whybmonotacrab
2021
Honestly one of the better metroidvanias I've played in a while. It takes a lot of inspiration from Hollow Knight, but places the emphasis on tricky precision platforming ala Celeste. Great atmosphere and really satisfying mechanics.
2015
One of the best Doom mods of all time. Stunning architecture, challenging but fun and engaging fights. It's hard, but that's what difficulty modes exist for. Remember, HMP is the intended experience, UV is an extra challenge mode.
2024
Planet Crafter is what would happen if someone fully fleshed out an incremental game. I don't mean that negatively. This is a super relaxing experience where number goes up when you build things and your reward is seeing a barren planet turn into a verdant paradise.
Ashes 2063 feels like a long lost Build Engine shooter that pays loving homage to Mad Max. The shooting feels great, the level design feels solid - but perhaps what's most surprising is the care and attention to world building and story. This isn't just a good total conversion mod for Doom, this is one of the best Retro FPS titles period.
2023
I'm usually not a fan of Wolfenstein style FPS titles with no height variation, so this was quite a pleasant surprise. I think fans of modern boomer shooters might not connect as much with this title as it shares a lot of DNA with Dungeon Crawlers like Wizardry or Might and Magic. As such it's a slower experience, more focused on exploration and atmosphere than all out carnage. It does what it sets out to quite nicely though, and the level design is honestly superb. The flat plane stuff is clearly just a homage thing because these levels are surprisingly vertical, with you often opening up spaces below or above you.
All in all a solid game with great art, and if you're into what its doing it's a no brainer.
All in all a solid game with great art, and if you're into what its doing it's a no brainer.
2023
Genuinely one of the best Boomer Shooters out there. It doesn't look like much, but it has some of the best combat encounters I've experienced in a commercial shooter. It honestly feels like an escaped Doom wad running on Quake tech.
If you've played Doom Wads: Imagine a more refined version of Hell Revealed/Kama Sutra era slaughter mixed with the flow state and convenience of modern Erik Alm/Skillsaw inspired wads.
If you're not in the Doom Wad scene: Imagine Quake meets Serious Sam.
If you've played Doom Wads: Imagine a more refined version of Hell Revealed/Kama Sutra era slaughter mixed with the flow state and convenience of modern Erik Alm/Skillsaw inspired wads.
If you're not in the Doom Wad scene: Imagine Quake meets Serious Sam.
This game is so difficult to get into. The controls are clunky - you move and turn with the analogue sticks, you strafe with the bumpers, and you look up and down with the triggers. It takes a full 10 seconds to rotate 360 degrees, and the game has quite a learning curve.
If you can get through that though, you'll find an absolute masterpiece. A lot of what made From Software's later titles like Dark Souls so compelling are already here - the atmosphere, the interconnected level design, the seriously depressing quests. It's a slow and deliberate game and that works perfectly for it.
Honestly, this game is going in my all time favourites. Playing it inspired me to learn Godot and finally start making games of my own.
If you can get through that though, you'll find an absolute masterpiece. A lot of what made From Software's later titles like Dark Souls so compelling are already here - the atmosphere, the interconnected level design, the seriously depressing quests. It's a slow and deliberate game and that works perfectly for it.
Honestly, this game is going in my all time favourites. Playing it inspired me to learn Godot and finally start making games of my own.
2023
lol why is my dumb plutonia wad on here?
It's Bullet Hell Zelda, and it does both parts quite well. The exploration and upgrades are satisfying, and the bullet hell aspect is hard enough to provide a challenge while not being too punishing - a perfect entry point for newcomers to the genre.
2012
As a huge fan of Sunlust, it's weird that I've never gone back and played Dannebubinga's previous mapsets. I've at least tried most of Ribbiks' stuff, but for some reason trying the Combat Shock series never occurred to me. I don't know why I started with the second one, but I'm having a blast with it. People have likened it to Sunder, but I personally find it closer to Darkwave's style. It's a lot more accessible than I was expecting. Looking forward to finishing this one.
2021
I will start by saying this is a good game. I recommend you play it. However, I have a lot of criticisms, and ultimately feel like this is one of the weaker mainline entries in the series.
The game is aggressively linear. Unless you're doing speedrunning tricks, this game hates the very idea of you going off the beaten track. The amount of times the game will block the path behind you is frankly insane. This game is anti-exploration, and as a result, anti metroid.
Once you do get the final upgrade and do a sweep, you'll realise the map is incredibly poorly designed. It's quite tedious to navigate, and the aforementioned one way locks just mean trying to 100% this game is a chore.
The real bosses are quite fun to fight. The problem is that there this game is incredibly repetitive with minibosses. You fight the Central Units 5 times, and 5 Chozo soldiers. These fights are all pretty much exactly the same - they just do more damage each time. It's really boring.
The EMMIs are actually quite fun, but they should not be a one hit kill. I love the adrenaline you get when trying to outwit them, but once they kill you all that tension is gone and it just feels like a trial and error encounter. Even just allowing you to get an easier counter once would fix the issue.
Again. This is a good game. It feels amazing to play. There's a stretch in the middle of the game where I was absolutely loving the game, but the end kind of soured me on it a little. Metroid is one of my favourite series though, and this doesn't meet my expectations.
Ranking of the games I've played: Super > Prime > AM2R/Zero Mission > Prime 2 > Fusion > Dread > Samus Returns. I have not played the rest enough to meaningfully rank them as I did not have a Wii and haven't finished the original 2.
The game is aggressively linear. Unless you're doing speedrunning tricks, this game hates the very idea of you going off the beaten track. The amount of times the game will block the path behind you is frankly insane. This game is anti-exploration, and as a result, anti metroid.
Once you do get the final upgrade and do a sweep, you'll realise the map is incredibly poorly designed. It's quite tedious to navigate, and the aforementioned one way locks just mean trying to 100% this game is a chore.
The real bosses are quite fun to fight. The problem is that there this game is incredibly repetitive with minibosses. You fight the Central Units 5 times, and 5 Chozo soldiers. These fights are all pretty much exactly the same - they just do more damage each time. It's really boring.
The EMMIs are actually quite fun, but they should not be a one hit kill. I love the adrenaline you get when trying to outwit them, but once they kill you all that tension is gone and it just feels like a trial and error encounter. Even just allowing you to get an easier counter once would fix the issue.
Again. This is a good game. It feels amazing to play. There's a stretch in the middle of the game where I was absolutely loving the game, but the end kind of soured me on it a little. Metroid is one of my favourite series though, and this doesn't meet my expectations.
Ranking of the games I've played: Super > Prime > AM2R/Zero Mission > Prime 2 > Fusion > Dread > Samus Returns. I have not played the rest enough to meaningfully rank them as I did not have a Wii and haven't finished the original 2.