This Week’s Topics:
Succeed the Reverie or die trying!
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From the dusk-basked Symphony, the lingering Circle in the sky receded. Harmony was soon established, giving away to a brilliant Aria that accompanied the Dawn. Yet upon establishing this new world in a glorious Portrait and bringing Order to the wilds, it all abruptly receded into Shadow, where it languished only to be brought back to life through a most unprecedented Ritual.
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Crank it from the underground to the stars and then back again.
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Bugs are like coconuts. Though they may seem hollow, they’re actually full of sweet sweet milk!
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It’s kind of surreal to be playing a new 2D Metroid game like this. I mean, it’s been 13 years since Zero Mission last scratched that itch, and it’s been a decade since the series had a genuinely good game. Still, after so much clamoring and waiting, a new classic-style entry in the series was finally released. A remake technically, but one so thoroughly rebuilt and reworked that it may as well be an entirely new title. And as a new title, it is good, but not without its faults. (more…)
I feel that I should begin this review with a spiel about how what would have been intricate fan games a few years ago have begun being developed a fully featured and separate titles that, while barring an obvious resemblance to another game or series, are also their own thing and deviate in pretty substantial ways. With Axiom Verge, the general aesthetic and gameplay elements are clearly based around the Metroid series, and more specifically the original 1987 title. However, I don’t really like attaching it to any series, let alone Metroid. Not because it actually transcends the comparison in some respects, which it does, but because it’s bad and I don’t want to associate it with something I like. (more…)
How to best begin… I guess with a history lesson. Momodora is a series of action platformers that have been released since 2010. They gradually grew from a series of freeware games into what is seen here with the fourth entry in the series, Reverie Under the Moonlight. I personally have only played the third game, and I barely remember doing so, but it left enough of an impression on me to gravitate me towards the latest entry. Which also happened to quite noticeably influenced by the Souls series, to the point where I saw people lovingly refer to the game as MomoSouls.
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After over three years of development and total crowdfunded proceeds of nearly one million dollars, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero has finally been released, and I was one of the few thousand people to have backed the project. As such, I’m actually able to release a game review the day it comes out, which will likely never happen again. (more…)
Despite how Ori and The Blind Forest was instantly on my radar the moment I saw it, seeing as how it was shown off as a lavishly beautiful metroidvania game, it’s taken me quite a while to finally play it. It came out, was received well, but I never wound up buying it until over a year later, and after the release of an updated “Definitive” version. My reasoning behind this was that I knew just enough about the game to be worried about whether or not I personally would enjoy it, and for good reason. (more…)
Before I packed up my consoles into a plastic box for what I assume will be a rather long time, Shadow Complex was a game I played annually since its release, always coming away from the title with a smile on my face. As such, I was pretty happy when I heard that the game was going to be released on PC, and quickly got to it and cleared it twice in two successive days. I realize that more praise for a game that is almost universally beloved may be unnecessary, but after writing well over… 200 game reviews, many of which I discarded for quality reasons, this sort of thing becomes a habit. (more…)
I originally planned on opening this review with an anecdote about how the “Indie” movement for the game industry has more or less ended and how the novelty and value of being a game made in terrible personally inflicted conditions means very little unless a publisher picks you up and shows you to the world. The industry in general has a discoverability problem, and when it comes to the fifty games released on Steam every week, it becomes all the worse… Anyways, here’s a game made by the animator for Jazz Jackrabbit. (more…)
Part of me wonders if I have simply become too bitter towards games over the three years I’ve been reviewing them. I truly do want to see the good in all games, but my mind is so fixated on the negatives that I end up seeing so many titles I was genuinely interested in and more than willing to love as simply okay. Even if I am positive towards a game, I often wonder if I was too positive, and gave an opinion that was not accurate to how I truly felt about it. Plus, whenever I go against the general consensus of a game, I can’t help but wonder if I am wrong for holding such an opinion, and perhaps expressed it far too negatively. Anyhow, here’s a review of a stealth released PC port of a sequel to a game that I honestly struggle to determine whether or not I think is all that good. (more…)
Sorry this review took so long to come out, I was distracted by the title I have on the docket for my review after this, and it is a 100+ hour RPG that I assumed was about 50. Also, I have been working full time over the past few weeks, and that has cut down on my game playing time as a result. Regardless, time to talk about a game I adored back when I played it on 3DS. (more…)
If I may be honest, lately I’ve been rather busy with work and been side tracked by school, where I take classes I do not necessarily enjoy… at all really. Seeing as how I no longer spend an entire day in the same building really does lessen any sort of care I have for what I am doing there, as I’m only there from 9:10 to 13:45 two days a week, doing things I really don’t care about. I know they are simply filling out courses, but even the actual content of the class, skill of the instructor’s, site website, and atmosphere all feel like a notable step down from what I did for four years that were filled with so much free time I started this blog. Do I want to go back to that? No, not really, I mostly want to be done and start working four days a week instead of two. Because doing miscellaneous office work for people ten to fifty years older than me is far more enjoyable. That, and I get money for it. (more…)
During the Steam summer sales, five eons ago at this point, I decided to pick up the oft masturbated towards Rogue Legacy and Risk of Rain. Two games of the roguelike genre, which I believed were games without purpose or any real progression, and instead prioritized repetition to obtaining a reward 90% of players can never hope to obtain, as the game is absurdly difficult. That was wrong after playing the the title mentioned in this post’s title, and I actually enjoyed it. Not that I can easily walk away without describing why I felt that feeling, so here’s my book report on a piece of entertainment software. (more…)
I’ll just say upfront that I played the game, got to the area before the final boss… or maybe the area before that- point is, I was near the end and quit playing the game as I was not having a good time with it. That alone summarizes my thoughts about it, but I feel the need to justify my opinions on games in order to have a deviant opinion about them due to my own mental insecurities and sense of loyalty for something I don’t have any investment in beyond how I’ve been doing this too long to give up (I am speaking of the blog you are likely viewing this on). (more…)
Being born in late 1994 and being initially intimidated by video games for reasons that would only be plausible to the mind of a timid little boy, I found myself not too enthralled by a large quantity of older titles. But if I were to make a top ten, or possibly even a top five list of my favorite games of all time, I would certainly place Symphony of the Night up there. With that in mind, asking why I would review a title such as this is a valid question, especially since I did back when I was figuring this reviewing doohickey out. Well, because I didn’t explain why I love it so much properly, which was also the reason for my second Saints Row 2 review. So let the praise flow super duper well without being unconditional! (more…)
I believe that this is an unpopular opinion, and an odd one to come from a person who claims to be planning the purchase of a Playstation Vita this summer, but I really do not like playing on handhelds. It is true that their portability allows for far more versatility in one’s life, especially if they do not have permanent access to a television at home, but when it comes to playing with a controller, I will never consider it anything above a substitute. Yes, the dual screen aspect is nice and touch screens can be keen, but I could just get a dual monitor display running for the former, and a phone for the later. Now then, time to review SteamWorld Dig. Choo-choo! (more…)
