Mirror’s Edge - This is a game I’ve been meaning to play for some time. A few years back I played the first couple of levels on a friend’s PS3 and recalled it being a fun experience. So when it went on sale for under £2 on Steam I couldn’t say no. It holds up exceptionally well for a game from 2008! The stylised graphics look beautiful to this day, and the gameplay manages to feel fresh and unique. Parkouring around the landscape soon becomes second nature - you feel like such a badass by the end of the game.
Spyro Reignited Trilogy - Sadly I missed out on the original games, but this trilogy does a perfect job of remastering them for the modern era. The animations and art style are incredible; It really feels like a lot of love has gone into this remaster. All three games are a joy to play. The first one is a classic - basic but fun, the second tries out some new ideas, and the third one perfects them. Each instalment is fairly short, so packaging them in a trilogy was a great idea.
RealMyst - Myst is regarded as one of the original, archetypal PC puzzle games and was very clearly ahead of its time. I think it’s the sort of game I would’ve appreciated a lot more if I’d played it 20 years ago (although there’s no way I could’ve beat it back then). Some of the logic jumps in the puzzles felt tenuous at best, though others were very cleverly designed. This was a frustrating game at times and I was pleased to get it over with, but I did enjoy the interesting world-building and innovation for its time.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - Symphony of the Night is the only Castlevania game I’ve completed*, partially because it’s a bit easier than the others and partially because the music and graphics are so great that I wanted to see it through. Bloodstained continues this legacy and does an amazing job of it. Although graphically it’s no where near as nice as the pixel art of SotN, I still found the graphics to be quite charming. The soundtrack is amazing, gameplay is smooth (with a lot of customisation in terms of equipment and spells) and exploring the castle is a treat. As with SotN, in order to beat the true final boss you have to find some items that would be near impossible to locate without a guide. Despite that, this is well worth playing.
*Mostly completed
Skyward Sword - Although I owed a Wii, I never picked up Skyward Sword. I think you had to buy an attachment for the Wiimote, and either way I wasn’t a massive Zelda fan at the time. Since then I’ve played nearly every Zelda game and loved them all. So it was about time I got round to playing SS. Luckily a few years back they announced a Switch remaster which removed a lot of the clunky features from the original. Woo! I picked up a cheap copy and played though it late last year - And wow, this game exceeded my expectations. The dungeons in particular are some of the best I’ve played in a Zelda game (the time manipulation ones in particular stand out). Slashing around in specific directions is a neat mechanic, with the added benefit of now being able to do so by flicking a joystick. Surprisingly lengthy with a lot of great ideas! Give this one a go.
Spiderman (2018) - Not sure how I missed this one when it came out! I guess I’ve never really got into the Spiderman series. After watching the Spider-verse films though I decided to give this a try. And now I can’t wait to play the sequels! Insomniac did a incredible job making web swinging around the city feel fun. There’s plenty of side content littered over the map, which often side-tracked me on my way to a mission. The combat feels very similar to the Batman Arkham games, with lots of moves and tools to unlock. Whilst the story isn’t anything special, it kept me entertained and I was particular impressed by the facial capture and voice acting. All in all, this was a incredible experience throughout.
Would be interested to hear what everyone else thought of these games! I’ve still got quite a large backlog so I’ll continue onto the next ones :)
I played Skyward Sword after finishing Breath of the Wild and it was a breath of fresh air (ha!). I was disappointed by BotW’s deviation from the Zelda formula, and SS was a much more classic Zelda (N64 and GameCube Zelda games). I then played Link’s Awakening, which was more like the classic Zelda games I remembered (TLoZ and ALttP), and finished both in Hero mode.
I’m sad that Nintendo seems to be leaning hard into open world (still haven’t picked up Tears of the Kingdom), so hopefully they go back and make a more traditional Zelda game next.
If anyone else is disappointed by BotW, give Skyward Sword and Link’s Awakening a try, they’re both great.
I haven’t played the others, but Mirror’s Edge has been sitting in my library for a few months so I’ll probably get to it soon.
Personally I loved BOTW, but I guess I didn’t go in expecting a traditional Zelda game. I think it does some really neat stuff with its world, different from a lot of other open world games of that time. But yes if you want a recent and classic feeling Zelda, SS is perfect.
It’s fun, it’s just not what I want in a Zelda game. To me, Zelda games have dungeons, equipment-based puzzles, and interesting boss fights, and usually the end boss is particularly challenging. BotW was mediocre on each of those (esp. the end boss fight, which was a total letdown). It was a decent open world game, but I’m generally not a fan of open world games.
So while I liked it, I wish it was some other IP, not Zelda. If this is the future of Zelda, I’ll have to find some other franchise to scratch that itch.