FINISHED: January 10th
RATING: 9/10

Extremely slick rail shooter that deserves a lot more attention than it got at the time. Some of the absolute best 3-D on the console, super-tight controls and mechanics, and an outstandingly late 90s soundtrack that screams PS1 in the best possible way. Little bit too short even for a rail shooter, but a top PS1 game, and an easy contender for best in genre of its generation. 100% replaying this, and a great way to start my 2024 backlog list.

FINISHED: January 14th
RATING: 9/10

Gameplay-wise, this is an odd mixture of half-baked ideas that are passable, but never coalesce into anything especially cohesive or fun. But the writing and mood hit me like a freight train. Fascinated that something like this was put out in 2009, and it feels completely unique for its era. The combination of its lacklustre gameplay and almost painful heart-on-sleeve sincerity mean it's not a game I'd easily recommend to everyone. But I found it achingly beautiful, and I won't soon forget it.

FINISHED: February 19th
RATING: 10/10

Always wondered if maybe this was a little overhyped because of the dearth of good JRPGs in its gen, but after playing it, I feel it's actually worthy of far more respect than it got at the time. Recaptures the magic of the best games of the genre's golden era, and feels like a more convincing successor to classic Final Fantasy than any FF in the last two decades. Adorable cast, and absolutely beautiful music. And felt that the dream sequences, especially, were deeply moving and among the best storytelling in the entire genre. Gameplay is a little simplistic, and for me Fantasian is the more satisfying overall package as far as Mistwalker games go. But left such a profound impact on me that I feel it's more than worthy of a perfect score.

FINISHED: March 11th
RATING: 4/10

Mechanically this is kusoge tier stuff, with so many ideas that are so obviously bad to anyone who has played even a single RPG. And while the story and cast are lovely, it feels like the dev has taken a beautiful 40 hour tale and compressed it into less than 20, which goes about as well as you'd expect. Music, art, and humour are all super-appealing, and with even semi-competent mechanics and a properly paced story, this would be the best Marl Kingdom game by far. But the final product is such a disaster that a 4 is probably generous, even as a big fan of the series. A huge shame.

FINISHED: March 26th
RATING: 8/10

Puzzles are a bit too simple, voice acting is extremely inconsistent (though endearingly so), and found the woefully ignorant portrayal of England a bit embarrassing at times as a British person. Control scheme on 360 is also pretty awful. But a hugely atmospheric little mystery with really fun characters, great music, and just the right amount of camp. And big on charm despite its issues. I really enjoyed, and was sad to see it end.

FINISHED: March 28th
RATING: 7/10

Thought this would be a total 5/10 in 2024, but I actually really enjoyed. Mechanically a very by-the-numbers mid-2000s action game, but a solid take on that formula, and the fantastic dialogue, voice acting, and spectacle makes it far more fun that it should be. Andy Serkis's turn as the villain is truly memorable, and the heroine is much more than the scantily-clad sex symbol I was expecting. Framerate can be extremely rough, and would benefit from a remaster. But a neat little game, and one of my biggest surprises so far this year.

FINISHED: March 30th
RATING: 8/10

I really liked this. Think critics at the time missed that it's a puzzle game rather than an action-adventure, and while it fails as the latter, I think it's great as the former. Each self-contained puzzle room is interesting and allows for diverse solutions, there's a nice difficulty curve, and the lighthearted Scooby Doo-y vibe running through the visuals, music, and humour is super-charming. Even the odd control scheme mostly works in the game's favour, giving it the simple, addictive pick-up-and-play quality of a classic arcade puzzle game. A very pleasant surprise.

FINISHED: May 31st
RATING: 9/10

A modest game compared to the two that followed, but very smartly designed, and while elements of it are unimpressive in isolation, the mixture of those elements is extremely compelling. Gameplay loop is super-addictive, NPC dialogue is great and worth reading, and while the story is simple, it's also very unique for the era and often quite touching in a distinctly Quintet way. Combat is too easy and can get repetitive, but most of the things that made the later games in the series great are already here in this first instalment, and even in this simpler form, it's all just as cool. Fab game, especially for early '92.

FINISHED: June 4th
RATING: 7/10

Amazing soundtrack that is a great mixture of deep cuts and classic bangers. Art style holds up great too, and game boasts winning humour and characters. But gameplay isn't quite there for me. Not opposed to the RTS elements like some folk were, and thought they were actually the game's most interesting innovation. But it's all very messy and chaotic in its execution, and rarely felt properly good to play for me as either a strategy game or an action one. Still, a fun, unique title that I quite enjoyed, and the creators' sincere love for the music they're riffing on is infectious.

FINISHED: June 17th
RATING: 5/10

Visuals are stunning for PS2, music is gorgeous, and there's a certain amount of fun to be had with the bosses and janky physics-based combat. The world of Mana is also beautifully realised in 3-D. But the camera is dreadful, the game's various underlying systems are flawed on a fundamental level, and while the story has the bones of something quite good, it's very obvious that the original scenario was heavily cut down to the point where it's often kind of unintelligible. Some boss fights are also absolutely miserable if you don't turn up with enough of the right ammo saved, and combat becomes very, very repetitive by the end. Not as bad as I was expecting, but still an enormously flawed game.

FINISHED: July 20th
RATING: 8/10

Fun sequel with some great maps and nice additions to 1's formula, but mostly a retread of VC1, and far from the leap forward you'd expect ten years on. Game also has a distinctly low budget feel, with very few cutscenes and lots of recycled music. And while I enjoyed most of the story, I found the last few chapters infuriating. There's a lot of surprisingly dark, thematically interesting material in the game's tail end, but for it to work, the game needed to fully commit to the idea that there are no heroes in war, and its dogged insistence that its awful main characters are ultimately "the good guys" really turned me off. Still so much to like here and I had tons of fun, but a little disappointing, and plays it far too safe to really move the series forward.

FINISHED: July 23rd
RATING 8/10

Nice sequel to one of my faves from 2023. Confess I wasn't that keen on the shift to a lighter, more playful tone than 1, but appreciate it was maybe necessary for the series to better establish its own identity away from its roots as a Resi spinoff. And I did enjoy the colourful cast of characters. Music and visuals are also A+ stuff, and it brings some great gameplay tweaks, even if it's less of an upgrade coming from Genma Onimusha than from vanilla. The branching story is also interesting. Thought it made the story feel a bit disjointed at times, but the idea is obviously to do multiple runs, and the ambition is impressive. Little less to my tastes than Oni 1, but a quality PS2 title.

FINISHED: August 15th
RATING: 8/10

Got a few endings in every story, as well as three true endings. A fun anthology. Console's limited hardware specs are leveraged well to craft a surprisingly spooky atmosphere, quality of the writing is decent, and subject matter spans a more diverse range of horror subgenres than I expected. The inability to save multiple bookmarks within the same chapter is a huge drag for replays, though, and that combined with story branches that aren't always that transparent means shooting for true endings is hard in some stories. Still, given the genre, even the "bad endings" are fun in their own grisly way, and I wasn't bummed about not being able to find the true path in two of the six stories. Definitely playing the colour sequel!

FINISHED: August 21st
RATING: 7/10

Great beginners' RPG that I think would really hit with its younger target audience. Doesn't have as much to offer older players, and likely too simple for some RPG veterans, but still a charming adventure with fun, cute dialogue, some great tunes, a big heart, and a few cool ideas like the summonable allies and seamless map / town traversal. Feel the unusual character designs lend themselves well to PS1-era 3-D, too, and game has quite a strong, cohesive visual identity despite the primitive graphics. Doesn't do too many things exceptionally, but feels like it accomplishes all it sets out to do without ever really putting a foot wrong, and a worthwhile entry in the PS1's excellent RPG library for the right audience.

FINISHED: September 19th
RATING: 9/10

Tough, tough game, with tricky controls to master and enemy placement that can be outright cruel. Save system is also game-ruining without modern technology, and still a headache even with a camera to snap photos of passwords. But I was surprised by how much the game had to offer when I dug into it, and with patience, I think it's one of the most rewarding platformers of its era, with fun music, a charming, colourful setting, hugely inventive level design and mechanics, and peerless, almost daunting scale. With a better save system and a lead that the internet hadn't made into a meme, I think this would be remembered as a cult classic, and while it sometimes frustrated me, I loved it, and am so glad I gave it another chance.

FINISHED: October 6th
RATING: 7/10

Fantastic, branching pulp sci-fi story with wonderful characters. Visually dated, but character art is fab and cutscenes are directed with a real cinematic eye. And audio goes way harder than it needed to, with many standout tunes and A-list voice acting. Gameplay, though, is very rough - the training and item creation systems are broken, allowing you to farm infinite money and max out your stats with ease, and while the real-time combat is cool, it's too hands off and moves too slowly. Had this played it safe and stuck to a traditional turn-based SRPG format like Front Mission, it could have been a standout Dreamcast game. But really enjoyable and a proper hidden gem if you roll with its flawed mechanics.

FINISHED: October 20th
RATING: 9/10

Great fun, and in my opinion better than Fusion (which I already liked). Beautiful art, fun movement options, atmospheric locations, and a cool minimalist story that builds on Fusion's in neat ways. Bosses were awesomely cinematic, as well as quite challenging. Though I think some of them were a bit too spongey and dragged on a bit. I'm also iffy on the EMMI sections - the first few were great and made me appropriately anxious, but they're very samey and trial and error based, and I was kind of bored of them by the end. Made me appreciate the more sparse use of the SA-X in Fusion. Still, this was another great game in an outstanding series. More please!

FINISHED: November 7th
RATING: 9/10

A bolder and more exciting sequel. Though not necessarily better, and I think both have their merits. Great cast of characters outside of a few dated stereotypes. Amazing music, and visuals push the Dreamcast so far even if there's lots of slowdown. Also a nice mixture of bigger, better set pieces than the original and some lovely quiet moments. Unskippable cutscenes can be a headache, though, and what the game world gains in size, I think it sometimes loses in granular detail and believability. Combat is also even less challenging here, and I won everything simply by spamming the same basic punches and kicks. Still, I absolutely loved this, and it's a more than worthy sequel to the first game.

FINISHED: November 23rd
RATING: 6/10

A genuinely stunning game to look at. And story features a great protagonist and some cool ideas. Strategy combat is also well balanced, with a number of interesting maps and some neat innovations. But everything moves so slowly, and game is very bloated, with so many superfluous missions and a lot of map recycling. RPG aspects and political segments are also pretty half-baked, and music is a bit crap. Not a bad game by any means, and worth playing once for big genre fans or those who really love the Saturn. But doesn't really excel in any area outside of its visuals, and combined with its not insignificant shortcomings, it's just a bit dull and underwhelming really. A shame, as there's a good game in here somewhere.

FINISHED: December 3rd
RATING: 6/10

Seen as part of a whole, this is no worse than Infection or Mutation, sharing all of the strengths and problems of those first two episodes. But where those did just about enough to stand alone, this really does feel like 15 hours cut at random out of a 60 hour game, and nothing seems to have been designed around it standing as an individual episode in a series at all. I still enjoyed it just fine as someone essentially playing the whole series as one long game, and I'm hyped to see how it's all paid off in Quarantine. But the developer's decision to squeeze money out of players by cutting their game into pieces has never felt more brazen, and taken as an individual product, I do think this is the worst one so far.

FINISHED: December 8th
RATING: 8/10

Both scenarios. A great time. Platforming and combat are a bit jank and rough around the edges, but the game is forgiving enough that it's rarely a huge issue. And the great dialogue, fun humour, beautiful visual style and cutscene direction, and super-memorable ensemble cast make it a joy. I personally thought Mint's scenario was a lot better than Rue's, as it really ran rampant with the silliness and let the side characters shine where Rue's felt a bit flat at times. But both are worth playing for the different things they bring to the table, and I enjoyed it all. Not quite on the level of Square's best on PS1, but a game worthy of their name, and one that feels entirely distinct from almost anything else they've made.

FINISHED: December 14th
RATING: 7/10

(Carnby) Very atmospheric, with great prerenders, lots of spooky Lovecraftian supplementary material, and a pretty decent soundtrack with strong industrial influences. Visually way above average, and voice acting is endearingly goofy. But combat is often sloppy, and a far cry from the polish of Resi 3 two years earlier. And I found the second half of the game pretty weak compared to the first - lots of really drab locations, and generally didn't feel finished to the same quality as the first disc. Rather rough around the edges, but still a solid PS1-era survival horror for me. I've heard the other scenario focuses more on puzzles than combat, and that sounds like it might be for the best - curious to play someday!

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