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edit: holy jesus why did the stars get so big
edit: holy jesus why did the stars get so big
This sentence stood out to me a little bit in your review. Now, Automata is my 3rd favourite game of all time and yes, I do consider it to be a bit more significant and meaningful in its theme explorations than XC3. But I think thereās some similarities between how the two games tell their stories. XC3 is heavy-handed and on-the-nose and sort of maximalist, and fires on all cylinders. (Some people say itās āanimeā, and I think that that is a bit of a simplistic catch-all) And I think Automata does the same. Itās all fairly one-note and spelled out. (All thatās missing is 9S screaming āI AM ANGRY!ā in the second part of the game) so while I think it has the better story, I still think that one can criticise the way it is told in the same way one can criticise XC3.
And that is why I love them so much because Iām all in on overly maximal narratives. I just personally donāt vibe much with nuance and subtlety and prefer to have everything spelled out. (That is sort of something that prevents me from getting too into The Last of Us, which conveys its emotional beats with facial animations, eye-tracking and a few guitar notes)
For the first batch I wanted to focus on games which I knew a large number of people here had played, and unsurpisingly that means they're well-loved games. Giving all the ones you've played 5/5 is totally valid!Looking over these reviews, 4/4 games get 5 stars? Probably the exact reason I don't love scoring reviews. I have ill-defined barriers between great and exceptional. Or maybe you just picked absolute bangers for this opening selection. Either way, good thread idea. I'm looking forward to reading reviews from everybody.
I'm actually a little surprised at the mixed response here because it was far and away my favorite of the trilogy.It's tough, though. I have an extremely fond memory of the characters of XC3 that leads me to have good feelings about playing that game. But looking at my play diary I really didn't like a lot of it. Those feelings have faded by now, and only the positive thoughts remain. How do you balance all that out? Emotional legacy vs actual game design critique. It's tricky.
Can't believe I haven't seen this until now. What a great idea. Also the exact same review scale as I keep in my play diary, which makes this easy.
Will write up my thoughts on each of these games later, but I think I'll be giving out one 3 star, two 4 stars, and two 5 stars.
It's tough, though. I have an extremely fond memory of the characters of XC3 that leads me to have good feelings about playing that game. But looking at my play diary I really didn't like a lot of it. Those feelings have faded by now, and only the positive thoughts remain. How do you balance all that out? Emotional legacy vs actual game design critique. It's tricky.
I'm actually a little surprised at the mixed response here because it was far and away my favorite of the trilogy.
shit i kept typing out my last set of reviews but they always got too long and didnāt save
uh
Pikmin 4
ļøļøļøļøļø
nice water
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
ļøļøļø
maximalism defangs plein-air
Sorry Sus I can't count these. If you wanna rework your other post and include the scores there, I can count them!Metroid Dread
ļøļøļø
EMMI sections pace weird and world could stand to be more organic and connected. that said, I loved it and there was plenty of to be thrilled about.
Super Mario 64
ļøļøļø
foundational bizarreness slaps. I prefer Sunshine.
Here are the first batch of games to review! Reviews must be in by October 3rd, 2023, at 12PM Eastern Time (US).
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Pikmin 4
Xenoblade Chronicles 3(didn't play this one)
Metroid Dread
Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 was not possible, in 2020, to simply describe as āgoodā or ābad.ā It was a relic. It was good in the way that a toy found at an archeological dig site is good. It was good in the way that historians would look at and say āwow, people in the past would spend hours a day playing with this.ā Iām not saying it was too old to enjoy, but I AM saying it was too old to love. A spinning top from 1000 BC and a modern day Beyblade are ostensibly the same toy. But I would rather spin a Beyblade than a three thousand year-old top ten times out of ten. Much like how a thirty century-old top was the centrifugal Rosetta Stone that eventually brought us Beyblades, Super Mario 64 was the three-dimensional computer-world Rosetta Stone that brought us a lot of three-dimensional computer-worlds that we continue to enjoy today. Super Mario 64 is good! But also, Super Mario 64 is old. It has the feeling of an old reliable pick-up truck. It still works. Iām glad it exists. I would rather a newer truck.
this is the definitive Super Mario 64 review and I won't hear otherwiseSuper Mario 64
ļøļøļø
foundational bizarreness slaps. I prefer Sunshine.
>:(Sorry Sus I can't count these. If you wanna rework your other post and include the scores there, I can count them!
Sorry Sus I can't count these. If you wanna rework your other post and include the scores there, I can count them!
iāll write longer reviews if thatās what I have to do for my scores to count, but iāve been trying those since we started and if I do more than a sentence or two I get carried away and just fuckinā canāt recover
uhhhhhh
EDIT: FIIIIINE I'LL MAKE THEM COMBINED
Pikmin 4
ļøļøļøļøļø
nice water
Pikmin 4 is the all-time goat because everythingās so organic and lively, the stylization is perfect and disturbing, Oatchi rules, the Pikmin are just creepy / cute enough, and things feel like they fucking matter.
Super Mario 64
ļøļøļø
foundational bizarreness slaps. I prefer Sunshine.
Mario 64 rules in a lot of ways but damn. itās old. still good and still enjoy but āgoodā is a true rating today.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
ļøļøļø
maximalism defangs plein-air
Tears of the Kingdom undercuts so many of its technical achievements by a lack of purpose or need. exciting new things all get Depths effect ā fascinating at first, shallow in creation, once the gag is clear it loses a great deal of edge. Stuck in āit does actually need moreā and āit really needs lessā limbo. maybe if it were in a new Hyrule Iād be less frustrated.
Metroid Dread
ļøļøļø
EMMI sections pace weird and world could stand to be more organic and connected. that said ā thrilling.
Metroid Dread ā the fights are so good, lots of the secrets and world pockets rule, but a lot of the EMMI shit ultimately feels like interruption, even though great lengths were taken to avoid that. Mixes things up enough. Final boss rules. X parasites legitimately scary. New fight mechanics are great. New skills are intriguing.
it's been fascinating to watch this divide unfold on the siteStone Cold Classic. Holds up to this day as one of the best playing video games ever made. No game in the series, not even Odyssey in my opinion, replicates the sheer joy of just controlling Mario in Super Mario 64.
I'd go even farther to say that Mario 64 is the only 3D Mario that has truly demonstrated the open level concept successfully.it's been fascinating to watch this divide unfold on the site
team "Mario 64 controls better than any subsequent 3D Mario" grows in numbers every day
we are many, we are strong
y'all are a bunch of momentum-loving weirdos, though as someone who thinks Sunshine controls the best I'm not sure I really have any room to be talkingit's been fascinating to watch this divide unfold on the site
team "Mario 64 controls better than any subsequent 3D Mario" grows in numbers every day
we are many, we are strong
that said I'm convinced anyone who thinks 64 controls the best must also think SMB1 is the best-controlling 2D Mario
"mario 64 is the goat" is the most vanilla boomer take wdymit's been fascinating to watch this divide unfold on the site
team "Mario 64 controls better than any subsequent 3D Mario" grows in numbers every day
we are many, we are strong
I actually do understand the appeal of weightier momentum, it's just a preference thing. I personally feel Sunshine has a great balance of being snappy while having moves/states that lock you in to your trajectory more (spin jumps, dives, wet slides). SMB3 and SMW's run/flight systems similarly encourage riskier, high momentum moves while still allowing for very snappy control when you'd rather go slow.They are both very kinetic. And it's fun to zip through stuff in both games in a way that isn't always as present in other games in the series.
Scale - I'm very happy with a 5 star system with no half stars and it looked like mostly everyone who write a review stuck to that which is a positive.
- What did you think of the scale? What did you think of people's adherence to the scale?
- What did you think of the timeframe (2 weeks)? Was it too long, too short?
- What did you think of the game selection?
I really, really like this selection of games. Maybe a bit too RPG heavy but otherwise it's great. I especially like 3/5 of the games being third party, though maybe that wouldn't drive enough attention. Regardless, I support this selection!Just to pitch a variety ballot of options for next time around @hologram
Switch pick: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Other recent pick: Dragon Quest XI
Multiplat pick: Mass Effect 2
Retro pick: Megaman X
Retro pick: Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
You know I uh ... actually don't get the connection here, to be honest. Any of Mario 64's control issues are from focusing too much on momentum, whereas Mario 1 focuses on momentum less than Mario 3 or Super Mario World. In fact, probably less than almost any future mainline 2D Mario (with some obvious exceptions). Mario 64 is much more comparable to Mario 3's controls with its slippery, fast, agile, bad momentum based movement. I guesssss there is a connection in that Mario 64 and Mario Bros both lock you in a direction more when you're running, but for my money it feels about as snappy switching directions in Mario 1 as it does 3, and this isn't really a problem in the 2D games anyways.y'all are a bunch of momentum-loving weirdos, though as someone who thinks Sunshine controls the best I'm not sure I really have any room to be talking
that said I'm convinced anyone who thinks 64 controls the best must also think SMB1 is the best-controlling 2D Mario
edit: this looks harsh on a re-read. the first statement is in jest, if the half after the comma didn't make that clear enough
Maybe swap out Dragon Quest for Astral Chain or Splatoon 3?I really, really like this selection of games. Maybe a bit too RPG heavy but otherwise it's great. I especially like 3/5 of the games being third party, though maybe that wouldn't drive enough attention. Regardless, I support this selection!because I've played or beat all the games
You know I uh ... actually don't get the connection here, to be honest. Any of Mario 64's control issues are from focusing too much on momentum, whereas Mario 1 focuses on momentum less than Mario 3 or Super Mario World. In fact, probably less than almost any future mainline 2D Mario (with some obvious exceptions). Mario 64 is much more comparable to Mario 3's controls with its slippery, fast, agile, bad momentum based movement. I guesssss there is a connection in that Mario 64 and Mario Bros both lock you in a direction more when you're running, but for my money it feels about as snappy switching directions in Mario 1 as it does 3, and this isn't really a problem in the 2D games anyways.
I think I generally like the scale, my only concern with it (that wasn't very applicable for this first batch) is how to interpret the "would you recommend this" part of the descriptions. For mass-appeal games it totally makes sense, but for more niche games, it might be good to specify whether you had it in mind as say, for 5 stars, "even people who aren't familiar with this niche should try it" or more "you would recommend it to fans of the niche".
- What did you think of the scale? What did you think of people's adherence to the scale?
I agree with the people saying the end time should try to aim for around "end of the day" for as many people as possible. General timeframe seems fine to me though.
- What did you think of the timeframe (2 weeks)? Was it too long, too short?
I think it made sense for a first batch! But also that it would be good to decide on a slightly more structured way to pick in the future, whether that be through having a set spread each time (ex. always having 1 retro game and 1 indie, or spreading across genres, etc) or by having themes (ex. this biweekly theme is "games with boats").
- What did you think of the game selection?
For what it's worth, I was really looking forward to hearing Raccoon's thoughts on Pikmin 4having missed a bunch of games I wanted to talk about I don't think I'll ever write a review for this thread
I'm very much looking forward to reading people's thoughts, however. candidly I also look forward to talking about Pikmin 4 without adhering to a five point scale
someday... I'm too sick this weekFor what it's worth, I was really looking forward to hearing Raccoon's thoughts on Pikmin 4
Get better soon!someday... I'm too sick this week