Inestimate's Reviews

  Console: N64 Developer: Nintendo EAD Release Date:  October 26, 2000 The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask  is an action-adventure game with a focus on puzzles, sidequests, and time management. As one of the last first-party games on the N64,  Majora's Mask  is surprisingly complex mechanically, featuring a 3 day time loop with NPCs that all have their own schedules and multiple interweaving yet simple sidequests and events. Though technically a direct sequel to  Ocarina of Time  that even reuses a majority of its assets,  Majora's Mask  feels like its own unique game, not just from it's predecessor but the rest of the series. While I had played a fair bit of  Ocarina of Time  before, I only first finished it  about two years ago ; despite being a huge Zelda fan, I had never played  Majora's Mask , but seen a friend play it and watched videos and playthroughs on it before. Therefore, this was pretty exciting for me: playing...

  Console:  Switch , PC, XB1, Mobile Developer: Sectordub Release Date:  January 24, 2019 Pikuniku  is a simple adventure game with puzzle-platformer mechanics that focuses primarily on absurdity and dealing with somewhat goofy physics. Made by Sectordub, a small French-British team, I'd heard of  Pikuniku  without really knowing what it was. Following the announcement of  Pikuniku 2,  I noticed the first game was over 80% off, so I decided to play it on the spot! 

Console:  PS5 , Switch 2, XSX, PC Developer: Capcom Release Date:  April 17, 2026 Pragmata  is a third-person shooter and puzzle-action game hybrid with a focus on improvisation, multitasking, and risk management. Announced all the way back in 2020, when the PS5 was first revealed,  Pragmata  was delayed multiple times due to apparent difficulties with the game's core mechanics. While I was first intrigued by  Pragmata 's reveal, I only became truly interested when it reemerged following its long delays with a trailer that had gorgeous piano music that genuinely made me a bit weepy-eyed. I got the game day 1, and I don't regret it at all. This was one of my most anticipated games of the year, after all!

There is no real point to this, outside of me externalizing my own feelings over WWE. It might be a bit stream of consciousness-like and lacking structure. There are two mediums I've loved for basically my whole life: video games, and pro wrestling. Naturally, the former came first, but I've consistently loved pro wrestling since randomly stumbling on an episode of WWE's Monday Night Raw in the early 2000's (I never did find the episode back when the WWE Network was good and had everything, but I think it had Batista looking for someone in the parking lot or something, going down the stairs weirdly smoothly). I knew it was scripted from the get-go, my parents made sure to let me know, but it didn't change the fact that I was hooked, and it further helped me with my English. I got the video games on Gamecube, especially loving the two Day of Reckoning games. Over the years, I've dipped in and out of WWE for a year or two at a time during particularly bad lulls, b...

    Console: GBA Developer: Konami Computer Entertainment Kobe Release Date:  June 11th, 2001 Castlevania: Circle of the Moon  is a metroidvania with an equal focus on both combat and platforming, with a fairly hefty amount of exploration.  This is the first  Castlevania  game following the legendary  Symphony of the Night  to adopt a similar structure to it. Most notably,  Circle of the Moon  is not only included in the  Castlevania Advance Collection  (which is what I played it on), but it's the only game in the collection represented on the cover art. Outside of playing the very first  Castlevania  on an NES emulator and using save states as a teenager and watching a playthrough of Symphony of the Night , this is my first actual Castlevania game, so I was quite excited to finally play one.

  Console: PS2 Developer: Gust Release Date:  June 28th, 2005 Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana  is a turn-based RPG with a focus on item crafting.  Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana  is the first game in the  Atelier  series to be released outside of Japan, and is the sixth game in the franchise. Pretty notably, the  Atelier  games are, more or less, yearly releases, and have been since 1997's  Atelier Marie . As a result, these games are typically a bit lower in terms of quality and budget than other big JRPG series like  Final Fantasy.  Fittingly,  Atelier Iris  is the first game I played in the series back as a teenager through emulation, but I wasn't able to defeat the final boss despite loving the game. Now, I actually have the game and played it on my PS2. I've more or less completed 100% of the game: the bestiary is filled (though not all item drops are registered), the item list is complete, and there's nothing left for me...

Console: PS4, PS5 , Switch, PC, XB1, XSX Developer: Sonic Team Release Date:  November 8th, 2022 Sonic Frontiers  is an open world action platformer centered around exploration, collectibles and combat. As a bold new entry in the  Sonic the Hedgehog  series,  Frontiers  is the first time the series earnestly tries to be an open world game, and according to the director, is meant to be the model for future games, similar to how  Sonic Adventure  was when the series first transitioned to 3D. 

Console: PS5, Switch , PC Developer: Experience Release Date:  February 15th 2024 Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II  is a horror visual novel game with mystery and adventure mechanics that centers around exploration, puzzle-solving and its narrative. The third game in the  Spirit Hunter  franchise,  Death Mark II  is the most recent entry in the series and is actually a crowdfunded game. The game takes place four months after  Death Mark , and is thus technically a midquel due to taking place a few years before  NG . It is also a direct sequel to  Death Mark , featuring most of the characters from the game and putting the player in Kazuo Yashiki's shoes once again.

  Console: PSVita, PS4, Switch , PC Developer: Experience Release Date:  October 10th 2019 Spirit Hunter: NG  is a horror visual novel and adventure game with a focus on life and death choices, puzzle-solving, and ghost hunting. The second game in the  Spirit Hunter  series,  NG  is a standalone sequel to  Death Mark  that takes place around 5 years later, but it freely references it.  NG  came out about a year after  Death Mark , and unlike  Death Mark  it has no additional content of any kind, but is a little longer overall. Though it's a standalone game in essence, I'll be referencing  Death Mark  during the review, so if you want, you can  go back to my Death Mark review if you're curious . Naturally, I won't spoil anything important.

  Console: PSVita, PS4, Switch , PC, XB1 Developer: Experience Release Date:  October 31st 2018 Spirit Hunter: Death Mark  is a horror visual novel and adventure game with a focus on life and death choices, puzzle-solving, and ghost hunting. The first in the  Spirit Hunter  series,  Death Mark  is a game I've long been curious about and I'm glad to have played. I didn't even know the premise of the game outside of the fact it's a sort of ghost hunting detective game, and obviously since it's so narratively driven, I won't spoil anything important.  Death Mark  itself is a fairly interesting game in terms of its release, since the Switch version includes Chapter 6, which used to be DLC on other platforms, and also is the only version where the DLC Chapter 7 is available... which was released in April this year. It's a very strange thing to see, but I thankfully have the Switch version, so I had access to this DLC chapter.

  Console: Gamecube, Wii, PS3, PS4 , PC, Xbox 360, XB1, Switch Developer: Capcom Release Date:  April 30, 2002 (Gamecube), January 20, 2015 (PS4) Resident Evil (2002)  is a survival horror remake of the 1996 game of the same name. It's centered around inventory management, threat management and puzzle solving. To be quite honest, I've never been a survival horror person; I'm much more into horror adventure, action, or visual novel games and games that lean more into spooky than scary. However, I love watching people play games like  Resident Evil  and  Silent Hill , and as a way to step out of my comfort zone, I decided to tackle this game. 

  Animal Crossing: New Horizons  came out in March 2020 after being uncharacteristically delayed a few months. It took the world by storm, helped by the global pandemic locking down everyone at home. It became a way for a lot of people to both socialize and dissociate from reality for a while, and it felt impossible to avoid, at least in gaming circles. While I wasn't planning on getting it immediately, I remember going "ah, why the hell not" and buying it, because I'm an Animal Crossing fan anyway, and it'd give me something to play with my friends. Plus, it brought about an intriguing new twist to the series, placing the player on a deserted island instead of a random village. Within a few weeks, I found myself completely dropping it, and my thoughts about it haven't changed since then, but I'd like to actually analyze why I feel that way.

Console: PC, Switch, XB1, PS4 Developer: Team Cherry Release Date:  February 24, 2017 (Voidheart Edition: September 25, 2018) Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition  is a complete version of  Hollow Knight  including its DLC  The Grimm Troupe  and three free content packs  Lifeblood ,  Hidden Dreams , and  Godmaster .  Hollow Knight  is a 2D metroidvania with a strong emphasis on boss battles, gameplay customization, and exploration with a moody, dreary atmosphere. An indie darling from the first day its Kickstarter campaign went life (if not before),  Hollow Knight  is almost universally beloved and widely considered as one of the greatest indie games ever, if not greatest games ever full-stop. I had only tried it once years ago and bounced off of it, not being in the mood for it, and I came back to play it, as many did, since its extremely anticipated sequel,  Silksong , is finally coming out.

  Console: PC , Switch Developer: Giraffe Cat Release Date: October 26, 2023 The Sirena Expedition  is a short and sweet atmospheric horror-themed puzzle platformer that takes place fully underwater and can be finished in about an hour. Made almost completely by David Thatcher, with Amy Greir contributing to the soundtrack and voicing the main character,  The Sirena Expedition  was borne from a Game Jam and made over two years following it.

  Console: PC , Switch, PS4, PS5, XB1, XSX Developer: Not A Sailor Studios Release Date: February 18, 2021 Buddy Simulator 1984  is a narrative game whose genre evolves over time, based around the relationship between the player and the eponymous Buddy, a computer program who is designed to emulate the feeling of playing games with a "best friend". Not A Sailor Studios is a team of four, and made  Buddy Simulator 1984  with some additional help from about four more people. I'd consider the game to be split into four major parts, and I'll tackle them all without spoiling as much as I can. 

  Console: PC Developer: Tributary Games Release Date: July 10, 2025 Occlude  is an occult-themed Solitaire game where you must try to figure out the hidden rules by observing the behavior of four coins. It's a modified version of Solitaire, featuring two-sided Foundations (starting at Aces and Kings), a "Purgatory" slot where you can place a single card, and seven different "Rituals" which serve as the game's puzzles. The whole thing is tied around a cosmic-horror narrative, where the game of Occlude is played by desperate participants to change their realities. It's a fairly simple and straightforward little game that can be finished in one or two sittings, depending on your skill at Solitaire.

        Console: Switch 2 Developer: Nintendo EPD Release Date: July 17, 2025 Donkey Kong Bananza  is a 3D platformer with a focus on destructible environments, exploration, and combat. Made by the same team that made  Super Mario Odyssey , this is the first 3D  Donkey Kong  platformer since  Donkey Kong 64  and the first mainline  Donkey Kong  game to be made by a Japanese studio since  Donkey Kong Jungle Beat , the latter of which was developped by the same core team as  Bananza  as well. 

      Console: Switch, PS4 , PC Developer: CAVYHOUSE Release Date:  October 3, 2018 The Midnight Sanctuary  is a 3D visual novel with heavy religious and occult themes. Developed by CAVYHOUSE, a Japanese indie two-person studio, The Midnight Sanctuary  is a visual novel with no real gameplay; instead, the player merely chooses which area to go and then proceeds to watch a cutscene. There are no missable cutscenes, and the entire thing will last around 4-5 hours.

    Console: 3DS Developer: Intense Release Date:  March 3, 2016 Parascientific Escape: Cruise in the Distant Seas  is an escape room visual novel with simple puzzles. Developed by Intense, Cruise in the Distant Seas  is the first game in the Parascientific Escape  trilogy, a 3DS eShop exclusive series. I bought them before it closed down since they were cheap and I wanted a few visual novels on my 3DS, especially exclusive ones.

  Console: 3DS Developer: Atlus Release Date:  September 20, 2016 Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse  is turn-based monster-taming RPG with a focus on recruiting and fusing demons, heavy character customisation, strategic gameplay, and a story with alignment choices. Developed by Atlus, Apocalypse  is a follow-up to Shin Megami Tensei IV.   IV  is one of my favorite games ever after having a bit of a rocky relationship with it, so I was ecstatic to finally get to play its odd pseudo-sequel. The marketing for Apocalypse  was always confusing to me; is it a sequel? An expansion? An unrelated game with the same mechanics? I think that's why a lot of people didn't really look at it much alongside being 3DS exclusive, along with Shin Megami Tensei  not being a big household name compared to Persona . Nevertheless, just like IV , I wound up loving Apocalypse  to bits.