Here’s to a racing game that’s delighted me for fifteen years: Mario Kart Double Dash. Jesus, now that I say it’s been fifteen years, it really makes me feel old.
Fetch Quest - GameCube Nostalgia
Let’s take a break from the critiquing for a while. I’ll give you a refreshingly short post today.
I’ve had great fun pointing out what I love and what I hate about some of my favorite games from the past 10-ish years (what? You say I’ve only done two games? Well I have more planned, we’ll have to do a raincheck on those). Taking in that content and expounding on it makes for a fun hobby. But let’s try a change of pace.
The first gaming console I ever had was the Nintendo Gamecube, a relic from the oldies if you ask anyone born after 2001. Makes me feel like an old lady when I realize how long ago that was. Also depending on who you ask, this being my first console means that I came from humble gaming beginnings (I mean, sure? But consoles are expensive so what else would I have done?).
My beautiful purple cube-shaped friend provokes feelings of nostalgia in me. I loved, and still love, inviting my friends over to play Mario Kart or Super Smash Bros Melee. When I was by myself, I enjoyed either Luigi’s Mansion or Super Mario Sunshine.
Notice a pattern? Yup, these are all Nintendo games. Since I was a kid, I didn’t really notice or care about the brand loyalty going on here, but as I look back it, I realize that Nintendo kindled my love of video games. Of course I developed preferences and tastes as I got older, but at the starting line, Nintendo was my foundation.
So, this is what I’m going to do next: I’m going to make daily posts about my favorite gamecube games, each day focusing on a different game. I’m steering away from the world of horror to bring you a good ol’ dose of childhood nostalgia. Get ready!
Fetch Quest - Dead Space, the series (part 3)
I’m going to start off by saying two positive things about Dead Space 3. The graphical quality lives up to the year’s standard, which developer Visceral Games hasn’t had a problem with before in this series. The other thing this game has going for it is diversity of character design. The human characters aren’t just all muscular white men - there, I said it. This is a pervasive problem in a lot of games, so seeing some different-looking people was refreshing.
But that’s about all I like about this game. Time for the criticism. I’ll try to keep it concise.
Fetch Quest - Dead Space, the series (part 2)
Take a look at the USG Ishimura above, because that’s the last you’ll see of her full glory.
Let’s talk about Dead Space 2. I talked it down quite a bit beforehand, but I’d like to say right now that it’s not all bad. In fact, there are things that I really like about this game. But compared to its predecessor, it’s just good. Not great, good. But I’ll say some good things about it anyway.
Fetch Quest - Dead Space, the series (part 1)
Oh, Dead Space. You truly are a game to remember. You’re the first game I ever played where decapitation wasn’t the monster killing strategy. Your version of jumpscares somehow, somehow, didn’t get old to me. You never lost sight of what you were truly trying to be: a survival horror game set in the monumental expanse of space.
So why did you stray from your golden path? Why did you put more emphasis on the guns and the thrill of shooting as you advanced your series instead of finding more clever ways to terrify your audience? Why did you sacrifice environment and monster designs for what appears to be just like any other action shooter? You had a good thing going, Dead Space, a real good thing. Shame on you.
Fetch Quest - Resident Evil VII (part 3)
Fetch Quest - Resident Evil VII (part 2)
Yesterday’s post was an intro to a game that I, among millions of others, very much enjoy: Resident Evil 7. Now, I’m going to go into a bit of detail about what I think makes this game stand out on top.
Note: this should be obvious, but this is my opinion and you shouldn’t treat it as fact. Some people probably disagree with me, and that’s okay. Read the following with this in mind.
Fetch Quest - Resident Evil VII (part 1)
The thing about horror is that not one thing will effect everyone the same way. Some people are afraid of clowns, some of spiders, some of death itself. There are a lot of things that spark fear in the hearts of people. For me, it’s parasites. Tapeworms and ringworms make me absolutely frantic with disgust and abject horror. Not everyone feels the same way, but I suppose their feeling is similar when someone describes their fear of snakes and I internalize that I think snakes are actually kinda cute.
Video games seem to have a default idea of what people are scared of. I won’t be the first one to admit that my complaint is not original - the industry uses jumpscares way too often. You’ll know what I’m talking about if you’ve played a horror game recently. Have you? Well, there’s plenty of them if you haven’t. But I’m here to talk about the one that doesn’t fall into that trap.