Game Journals

This is the best modern boomer shooter hands down. It’s incredibly satisfying from the low-fi design, sound design, level design, really everything you could want in a “heres all the pieces, now get to the ending” kind of game like this. tldr Ratings: First Time Playing Yes Play Time 17hrs Difficulty Hard/Expert 100% Completion No (didnt get all ore pieces) Fun 8 / 10 Satisfying Combat 9 / 10 Jank 2 / 10 Mechanics If I had any comparison, I’d say this game is most like Quake 2 in design, both from the verticality/environment puzzles and its weapon design. You get the weapon staples like shotguns, better-than-normal shotguns, plasma rifles, railguns, etc and every enemy has a weapon or strategy to take it out quickly. Once you understand this flow and how to fast-switch weapons on the fly, it gets INCREDIBLY satisfying with the feedback you get thrown back to you. ...

[Doomworld link] GZDoom Pistol Start UV (Ultra Violence with 99% Kills) Saves allowed, but frowned upon A fun one map WAD with the idea of impossible places. Very MC Escher inspired. Essentially a LOT of trickery with silent teleporters to loop you around impossible spaces and create infinite hallways. Combat-wise I thought it was very balanced, except for the last fight with the Cyberdemon in the maze/hall of mirrors, I think that was too much. Espeically considering he could just appear in front of you without any warning at all. ...

[Doomworld link] GZDoom Pistol Start UVMAX (Ultra Violence with All Kills and Secrets) Saves allowed, but frowned upon tldr; 27 Maps that mimic the mapping style of original Doom levels, its very only okay compared to more modern WADs to me Map reviews E1M1 0 Deaths. Spent most of the time trying to find secrets. For E1M1 there’s a bit too many linedef door open secrets but I eventually found my way without trouble. ...

[Doomworld link] GZDoom Pistol Start UVMAX (Ultra Violence with All Kills and Secrets) Saves allowed, but frowned upon tldr; 32 Map Megawad where they take modern map design philosophies and mix it with old school assets and simple geometry design. Every map is short and easy digestible and it’s fantastic. Map reviews MAP01-03 0 Deaths. Pretty easy so far, and by easy I mean I completed them without much hassle. I’ll say that the secrets can definitely carry the level in your favour, which is what they should be. Finding a random soulsphere or Rocket Launcher that can help you deal with a bunch of Hell Knights later is definitely great secret design. ...

Okay I’ll just say it straight up out in front, this is as good as any modern 3D platformer like Hat in Time or Yooka Laylee. Hell Pie going right for the Conker approach and doing in your face adult humor combined with a really unique aesthetic and movement mechanics make this a hard recommend from me. tldr Ratings: First Time Playing Yup Play Time 14hrs Difficulty N/A 100% Completion Yes, aside from costumes Fun 9 / 10 Crude Humor 10 / 10 Jank 3 / 10 Hell Pie is a collectathon platformer that is not unlike something like Banjo-Kazooie, Super Mario 64, Yooka Laylee, Hat in Time, etc, but what it most compares to is Conker’s Bad Fur Day. I don’t want to give away too much of the characters/jokes because that is half the fun, but I’ll give you the jist of what makes the game great. ...

This game (like Toree 3D) is all about going for that low poly exploring platforming aesthetic, and it does it really well! Super Kiwi obviously goes more towards the N64 side, and I think it hits it really well! tldr Ratings: First Time Playing Yup Play Time 45mins Difficulty N/A 100% Completion No Fun 6 / 10 Bird Fun 8 / 10 Jank 3 / 10 Where Toree 3D was more about getting to the end of the level, Super Kiwi 64 is more about a non-linear open ended approach. You are slapped into a level and can do any of the ‘objectives’ in any order you want, similar to something like Super Mario 64 or Banjo Kazooie. The controls are very simple, you can jump, glide, attack, and stick your nose into walls and climb things infinitely (similar to the woodpecker ability in Super Mario Odyssey). ...

This game is all about low poly platforming, and that’s literally it, well sort of. It’s very short, clocking in an under an hour, but it’s also $2 or under, so what do I expect. tldr Ratings: First Time Playing Yup Play Time 40mins Difficulty N/A 100% Completion No Fun 7 / 10 Cute dudes 10 / 10 Jank 4 / 10 It’s a really simple game, you can jump and double jump across 9 levels. The game is HEAVILY based around the PS1/N64 low poly aesthetic, more towards early PS1 games. It reminded me most of Croc or Spyro most of the time. For what in reality is an itch.io game, it’s way better than it has any right to be and definitely can hold it’s own. ...

I first played Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed (which I’m now just going to call Sonic Racing Transformed for my own sanity from now on) years ago around when it first came out and was blown away. The sense of speed, the bright/colorful aesthetic, the homeage to a TON of Sega franchises really sets it apart. In my opinion Sega Racing Transformed is what Mario Kart should have evolved into years ago. Lots of different game modes, lots of variety of tracks, not limited to just Sonic inspiration, and a great focus on mechanics and making sure you’re having the most fun for entire ride. ...

I’ll start by saying I don’t really like Pikmin. I mean I think the concept itself is really dynamic and unique, but I think the ‘permadeath’ and the pressure, and I never really had it growing up made any kind of playthroughs seem like a slog for me. Like in Pikmin, you have a small army where each color of Pikmin is a different gimmick, and you have to utilize them to carry objects back to your base by solving puzzles and beating bosses. The bosses ugh. I think the combat in Pikmin games is what really never worked for me. You’re just throwing around dudes vaguely towards a boss and hoping they dont die, then call them back in repeat. ...

So for Control I went into it almost completely blind. I knew it was a game about a woman with powers that flung things around, but I had no idea what to expected other than that. I actually thought she was some sort of test specimen and trying to get out of the facility was going to be ’the thing’ of the game, but it was the complete opposite. ...