At what point is a game unjustly maligned? When is a Flawed Gem merely a stone? When we say a game was brave and experimental... was it? Or was it a predictable failure of the times it was made? Does a failed product need to be secretly kinda good, or important, or influential to deserve respect?
No. And while I am unsure exactly how I fall on Castlevania 64 and it's strange seque-xpansion, I walk away respecting these games. I find myself dwelling on how people try to rehabilitate flawed titles like these. Because does a game need to be good to be enjoyed? Does it have to be good to appreciate the high level of skill that made into making it? Does a game have to be good to be under appreciated?
Read More...
I think I'm going to do it this time and actually keep it short, but I've been doing more replays of games I haven't played in like 10 years, so here we go.
Mega Man X
I'll be honest, I don't really like Mega Man? No fault of the games, but over time I've realized my taste for shooty games is more in the area of Contra or Metal Slug(much more high damage, low health, volatile games(Oh wait this is why I like Shmups even though I'm bad at them)), so I tend to go back to them less.
Some people might be like "IWBTG is basically megaman, you have like the same type of movement and shooting!" but let's be real, how much did that gun actually do?
Read More...
I think I'm gonna save the "Game Journal" moniker for more informal posts where I don't have a real thesis and I'm not proof reeding like crazy. Me just trying to jot down my thoughts. You know, like a journal.
Future me: I failed and wrote too seriously. Next time will be different, I swear.(It won't)
Mega Man Legends
Missed this during it's era. It was a bit too... modestly successful for me, a kid who could only afford a handful of games. Also it's past Mega Man X, and why would you wanna play the dumb, dorky blue Mega Man when you could play as the cool, super hip X? IDK, kids are stupid. It'd been on my radar for years due to the art style, but some conversations(Thanks, Big Iron!) during a Guilty Gear stream made me dive into it this weekend.
This game has everything going against it. All the little bits are off. Controls are flakey, Dialog is painfully, gameplay is sporadically paced... Stuff like turning with the shoulders, dodgy aiming, pre-Ocarina of Time dungeons that feel more like Wizardy maps... and don't know, it fucking rules? The definition of a 6.5/10 10/10 game.
No one needed to make any of this
Read More...
A lotta stuff I've put out recently has talked about trying to engage with stuff beyond surface level and I've had a few people asking me how, so like...
- Firstly, don't stress out about this. I know I've been screaming like a hyena but it's perfectly fine to do something specifically to check out. That said there should be some things you care about!! But you can be selective we don't have infinite emotional energy!!
- It shouldn't be Work. Don't be intimidated by all us Effort Posters...
Read More...
