Critical Cycle

The Last of Us released to absurd fanfare in 2013. Quickly compared to Citizen Kane, cited as proof of the storytelling potential of games, and now shifting to proving legacy media's superiority in the TV adaption. Yet, I kind of love it - much of that directed at something that doesn't seem intended by the creators, complicating things further. This is split it into gameplay (mostly the messy melee system) and story (centered on the ending). The Bottom Line  [★ ★★ ★☆ ] Great storytelling execution, solid atmosphere and environmental storytelling, and a fantastic ending. The overall pacing is marred by tedious traversal, and the gameplay is very mixed, some high points but a lot of issues. Left Behind is more intimate, not as hard hitting as the main game but solid storytelling and the arcade is brilliant. Letting you turn infected against other humans is neat, probably the best event / set piece style content in the package. Game Methods I played the remaster in Novembe...

One of my favorite kinds of games are ones that take a genre I have little interest in, buried deep in simulationist convention, and proves there is potential for pure arcade-y mechanical excellence. Stripping away components that only serve to emulate reality, interrogating what purpose they each have for the game's dynamics, and coming out the other end with something that feels like it comes from a completely different time or place. It's similar to the pursuit of minimalism , but more-so the removal of maximalism than trying to minimize the things that actually work into their most basic forms. Note that the examples of genres/games I don't like may not be super accurate because I haven't played them much. I've got some blind spots like RTS that I'd like to work on but if things go according to plan I will never touch FIFA again, so feel free to correct any mischaracterization. Super Monkey Ball vs racing games Racing games are like speedrunning a really ea...

<< 2021 | 2023 >> This year has been a bit of a mess, moving a dozen times which makes for a fractured look back. It makes me appreciate how rich and beautiful the world is though, seeing so many different environs. Here's a playlist of songs I liked this year to go along with the lists. Best Games Selected from all the games I enjoyed this year . Felt like I didn't play that many games but this is the most decked out it's been since I started doing these rundowns. To think last year I had to pick a single-star chump that got the honor of 10th place, but now I'm having to cut multiple two-stars. 1. Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye (PC) More contained and focused on physical riddles than the base game, with layers of meaning to everything you discover. Every leap of logic not being obvious enough to predict, but not so obscure as to be unintuitive makes for organic linear progression. Read my review of the whole game ! 2. Elden Ring ...

I've long wanted to try out some of these console-centric franchises and games, but ended up not being a big fan of them overall. Each had its individual charms, but some problems too. I'll make some general points about Ace Combat Zero to return and compare to the first two Star Wars: Rogue Squadron games, and then Star Fox 64. I'd like to play some more similar games (Panzer Dragoon), but don't think it changes much about the core points here. Ace Combat Zero: The Balkan War (PS2) The controls for flight are nice, particularly leaning to turn just feels cool. Similar to set-up turns in racing games (turning left a bit before a sharp right turn to make it less sharp), it's a small bit of extra complexity without much of a tradeoff, but worthwhile for its nuance and how intuitive it is. Beyond that though, I really don't like the gameplay and a great soundtrack can't carry it. The structure, objectives and combat are a mess, and disparate elements don...

<< 2020 | 2022 >> As last year, but not quite as bad, maybe. I did at least start this blog, even if I only published like a quarter of the posts I've had in mind. I finally played SMB, as well as giving the original SMB a better go, and also replayed SMB. If you're not sure what to name a game, that's a pretty solid acronym to start with! I continued my quest to play some classic arcade games which is my favorite backlog project I've done (also by far the biggest which may be why). I got into visual novels and detective games a bit, which are tricky due to how much longer it takes to determine the quality of narrative compared to other aspects, plus storytelling standards in gaming are awful as always . I also started seriously watching films, which has been a lot easier to navigate, and have added a list of non-games at the end to get a bit personal and that jazz. Here's a playlist of songs I liked this year to go along with the lists...