I recently rediscovered my deep love for first person puzzle games and played through a bunch of them (partially again), like Superliminal, Viewfinder or Stanley Parable, before revisiting the one-and-only Portal 2. Last year I played Portal 1 and after replaying part two, part one feels like a toddler to me, especially in terms of complexity, content and puzzle variety. Expanding the repertoire of elements with the gels and transportation beams just exploded the set of possibilities and Valve used their potential.

But in my mind, what really sets Portal 2 apart and makes it feel so fun and outstanding, is it’s sense of verticality. You have to make use of your environment in every possible directions. And you know that feeling in your gut, when you lift off in a rollercoaster, just for a second or two? That’s the excitement you feel while jumping of a cliff in Lonely Mountains Downhill, that’s the rush you feel in Neon White and that’s the feeling that Portal 2 use as an attraction to keep going. And it is not just a gimmick, the full-dimensional traversal IS the mean guideline in level and puzzle design. It is a brilliant example of how few things a game needs to succeed, to be creative, and hit the sweet spot in-between guiding and experimenting by making use of the lateral thinking approach.

I noticed one small thing, while replaying: There is a lot of talking in Portal 2, as you are accompanied or supervised nearly through your entire journey. The writing is bursting with self-reflective irony and meta-jokes, yet it is simply A LOT. But that is the only real „flaw“ I could name and this is no sugarcoating.

Portal 2 is one of those rare, what I would call cinematic puzzlers, with lots of effects and drama and meta-humor, but yet feels so humble, simplistic and straight forward. It’s the perfect sandbox, where Valve only decided to pick the best parts and merged it to the iconic and timeless game, that even 13 years after it’s release, is unique and joyful.

What can I say: I had a blast. It was my game of March and even if it is loaded with flaws, Dead Island 2 just was another perfect example of „the right game at the right time“.

First of all: Dead Island 2 entitles itself completely to explicity in terms of blood, splatter and flying body parts. So if you are not into extended violence in games, you are wrong here.

After a failed escape from yet another zombie-apocalypse taking place in Hell-A (renamed Los Angeles) and the miraculous survival of a plane crash, we can choose from a cast of six slayers with a different set of stats before jumping into our gore-drenched adventure. I chose Dani, a badass woman, which turned out to be a brilliant choice, as her irish crudeness, just hit the right tone of what I was hoping for playing this game.

The main attraction of DI2 is the combat. It is clear, that Dambaster Studios wanted to make the zombie-slaughtering fun and diverse and I can only say, they succeed. We can choose from a wide variety of melee weapons ranging from pick axes to crowbars, machetes to bo-sticks, all which we can modify with stat-boots or elemental damage. And this crafting system is important, as where are constantly collecting crafting elements to repair or upgrade our gear. And here the two biggest flaws show up: the crafting and the loot-system, both which go hand-in-hand. Or to be more precise: fail to.

DI2 decided to go for quantity instead of quality in terms of weaponry. You can find a countless number of weapons in the game, either while exploring abandoned mansions, the dark sewers of LA or simply by popping up undead corpses as the zombies seem to enjoy sword-swallowing as much as hunting for brains. This weapon inflation feels like a mixture of Diablo, where you are always on the hunt for a better weapon to drop and Breath of the Wild, where you don’t get used to a certain weapon, as wears off over time and breaks eventually. And for me, this system is a two doubled-edged sword, as it motivates me, to try out different weapons and synergies, but it reduces my actual engagement in combat, as I quickly loose track of my favorite weapons. Important note: In DI2, even if your weapon breaks, you can always repair it at a workbench, so it can not vanish forever. You can actually find a few legendary items, which own unique perks and abilities, but they appear so late in the game, that they can’t show their full potential.

The difficulty feels very unbalanced. In the first third, you need to get used to the melee, but after about 10 hours, it gets more and more difficult for you to die in this game. And even if you do, it has NO consequences, as you just spawn seconds before you died, without losing either equipment or life-time. It avoids frustration, but it works against the promising skill system, which is based on skill cards, you earn for finishing quests or find while exploring L.A. They unlock powerful abilities and are completely flexible in use, which results in a refreshing alternative to the often stale and rigid skill-tree system. But I did not make extensive use of this system, as I never felt the urgency or need to do it, due to the easy difficulty, especially in the „end-game“.

The enemy variety is pretty limited too. Even if they sprinkle in new so-called apex variation until the very end, these are mostly just recycled, re-named or elemental mutated versions of already known species in the zombie-universe.

To sum it up, you could say, you can put in the same amount of brain-function into playing the game as the zombies do and still get through it.

So why did this game made me having so much fun then, if it sounds so one-dimensional and generic? Because it is a game, where you leave your brain at the counter, kick in the doors and jump into such a rush of blood, that you totally forget about time and space in front of the screen. DI2 is a game, that embraces the flow. The setting of quirky, over-the-top and sunburnt L.A, the set of characters consisting of alcoholic, self-absorbed surfer-dudes and actresses and the flat and fore-seeable plot and humor merged into a joy-inducing experience. It clearly differs from its closest „competitor“ Dying Light, which is miles ahead in movement, but feels heavy, serious and slow-paced on the narrative side of things. DI2 is light, shiny, stylish, superficial and goofy and for me, these attributes are all an advantage, if you want to have a good time.

It’s a comfort game through and through and it's locations and mechanics reminded me of the Tony Hawk-series, a series, in which you can escape, loose yourself in and hit a few high-scores - or rage-quit, because your combo breaks seconds before nailing it in your 280th try, as I did a couple of times in Underground 2. You can have a ton of fun with a solid set of skill and it is definitely no game, which you have to master entirely to make you feel powerful. In DI2 you feel powerful from the get-go.

Plus: The soundtrack is undeniably a banger supporting the sense of flow and the sound design is both crisp and splashy ensuring this hack-and-slay adventure its triple AAA-quality.

I can understand, if you feel repellent by this game, either by its excessive violent nature or it’s flat storyline. But I had a constant smile on my face, while crushing skulls and kneecaps. And I personally feel very happy for Dambuster, that they delivered on the heavy legacy and hype this game produced way back after it’s announcement in 2014 (!).

Super Mario Sunshine might be one of the hardest souls-likes ever made.

After I had such a blast with Super Mario Odyssey, for a long time I was thinking to fill my gaps in the 3D-Mario space. Now I finally got my hands on the 3D-All Stars Selection and I wanted to slowly work my way through it. I started with Sunshine, which I have a really strong connection to and which is the only one of the three, I played so far. And I was excited and frightened at the same time to explore the dark and shiny spots of that connection.

And nostalgia hit hard. When I booted up the game and listend to the first notes of the Isle-Delfino theme I felt right teleported to the 8-10year old me, sitting in front of the GameCube with shrine-shiny eyes ready to roll. But after landing with Peach on the Island and the game starting to unfold, the trauma kicked back in. 

You see, when I scrambled through my memory, I did not found any prove of finishing this game. I remember pouring tons of hours into it, only to fight my way through a few levels. I remember certain activities like throwing fruit at the islanders, mud looking like chocolate spread across the island and a level with a huge rollercoaster park. What I do remember for certain is the cocktail of feelings always oscillating in-between fun and frustration.

And this second word starting with F came back already on the airstrip 5 minutes into the game. The camera (non-)movement in Sunshine is one of the worst I have ever seen and this game is a 3D plattformer, so you have to know where you are heading, but this is just not the case. The camera feels like an untrained puppy pulling the leash into the opposite direction of where you want to go. And the frustration doubles with the knowledge, that I am playing this game as a remastered version. A version in which Nintendo is yet again so lazy and only upscales the graphics of the vanilla-version of the game and does not touch a single thing aspect - even re-using the GameCube button layout, lol.

This game-design idleness haunted me through my entire short re-visit. It sucks out the fun, nearly completely. The fun of being accompanied by one of the most iconic non-human companions of gaming history: FLUDD. FLUDD is a rechargeable water-based tool, that can be used to spray enemies and goop, hover or launch through the air, and dash to high speeds. It is the main mechanical attraction and it is so cool. Or it should feel like it. But the whacky and inaccurate controls, the movements latency and the stubborn camera throw you off, minute by minute, jump by jump. 

And this is what weights the heaviest: Due to the inconsistent controls you are unable to grow in skill, to overcome obstacles and to feel real accomplishment. And this feeling of literally „not being in full control“ is bad for nearly every game experience. 

I was surprised how masochistic the levels felt, especially the platforming sections, where Shadow Mario steals FLUDD and you are left with only your jumping „skills“. And this type of design is not a relict of old times, as these levels recur in Odyssey and throughout the whole Super Mario-Series, but I could not help myself, but to feel robbed and put on trial - feeling like Mario being put on trial, accused of being a graffiti artist, haha.

I was only able to finish the first major level (Monte Bianco), collecting 9 of 120 shine sprites. And this left me and collector-heart heart-broken. But yet, I simply could not force myself to collect the small moments of joy and embrace them, as they share the destiny of the shines being spread across the island. 

I love the sound, the atmosphere and the locations of this title, but for the sake of my mental health, I have to pull the plug. For now. A few days ago, I was sure to add this game to the „abondaned“-section and leave it for good. But I can not help, but to wonder, what comes next, what lies beneath all the pain? Am I the one being to weak? That is why I shelf this game and see if there will come a time, when I am ready to fight my way through. 

But first I am looking forward to play Galaxy and 64 without the constant whisper of nostalgia in my ear.