zeroesandones
BACKER
Finally, a game that dares to ask: "what if the X-Files had budget and was based out of the 𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 from 𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 of Leaves (𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚞𝚛 included)?"
This happens more and more now.
So much of this game is playing exactly to some of my more niche tastes, from the brutalist office building full of deeply unsettling horror imagery occupying impossible space and time to the absolute overdose of collectibles in the form of data logs, documents, and inter-department communications that rewards exploration with substantial lore and world-building details. For me, exploring the sights and untangling the narrative were the strongest points of Control, and Remedy remains one of the best studios when it comes to environmental storytelling. It helps that this game is pretty much Alan Wake 1.5, while simultaneously making Control into a nexus of sorts for the entire Remedy Connected Universe. The Oldest 𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 is an awesome setting for a game too, allowing for effectively infinite possibilities within its pocket dimension - doubly so when the Oceanview Motel and Casino is considered. I've honestly never seen a game so ambitious with its setting alone, truly.
The word that describes this is redacted.
The only thing holding this game back for me is its combat. It's serviceable, but there's simply too much of it given that it boils down to shoot til empty -> launch stuff while gun recharges -> shoot while launch recharges. I also just hate randomly generated loot stats in games - I probably spent a cumulative two hours of the game comparing mods like "health +34%" vs "health +33%" to clear out the abysmally small inventory you get. This issue is exasperated in the expansions when the amount of unique mod types quintuples but your inventory cap stays the same. It's annoying, especially given that enemies randomly respawn as you explore the 𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎. If you replaced even a quarter of the random lootbox exploration rewards with more documents or multimedia collectibles or altered items or lore rooms, this would be an easy 10/10 for me.
You want to smile.
All in all though, Control is an easy recommend because there's simply nothing else like it. If you're wondering if you'll like it, here's a good heuristic: does a puzzle that requires you to decipher a code in the reversed lyrics of an in-game song sound rad as hell to you? If you answered yes, then you should play Control.
You want this to be true.
This happens more and more now.
So much of this game is playing exactly to some of my more niche tastes, from the brutalist office building full of deeply unsettling horror imagery occupying impossible space and time to the absolute overdose of collectibles in the form of data logs, documents, and inter-department communications that rewards exploration with substantial lore and world-building details. For me, exploring the sights and untangling the narrative were the strongest points of Control, and Remedy remains one of the best studios when it comes to environmental storytelling. It helps that this game is pretty much Alan Wake 1.5, while simultaneously making Control into a nexus of sorts for the entire Remedy Connected Universe. The Oldest 𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 is an awesome setting for a game too, allowing for effectively infinite possibilities within its pocket dimension - doubly so when the Oceanview Motel and Casino is considered. I've honestly never seen a game so ambitious with its setting alone, truly.
The word that describes this is redacted.
The only thing holding this game back for me is its combat. It's serviceable, but there's simply too much of it given that it boils down to shoot til empty -> launch stuff while gun recharges -> shoot while launch recharges. I also just hate randomly generated loot stats in games - I probably spent a cumulative two hours of the game comparing mods like "health +34%" vs "health +33%" to clear out the abysmally small inventory you get. This issue is exasperated in the expansions when the amount of unique mod types quintuples but your inventory cap stays the same. It's annoying, especially given that enemies randomly respawn as you explore the 𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎. If you replaced even a quarter of the random lootbox exploration rewards with more documents or multimedia collectibles or altered items or lore rooms, this would be an easy 10/10 for me.
You want to smile.
All in all though, Control is an easy recommend because there's simply nothing else like it. If you're wondering if you'll like it, here's a good heuristic: does a puzzle that requires you to decipher a code in the reversed lyrics of an in-game song sound rad as hell to you? If you answered yes, then you should play Control.
You want this to be true.
Played v1.3.2a EX.
Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald are the epitome of comfort games for me, and I consider them near infinitely replayable with just a handful of caveats (mostly due to later games' mechanical improvements). Imagine my surprise when I found out that there's a full-throated roguelite ROM hack of Emerald version that includes damn near every Pokémon, evolution, and mechanic up through Sword and Shield and puts the gameplay focus on competitive, strategic battling and team building.
Folks, this shit got me feeling like a Junji Ito protagonist: "👉 This game was made for me!!" I'm gonna have to force myself to put it down after my holiday travel is over or else I might not play any thing else ever again.
If you like doing nuzlockes with Pokémon randomizers, this is basically that but with more randomization in a more structured way with permanent progression systems linked to the hub area. Anything you do in the hub (level or evolve your partner, teach your partner new moves, purchase items like Pokéballs or TMs, catch new partners in the Safari Zone, and much more) is maintained after the reset following each adventure, and each adventure sees you heading out with one of your partners and whatever's in your bag at the time into a map field where you pick to explore different types of routes or gamble on varios events that may bestow great rewards. Your goal is to reach the end of each mini map and challenge a gym leader before doing it all again, eventually collecting all 8 badges and challenging the Elite Four. Money is limited, healing your team is expensive, and fainting is unrecoverable.
This is an impressively technical achievement that reworks so much of Pokémon Emerald into a completely new experience that somehow still retains the magical core gameplay loop of the series. It's a genuinely incredible breath of fresh air and I wholeheartedly recommend it to Pokémon fans who are looking for an interesting new challenge wrapped in a nostalgic package.
First adventure clear team: Charizard, Gardevoir, Deoxys, Salamence, and Regirock. RIP to Magneton, Golem, Mew, and the other fallen soldiers along the way. 🫡
Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald are the epitome of comfort games for me, and I consider them near infinitely replayable with just a handful of caveats (mostly due to later games' mechanical improvements). Imagine my surprise when I found out that there's a full-throated roguelite ROM hack of Emerald version that includes damn near every Pokémon, evolution, and mechanic up through Sword and Shield and puts the gameplay focus on competitive, strategic battling and team building.
Folks, this shit got me feeling like a Junji Ito protagonist: "👉 This game was made for me!!" I'm gonna have to force myself to put it down after my holiday travel is over or else I might not play any thing else ever again.
If you like doing nuzlockes with Pokémon randomizers, this is basically that but with more randomization in a more structured way with permanent progression systems linked to the hub area. Anything you do in the hub (level or evolve your partner, teach your partner new moves, purchase items like Pokéballs or TMs, catch new partners in the Safari Zone, and much more) is maintained after the reset following each adventure, and each adventure sees you heading out with one of your partners and whatever's in your bag at the time into a map field where you pick to explore different types of routes or gamble on varios events that may bestow great rewards. Your goal is to reach the end of each mini map and challenge a gym leader before doing it all again, eventually collecting all 8 badges and challenging the Elite Four. Money is limited, healing your team is expensive, and fainting is unrecoverable.
This is an impressively technical achievement that reworks so much of Pokémon Emerald into a completely new experience that somehow still retains the magical core gameplay loop of the series. It's a genuinely incredible breath of fresh air and I wholeheartedly recommend it to Pokémon fans who are looking for an interesting new challenge wrapped in a nostalgic package.
First adventure clear team: Charizard, Gardevoir, Deoxys, Salamence, and Regirock. RIP to Magneton, Golem, Mew, and the other fallen soldiers along the way. 🫡
Played a fan-made English patch.
Content-wise, this is pretty much the Gold and Silver equivalent to the original Pokemon TCG game. It's awesome until it isn't: whereas the first game really leaned into the gameplay loop of refining your perfect multi-purpose deck(s) through randomized booster pack drops, most battles in this game require you to handcraft a brand new deck each time to fulfill certain up front requirements unique to that encounter. That starts off fun, like decks that force you to use a single energy type, but the later requirements that require grinding to get 4 specific base Pokemon cards to build your entire deck around just suck - almost to the point of preventing me from finishing the game. Before the final series of battles, I spent 15+ minutes save scumming to reroll a booster pack drop in hopes of getting a Dragonair just so that the Dragonite I was being forced to use wouldn't be total dead weight in my deck. That's unfortunately just not my idea of fun!
All of that ends up making this game strangely less replayable too, since you'll probably end up abusing the same tactics for each weird deck requirement. You don't even get to pick your starter deck in this game, so the first game has more variety right out of the gate! I can't fully recommend it like I could with the original, but the "Dark" Pokemon cards are super fun to play with and can lead to some real bonkers synergies.
I will say though, the president of an evil company who decides to flood the market with obscenely imbalanced homebrew cards in an attempt to specifically screw over the collectors of Pokemon cards because they don't understand the concept of "fun" outside the context of card battling and generally look down on collectors as "hoarders" of powerful cards is a pretty funny storyline...
Favorite deck drivers: Wigglytuff x1, Dark Clefable x1, Dark Dragonair x3, Dark Dragonite x1, Mewtwo x1
Content-wise, this is pretty much the Gold and Silver equivalent to the original Pokemon TCG game. It's awesome until it isn't: whereas the first game really leaned into the gameplay loop of refining your perfect multi-purpose deck(s) through randomized booster pack drops, most battles in this game require you to handcraft a brand new deck each time to fulfill certain up front requirements unique to that encounter. That starts off fun, like decks that force you to use a single energy type, but the later requirements that require grinding to get 4 specific base Pokemon cards to build your entire deck around just suck - almost to the point of preventing me from finishing the game. Before the final series of battles, I spent 15+ minutes save scumming to reroll a booster pack drop in hopes of getting a Dragonair just so that the Dragonite I was being forced to use wouldn't be total dead weight in my deck. That's unfortunately just not my idea of fun!
All of that ends up making this game strangely less replayable too, since you'll probably end up abusing the same tactics for each weird deck requirement. You don't even get to pick your starter deck in this game, so the first game has more variety right out of the gate! I can't fully recommend it like I could with the original, but the "Dark" Pokemon cards are super fun to play with and can lead to some real bonkers synergies.
I will say though, the president of an evil company who decides to flood the market with obscenely imbalanced homebrew cards in an attempt to specifically screw over the collectors of Pokemon cards because they don't understand the concept of "fun" outside the context of card battling and generally look down on collectors as "hoarders" of powerful cards is a pretty funny storyline...
Favorite deck drivers: Wigglytuff x1, Dark Clefable x1, Dark Dragonair x3, Dark Dragonite x1, Mewtwo x1
It's immediately clear why this game is so beloved: a roguelike based loosely on Castlevania's classic entries like Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow? Yeah, okay, say no more fam. I'm in, you got me. Throw in some actual Castlevania licensed content and you got yourself a good goddamn done deal in my book.
That being said, I found the endeavor a bit repetitive and just a touch too difficult. I kind of hit a wall after reaching the first run's final boss and was unable to beat any of the other endpoint bosses despite reaching them multiple times. This hard stop to my progress caused me to put down the game indefinitely, but I might come back at some point - cause when the game's good, it's damn good.
That being said, I found the endeavor a bit repetitive and just a touch too difficult. I kind of hit a wall after reaching the first run's final boss and was unable to beat any of the other endpoint bosses despite reaching them multiple times. This hard stop to my progress caused me to put down the game indefinitely, but I might come back at some point - cause when the game's good, it's damn good.
Imagine New Super Mario Bros. but made in the Super Mario Bros. 3 engine and conceptualized as a celebration of the entire Super Mario series, including the some of the oft-maligned entries like Super Mario Bros. 2 (USA) and Super Paper Mario. It's one of the most impressive ROM hacks I've ever played, and I mean that sincerely.
I'm only putting it down because I tried to play it on an Analogue Pocket (an original hardware facsimile), and boy does the new stuff in this game bring that device to its knees sometimes. Absolutely worth checking out if you haven't already, but consider doing so on a software emulator.
I'm only putting it down because I tried to play it on an Analogue Pocket (an original hardware facsimile), and boy does the new stuff in this game bring that device to its knees sometimes. Absolutely worth checking out if you haven't already, but consider doing so on a software emulator.
2016
I really liked the vibes and exploration in this game, but I eventually put it down because the time you have each day is extremely limited, and the pressure that imposes is at odds with the comfy atmosphere I was trying to bask in. I want to come back to this though, because you can really tell that this is a labor of love by the dev.
2023
ǝuoƃ ǝɹ,noʎ uǝɥʍ ɯᴉɥ ʇǝǝɯ llᴉʍ spuǝᴉɹɟ ɹnoʎ
uo noʎ pɐǝl oʇ lɐnʇᴉɹ ǝɥʇ sᴉ sᴉɥʇ
Alan Wake 2 is a miracle of a game: a 13 year old IP with a troubled development history, previously locked down by Microsoft but ostensibly the centerpiece of the connected universe that all Remedy games revolve around, finally gets a sequel in 2023 - and it fuckin' rules. And this is coming from someone who hates survival horror games.
I really don't have anything to add to the conversation that you haven't already heard. The story rips, the gameplay rips, Saga's Mind Place caseboard rips, the atmosphere and worldbuilding fuckin' rips, the performances across the whole cast all rip, the New Game+ mode that changes content of the story in a thematically appropriate way rips, the fact that almost every other game Remedy has ever made all the way back to Max Payne are all thematically and narratively relevant to the Alan Wake mythos rips, the mid-game, in-engine, totally missable Yötön Yö short film rips so goddamn hard. I haven't stopped listening to that Old Gods of Asgard album ever since I got ahold of it. When I was omega-tier sick, I had fever dreams about being lost in the Dark Place and finding manuscript pages. It was awesome.
There's no way in hell this can be anything less than Game of the Year for me. I am so, so invested in this world Remedy has created, and I'm going to immediately dive into Control and the other games I missed as soon as I get the chance. And for someone with a backlog as big as mine, there's truly no better accolade I can bestow upon a game than "caused a dramatic priority shift in the Up Next queue".
Looking forward to seeing what the madlads at Remedy cook up for us next.
ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ sdool ʇᴉ ʇɐɥʇ ʎɐs ǝɯos puɐ
pɐoɹ sᴉɥʇ 'ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ sdool ʇᴉ ʇɐɥʇ ʎɐs ǝɯos puɐ
ǝɯᴉʇ ʎɹǝʌǝ uo noʎ ǝsol ᴉ ʇɐɥʇ pɐoɹ sᴉɥʇ 'ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ sdool ʇᴉ ʇɐɥʇ ʎɐs ǝɯos puɐ
uo noʎ pɐǝl oʇ lɐnʇᴉɹ ǝɥʇ sᴉ sᴉɥʇ
Alan Wake 2 is a miracle of a game: a 13 year old IP with a troubled development history, previously locked down by Microsoft but ostensibly the centerpiece of the connected universe that all Remedy games revolve around, finally gets a sequel in 2023 - and it fuckin' rules. And this is coming from someone who hates survival horror games.
I really don't have anything to add to the conversation that you haven't already heard. The story rips, the gameplay rips, Saga's Mind Place caseboard rips, the atmosphere and worldbuilding fuckin' rips, the performances across the whole cast all rip, the New Game+ mode that changes content of the story in a thematically appropriate way rips, the fact that almost every other game Remedy has ever made all the way back to Max Payne are all thematically and narratively relevant to the Alan Wake mythos rips, the mid-game, in-engine, totally missable Yötön Yö short film rips so goddamn hard. I haven't stopped listening to that Old Gods of Asgard album ever since I got ahold of it. When I was omega-tier sick, I had fever dreams about being lost in the Dark Place and finding manuscript pages. It was awesome.
There's no way in hell this can be anything less than Game of the Year for me. I am so, so invested in this world Remedy has created, and I'm going to immediately dive into Control and the other games I missed as soon as I get the chance. And for someone with a backlog as big as mine, there's truly no better accolade I can bestow upon a game than "caused a dramatic priority shift in the Up Next queue".
Looking forward to seeing what the madlads at Remedy cook up for us next.
ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ sdool ʇᴉ ʇɐɥʇ ʎɐs ǝɯos puɐ
pɐoɹ sᴉɥʇ 'ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ sdool ʇᴉ ʇɐɥʇ ʎɐs ǝɯos puɐ
ǝɯᴉʇ ʎɹǝʌǝ uo noʎ ǝsol ᴉ ʇɐɥʇ pɐoɹ sᴉɥʇ 'ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ sdool ʇᴉ ʇɐɥʇ ʎɐs ǝɯos puɐ
2021
when I played Alan Wake the first time around, I immediately noticed the overt homage/pastiche of Twin Peaks on display, which was honestly the main motivation behind me checking out the game in the first place. this time around, I was floored from realizing how much inspiration Alan Wake also takes from House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, even going so far as to include music from that novel's official companion album). reading that book has been a truly illuminating experience for my extremely niche media taste - it's shown up in as a clear inspo in some of the weirdest and wildest places ever since I found out about it.
for this pre-Alan Wake II refresher playthrough, I went into the experience knowing a bit more about this game's troubled development, and, yeah, you can definitely see the corpse of a truly ambitious open world Deadly Premonition-like game just below the surface of the game we got. some people might dock points for that (something something "unfocused" something something "unfinished"), but I gotta admire the talent that goes into not only salvaging a project with that much ambition but also managing to deliver something so unique and atmospheric in the process. seriously, Alan Wake has some of the most stunning ambiance when you're running headfirst into the oppressively gloomy woods, the safety of the light just out of reach, the sentient darkness thundering louder the farther from the light you run... shit's tense, man, and the flashlight mechanics add a great level of anxiety on top of it all.
one of the things Alan Wake does so extremely right is that its primary collectibles, the manuscript pages, are just the game's written scenario in a jumbled order. going off the critical path might reward you with a vignette of what a side character is experiencing off-screen or maybe a snippet of what's about to unfold later in the episode. it keeps you on your toes and gives you a damn good reason for walking off into the spooky side areas full of ghouls ready to ambush you rather than sticking to the safety of the well-lit road.
I also really loved the remaster's addition of hidden QR codes, each of which links to different "visions" of Alan Wake from Alan Wake II as he prepares to write his return following his departure at the end of this game. it adds an extra layer of insane, nonlinear meta-narrative to an already swirling fever dream of a story filled with strange, disconnected elements - and, dear reader, that kind of thing is just the peanut butter to my jam.
yeah, I hear your criticisms, but I am unmoved: this game rocks because Remedy and Sam Lake know how to write cool stories that keep me engrossed and engaged, and sometimes, that's enough. the blinding light of the creative vision on display is enough to eliminate any shadows of imperfection for me. I mean, seriously, this remaster includes a commentary track mode from Sam Lake himself - when was the last time you played a videogame that included developer commentary? that's cool as hell.
for this pre-Alan Wake II refresher playthrough, I went into the experience knowing a bit more about this game's troubled development, and, yeah, you can definitely see the corpse of a truly ambitious open world Deadly Premonition-like game just below the surface of the game we got. some people might dock points for that (something something "unfocused" something something "unfinished"), but I gotta admire the talent that goes into not only salvaging a project with that much ambition but also managing to deliver something so unique and atmospheric in the process. seriously, Alan Wake has some of the most stunning ambiance when you're running headfirst into the oppressively gloomy woods, the safety of the light just out of reach, the sentient darkness thundering louder the farther from the light you run... shit's tense, man, and the flashlight mechanics add a great level of anxiety on top of it all.
one of the things Alan Wake does so extremely right is that its primary collectibles, the manuscript pages, are just the game's written scenario in a jumbled order. going off the critical path might reward you with a vignette of what a side character is experiencing off-screen or maybe a snippet of what's about to unfold later in the episode. it keeps you on your toes and gives you a damn good reason for walking off into the spooky side areas full of ghouls ready to ambush you rather than sticking to the safety of the well-lit road.
I also really loved the remaster's addition of hidden QR codes, each of which links to different "visions" of Alan Wake from Alan Wake II as he prepares to write his return following his departure at the end of this game. it adds an extra layer of insane, nonlinear meta-narrative to an already swirling fever dream of a story filled with strange, disconnected elements - and, dear reader, that kind of thing is just the peanut butter to my jam.
yeah, I hear your criticisms, but I am unmoved: this game rocks because Remedy and Sam Lake know how to write cool stories that keep me engrossed and engaged, and sometimes, that's enough. the blinding light of the creative vision on display is enough to eliminate any shadows of imperfection for me. I mean, seriously, this remaster includes a commentary track mode from Sam Lake himself - when was the last time you played a videogame that included developer commentary? that's cool as hell.
one of the most pristinely polished games of 2023. there truly ain't no quality control like Nintendo's in-house studios.
it's a little less "next evolution" of 2D Mario than I would've liked, though. outside of the wonder flower segments (which are less varied than I was led to believe), this feels like the fifth New Super Mario Bros. game. which isn't a bad thing: the original NSMB and NSMBU are truly great games for my money. I guess I just expected something a bit more wackier and unpredictable moment-to-moment, though what's there is still wonderfully delightful.
like any mainline Mario game, it's worth playing just to bask in the decades of legendary industry experience seeping from every pixel on screen.
it's a little less "next evolution" of 2D Mario than I would've liked, though. outside of the wonder flower segments (which are less varied than I was led to believe), this feels like the fifth New Super Mario Bros. game. which isn't a bad thing: the original NSMB and NSMBU are truly great games for my money. I guess I just expected something a bit more wackier and unpredictable moment-to-moment, though what's there is still wonderfully delightful.
like any mainline Mario game, it's worth playing just to bask in the decades of legendary industry experience seeping from every pixel on screen.
This review contains spoilers
knew this was gonna be an all-timer the moment when I rocked up to fight Kraven's pre-boss goon squad, fully tweaked out on symbiote juice and presented with something like 40 of the biggest baddest brute bastards that had been giving me hell for the entire first half of this game with their incomprehensible shield and staff movesets, only to immediately activate rage mode and smear those schmucks like paste across the pavement the way a child would smash their action figures together, in about a minute tops, all while Venom's in my ear hyping up the violence like a feral gorilla at wwe superslam
and then, after building Kraven up to be this unstoppable force and immovable object both, roid rage Peter just reduces the fool to a fleshy punching bag while the guy whips out almost pathetically ineffective boss fight gimmicks in a feeble attempt to get even a single hit in on the swirling mass of violence and tendrils that Peter has become, while Venom is all but chanting RIP AND TEAR at this terminal cancer patient with a health bar getting his ass beaten within an inch of his remaining life
and then, after some of the most satisfying and adrenaline-pumping fight sequences of the game thus far thanks to the obscenely overpowered symbiote kit, the perspective shifted and I involuntarily shouted "oh shit" to no one in particular: I didn't just beat the Big Bad, I became the Big Bad. suddenly all of those feeble gimmicks of the previous Kraven fight were actually the best tools in my arsenal as Miles for countering the skittering monster formerly known as Peter that was now darting across the stage and shrieking like a banshee - a creature that I intimately understood could reduce Miles to a fine red mist at a moment's notice if I wasn't tight on that dodge button.
all-fucking-timer.
truly one of the most satisfying adaptations of the black suit saga for me. sure, there's some stuff here that isn't perfect, but I fuckin' love Spider-Man, and I even more specifically love Venom, and this game gave me great incarnations of both. can't wait to see how the things they set up here resolve in the final chapter of the trilogy.
and then, after building Kraven up to be this unstoppable force and immovable object both, roid rage Peter just reduces the fool to a fleshy punching bag while the guy whips out almost pathetically ineffective boss fight gimmicks in a feeble attempt to get even a single hit in on the swirling mass of violence and tendrils that Peter has become, while Venom is all but chanting RIP AND TEAR at this terminal cancer patient with a health bar getting his ass beaten within an inch of his remaining life
and then, after some of the most satisfying and adrenaline-pumping fight sequences of the game thus far thanks to the obscenely overpowered symbiote kit, the perspective shifted and I involuntarily shouted "oh shit" to no one in particular: I didn't just beat the Big Bad, I became the Big Bad. suddenly all of those feeble gimmicks of the previous Kraven fight were actually the best tools in my arsenal as Miles for countering the skittering monster formerly known as Peter that was now darting across the stage and shrieking like a banshee - a creature that I intimately understood could reduce Miles to a fine red mist at a moment's notice if I wasn't tight on that dodge button.
all-fucking-timer.
truly one of the most satisfying adaptations of the black suit saga for me. sure, there's some stuff here that isn't perfect, but I fuckin' love Spider-Man, and I even more specifically love Venom, and this game gave me great incarnations of both. can't wait to see how the things they set up here resolve in the final chapter of the trilogy.
2014
Somehow the exact perfect midpoint between Insomniac's two other prime offerings, Ratchet & Clank and Marvel's Spider-Man, and it definitely feels like a necessary stepping stone for the latter's development in particular.
Has a great aesthetic and soundtrack, but somehow the game just kinda feels undercooked all throughout. Like, this is probably the least polished Insomniac game I've ever played. The moments where the game leans into how stupid and manic and frenetic it all is are where the game truly shines, but in between those moments (usually Insomniac's trademark Mega Set Pieces and Absurd Corporate Satire), the game is strangely... I wanna say "rizzless"? Despite being ostensibly My Shit, it never fully clicked with me.
Yuri Lowenthal was basically carrying this game on his shoulders too: without his charismatic performance, I would find it hard to care at all about anything narrative-wise. Don't think I'll be able to name a single memorable character from this in about a week. I will certainly remember the bizarre surprise celebrity cameo that occurs near the end of the game for seemingly no reason, though.
Anyway, don't mythologize this one like I did due to its elusive platform exclusivity: it's entirely skippable.
Has a great aesthetic and soundtrack, but somehow the game just kinda feels undercooked all throughout. Like, this is probably the least polished Insomniac game I've ever played. The moments where the game leans into how stupid and manic and frenetic it all is are where the game truly shines, but in between those moments (usually Insomniac's trademark Mega Set Pieces and Absurd Corporate Satire), the game is strangely... I wanna say "rizzless"? Despite being ostensibly My Shit, it never fully clicked with me.
Yuri Lowenthal was basically carrying this game on his shoulders too: without his charismatic performance, I would find it hard to care at all about anything narrative-wise. Don't think I'll be able to name a single memorable character from this in about a week. I will certainly remember the bizarre surprise celebrity cameo that occurs near the end of the game for seemingly no reason, though.
Anyway, don't mythologize this one like I did due to its elusive platform exclusivity: it's entirely skippable.
What to expect:
1) a Katamari reference
2) a Metroid reference
3) Brandon Winfrey telling you to subscribe to youtube dot com slash sunset overdrive game
1) a Katamari reference
2) a Metroid reference
3) Brandon Winfrey telling you to subscribe to youtube dot com slash sunset overdrive game
I liked when the comically evil, union-busting oil company executive was reduced to a fine red paste that spells out the word "karma"
2023
This is Jet Set Radio 3 (or, more specifically, Jet Set Radio Future 2), complete with all the jank and baggage that implies. For me though, it was everything I wanted and more. From the moment that the very first in-game needle drop tagged my ears ("let me see you s h a k e t h a t / ASS ASS ASS ASS"), I knew I was in good hands. Now excuse me while I listen to nothin but the Bomb Rush Cyberfunk OST on loop for the foreseeable future.
Happy to report that they do, in fact, make 'em like this anymore, so long as "they" ain't SEGA
Happy to report that they do, in fact, make 'em like this anymore, so long as "they" ain't SEGA
2023
Everybody likes to sling around "this looks like a PS2 game" as a (frankly misplaced) derision, but I propose we start countering with "this feels like a PS2 game" as its positive counterbalance.
For real though, this game's unhinged and wacky corporate satire reminded me of my favorite aspects of the early Ratchet & Clank games, and the feel-good team banter called to mind moments from Sly Cooper and Jak & Daxter. The whole package is just so charming and joyous from top to bottom, and I wish more games approached their subject matter with such gleeful sincerity. I will not soon forget the good vibes of Hi-Fi Rush's main campaign and characters.
And that's saying nothing about the gameplay, which kicks mad ass: think Devil May Cry or Bayonetta mashed with Dance Dance Revolution. Everything is sync'd to the soundtrack (which whips), and the feedback for grooving your inputs to the beat is so goddamn satisfying. Beating the piss out of the game's bosses while some of my favorite Nine Inch Nails tunes pulsed throughout the arenas is as novel as it is awesome.
I hope we see more of this series, or at least this concept, since the whole thing is just a refreshing splash of comedy and fun in the current gaming landscape.
For real though, this game's unhinged and wacky corporate satire reminded me of my favorite aspects of the early Ratchet & Clank games, and the feel-good team banter called to mind moments from Sly Cooper and Jak & Daxter. The whole package is just so charming and joyous from top to bottom, and I wish more games approached their subject matter with such gleeful sincerity. I will not soon forget the good vibes of Hi-Fi Rush's main campaign and characters.
And that's saying nothing about the gameplay, which kicks mad ass: think Devil May Cry or Bayonetta mashed with Dance Dance Revolution. Everything is sync'd to the soundtrack (which whips), and the feedback for grooving your inputs to the beat is so goddamn satisfying. Beating the piss out of the game's bosses while some of my favorite Nine Inch Nails tunes pulsed throughout the arenas is as novel as it is awesome.
I hope we see more of this series, or at least this concept, since the whole thing is just a refreshing splash of comedy and fun in the current gaming landscape.