teddy565
2021
Everhood is all over the place. The music, core rhythm gameplay, and art direction, while all derivative of Undertale to some extent, are universally fantastic.
With those praises said, this game has the most incoherent story I've ever seen in a game. It's such utter, confused, bizarre nonsense that it's almost admirable how surreal and dreamlike each random, non-sequitur plot twist feels.
Must be seen to be believed, and once you're through, I don't think you'll regret your time.
With those praises said, this game has the most incoherent story I've ever seen in a game. It's such utter, confused, bizarre nonsense that it's almost admirable how surreal and dreamlike each random, non-sequitur plot twist feels.
Must be seen to be believed, and once you're through, I don't think you'll regret your time.
1993
2018
2022
As a fighting game dilettante, competitive smash enjoyer, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice superfan, I came into Sifu with a lot of preconceptions about what kind of game I wanted it to be. I was left disappointed with what I found.
First of all, Sifu is a genuinely beautiful love letter to Chinese martial arts cinema. The smart application of film grain and some excellent choices in each level’s color/visual design really help make up for the threadbare story.
My biggest issue is with the combat. There are several core mechanical decisions that I just don’t agree with: parrying strong attacks, regardless of your timing, will always do damage to your posture bar. Strong attacks must be dodged, but dodges don’t inherently lead to an opening, a successful dodge instead recovers posture and builds “focus”, a resource which serves as a super meter. This is a fine, albeit complex, foundation to build a game with (sekiro, for instance, only asked the player to attack, parry, and on some heavily telegraphed attacks, counter or jump), but the game further adds directional dodges and a high/low/mid/overhead system that is VERY under-explained. You can always dash back or to the side to disengage from a strong attack, but doing so usually forfeits your chance to punish with a meaningful combo. It’s almost tragic, this is an absolutely fatal flaw — this game is entirely a long corridor of combat encounters interspersed with boss fights. A solution to all this combat complexity could be to simply get good, and the game provides a fairly competent training mode your house/hub level, but since the whole game is only five levels long and most heavy attacks (these are the glowing strikes that force you to engage with the directional dodge system or dash back defensively) are fast enough to feel practically unreactable, I satisfied myself with just learning the combo counterplay I had to for boss fights, and just eating the overheads dished out by regular goons.
I genuinely really enjoyed all the boss fights (except for the museum boss’s first phase, which heavily incentivized non-interaction), so I’m sure I would have had more fun if I was playing the game correctly!!!
So Sifu didn’t meet my expectations, but I can’t shake the feeling that that’s on me — rather than the game not fulfilling its own vision. But even with my personal biases aside, I, heartbreakingly, can’t recommend this kung fu fantasy.
First of all, Sifu is a genuinely beautiful love letter to Chinese martial arts cinema. The smart application of film grain and some excellent choices in each level’s color/visual design really help make up for the threadbare story.
My biggest issue is with the combat. There are several core mechanical decisions that I just don’t agree with: parrying strong attacks, regardless of your timing, will always do damage to your posture bar. Strong attacks must be dodged, but dodges don’t inherently lead to an opening, a successful dodge instead recovers posture and builds “focus”, a resource which serves as a super meter. This is a fine, albeit complex, foundation to build a game with (sekiro, for instance, only asked the player to attack, parry, and on some heavily telegraphed attacks, counter or jump), but the game further adds directional dodges and a high/low/mid/overhead system that is VERY under-explained. You can always dash back or to the side to disengage from a strong attack, but doing so usually forfeits your chance to punish with a meaningful combo. It’s almost tragic, this is an absolutely fatal flaw — this game is entirely a long corridor of combat encounters interspersed with boss fights. A solution to all this combat complexity could be to simply get good, and the game provides a fairly competent training mode your house/hub level, but since the whole game is only five levels long and most heavy attacks (these are the glowing strikes that force you to engage with the directional dodge system or dash back defensively) are fast enough to feel practically unreactable, I satisfied myself with just learning the combo counterplay I had to for boss fights, and just eating the overheads dished out by regular goons.
I genuinely really enjoyed all the boss fights (except for the museum boss’s first phase, which heavily incentivized non-interaction), so I’m sure I would have had more fun if I was playing the game correctly!!!
So Sifu didn’t meet my expectations, but I can’t shake the feeling that that’s on me — rather than the game not fulfilling its own vision. But even with my personal biases aside, I, heartbreakingly, can’t recommend this kung fu fantasy.
2021
2021
2017
2017
It’s obvious that this game was built with reverence, respect, and unremitting love for the Sonic community. Regrettably — and this was my first game in the classic Sonic style — I never clicked with it. I thought the levels were overdense and the bosses were finicky. The music, at least, was a total blast.
2022
I wish this game subverted its formula. The core loop of rhythm matching and first-person action is extremely polished, but not much changes between levels — excluding the admittedly diverse weapon unlocks.
Songs in unfamiliar time signatures or dynamic tracks that change based on environmental conditions would easily make this an all-time great action game.
Also the story and animations are kinda rough but who cares; what’s good here is great.
Songs in unfamiliar time signatures or dynamic tracks that change based on environmental conditions would easily make this an all-time great action game.
Also the story and animations are kinda rough but who cares; what’s good here is great.
2018
Celeste is a difficult, demanding game, but at every step, the game is cheering you on. Each aspect of the game is polished to a sparkling sheen: platforming mechanics are smooth and responsive, the overarching narrative feels simultaneously personal and symbolic, and the art direction is simple but consistently emotional. A perfect game, to me, is something I can recommend to everyone. Celeste is exactly that.