Finished:
Link's Awakening (NS) [Finished February 28th, 2020] - Rating: N/A
Final Fantasy VII (NS) [Finished March 16th, 2020] - Rating: N/A
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen (PC) [Finished April 14th, 2020] - Rating: 8.2 - Great
Parasite Eve (ePSXe) [Finished April 23rd, 2020] - Rating: 7.8 - Really Good
Metroid: Zero Mission (VisualBoyAdvance) [Finished May 5th, 2020] - Rating: 8.8 - Great
Bioshock Remastered (PS4) [Finished May 11th, 2020] - Rating: 6.2/10 - Good
Star Wars: Republic Commando (PC) [Finished May 14th, 2020] - Rating: 7.5 - Really Good
Halo: Combated Evolved Anniversary (Replay) (PC) [Finished May 17th, 2020] - Rating: 9.2 - Amazing
Okami HD (NS) [Finished June 11th, 2020] - Rating: 6.5 - Good
Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (NS) [Finished June 17th, 2020] - Rating 9.1 - Amazing
Hollow Knight (NS) [Finished July 5th, 2020] - Rating 8.8 - Great
Castlevania (NS) [Finished July 20th, 2020] - Rating 8.8 - Great:
It's probably cheating giving this the same score as the two other side-scrolling action games on my list, but this game is great for very different reasons. The enemy placements, spacing and timing of the whip, as well as the verticality of the level design makes for an action title where every attack is almost equivalent to a commitment to a risky jump in a platforming game. As much about placement and movement as it is about timing your attacks correctly, a very fascinating and addictive gameplay system is born as a result. I'd almost call it more of a platformer. It helps that it's accompanied by catchy tunes and a visual style which is pleasantly detailed whilst still maintaining enough of the NES abstraction to make some of the more ridiculous concepts look cool. Only thing I'd say against it is that I'd prefer slightly more economical designs for the last two bosses (similar to something like Hollow Knight) rather than what we got, not saying they aren't fair because they absolutely are, but it sort of just becomes much easier and practical to use items to exploit them. That's fine, they are part of the games mechanics and are a huge reason why the title so lovable (stuff like freezing time to skip entire combat sections and move on to new stages in the last level is amazing), but I also can't help but think how cool it would be to defeat them on more even merits. Guess I could do a challenge run sometime.
Paper Mario (Project64) [Finished July 22nd, 2020] - Rating 8.2 - Great:
Addresses alot of the criticisms I have of the JRPG genre (from what I've experienced). It's relatively short, has an efficient battle system that is easily mastered but also easily and harshly punishes players for making mistakes, uses clean small numbers, gives the player choices for different builds (which may all stay relatively similar but you can easily see just by the kind of leveling system that is at play that they will differentiate enough), it doesn't even have any particularly weak chapter, as they all maintain similar levels of quality. The badge system is amazing and a good way to give the player rewards for exploration and side quests. Problems start creeping in the longer you play though. There is like, no attention paid to partners as some kind of interesting cast. They are almost all boring and generic, and really rely on the designs more than any individual story or character quirks - which in and of themselves aren't that different from the basic designs of their species already. It's all a bit too minimalist, which is a weird thing to say about a Mario game, let alone a Mario game that cuts out a lot of the filler of the genre it takes place in. But I would have been ok with more filler if it meant sharper writing, more jokes, more character moments. Why would you have something as cool as the setup of Bow's character only to never comment on it for the rest of the story. Every area has a cool setup, a backstory, but they are just backdrops and nothing of note really happens in them later on after you've got the basic gist. This game forgets to be comedic most of the time, and when it does try to deliver a joke it usually comes off more like exposition of basic plot points than anything. It honestly got annoying too going to places that had cool creatures only to get shit like, a fucking fish and a light bulb with a pacifier as partners. In areas where you see Yoshi's and Shy Guys, this is what you give me? Really Nintendo? The Shy Guys in the game literally had the best enemy variation designs in the entire game! Why can't I have one as a partner? I'd be fine with having half the partners if it meant more depth, a lot of them aren't even useful throughout most of the game. It's all just a little too paper thin for me, especially given how ambitious the game can try to be (specifically it's use of dual narrative), but I say this despite thinking it's genuinely great. The battle and leveling system is always something I'll look back on with high praise, and it's aesthetic is fantastic, especially when it hits its peak in Chapter 6. Just can get super repetitive and tedious in some play sessions. Might recommend playing one chapter every day, or even every other day, if someone wanted to get the maximum enjoyment out of it.
Also has the most consistent soundtrack I've ever heard in gaming ... it's so amazing and really elevates the overall experience:
And last, but most certainly not least, possibly my favorite track, one that makes me kind of depressed and sad in a nostalgic way ...
So yea, it's an ok soundtrack.
