely different series with an alternative version of itself and being widely considered one of the greatest games of all time. Despite its iconography and objective perfection, these games have been consistently remastered time and again, with the very mechanics the series popularized being revamped or included where they originally weren't. Now I find myself playing a version of Resident Evil 3 that handles just like the games the original Resident Evil 3 inspired. The mind reels.

Gameplay wise I have no gripes. I got a hold of the controls quickly, and if I died or made a mistake I knew the onus was on me. There was never a moment I felt cheated that wasn't part of the journey or didn't make me feel like that guy from 'Jurassic Park' who says "clever girl..." It was as smooth of an experience as I could have ever hoped.

I think where most people, myself included, found this experience lacking would be in the delivery of its story. The game opens with a bizzare live-action news montage before leading into a first-person nightmare sequence with Jill, apropos nothing else insofar as I can tell. Textures, fonts, small details in Raccoon City obviously stick out, like big veiny eyeballs on a zombie's shoulder. There was an ad that looked like they traced the M&M mascots. There was a storefront with a sign written in what looked exactly like Blender's default font. The more I think about it, it probably was. It's things like these that didn't do much "take me out of it," but moreso made me raise an eyebrow and continue on enjoying the rest of the game.

I can't fault it much more than that though. I had a really good time playing this one. On to the next!

I've been having a really good time with Republic Commando on and off for a few months now. Usually I'll hop on and spend a few hours being blown away at the competence of the tactics this game utilizes or getting lost in the game's main theme.

I adore the clone wars era of Star Wars and every chapter in the story of the clones is equally interesting to me. As well represented as that is here, the game itself is impressive and fun and almost healthily removed from the clone wars content we've seen before. This is a must play for fans of the FPS genre and games like Rainbow Six or Metal Gear.

"Where's everyone going? Bingo?"

This is just the kind of game that you feel so lucky to have had a chance to play.

I'm working my way through the ethos of Resident Evil and as simple as the over-arching story is I can't even put it into words how rewarding the experience has been. Obviously I'm very late to the party, but every beat along the way has felt like the instant classic moment that it has been for people all this time. I totally get it now, this is an all-timer.

And I can't help but think about how NUTS this game is for 2005! Sure they've really polished the formula since then but this was all groundbreaking stuff! I'm really just so happy and impressed. Can't wait to try the remake one day.

I'm at a crossroads now. I kind of want to go back and play more of the other two remakes, but part of me wants to carry right through to the 5th game and see where it's all headed. I'll have to think on it for a bit.

It was less than ten years ago, today.

There's a point somewhere between a gutting, isolated lonliness and the sordid warmth of a shot of tequila. It's just past self-reflection, but if you reach fulfillment you've gone too far.
With a guidepost built just to dictate where exactly on the unknowable chart of emotion you will end your journey, but with a path that you forge on your own.

You'll know you're there when you look back the way you came and wonder why you were fine with the way things went. Pack light.

This was my first Pikmin game. I picked it up because 4 looks really promising, and I've been meaning to try it for a very long time. Pleased to report that it's such a tight experience I was mainly left wishing I could just play more.

Will absolutely go back to try for a more efficient story mode run-through, and I'm seriously considering doing all the side missions, those are all really fun. There's a very very good chance I pick up the 4th game as it releases in a few days, and in September they'll be releasing physical Switch versions of the first two. I'm there, baby. I'm pikmin-pilled now.

A rewarding time with a weighty and exciting take on the combat system of Final Fantasy. Though not the required reading it paints itself as, 'Crisis Core' is sure to please the 'Final Fantasy 7' fan looking for more content.

Before I got into my messy, biased or emotional thoughts about this game, I want to put the "reviewy" stuff plain and simple at the front of this. It's a great game that ties in well with FF7 and its "remakes," but it's pretty far short of a masterpiece. That said...

I LOOOOVE FINAL FANTASY 7‼️‼️ I LOVE ZACK THE PUPPY‼️‼️ I LOVE SEEING THE ORIGINS OF MY FAVOURITE CHARACTERS... SEPHIROTH IS SUCH A BADASS‼️‼️

It's incredible how Nomura's overly-complex interconnected universes have such a way of attatching you to their characters. Given time, it's so easy to fall in love with the world of Final Fantasy, but I can't pretend it wasn't a bit of a hike to get here. Whether or not you want to make that emotional trip is your call, but the view from up here is oh so sweet.

"The price of freedom is steep..."

'Breath of the Wild' was my favourite video game ever, and even as uninteresting and non-unique of a choice as that is, I have a really hard time choosing anything else. Other games that innovated the way BoTW did have fallen by the wayside, victims to time.

'Tears of the Kingdom' takes everything that I loved about 'Breath of the Wild' and expands on it, adding even more content while at the same time never making the original game obsolete. Formulaic as it is, I really see no option other than to award this titan of gaming the full 5 stars and slot it in as my new favourite game of all time, bumping BoTW down to 2nd. They're just perfect. Play them both!

From as soon as it was released I'd been waiting to return to Sonic with 'Frontiers,' but it wasn't a Day One for me. 'Forces' left me feeling pretty empty about the future of modern Sonic games, but it's really great to be able to say that yes, 'Sonic Frontiers' is as good as the modern games have ever been, objectively speaking. It's a bit of a shame that pushing the envelope so much doesn't mean a more innovative game for such a flagship series, but all of that aside, I got to run around grassy plains with an old favourite character, listening to my favourite music, parkouring through sporatically placed obstacles while gradually getting better and faster at doing so. Sonic is back, and the future is bright once again.

I have a lot more to say, but I'm smarter than to talk about Sonic too much publicly. I liked it, brass tacks.

This is just a really nice version of Tetris, and given the new modes that allow for a more refined and classic experience it's pretty much the best way to play it today, save maybe the full version of Tetris 99.

I dunno about the masterpiece status a lot of folks seem to give this game though, it's very good but its best parts are the effortlessness of it, not so much the sterile, marketable aspects. Still undeniably good. I'll be playing it for years to come, just revisited it today so I thought I'd log.