sumatran
2021
Decent game. Started to drag on about half way through. Way too many encounters and the gameplay was a little...dodgy.
2021
There is nothing exceptional about this game. Plays well and looks good. I'm not coming to a bullet hell game for story typically. But even the bullet patterns were fairly boring. And the constant speed and dodging made me pine for the slower, mind-crunching patterns of other titles in the genre.
2021
A game akin to a stroll through the park - low stress and a breeze.
My interest dwindled as I shelved book after book, plate after plate, and every other knick knack that followed me throughout life. The premise was interesting, but even as a 90s kid, I just couldn't feel entirely connected to the experience. I think that's because it was so tailored to the character I was playing. I found that I'm not so interested in unpacking some random person's junk - I'd prefer to unpack my own crap.
My interest dwindled as I shelved book after book, plate after plate, and every other knick knack that followed me throughout life. The premise was interesting, but even as a 90s kid, I just couldn't feel entirely connected to the experience. I think that's because it was so tailored to the character I was playing. I found that I'm not so interested in unpacking some random person's junk - I'd prefer to unpack my own crap.
2012
Does a mobile game translate to a home console?
No, not really.
The UI was poorly designed for a controller. But even without the peripheral gripes, the core game experience just isn't that engaging. There were strange design decisions throughout - unable to rotate a structure in more than 2 directions, unable to partake in multiple quests concurrently, and useless classes.
To touch on the last criticism - there was really little point to the class system. By the end of the game, there is no value in using anything other than high-power archetypes like the Hero. The benefits you receive from lower classes, like Adventurer, Farmer, and Cook - do not overcome the loss in stat penalties.
So, the game boils down to the same experience every single run.
No, not really.
The UI was poorly designed for a controller. But even without the peripheral gripes, the core game experience just isn't that engaging. There were strange design decisions throughout - unable to rotate a structure in more than 2 directions, unable to partake in multiple quests concurrently, and useless classes.
To touch on the last criticism - there was really little point to the class system. By the end of the game, there is no value in using anything other than high-power archetypes like the Hero. The benefits you receive from lower classes, like Adventurer, Farmer, and Cook - do not overcome the loss in stat penalties.
So, the game boils down to the same experience every single run.
This one didn't work for me.
I had no experience with Gen 4, therefore very little expectations. But this was a slog. It was tough to look at, and everything moved so slowly. Everything in between was filled with nonsense. Your friendly rival is really gunna throw down with you in the middle of a Poke'mon Center? Ok.
I had no experience with Gen 4, therefore very little expectations. But this was a slog. It was tough to look at, and everything moved so slowly. Everything in between was filled with nonsense. Your friendly rival is really gunna throw down with you in the middle of a Poke'mon Center? Ok.
2020
Coming from a firefighter family, this one just felt like home. With all the water hose jetpacks and throwing people out windows.
Playing in co-op was a joy the whole way through. The grind to 100% is fairly daunting - expect lots of money grinding, even after accomplishing every objective in every level.
I would have liked to see different fire-related threats. Your only main adversaries are proper fire and gas fires. A wildfire level could have been intense. Or perhaps grappling with chemical fires? Additionally, different strengths of fire would have added more interesting encounters - such as blue fire to indicate a more challenging opponent.
Despite the simplicity of the game mechanics, the levels stay relatively fresh and interesting. And as you progress in your equipment proficiency, new strategies present themselves every run.
If possible, I highly recommend playing the game in co-op. I feel like something is lost tackling this one alone.
Playing in co-op was a joy the whole way through. The grind to 100% is fairly daunting - expect lots of money grinding, even after accomplishing every objective in every level.
I would have liked to see different fire-related threats. Your only main adversaries are proper fire and gas fires. A wildfire level could have been intense. Or perhaps grappling with chemical fires? Additionally, different strengths of fire would have added more interesting encounters - such as blue fire to indicate a more challenging opponent.
Despite the simplicity of the game mechanics, the levels stay relatively fresh and interesting. And as you progress in your equipment proficiency, new strategies present themselves every run.
If possible, I highly recommend playing the game in co-op. I feel like something is lost tackling this one alone.
2021
This is essentially Zelda. But it draws inevitable comparisons to Dark Souls because of its somewhat higher difficulty along with the fact that your currency in the game is, well...souls.
The weapons are not very interesting at all. I pecked through with the Umbrella for an achievement, but after switching to the other weapons in post-game, I found that they mostly just dealt bigger damage.
The music is the surprise hit here. Death's Door is well-made overall, but the music is jarringly its greatest quality.
The game has a way with humor, relying on audio cues and typical video game expectations. It does feel a bit derivative, but it's worth a chuckle none-the-less.
The weapons are not very interesting at all. I pecked through with the Umbrella for an achievement, but after switching to the other weapons in post-game, I found that they mostly just dealt bigger damage.
The music is the surprise hit here. Death's Door is well-made overall, but the music is jarringly its greatest quality.
The game has a way with humor, relying on audio cues and typical video game expectations. It does feel a bit derivative, but it's worth a chuckle none-the-less.
2022
150 hours later...There's not much to say that hasn't already been said. This is a masterpiece. I am going to remember some of these encounters and environments forever.
I got that post-game sadness real bad.
I got that post-game sadness real bad.
2020
An improvement over the original in almost every way. My personal preference is the pixel/retro graphics from the first outing. The sequel has a cartoon quality which isn't as appealing.
The game can drag, so I eventually turned on House Rules around the NG+2 mark. This made the grind far more bearable and really improved my enjoyment.
Oh, and Valkyrie is the best.
The game can drag, so I eventually turned on House Rules around the NG+2 mark. This made the grind far more bearable and really improved my enjoyment.
Oh, and Valkyrie is the best.
This game was just shy of greatness. A very inventive pinball metroidvania - I was in a magical place for the first few hours of gameplay. But every new power made the game just a little bit worse. The abilities are typically frustrating instead of empowering and the new modes of exploration just aren't that fun.
Back-tracking is tedious because of the limited fast travel system. Why can't I board at every launch point?
This little dung beetle deserved better.
Back-tracking is tedious because of the limited fast travel system. Why can't I board at every launch point?
This little dung beetle deserved better.
2022
A game built on knowledge - every piece recontextualizing the game world and making you question what's a flower and what's a hidden treasure.
This game offered plenty of new things I haven't seen before, which is hard to do after 30+ years of gaming. And while I did truly value every epiphany the game drew out of me, a certain mechanic started to grow a bit old towards the end. And the game asks the player to work just a bit too much.
This game offered plenty of new things I haven't seen before, which is hard to do after 30+ years of gaming. And while I did truly value every epiphany the game drew out of me, a certain mechanic started to grow a bit old towards the end. And the game asks the player to work just a bit too much.
2020
Some levels were very reliant on luck - which discs were spawned, where yellow orbs were spawned, etc.
It felt like Disc Room started to spin out of control around the midpoint - adding various hazards and room effects that were more annoying than creative.
Still, the music was good and the feeling of clearing a level at 10 or 20 seconds was a frequent, nice reward.
It felt like Disc Room started to spin out of control around the midpoint - adding various hazards and room effects that were more annoying than creative.
Still, the music was good and the feeling of clearing a level at 10 or 20 seconds was a frequent, nice reward.
As usual, Kirby offers a delightfully cheery adventure. The bosses are interesting and present a reasonable challenge on the "Wild" difficulty.
The game falls into the trap that most recent Nintendo games do - a lack of respect for player time. If you miss 1 small objective in a stage, you're forced to finish the stage to save your progress. And the grind to 100% completion is beyond tedious.
The game falls into the trap that most recent Nintendo games do - a lack of respect for player time. If you miss 1 small objective in a stage, you're forced to finish the stage to save your progress. And the grind to 100% completion is beyond tedious.
Sometimes I'm glad we are past the age of the mascot platformer. Tedious checkpoints and frustrating mini-games leave a sour impression.
2021
PowerWash Simulator was only as good as its co-op, in my experience. The strange satisfaction of erasing digital dirt only carried my interest so far. And eventually, this started to become Nap Simulator.
But when playing in co-op, it's a blast - the jobs move at a decent pace and it's a great place to just hang out with friends while performing monotonous chores. Unfortunately, the co-op is poorly implemented. The game limits the Campaign to a buddy system, simply making you a duplicate of the host. They likely implemented this to prevent an end-game player from carrying a newbie, which doesn't really make sense, as the end-game washers don't turn you into a power-washing God by any means.
The late levels jump the shark a bit and start to deviate from the core charm - which is getting in a rhythm and seeing that grime wash away. I'm hoping they just go bananas with it at this point and do some different things with the game engine - like arena combat or something.
But when playing in co-op, it's a blast - the jobs move at a decent pace and it's a great place to just hang out with friends while performing monotonous chores. Unfortunately, the co-op is poorly implemented. The game limits the Campaign to a buddy system, simply making you a duplicate of the host. They likely implemented this to prevent an end-game player from carrying a newbie, which doesn't really make sense, as the end-game washers don't turn you into a power-washing God by any means.
The late levels jump the shark a bit and start to deviate from the core charm - which is getting in a rhythm and seeing that grime wash away. I'm hoping they just go bananas with it at this point and do some different things with the game engine - like arena combat or something.