My list was more than half Game Pass games. Made time outside that for some low-spec PC bangers like Inscryption and Loop Hero, plus Metroid on Switch.
For the last decade of my life it's been such a pleasure getting to experience the work of Brad, Alex, and Vinny. You've made some of my darkest days brighter, and I truly admire both the end result and the invisible and strenuous effort it took to make it work. I wish I had more words to express my gratitude.
Thank you for everything. I wish you happiness and success, however you choose to pursue it.
There are things this movie does well, but it falls apart under even minor analytical stress.
I feel like in MK'95, treated its audience like idiots but also explicitly spelled out each of the main characters' arcs: Liu has to stop focusing on revenge, Sonya has to rely on someone besides herself, and Cage has to learn to care beyond just himself.
What is the arc of the MC in MK'21? I don't feel like he undergoes any kind of growth. His transformation occurs...
when his family is threatened, but it's obvious that he cares for his family beforehand, and is doing this dangerous thing to protect them. That's not growth!
And hey, that's not always a negative on its own - sometimes in a martial arts/mythology/superhero flick, it's the rest of the cast that changes as a result of their interaction with the hero. But I also don't feel like any other character's arc benefits from his presence.
On the one hand, I haven't played Mario 64 in 20 years, so I'm almost willing to bite even with this minimum of effort.
On the other hand, after looking at the effort Activision was willing to put into their ports (and how weird does it feel to praise Activision for putting effort into something), I feel like this could have been so much more.
Maybe they tried it, and Mario 64's fiercely polygonal geometry just didn't jibe with a new coat of paint. I think it's more likely that they didn't try, though.
I love a good Metroidvania, but the upgrades can be somewhat predictable, and it's less often a matter of puzzling out an answer as waiting until you have the right equipment.
As the creature, you have full reign of mobility from the start. There's numerous ways to gate your progress, but the normal ones are not present. As a result, I was constantly delighted when granted a strange new ability.
The upgrades that you do get almost all have a dual combat and exploration purpose. I feel like this is key in a good Metroidvania - there's just something appealing about using the speed boost in Super Metroid to both clear a disappearing floor and also run through a bunch of dudes. This game is full of feel-good moments like that.
I realize that the lack of map will put some people off, but the game is short enough that soon enough you can feel your way around. I seldom felt lost.
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