FunkyBoi

Playing through the game start to finish, I still can't say what kind of experience Alan Wake wants to be. The opening sequence is strong, building tension gradually during the tutorial and expanding it through the first chapter. I felt genuinely unsettled in the opening hour of the game, and the mechanics lent themselves greatly to the tension. Alan Wake's main gameplay gimmick, wherein the player needs to train a spotlight on enemies for a long enough time before they become vulnerable, is likely the main reason why this game became such a cult classic title after release. It creates an interesting game flow, wherein the player constantly has to juggle their torchlight in addition to their ammunition, whilst often being swarmed by multiple enemies from different directions. I especially appreciated how each bullet would need to be reloaded individually, as this makes the player feel especially vulnerable when they're out of bullets in a firefight, and really aids in the tension.

Mario Kart 8 just feels so damn good to play, and I still can't figure out why. It's become one of my most played games on the switch and I still don't understand how or when it got there, there's something about just slipping into a trance while you make all the familiar corners, hit all the mini-turbos and tricks, and adapt on the fly to the RNG insanity that characterises the experience. It's fun solo, as a local multiplayer, or even online, and is easily a must have for switch owners.

Mario Party is great, because I can play it with my family and friends who don't play video games, and still have a great time. Who would've thought that the game titled 'Mario Party' makes for a fantastic party game. This is the first Mario Party I've actually bought and owned, so I can't speak to it's quality in comparison to previous titles, but I will say that the minigames mostly feel really fun and exciting when you're playing with friends. I will say I would never play this game solo, so that may be a detriment depending on what your intention for the game is, but I think it's one of those games that it's best to own, just to have something to entertain guests when you're bumming around at home.

This game was alright. Owing to the fact that the majority of my childhood was dominated by Pokemon, I find myself craving a Pokemon fix every few months or so. I had already finished the Sword base game, so I decided to purchase the expansion pass and see what they had to offer. The isle of armor expansion pass seemed pretty barebones, it had some pokemon that I liked, but I don't really feel as though it deserves credit for including those at this pricepoint. Crown Tundra was better, the legendary dens were a cool concept and I liked the battle-factory style of picking pokemon and battling through to the end, but apart from that it was just another wild area crammed full of pokemon. This time I also decided to breed and build a competitive team, and honestly I think teambuilding has quickly become my favourite part of the game, although the version exclusives are really annoying to come by now that the game has passed into the later stage of its life cycle.

This is the first switch game that I feel really benefits from the portability of the console. The snappy, instantaneous, twitch-skill gameplay is so incredibly suited to and benefited by short play sessions, either on the bus or in the 15 minutes before leaving the house. And everything about the game just oozes creative flavor. The majority of the minigames are totally obsurd and a spectacle for the eyes, and the characters have so much lovable charm and personality, not to mention the banging score. Really fun game, I'll need to pick it up now and again just for fun.

This game has been a part of my life ever since I first downloaded steam as a 12 year old kid. It was my first ever PC game besides Minecraft, but unlike Minecraft I find myself consistently returning to it, and being welcomed by amazing updates and a better game. This time I'm running a playthrough with some friends online, and we've been having an absolute blast playing through on expert mode. This game has been and always will be a 10 for me.

I feel comfortable leaving this game a 5/10, because I love the franchise, the aesthetics, the characters and the stories that it tells. But none of these are unique to this particular Persona experience, P5 and P5R had all of these in spades, but what separates them from this spin-off is the gameplay. This is probably my first and last warriors type game. The combat was simultaneously too much and not enough at the same time. When I play character action games, I look for expressive combat options that allow me to physically express my mastery of a character. Bayonetta and DmC are the gold standard in this respect, and I've sunk hundreds of cumulative hours into those franchises, but this game just didn't have that. I found the combo style and variety to be severely lacking, and overly complicated by the horde of characters and mechanics thrust onto you at the start. Perhaps I came into this game in the wrong mindset, and if I ever come back to it I'll be sure to update my score accordingly, but so far it hasn't exactly been what I expected.

Everything I've ever wanted and looked for in fighting games, minus a few gripes with the character designs. I love the pacing of the matches, the options afforded to you on defence and on offence, the heavy focus on aerial movement and positioning, and the flashy gameplay. I'm probably going to play this game until I die, catch me in the old person's home running sets with the nurses.

I came to this game from Monster Hunter: Rise, and to be frank I really wish I hadn't. The pacing of this game just wasn't what I was looking for, I fully understand the appeal of the slow combat and taking time to prepare for each hunt, but the game itself just felt slow and tedious in all the ways I appreciated the least. I loved MHR for the thrilling, fast paced combat, and how smoothly each hunt ends up playing out, but MHW:I felt as though each hunt went for a little too long, and there were a lot more quests that seemed to be intended as time sinks rather than meaningful gameplay.

I played this game with my partner. We really enjoyed playing the Wolf Among Us together, I think in large part due to the fact that she knew and adored the source material, so we decided to try this one together as well. Although the game holds up well in terms of storytelling, it wasn't enough to hold our engagement as the Wolf Among Us had, so for now I'm leaving my score at a tentative 5/10. If we happen to come back and play the game again, I'll be certain to update my score accordingly.

This game is fantastic. It'd been a few years since I'd played chapter one, so to celebrate the release of the second chapter I went back and played both consecutively. The game is so consistent, in its storytelling, its variable gameplay, and of course the soundtrack. I fell in love with every character, to the point that I caught myself genuinely concerned for their wellbeing on numerous occasions. The narrative is certainly the game's forte, so if you enjoy games with a strong narratives and lovable characters this is certainly for you. This is not to say that the gameplay isn't good, far from it. It is encouraged by the game that conflict be dialogue based rather than simply dealing damage numbers jrpg style, which often has heartwarming or humorous results that really reward the player for taking the kinder route. This mixed with the light bullet-hell mechanics that determine the outcome of the players defence, as well as being scattered throughout the rest of the game, ensure that the player is well entertained with a balance of engaging story and engaging combat throughout the whole experience. Toby Fox has also chosen to make both of these chapters completely free, in light of the covid-19 pandemic, so if this appeals to you I see absolutely no reason not to pick this game up and give it a go. I can't wait to support the full, paid release of the next three chapters.

Minecraft will always hold a special place in my heart, the game practically dictated my life from ages 12-14, and I've always found myself coming back to it as a social experience. Having not touched the game for well over 3-4 years, I came back to play it with my girlfriend, and we both had a good time. It's always fun to muck about on the overworld, build a house, and go mining for diamonds and treasure. There was a wealth of new content added since I last played, which was exciting to discover together with my partner, but we burned out of stuff we wanted to do after a week or two with the game, which has generally been my experience in the past. Still, a solid game with lots to mess about with, and a great backdrop for socialising with others.

I can see the appeal, but I can't bring myself to enjoy it. I've generally been more of an airdasher enthusiast when it comes to fighting games, but SFV has intrigued me for quite a while, so I figured I'd pick it up, and I have to say, I do completely understand the appeal it has. The footsies in this game are second to none when it comes to the current generation of fighting games, and it lends itself to a really calculating moment to moment decisionmaking process, as you navigate one another's hitboxes, and attempt to set up spacing traps for the sweet counterhit confirms. That said, the netcode is certainly issue, and markedly impacted my enjoyment of the game. There were a lot of matches that were borderline unplayable, even on a wired connection with only the best connections being accepted, which was exacerbated by the relative sluggishness of a lot of the characters. The poor netcode, combined with the input lag and the slow nature of a lot of anti-air options, made dealing with netcode jump-ins a total nightmare. It felt awful to have some games where my opponent and I were on great connections, and were able to enjoy that solid footsies core, but most of the time I was essentially guessing how many times the opponent was going to jump in, as any attempt to stuff out this barebones option was just too slow to come out on reaction. The same goes for throws. I felt as though even though I had reacted that the throw was out, a lot of times the combined input lag would be such that i'd get thrown before my tech could come out. This even happened late into some of my predictions too, not just the reactions. Netcode aside, I didn't really appreciate how minimal the movement options were in this game. Even the characters with less movement options felt pretty limited in terms of what they were capable of. Movement has always been a huge part of why I enjoy fighting games, hence why I'm drawn to airdashers like Melty and Gear, so to not have that wealth of options just didn't sit right with me. Overall, I get what the fuss is about, and I'm glad i gave the game a shot, but I think I'll stick to more fast-paced fighters for now.

Monster Train was one of those games I ended up playing far more than I had anticipated. I enjoy the direction they've taken with the deck-builder roguelike, allowing the player to develop the most insane, game-breaking synergies within their deck, while simultaneously dishing out a challenge to make that synergy feel necessary. The two-faction decks add such a wealth of replayability to the game as well. I was pleasantly surprised by all of the interesting combinations and synergies I was able to create, regardless of which teams I picked for the run. The decision-making outside of combat was fun too, really clear options made it feel as though I had a lot of agency in deciding what I needed most and attaining it, which once again felt important considering the severity of the challenge this game can present. I'm partial to a deckbuilding roguelike, and this game did not disappoint. I'd definitely recommend it to fans of the genre.

Decent game, but not my thing. I didn't really care for the story, it felt a little too Disney for my tastes, and unfortunately there isn't any option to skip cutscenes, so in the cutscene heavy segments I found myself zoning out completely. I didn't like the direction they took with the combat, a lot of abilities felt quite lacklustre, and even though swapping between them has been improved upon greatly from the previous entry, doing so in combat felt pointless, as most enemies put up very little fight (on normal difficulty) and were better suited to be dispatched with my best, most upgraded abilities. The devs shifted the focus from platforming-heavy to a balance between combat and platforming, which I didn't appreciate, mainly because I found the strength of Ori's gameplay to lie in its platforming, and despite a wealth of platforming challenges, I wish there were a lot more, especially the exciting boss platforming sequences. The visuals are indeed stunning, there are some great environments to explore here, but the wispy, fantasy soundtrack really started to grate on me. Once again, the light fantasy aesthetic has never been my cup of tea, so I acknowledge personal bias here, but I really tired of the overall atmosphere of the game. All in all I thoroughly enjoyed the platforming, but I found the rest of the package really didn't click with me. I still congratulate the devs on their creation, and would still recommend others to play it, particularly if you enjoy the lighthearted fantasy theming of the game, just wasn't for me.

I absolutely love No More Heroes as a franchise. On paper the games make no sense, and you can easily find numerous flaws with the game itself, be it the empty open world or the tedium of the activities containted within it. But none of that matters when it comes to No More Heroes 3. The game just oozes style, to the point where everything and anything I would do would feel delightful. I don't think it has the musicla score of No More Heroes 2, although some tracks do hold up, nor did I enjoy the gameplay variety as much as I did in NMH2, but it feels as though Suda51 and the team took all their ideas from NMH1, and polished them to perfection before releasing it on a new console. I will say I certainly recommend playing with motion controls. NMH as a franchise never quite measured up to other contemporary hack n slash titans like Bayonetta or DMC when it came to combo variety and mechanical depth, but it has always excelled at providing a visceral and engaging experience despite that, making up for it with style and flavour, and the act of doing the motions for all of Travis' coolest attacks absolutely accentuated the experience for me. You're gonna like this game if you like Suda51. If you don't like Suda's games it may not be for you, so I'd advise you do a little research and see if this is the type of thing to appeal to you. Overall a solid experience that didn't quite live up to its predecessor for me, but was absolutely worth playing regardless.

Fez was just not a game for me, although I can understand why it has received the praise it has. I wasn't overly engaged with the platforming. Once the novelty of the perspective-shifting mechanic had worn off, I found moving Gomez to be painfully slow, which honestly dissuaded me from exploring as much as I might've if it were more fluid and enjoyable. I thought some of the puzzle ideas really complemented the core perspective-shifting mechanics, but some of the more vague, 'extra' puzzles simply didn't interest me enough to encourage my sticking around or traversing the world in order to properly understand them, which once again wasn't helped by how slow moving from location to location can be. I found moving between stages and maps to be quite a convoluted process as well. It was all exciting the first time I went through a new door, but trying to find that same door to backtrack for a puzzle or secret 3 days later was an arduous process of trial and error, and once again, only made more painful by how slow Gomez moved through the world. I've never been the greatest enthusiast of collect-a-thon type games, and whilst the core gimmick was enough to draw me in for the initial experience, it wasn't enough to keep me engaged through to the end. Once again, not a bad game by any means, just not my cup of tea.

Baba is you is the most creative yet truest-of-form puzzle game I've played to date. I'm well familiar with both 2d and 3d puzzle platformers the likes of Inside, Limbo, Portal and so forth, but I've never really found myself drawn to a puzzle game with a sole focus on the puzzles. Baba is You is puzzles for puzzle lovers, that's all it wants to be and that's all it needs to be. I like taking on maybe one or two puzzles per day, inbetween busywork or just to wind down. The inventive core puzzle mechanic of building and breaking code-like rules provides a wealth of potential for new and innovative mechanics, both in the introduction of new ideas or building upon old ones, which is what any good puzzle game should seek to create.

I am totally obsessed with this game and will likely continue to be obsessed for months, if not years. I've always wanted to get into fighting games, in the past I dabbled casually in Street Fighter IV and V, Skullgirls, Dragon Ball Fighterz, and Granblue Fantasy, but I never quite got in at the right time to be able to learn them properly. Fighting games are really strengthened by the complexity they allow in competitive play, but this complexity can also feel like an insurmountable obstacle to an unexperienced player, particularly a complete newbie. Strive refines the format down to the essentials, which is not to say it's easy, far from it, just the quantity of information required to be learned by the player to actually engage with the game has been lessened dramatically. I got in on day one of the pre-release, and have been steadily learning and growing as the game itself grows and develops, and I can easily say it was one of the best gaming decisions I ever made. I'm now hopelessly enthralled in the fighting game community, and knowing all that I know now, I'm confident in branching out into other titles as they release. Absolutely recommend this title to anyone like me, who has always been interested but never felt truly capable of breaching this complex yet rewarding genre.

A really polished and stylistically incredible beat 'em up game. I really love the diversity in the characters and the surprising depth to the game's mechanics. There's room to just mess around with friends in the forgiving story mode, or go incredibly in depth and really challenge yourself with other modes. The levels are well thought out, with great combinations of enemy waves in creative settings, and most if not all level gimmicks are really enjoyable, even on repeat playthroughs. I've played through the game numerous times, and no matter how much time passes I always find myself coming back. I wouldn't be surprised if I came back again in a month or so to finish playing through with all the characters, that is if I don't end up doing it tomorrow. I think fans of the beat 'em up genre have been starved for content of such a high quality, and I'd recommend it wholeheartedly to action game fans.

Absolute masterpiece. This game is a masterwork in narrative storytelling, and utilises the video-game medium to accomplish it with impeccable finesse. The story is utterly compelling from start to finish, there are always stories and side stories for the player to get entirely lost in, with innate moments of satisfaction when the player is able to follow the threads and put pieces together to resolve a number of mysteries. The art is gorgeous, absolutely stunning. It's been a long time since I've seen such beautiful aesthetics. Character portraits all have this hand-painted look to them, to the point where I would happily frame and hang any one of them on my wall, and the style only gets better from there. The artworks for thoughts and skills are gorgeous, and I never once got tired of admiring them even throughout my roughly 30 hour playthrough. The voice acting really brought the excellently-written characters to life, especially the voice actors for your inner monologues. These monologues were by far my favourite part of the game, such a novel and innovative idea used so well to inform your decisions and give you a sense of how the mind of this eccentric decetive functioned to allow him to solve cases. Gameplay is everything a game in the mystery genre needs it to be. Besides the character-building, tied to the DnD like dice-roll checks for certain actions, the dialogue itself is the main focus of the experience. Characters have rich backstories and build the world around you in a compelling fashion, and oftentimes the player is rewarded for remembering these facts or clues and tying them together. I also enjoy the way the game handles failure. Sometimes, the wrong dialogue option can have severe consequences, and you really feel the weight of each individual failure, but despite this the game encourages you to press on. I didn't once use save-scumming to go back and retry my failures, and I can definitively say that no failure made me feel as though I'd lost completely, rather adding an even greater depth of flavour to the experience and the end result. I'm infatuated with this game, and I eagerly await what Za/um studios has to come next. Perfect.

I wish I could give this game a higher score, but I'm unable to do so in good moral conscience. The game itself would serve as a fantastic introduction to the MOBA genre, with matches more simplified and concise than other MOBAs on market, allowing the player to grasp the core concept of the game and the genre at large quite intuitively. The introduction of chooseable movesets and item builds in the pre-game lobby lends an interesting depth to the strategy of the game, and having it done at the start of the game removes a lot of the tedium of menu navigation during the games themselves. However, as has been stated by numerous users before me, the predatory monetisation and addiction tactics clearly utilised by the company are morally deplorable, particularly given Pokemon's appeal with younger audiences and the accessibility of the game itself allowing for young audiences to participate in the game. The game is rife with monetarily complex and predatory micro-transactions, be it for new Pokemon to play, new cosmetics, or even the aforementioned items which provide a direct advantage for any players seeking to play the game more competitively. To heavily monetise a game without any regulations or age requirements is completely irresponsible, and quite frankly revolting. I've long since lost faith in the Pokemon company's commitment to publishing quality products rather than relying solely on the appeal of the branding, but to see them stoop to such blatant levels of money-grubbery disgusts me to a point I can't ignore, and I'm inclined not to support the game at all. I only hope the negative backlash might prompt the Pokemon company and Tencent to make more ethical adjustments to their monetisation scheme, as a truly welcoming and enjoyable game does still exist beneath it all.

I'm struggling to rate this game on a scale of 1-10. The gameplay itself is seamless, decisions are all impactful, there is room for a great depth of strategising and planning on behalf of the player, all of which is fantastic from a strategy game perspective. As a rogue-like, however, I find the replayability of the game less persuasive. Most of the starting builds themselves are entirely unique, which is a great positive, but the lack of diversity in upgrades and builds eventually led me to feel as though I was being shoe-horned into one specific playstyle with each starting build, particularly given the relative weakness of some builds compared to others. Some builds allowed great freedom and creativity in the ways the player was able to tackle puzzles, whilst others felt quite underequipped to deal with many of the challenges at hand, particularly low-damage high-disruption builds which rely more heavily on enemy AI and movements rather than player decisions. I enjoyed the game, but I wasn't absorbed into endless cycles of replay as I have been with other compelling rogue-likes such as Hades or Dicey Dungeons. I'd certainly recommend the game to fans of the strategy genre, but I would be hesitant to recommend it for those solely interested in picking up a new rogue-like.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

This game is exceptional. It knows exactly what it wants to deliver; spectacular visuals with a beautiful accompanying score to create moments of breathtaking awe, and it delivers these in spades. This game will probably not appeal to those looking for a more traditional 'gamey' experience, but for those willing to experiment with or actively seeking to engage in videogaming as an art form, the emotive capacity and the strength of its vision are not to be missed. The experience of this game reminded me of the feeling I would get the first time I watched an old Pixar or Ghibli film: pure childlike wonder.

Amazing storytelling as per usual from a provenly consistent studio. The action sequences all hit their beat, the gameplay was varied, and the settings were enthralling. Best action experience I've had to date.

Another solid release from a provenly capable studio. TL;DR: Slow to start, but definitely worth your time. To be honest, I considered dropping Pathless during the first hour or two of play, but I'm incredibly glad I didn't. The game steadily built on all of it's mechanics, making each area feel fuller than the previous one. The puzzles went from relatively simple to innovative and refreshing, and the boss battles improved exponentially, leading to an incredible final climax. The best aspect of the game has to be the movement system. My main problem with most large-scale open or semi-open world games is always traversal. In most games, traversing large maps can be hugely monotonous, and easily begins to feel like a chore after the first 30 minutes or so. This was not the case in Pathless. The talisman boost system rewards the player for mastering the game's fundamental mechanics with a superbly satisfying movement system, the complexity and possibility for mastery of which only grows as the game continues. I'm incredibly happy with the way they implemented this, and hope more games take inspiration from this hands-on approach to world traversal. Overall I wish the earlier levels of the game were a bit more involved, both puzzle mechanic and movement-skill wise, as I fear some players may lose patience as I nearly did, but I'm really glad the way the rest of the game unfolded.

Inside was a really interesting game. The puzzle mechanics felt a little hit or miss, some segments had me totally hooked and really interested in what was to come next, but others did feel somewhat slow, and prompted me to try to rush through them. I think the overall aesthetic of the game was fantastic, there were some fantastic thematic moments scattered throughout, and I was really invested in discovering the world in which the game was set. Overall, the game gets top marks from me as a narrative piece, but the puzzle mechanics, whilst certainly novel and intriguing at times, left me wanting a little by the end.

Very unique and interesting experience! Everhood is eccentric and downright strange in all the right ways. First is the aesthetic. Whilst some may be quick to pass it off as an 'Undertale clone' or something of the like, the game does some really interesting things with the perspective and art that provide a stunning visual spectacle at times. The gameplay is really fun and innovative. I played through the game on Hard difficult, and besides some of the 'secret fights' which were incredibly challenging, the main story experience felt incredibly well balanced, with a steady difficulty curve that never felt unfair or undoable. The music is certainly one of the game's strongest suits, and I found myself humming numerous songs even after I'd put the game down. Lastly, the narrative provided many thought-provoking questions, and I found myself really engaging and reflecting on some of the questions asked explicitly or implicitly by the game's story. I'd recommend this game to anyone who enjoys narrative-driven games, or anyone who enjoys a good videogame soundtrack.

Amazing gameplay. The monsters are well designed, the weapons feel satisfying to wield, and the pacing is excellent, even when grinding for materials. There's a steady, underlying sense of progression that permeates the entire experience, whether it be improving one's gear or improving one's gameplay, which made the game feel fulfilling throughout. Although the story and characters were a little barebones and cliche, the strength of the core gameplay loops kept me thoroughly hooked all the way to the credits, and an extra 120+ hours beyond that. The music is fantastic, especially some of the monster-specific themes, and the UI is incredibly intuitive to navigate. Monster Hunter Rise is quite a complex game, and although the in-game tutorials were well-spread out and quite informative, there is still quite a bit of onus on the individual to go the extra mile and do some out-of-game study in order to explore the full extent of the game's systems and weapon mechanics. I wholeheartedly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys mechanically deep, action RPGs.