Rate top gamesReviews
Display options:
High drag as a rhythm game. Infectious and incredible, all at once. Should be noted that it's very weird seeing the Michael Jackson character in this day and age, but the sins of one idiot shouldn't detract from the (best? Most interesting, at the least) rhythm game ever created.
Look, there's a lot you could quibble with in this game (mostly issues endemic to the genre), from weirdly low taxes to an inability to build any functional city that doesn't resemble a lusher Phoenix, Arizona. That said, there's still something beautiful about watching cities grow from what you create, and SimCity 4 is one of the best ways to do it.
«Can’t stop playing»
Some things don't age well, and Persona 4 is absolutely one of those things. Going back, it's disheartening to see a story that once held so much formative value revealed, on second look, to be a much more pedestrian and dreary affair than it once was (hey, kind of like the theme of the game itself). Gameplay-wise it's still a fun time, though.
And uh Kanji best boy, or whatever
And uh Kanji best boy, or whatever
Look, is it particularly good? Well, no. Is the ending bad? Yes. But is it a deeply interesting experiment? Absolutely.
«Underrated»
Deeply strange conspiracism, enjoyable characters, ludicrous plot twists and, well, pretty good escape room puzzles make for an exceptional experience and offers strong evidence as to what an often-maligned genre can be.
«Blew my mind»
«That ending!»
Stellar puzzling marred by an incredibly cloying attempt at intellectualism.
Maria did nothing wrong
An octagonal input joystick takes this game from frustrating novelty to frustrating transcendent novelty. Over 17 years later, it continues to be one of the most beguiling video games in existence- both infuriating and joyful in the way great puzzles are. The minigames are pretty good, too!
«Can’t stop playing»
«Constantly dying and enjoy it»
Cool Cool Toon is a fun, music, rhythm game by SNK. Cool Cool Toon has you positioning the analog stick and pressing buttons according to the tune and prompts on screen. Gameplay is simple, and sometimes forgiving when it comes to failing a "Flitz" (i'll get Flitzing later). A lot of the time, it felt like it seemed a little too forgiving on recovering from missing some of the Flitz on screen, however Cool Cool Toon can be unforgiving with some songs being extremely difficult to perfect. A "Flitz" is, according to a walkthrough (will post link to the walkthrough): "Flitzing" is accomplished by moving the analog stick and pressing one of
the four action buttons in time with the music. Doing this with skill
produces on screen pyrotechnics; failing to hit your cues causes the
on-screen characters to stumble and the music to warble, with the
ultimate result being the dreaded "GAME OVER".
Flitzing is the main gameplay mechanic that you will be using in Cool Cool Toon as you flitz along to the beat.
Cool Cool Toon dialog is mostly in text, as this game was only released in Japan, majority of the story is in Japanese. Due to a language barrier it is difficult to get a sense of story, but I will try my best to explain. You play as either Amp (the boy) or Spica (the girl). As you were watching TV, you get dragged into the TV by Yussa, a pink rabbit like creature. You are welcomed to Cool Cool Toon involuntarily, and have to become the Flitz champion while cleaning up the streets with your funky dance moves. The story is child-like and simple, but the presentation with its art style and character design is unique and imaginative. While your flitzing in Cool Cool Toon, objects and shapes bop up and down, and every is pastel colored in an acid trip like state . In between, sections of a song you get to look at the world and get blasted by its colors and design.
Cool Cool Toon dialog is mostly in text, as this game was only released in Japan, majority of the story is in Japanese. Due to a language barrier it is difficult to get a sense of story, but I will try my best to explain. You play as either Amp (the boy) or Spica (the girl). As you were watching TV, you get dragged into the TV by Yussa, a pink rabbit like creature. You are welcomed to Cool Cool Toon involuntarily, and have to become the Flitz champion while cleaning up the streets with your funky dance moves. The story is child-like and simple, but the presentation with its art style and character design is unique and imaginative. While your flitzing in Cool Cool Toon, objects and shapes bop up and down, and every is pastel colored in an acid trip like state . In between, sections of a song you get to look at the world and get blasted by its colors and design.
If you like music and rhythm games, give this one a shot. It's definitely worth it.
(will revise and update this review more)
You will definitely need this in Episode 4 due to lack of localization: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/dreamcast/374653-cool-cool-toon/faqs/8640
You will definitely need this in Episode 4 due to lack of localization: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/dreamcast/374653-cool-cool-toon/faqs/8640
«Sit back and relax»
it has cute kitties owo
Honestly the best Kart Racer that exists Mario KArt can suck it
«Just one more turn»
«Time-tested»
Very fun music game for the Switch. Lacks online multiplayer, but I would only recommend this to hardcore taiko fans.
In Short:
The one aspect this game is absolutely exceptional at is "atmosphere". If you're looking for anything deeper in terms of story or game-mechanics then you could pass on this one. If not, sit down for a couple hours & treat your eyes & ears with something special.
In Long:
To list the good first, the game is absolutely gorgeous. The world is dark & oppressive, the use of colour & framing is perfect and the sound-design is rounding everything of into a great experience.
And all of this is with a careful use of minimalism to only use just enough colour, just enough sound and overall just enough information to make your mind fill in the rest. It leaves you on edge at all times, eager to know what will come next.
And without spoiling anything, it pays off on that front.
Unfortunately minimalism is also the games issue.
Personally I went into the game with some expectations based on their previous game called "Limbo". Because of that I ended up pretty disappointed in the puzzles & story of the game.
The gameplay consists mostly just of "move right/left", "stop running" & "jump" ... and a lot of dying.
The game relishes in brutally killing your little avatar character and quickly sending you back to the last conveniently placed checkpoint.
Because of this the shock aspect quickly fades into nothingness and instead just becomes a constant struggle of trial & error.
The occasional puzzles also never really evolve into anything really challenging and only rarely introduce anything new at all.
The game also only really gives the illusion of a story & lore without actually giving you anything.
If you are into that sort of thing (like the cryptic story telling approach of Dark Souls) then you'll probably love this one too but, just like with a lot of things, this game expects you to fill in the blanks with your own imagination.
And to be fair, this is what had me hooked for the majority of the game.
Overall the gameplay & story aren't bad ... they are serviceable. Compared to that the good outshines all else tenfold and are definitely worth your money and time!
The one aspect this game is absolutely exceptional at is "atmosphere". If you're looking for anything deeper in terms of story or game-mechanics then you could pass on this one. If not, sit down for a couple hours & treat your eyes & ears with something special.
In Long:
To list the good first, the game is absolutely gorgeous. The world is dark & oppressive, the use of colour & framing is perfect and the sound-design is rounding everything of into a great experience.
And all of this is with a careful use of minimalism to only use just enough colour, just enough sound and overall just enough information to make your mind fill in the rest. It leaves you on edge at all times, eager to know what will come next.
And without spoiling anything, it pays off on that front.
Unfortunately minimalism is also the games issue.
Personally I went into the game with some expectations based on their previous game called "Limbo". Because of that I ended up pretty disappointed in the puzzles & story of the game.
The gameplay consists mostly just of "move right/left", "stop running" & "jump" ... and a lot of dying.
The game relishes in brutally killing your little avatar character and quickly sending you back to the last conveniently placed checkpoint.
Because of this the shock aspect quickly fades into nothingness and instead just becomes a constant struggle of trial & error.
The occasional puzzles also never really evolve into anything really challenging and only rarely introduce anything new at all.
The game also only really gives the illusion of a story & lore without actually giving you anything.
If you are into that sort of thing (like the cryptic story telling approach of Dark Souls) then you'll probably love this one too but, just like with a lot of things, this game expects you to fill in the blanks with your own imagination.
And to be fair, this is what had me hooked for the majority of the game.
Overall the gameplay & story aren't bad ... they are serviceable. Compared to that the good outshines all else tenfold and are definitely worth your money and time!
«Constantly dying and enjoy it»
In Short:
Telling Lies is a fascinating example on how clever game mechanics & storytelling can elevate a regular thriller story into something special. If you are looking for the next unique game experience then play this game!
In Long:
I think it's best to know very little of the story before going into the game so I'll mostly talk about everything else.
But to quickly mention the story - it's good. The acting is great (at least from the main 4 characters), the cast pretty huge, and it offers enough to keep you guessing on what's going to happen next, or if you already found out, how it all went down.
This leads me to the gameplay. You are essentially going to watch the entire story out of sequence with you trying to piece together everything yourself. This essentially makes it a puzzle game more than anything else and even though it doesn't offer much in terms of gameplay, what's there is absolutely crucial to the game and its story!
You are given very little information with each clip with a few lies, secrets & red herrings to keep the story twisting & turning.
This is also due to each clip only having the audio input and is therefore often missing the other side of the conversation.
It's is genius!
Sometimes you will find the other side of a dialogue way later and it will re-contextualise the situation & relationships. It also makes for an interesting treasure hunt in the dialogue by trying to search for a question or response to find the opposite clip of the conversation.
Reading the characters & the environment can also help you spot important information & expose lies.
This game is very much testing your observation skills but is also purely fuelled by your own curiosity since the game lacks any real objectives.
It also has a very natural difficulty curve due to its search engine. Whatever term you search for, it will only give you the first 5 results, usually relative to the recording date. So it's very easy to find the earliest clips with common words and phrases but to get to the latest clips & the ending you need to pay attention and find the right things to search for!
Again, it's genius!
I do have some personal gripes with the story and there is definitely a little bit of video game logic at work (meaning: odd rules to the world to make the gameplay better). One example is how you never hear the other end of a video call, even if they have the audio on loud and sometimes even tell the person they are talking to to be quit ... yet you can't hear anything!?
Try to embrace it and have a great time with the game.
Tips before jumping in:
- Pay attention to the date & time of each clip
- Make notes & write down planned & used search terms
- Don't rewind clips to the beginning if you start at anything past minute 3
(My guess is that rewind is intentionally slow to discourage this player behaviour)
- Look at all the files and executable on your desktop
Telling Lies is a fascinating example on how clever game mechanics & storytelling can elevate a regular thriller story into something special. If you are looking for the next unique game experience then play this game!
In Long:
I think it's best to know very little of the story before going into the game so I'll mostly talk about everything else.
But to quickly mention the story - it's good. The acting is great (at least from the main 4 characters), the cast pretty huge, and it offers enough to keep you guessing on what's going to happen next, or if you already found out, how it all went down.
This leads me to the gameplay. You are essentially going to watch the entire story out of sequence with you trying to piece together everything yourself. This essentially makes it a puzzle game more than anything else and even though it doesn't offer much in terms of gameplay, what's there is absolutely crucial to the game and its story!
You are given very little information with each clip with a few lies, secrets & red herrings to keep the story twisting & turning.
This is also due to each clip only having the audio input and is therefore often missing the other side of the conversation.
It's is genius!
Sometimes you will find the other side of a dialogue way later and it will re-contextualise the situation & relationships. It also makes for an interesting treasure hunt in the dialogue by trying to search for a question or response to find the opposite clip of the conversation.
Reading the characters & the environment can also help you spot important information & expose lies.
This game is very much testing your observation skills but is also purely fuelled by your own curiosity since the game lacks any real objectives.
It also has a very natural difficulty curve due to its search engine. Whatever term you search for, it will only give you the first 5 results, usually relative to the recording date. So it's very easy to find the earliest clips with common words and phrases but to get to the latest clips & the ending you need to pay attention and find the right things to search for!
Again, it's genius!
I do have some personal gripes with the story and there is definitely a little bit of video game logic at work (meaning: odd rules to the world to make the gameplay better). One example is how you never hear the other end of a video call, even if they have the audio on loud and sometimes even tell the person they are talking to to be quit ... yet you can't hear anything!?
Try to embrace it and have a great time with the game.
Tips before jumping in:
- Pay attention to the date & time of each clip
- Make notes & write down planned & used search terms
- Don't rewind clips to the beginning if you start at anything past minute 3
(My guess is that rewind is intentionally slow to discourage this player behaviour)
- Look at all the files and executable on your desktop
«Can’t stop playing»
«Beaten more than once»
Hellblade was a very interesting experience reminiscent of Dante's Inferno, in which Senua travels to Hell and back (literally) to save her husband's condemned soul.
Let's talk about the story. I loved the sense of mystery, dread, and uncertainty we had through the entire game. Hellblade presents a well made story about dealing with loss, showing us Senua go through the five stages of grief in a very subtle manner, while also dealing, and eventually overcoming, mental illness. The Norse mythology has a very accurate representation as well, showing us one of the closest representations of the ancient gods we've ever seen on media.
Now regarding gameplay, honestly I consider this more of a 'experience' or 'movie' more than it is a game. The game is obviously heavy narrative based and has very little playability outside of movement and combat, and now that we are talking about combat... The combat itself feels very clunky and sometimes unfair, It could have been done way better but I don't blame them, the highlight of Hellblade is its story and narrative, it's not very focused on combat mechanics and it shows.
Overall, excellent game, one truly amazing experience.
Let's talk about the story. I loved the sense of mystery, dread, and uncertainty we had through the entire game. Hellblade presents a well made story about dealing with loss, showing us Senua go through the five stages of grief in a very subtle manner, while also dealing, and eventually overcoming, mental illness. The Norse mythology has a very accurate representation as well, showing us one of the closest representations of the ancient gods we've ever seen on media.
Now regarding gameplay, honestly I consider this more of a 'experience' or 'movie' more than it is a game. The game is obviously heavy narrative based and has very little playability outside of movement and combat, and now that we are talking about combat... The combat itself feels very clunky and sometimes unfair, It could have been done way better but I don't blame them, the highlight of Hellblade is its story and narrative, it's not very focused on combat mechanics and it shows.
Overall, excellent game, one truly amazing experience.
«That ending!»
Wow, just wow... what a way to welcome me to the modern puzzle platformer genre.
Limbo is one of those games where revealing too much about it could ruin the fun and appeal of it. Interestingly enough, Arnt Jensen (creator of the game) takes the same approach... he doesn't reveal too much of anything in the game, where it would rob it of its intrigue. You wake up in a forest as a boy, not knowing who you are, what your name is, and what your task entails. It's up to you to piece the elements together and embark on a journey that plays on your own personal, imaginative mind.
With a simple but effective shadow/light setting, the ambiance of the game is eerily dark and astonishingly enigmatic. It grips you by the jugular and forces you to submit to its visual authority. The art style is reminiscent of Tim Burton's shadowy netherworld trademark material, a wise choice that really compliments the mood of the game. Music is non-existent. The audio is placed at the forefront, with an amplified emphasis on your surroundings. Turn your sound up as high as possible to soak it all in... you're welcome.
Limbo is filled with various puzzles, some more challenging than others. Admittedly, I had a few moments where the solution was in 'broad daylight'... but I took the liberty to overthink it in so many ways, wreaking my brain cells in the process. I literally created problems for myself that weren't even there to begin with, a testament to the ingenuity of the puzzle designs. In other cases, I had to shut the game off and move on to something else (with the answer unexpectedly arriving in my head much later, during a drive to Chipotle, of all places). My love for expletives were repeatedly thrown at the screen, stemming from an infuriated sense of frustration with not knowing how to solve the later puzzles. However, I did manage to solve all of them on my own... well, save for one. I resorted to YouTube for it and and thought "Man, I wouldn't have never figured that one out."
The beauty in Limbo is dying endlessly (Yeah, you read that right). Being able to learn from trial/error and familiarizing yourself with the mechanics of the world is a must. Sure... it breaks the flow of the game, but nothing feels more satisfying than eventually overcoming a puzzle that remarkably stumped you for 45 minutes to an hour.
All in all, a short but engrossing game that rewards you with unwavering amounts of patience and persistence. While it may disappoint some with its minimalist narrative decision, I thought it excelled in this regard. It unabashedly caters to a variety of interpretations and theories, making it that much more interesting and memorable long after you’ve finished it.
Limbo is one of those games where revealing too much about it could ruin the fun and appeal of it. Interestingly enough, Arnt Jensen (creator of the game) takes the same approach... he doesn't reveal too much of anything in the game, where it would rob it of its intrigue. You wake up in a forest as a boy, not knowing who you are, what your name is, and what your task entails. It's up to you to piece the elements together and embark on a journey that plays on your own personal, imaginative mind.
With a simple but effective shadow/light setting, the ambiance of the game is eerily dark and astonishingly enigmatic. It grips you by the jugular and forces you to submit to its visual authority. The art style is reminiscent of Tim Burton's shadowy netherworld trademark material, a wise choice that really compliments the mood of the game. Music is non-existent. The audio is placed at the forefront, with an amplified emphasis on your surroundings. Turn your sound up as high as possible to soak it all in... you're welcome.
Limbo is filled with various puzzles, some more challenging than others. Admittedly, I had a few moments where the solution was in 'broad daylight'... but I took the liberty to overthink it in so many ways, wreaking my brain cells in the process. I literally created problems for myself that weren't even there to begin with, a testament to the ingenuity of the puzzle designs. In other cases, I had to shut the game off and move on to something else (with the answer unexpectedly arriving in my head much later, during a drive to Chipotle, of all places). My love for expletives were repeatedly thrown at the screen, stemming from an infuriated sense of frustration with not knowing how to solve the later puzzles. However, I did manage to solve all of them on my own... well, save for one. I resorted to YouTube for it and and thought "Man, I wouldn't have never figured that one out."
The beauty in Limbo is dying endlessly (Yeah, you read that right). Being able to learn from trial/error and familiarizing yourself with the mechanics of the world is a must. Sure... it breaks the flow of the game, but nothing feels more satisfying than eventually overcoming a puzzle that remarkably stumped you for 45 minutes to an hour.
All in all, a short but engrossing game that rewards you with unwavering amounts of patience and persistence. While it may disappoint some with its minimalist narrative decision, I thought it excelled in this regard. It unabashedly caters to a variety of interpretations and theories, making it that much more interesting and memorable long after you’ve finished it.
«Constantly dying and enjoy it»
«That ending!»
Don’t even try this. The secret of the whole mystery will be revealed in the prologue, and after that you will waste your time being endured by meaningless actions of the cardboard characters, awful face animations, implausible choices of action, unrealistic pauses and connections between these choices and the actual actions.
I mean, Until Dawn was better, even though, in my opinion, Until Dawn was the worst interactive movie game ever made.
I mean, Until Dawn was better, even though, in my opinion, Until Dawn was the worst interactive movie game ever made.
«Waste of time»
«Boooring»
The whole game has that Alan Wake feel to it, you even kill the monsters with your flashlight like in Alan Wake. I do like the mystery of the main character and obviously the dog which is the star of this game. Loved the Bloober feel and style in it too, the story also delivers. The thing is, that this game has some gamebreaking bugs and some xbox live bullshit (couldn't log in and cuz of that no saves, achievements didn't work and some other minor inconveniences). I would recommend picking this up at 15euros after some patches. I heard people complain about optimization, but for me it works good on my mediocre rig.
COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD EEEEEEEEEEEEE BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOYYYY