Welcome to my 2024 gaming review page!
Explanation of reviews
1 is bad, 10 is absolute top. this is not an ign scale where 7 is mediocre and 4 is worst ever game. some games use the fantano rating system (ie, strong/light x/10), some games are rated out of 10, and some games are rated out of 5. there is a difference between games rated on the x/5 scale and a 4/5 is not the same as an 8/10. also you cannot look at a rating of 1 game and compare it to another and say its better or worse based on review score. that isnt how it works. games are rated individually and in context, whatever that means. there's plenty of fantastic 6/10 games and awful 3/5 games.
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zero ranger, pc - strong 3.75/5, game completed. very doable shmup. smug game. features an extraordinarily bad gimmick that happens halfway through a full run and every time you get to the end.
euro truck sim, pc - 7/10, can this game be completed? this game is exactly what it says on the box. chill and theres trucker radio stations that are hype.
hollow knight, pc - strong 7.5/10, game completed, not all dlc completed. this game controls well and thats the best/good thing about it. some of the fights are fun also. even though this game has the worst metroidvania map known to man and the some awful item hunting shit and zero direction given in the form of plot or story, it is an easy 7.5/10 due to its good controls and gamefeel. if it controlled worse or had worse enemy design it would be a 2/5 no question. this game could use some colors in it
balatro - strong 5/10, gold stake completed on a few decks. never been less satisfied to win in a game before. weird to make a poker themed game where the most consistent strategy is playing high card 70 times a run. this game is fun for a while but doesn't have any staying power.
shadow the hedgehog, ps2 emulated - strong 2.5/5, 1 ending of many completed, this game is actually ambitious and cool but it just sucks too much. the controls and camera are unbelievable and the level design can be really frustrating. as a curiosity, i think this is worth a try
ff9, pc modded - 10/10 godlike game, game completed. Specifically, I played this with a pc mod that cuts battle intro time. this is a game for gamers. the characters are better and more realized than most other final fantasy games. this game does have its ups and downs like every game but all the environments and towns are cool. i really like how often it splits your party up and how you have to play with different character combos sometimes. the music is very good as well. without the mod to make battle intro time lower, this game is probably hell.
orbos oddysey, pc - 3.5/5, game completed. this game is cool but its like 2 hours long. its a fun platformer though
disco elysium, pc - 8/10, game completed. this game is not really "fun" a lot of the time but its not frustrating. the game equivalent of a depressing movie. theres a lot to like in this game and a lot of different ways to play it, and its stays entertaining throughout.
void stranger, pc - 6.5/10, game kind of beaten or something, this game is fine but its more fun to not play than play. the level of tedium in this game is crazy. carried by ost and art stuff but the design gets extremely tiresome after you've done the same levels 100 times trying to make something different happen. starts strong and gets less and less fun the more you uncover, which is the opposite of how this should work imo.
hotel dusk, nintendo ds emu - 6/10, game completed. this game is ambitious but unfortunately you have to play it to see all the cutscenes. this game is also really cool when its cool. most of the gameplay is systematically knocking on every door in the hotel or going to every room until a cutscene plays. often times there is not a particular story reason why you would go to a certain place to do a certain thing to start the next event. extremely poor design imo in the gameplay segments. this game would have probably been more entertaining had i played it with a guide. the character art is really great and the characters are fantastic
shinobi 3, genesis - 8/10, game completed. This would have been a 9/10 if it werent for the falling rock level. its still great. tight controls and fun bosses/enemies. some of the stages are sort of wack but still great overall. it has a fun soundtrack and graphics
shinobi, ps2 emulator, game completed - strong 7/10. great game. cool graphics and presentation. this is a game that gets better the more you play it, i can tell from playing it. the game was not good enough for me to actually want to play it again after beating it though, but thats fine. this is a game for gamers.
dragons dogma 2 - 5/10, game "completed." eh whatever. theres like 6 different enemies in this entire game. game is filled with caves that are boring and most of the loots you get suck. my playthrough was filled with bugs that hurt the gameplay significantly.
va11-ha11-a - strong 4/10, game not completed, made it a couple hours. i didnt play this game long enough to give it a fair review, so this is an unfair review. but the game has shit writing and the gameplay also sucks.
gabriel knight 2: the beast within - 9.5/10, game completed. amazing game. learning about castles and werewolves is sick. great fmvs too. a few frustrating puzzles but nothing too too bad, i actually found it reasonable with no guide and extremely minimal hints unlike most adventure games. this is a game that will make you laugh out loud. i felt like i wanted to yell at gabriel multiple times in my playthrough. the only reason its not a 10/10 is because of a few weird/frustrating gameplay things at the end. playing this was one of the most fun gaming experiences ive had this year. this is a game that i would recommend to people even if they have never played a point and click adventure before
burn:cycle - 2/5, game completed. this game sucks but I liked it and it was funny. some of the gameplay bits are atrocious, the shooting is so so bad when you are controlling a turret and you die in 1 hit. the game rewards you with epic cutscenes though
panzer dragoon zwei, saturn - 9.5/10, game completed. this game is godlike. it does everything i'd want from a rail shooter and it has a lot of atmosphere. it is hard enough and has a cool dragon evolution system even though its a little opaque, but thats part of the mystique. the game has such a cool identity and manages to build a unique world that feels alive even though its just a rail shooter.
panzer dragoon saga, saturn - 8.75/10, game completed. this game is more than the sum of its parts. its easy to write certain things off as just being merely "impressive for their time" but a lot of the good stuff here is actually just good period and it seems pretty influential as a hallway-based RPG like ff13. everything is voice acted and the music and atmosphere are great. and everything is just hallways, from dungeons to the map the world is small but it changes as you go through the game. some technical things are a little wack, like the draw distance, but this is minor. the battle system is extremely cool and its actiony even though its turn based, and its very unique. the dungeon design is the worst part of this game but whatever its still a good game
silhouette mirage, saturn "unworked" version which reverts working designs gameplay changes for the usa release, 4/5, game completed. this game was great. i thought the gameplay was inventive and fun, the game controls very well. the graphics are really cute also. the game has a good difficulty curve that makes you feel smart when you do cool stuff. treasure delivers here with a certified classic
majoras mask, n64 emulated - strong 6.5/10, game completed. feels like an oot dlc. this game has some extremely frustrating gameplay bits and the time limit can get super obnoxious. the safest way to play (resetting the clock every time you want to do a new thing so you dont get cut off an hour later) is so boring and shitty but feels required. the constant time pressure takes away from a lot of the fun in exploring but its not a huge deal because the game world is tiny and feels pretty empty. the sidequests around town are mostly garbage. the time loop gimmick is fun at first but quickly becomes overbearing and punishing, especially if you never learn the song that makes time go slower
paradise killer - strong 8.5/10, game completed. what a fun game and theres a lot of empty shit to explore thats still cool. empty here is not bad, its part of the aesthetic and vibe. the game is fun to control for some reason especially if you get movement upgrades. i liked the music and the visuals were good too. I do wish you didn't have to unlock songs because they are so much of the vibe.
aqua aqua, ps2 - light 2.5/5, story mode beaten. this game has wack scoring and you need the actual instruction manual because different zones on the map do different things for score. the controls are a little shitty and it can be too hard to line things up well and you need that to happen because otherwise your structure will leak and you will die. the base gameplay is pretty cool in theory but the execution is so not good
tekken 8, pc - 3/5. tekken but with rollback. my character was nerfed after i played for 15 hours and i never touched the game again. seems ok but i dont feel like playing whack-a-mole with whoever makes the patches on this game. i cant imagine trying to take this game seriously, it is the most unserious tekken game i have ever played and a lot of shit seems borderline fraudulent in my uninformed opinion. the best part of the game is the character customization stuff. i think 1/3 of my playtime or more was for making a cool outfit
ff5, snes version fan translation, 4/5, game completed. this is a game for gamers. probably really fun to min/max but i just liked picking whatever and doing stuff. i like how much interactivity there is with the world and character skills (stuff like seeing traps, being invulnerable to environmental damage, etc)
gals panic ss, sega saturn - strong 8/10, game completed, full 100% all clears on all stages. Game should have had a difficulty toggle but thats fine because the vibe is all about chillin with some anime babes. i have played this game for many many hours and its always fun. this game is much easier than the arcade versions of gals panic, but that is totally fine with me.
in the hunt, sega saturn - light 3/5, game completed. totally average game with below average performance and slowdown. its fun and has fantastic art from the metal slug people. the game is a bit frustrating sometimes since you're just a submarine, but it has cool visuals and style.
parodius/sexy parodius, sega saturn - strong 3.25/5, games completed. i beat these both but i sucked at both of them. i like the visuals and the variety, its perfect for a noob shmupper like me. i can't tell if they are "good games" but i don't care for the purposes of making a review. chill shmups even tho the osts suck on both.
steam-heart's, sega saturn - strong 3.75/5, game completed. this is a titty shmup with h scenes but its really good even though it didnt have to be.
elden ring dlc - 2.5/5, completed. if they are going to design content to be completed in a specific order they should do it better. in my playthrough i ended up going to multiple bosses extremely overpowered, trivializing them completely. large parts of the map are effectively empty space and genuinely feel like filler. the last boss design sucks ass and was not fun. aesthetically this game was great. i don't feel like this game delivered on adding any weapons i really enjoyed.
mr. moskeeto, ps2 - strong 2/5, game not completed but almost. this games ass but its funny.
outer wilds, pc, - strong 6.99/10. unfun game. giving it a lesser score than what it "deserves" because it is yet another game that is better to have had played than to actually experience playing. i see why people say this game is good but it just isnt fun to go through for a lot of it. its a game about exploration but it has a short time limit and multiple time-gated events throughout each loop. the narrative design is that you uncover clues about the star system from eons before to try to understand the present, so there is no structure to the game that you dont create yourself. but the reality of the gameplay loop is just clearing things in a checklist on your ship until the game tells you how to watch the ending. this makes the ending feel pretty whatever. the game is extremely fun to control though and the physics are on point.
crossroad crisis, psx emulated - strong 1/5, completed. garbage puzzle game. too easy. not really that fun or interesting. try to stop a duck from killing itself.
tripuzz, psx emulated - light 2.5/5, completed on hard. triangles should not be used for puzzle games. this is a vs mode puzzle game where you make triangles. the different characters have different drop patterns like puzzle fighter, and there is only one good character.
kitsune tails, pc - 8.5/10, completed both routes but not the special levels. this game has crisp controls and its more than just a mario clone. the orange fox you play as in the 2nd run is way more fun to play as than the purple fox. theres a bunch of minigames and stuff and also its fully voice acted although i dont really care about that kind of stuff in a platformer like this, but all of it is skippable. a few levels in this game were almost more annoying than challenging when I played but all that shit got nerfed. the mario maker part of this has potential so ill probably check it out again in like a year when people have done stuff to it.
shadow dancer, genesis - strong 4.5/10, game completed. this game should be shinobi with a dog but its like shinobi-, + a dog sometimes. this game is only a medium challenge for pro gamers like me so it was defeated quickly. the arcade version looks much better. the music in this game also sucks.
Fox Hunt, psx emulated - strong 2/5, game completed. Bad gameplay but funny videos sometimes. There are multiple endings but it doesn't seem like a good idea to play this game multiple times. "Did not age well."
MUSHA, genesis - 5/5, game completed. god tier game that is on the masterpiece level imo. good music, and a really good art style. the game is easy to pick up but it gets hard at the end if you die. it does have infinite continues so you can try to learn if you want, but it can be really tough since you want to start every level fully powered up and when you continue you are are a baby again. the powerup system is interesting and it feels pretty dynamic since you have to run all over the place to grab powerups.
ragnarok battle offline - 3.5/5, base game completed. this is a very good game by the melty blood team and it feels crispy to play. theres a lot of arcane mechanics and stuff that you have to look up to see how to get skills or what to put your stats at which is kind of annoying, but building your character is a lot of the fun. some of the stages are pretty hard but the game is extremely doable with minimal grinding needed although grinding can make it a lot easier. the game is extremely cute and its really fun especially if you are familiar with ragnarok online.
the 25th ward: the silver case, pc - strong 6.5/10, game completed all the way except the very end which was down with a downloaded save. good game throughout and much less obnoxious than its predecessor. a lot of this game felt like it was trying to make itself and the other games in the series make more sense but it did not make much sense itself a lot of the time. the way to get the "true ending" requires viewing the same blocks of text literally 100 times and takes 10 hours real time, so i downloaded a save from some idiot who actually did that, but the game was telling me to do that so its not cheating.
mirage feathers, pc - 2.5/5, game completed. neat game but pedobait designs. if you turn on streamer mode the characters can wear pants. the endless mode is too easy but i think its pretty fun if you like super scaler shooters like space harrier.
marvel vs capcom collection, pc - strong 6/10. online has more features than offline. wrong version of xmen. note that im not rating the games within the collection im rating this as a collection of games and the features of the collection itself. its lacking good lobbies and basic features for netplay. it doesnt show you ping or connection indicators before matching, just the name of the person you are to fight. mvc2 by itself is a 10/10 game, but this collection is a 6/10.
mgs ghost babel, game boy color emulated - strong 3.5/5, game completed. the back half of the game is ass. the story is actually pretty OK, and the gameplay is sometimes good. it has extensive vr missions that i did not do. having to blast random walls with c4 to progress in one part of the game sucks. codec calls tell you to do the wrong thing ("go to b1, snake!" when you dont have to go to b1 but actually floor 2 then floor 1 and never go to b1). the box conveyer belt shit was unforgiveable. this game is much more frustrating than it had to be but theres a lot there if you care to play it
ufo 50, pc - 9.8/10, game not completed. stand out game of the year. theres 50 games and half of them are really good and some of them are really really good. i am not rating individual games and i will not comment on any of them in particular. they span many genres and there is truly something for everyone with this game.
castlevania: rondo of blood, pc engine cd emulated - 8/10 game completed with Maria. This game has levels with branching pathways and 2 playable characters. Maria is a cheater character and she is the only reason I could win. because of this I am giving the game a good rating. this game has an immense amount of secrets in it with hidden large level segments and bosses so there is probably a lot of replayability here, but im not going to do this.
castlevania: bloodlines, genesis japanese version (aka vampire killer) AND also the usa version - 8/10 game completed both versions. this game is worse than rondo but i am giving it the same score. it has really good music and a hideous color palette for a lot of the game. some levels look really slick, especially the ones with the red moon. the music is very good and the sfx are often very bad. usa version is a 6/10 btw its ass compared to the jp one
parappa the rapper, ps1 emulated - 1.5/5, game completed. this game is complete and total shit. it has a unique and sometimes attractive aesthetic but the music is wack, the timing is wack, and the game is just not fun in any way. being unique isnt worth much if everything else is bad.
jung rhythm, saturn - 1.5/5, game completed. this game is the same thing as parappa, some things are better and some things are worse, but its not worth analyzing. garbage.
mr bones, saturn - strong 3/5, game completed. phenomenal game, very horrible gameplay. this is a game not just for gamers but for game watchers. there are a few levels that are incredibly difficult, beyond what is reasonable even, but there is a cheat to skip levels if you need. this game is about experiencing the game. experiencing being mr bones. experiencing fighting the evil dr. ghoulian. many levels have weird controls or some sort of level specific gimmick, and there are a lot of levels. this game has an incredible amount of variety.
sonic r, saturn - light 6/10, game completed. really great soundtrack. everything else is not great but its fun anyway. for some reason the levels have exploration and all sorts of paths that are character specific. theres a lot of unique stuff going on with this game but it doesnt quite come together that well.
sonic x shadow generations, pc - light 4/5, game completed (both sonic and shadow). sick game. shadow is back and hes tight as fuck. i think a few of the powers are kind of meh but this game is really fun anyway. the generations remaster seems the same but its still a good game.
brain dead 13, psx - 2/5, game completed. this game is ass but its fun with a guide for a single session. it is like dragons lair but it has a castle with metroidvania exploration, and you have to navigate around with quick time events. there are areas that you don't even need to complete to finish the game. inexplicably you need to go to specific places and do things in order to face the boss and see the end, but nothing in the game really tells you this or explains it. there are no prompts for the quick time events. good luck.
shining force 2, genesis - strong 4/5, game completed. this is a good strategy game. its better than shining force 1 by a big amount. certain secrets are really annoying and hiding class upgrades behind items which are not really explained or signposted anywhere is a strange design decision. but theres a lot of ways to play this game and its really fun overall.
the great gatsby, nes emulated - 2.5/5, game completed. this game was too short and much worse than the book.
hat kid steals the declaration of independence 3: kingslayer, pc - light 8.5/10, game completed. this is a total conversion mod for hat in time. this game was really great. the voice acting was pretty bad but it still had voice acting. there are 3 characters which all play completely differently, unlocks, powerups, and unique bossfights. the music was also really good (most of it was not made for the mod). one of the boss fights played babymetal.
pepper grinder, pc - 3.5/5, game completed. this game is pretty short, but its really fun. you get this drill and can dig around thru stuff and collect gems. theres cool physics with the drill. its long enough so that the gimmick doesnt get boring. the music and visuals in this game are both great.
yiik (with 1.5 update), pc - strong 8/10, game completed with additional "ng+" content. no joke, this game is actually great. the battle system is pretty neat but doing battles is pretty fun and engaging because of the "karta" system. a lot of battles have their own special music also. the sound track has over 100 tracks. the visuals are really fun and theres a lot of unique stuff going on with the presentation.
psuedoregalia, pc - 6.5/10, game completed. this game is pretty short and the platforming can be really fun. the map is frustrating, it is maybe the worst metroidvania map ever, even worse than hollow knight. i would rate it higher but i found a lot of the hunting and pecking for powerups to be more frustrating than fun a lot of the time. the part of the game where you're just seeing new rooms is great.
wirehead, sega cd fpga - 5/10, game completed. this game is entertaining if you have a guide, and worth trying without a guide since the failure reels can be pretty funny and they make up half the content. as a game, it is ass. but it is an fmv game so this is to be expected.
pokemon emerald, gba on fpga - 7.5/10, main quest completed. this game was so much better than pokemon x/y, which was the last one i had played. i was originally only playing it to test the gba fpga core but i ended up playing through the whole game because it was so fun. i didn't care for a lot of the monsters in this version but there were some very cool ones like sableye. it felt like there were too many pointless monsters though.
violinist of hameln, snes on fpga - 6/10, game completed. This game was great and pretty quick. the graphics were great and i loved the animations. the main characters had really expressive sprites especially for snes, it looks like it could have been made recently. the music was atrocious though especially for a game with a musical theme. also it was a little too long to not have a save or password system.
popful mail, sega cd on fpga - strong 5.5/10, game completed. I played the "unworked" version which reverts the non-script related changes made by working designs when they localized this game. this game is not good, but i had a good time with it. its a sidescrolling action rpg and the controls are pretty fucked, especially the way jumping works. you have to wait for your weapons to recharge and that sucks. the cutscenes are really nice and the voice acting is classic working designs, and the localized script is unhinged. I did enjoy this game.
nights into dreams, pc - 10/10, main game and christmas nights completed. ranking it so high because i love the game, and i'm not going to analyze it because its not that kind of game. i already beat this game a million times before but i keep coming back to it every year for christmas.
blazblue entropy effect, pc - 7.5/10, game beaten a few times. i like this game and its like if dead cells was good. the characters are so much fun to control but it can be really hard to tell whats going on sometimes, especially vs susanoo.
backpack battles - 8/10, this game is really fun. not much to say since its in early access still but i dumped 50 hours into it when it had very little content. im excited to revisit it when it hits 1.0.
spelunky 2 - 9/10, this is an amazing game and highly replayable. an improvement over spelunky 1 in most ways even if people talk shit about it. i continued to play this game and regularly clear it just for fun.
slay the spire - 11/10, this is the greatest game ever made. first ever 11/10 game. i have played this game for over 2,000 hours.