scryingshame
2023
At its strongest when pitting you against enemies with unpredictable behaviours... less so when visiting the same five planets on boomerang fetch quests.
2024
Full of personality and satisfying gunplay, but let down by glitches, repetition, bloated menu screens, modern industry practices, and some truly bizarre design choices.
Has the potential to be excellent so I hope the devs keep supporting it.
Has the potential to be excellent so I hope the devs keep supporting it.
On paper, this should've been the best 2D Mario game... but it was held back by being a Mario game.
This game is so innovative in its mechanics and ideas, and these are all fantastic. Naturally, some will be stronger than others, and for me, the worst ones were the core Mario ideas that have been around since forever. This game could've done better if it parted from its source and spread its own wings.
I was also disappointed by the variety of wonders and badges: specifically because there were too many and they're used too briefly. When you introduce a mechanic, there needs to be a learning curve and a chance to master it. But they're gone so quickly that they aren't mechanics anymore, just gimmicks.
It's a fun game in short arcadey bursts but not all of its ingredients meld well together. However, you can't call it stale, and I hope Nintendo continues to innovate like this... just rein it in a little next time.
This game is so innovative in its mechanics and ideas, and these are all fantastic. Naturally, some will be stronger than others, and for me, the worst ones were the core Mario ideas that have been around since forever. This game could've done better if it parted from its source and spread its own wings.
I was also disappointed by the variety of wonders and badges: specifically because there were too many and they're used too briefly. When you introduce a mechanic, there needs to be a learning curve and a chance to master it. But they're gone so quickly that they aren't mechanics anymore, just gimmicks.
It's a fun game in short arcadey bursts but not all of its ingredients meld well together. However, you can't call it stale, and I hope Nintendo continues to innovate like this... just rein it in a little next time.
TBD
I wanted to like this but it was too glitchy. After restarting the first day twice, I lost patience.
2023
Cool and funny, but should've been shorter.
2018
Beautiful graphics and sound, well-told story, and reminiscent of RPG Maker horror games in all the best ways – but made in its own engine! A treat if you're into Resident Evil style puzzles, and is challenging without being frustrating.
2022
A novel idea but very repetitive and outstays its welcome. By the time you get your 5th weapon, you start to question how much this one-armed man is capable of. Well-designed and fun to play, however.
2020
This review contains spoilers
Besides a few QoL enhancements, this is still the same obtuse game it was in 1988. I sadly can't recommend it to anyone with modern gaming sensibilities.
It was given a facelift and everything has been faithfully recreated – sadly, this includes the numerous dead ends you'll find because you didn't have a specific skill or lost a key item.
How anyone is supposed to know what skills to bring into the mind maze, know how essential disposable rockets would be, have the necessary IQ for cyborg tech, get by without knowing the window experience trick, or be fortunate enough to carry a plasma coupler on the final floor of the final dungeon is simply beyond me.
This wasn't made to help Wasteland reach new audiences, it's just there for the people who already liked it... and that begs the question of why this remaster exists at all.
It was given a facelift and everything has been faithfully recreated – sadly, this includes the numerous dead ends you'll find because you didn't have a specific skill or lost a key item.
How anyone is supposed to know what skills to bring into the mind maze, know how essential disposable rockets would be, have the necessary IQ for cyborg tech, get by without knowing the window experience trick, or be fortunate enough to carry a plasma coupler on the final floor of the final dungeon is simply beyond me.
This wasn't made to help Wasteland reach new audiences, it's just there for the people who already liked it... and that begs the question of why this remaster exists at all.
2018
Originally 2 stars when I played it back in 2018. Five years later, it's pretty good. It still feels like you're in a Fallout theme park rather than an actual Fallout game, but that's been every Bethesda game. For what it's worth, it's very fun.
At almost 300k words, it's a demanding read, but those who invest their time will be rewarded. It's rare to find a visual novel where the writing, art, music, and even coding all come together to be more than the sum of their parts.
It has some pacing issues, especially towards the end, and the repetitive episodic nature of its story beats can leave you weary, but this doesn't fault what it does well — and it does it very well.
It has some pacing issues, especially towards the end, and the repetitive episodic nature of its story beats can leave you weary, but this doesn't fault what it does well — and it does it very well.
A turn-based RPG distilled to its basics combined with careful resource management is a great idea on its own. Even while writing this, I still crave more of its core gameplay loop. It is a rather easy game once you figure out optimal strategies, but it was so satisfying that I just didn't care.
Its biggest downfall is that the writers seemed torn between telling a friendship-conquers-all JRPG story and a harrowing war story. This not only holds the story itself back, but its indecisiveness with its theme makes one of its "major" gameplay mechanics - the soul cannon - utterly redundant.
I look forward to the sequel and I hope that they stick to one narrative direction. Preferably the pessimistic one that the game first sold me on... y'know, 'cause I'm a moody bastard.
Its biggest downfall is that the writers seemed torn between telling a friendship-conquers-all JRPG story and a harrowing war story. This not only holds the story itself back, but its indecisiveness with its theme makes one of its "major" gameplay mechanics - the soul cannon - utterly redundant.
I look forward to the sequel and I hope that they stick to one narrative direction. Preferably the pessimistic one that the game first sold me on... y'know, 'cause I'm a moody bastard.
An exceptional remake and well worth your time. The Source engine still holds up in 2020. Unless you're a purist, I would recommend this over the original Half-Life if you're new to the series.
It's not perfect though. The new Xen chapters, while ambitious and well-made, are unnecessarily long and opt for puzzle-based gameplay which feels out of place with the rest of the game.
It's not perfect though. The new Xen chapters, while ambitious and well-made, are unnecessarily long and opt for puzzle-based gameplay which feels out of place with the rest of the game.
Very aesthetically pleasing, but too short and not very original. The ending will leave you wanting.
2019
Like a Digger
2018
Like a Dogsh*t game