Ryan Zhao
@insrtcoins
Author: The Fundamentals of Video Game Literacy (coming April). Podcast host for Play;Write, Cane and Rinse, and Sound of Play. Marketing for Xbox Game Pass, prev. Nintendo. My gaming blog:
Life Is Strange: True Colors🟩 I'm a bit tired with the series, but I found this to be very maturely-written and well-structured. Chapter 5 is a bit weaker than the rest - Alex's history read just fine as implication and subtext. But becoming planted and invested in a community is illustrated so well
Daisies, Yellow Marine Meteorological Observatory, The Tesla World Light, The Invite #LastFourWatched
They show up just like any other actors in each film's Letterboxd page. But they seem to be left off of the year-in-review cumulative list. Is it a union thing? Are they not union actors (because I'd imagine those films would be impossible to insure)? And why would that make a difference?
Small @letterboxd.social curio. I watched all of the Jackass films this year, and in my yearly stats, it placed Jeff Tremaine as my most-watched director. BUT none of the cast ranks among my most-watched actors. Why is that? Do they not count as "actors" by Letterboxd standards?
Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library!🟩 A pleasant repetitive-task-type game. Very nice to learn my way around the library over time. But some of the magical abilities you earn trivialize the task to too great of a degree; it becomes rather impersonal and mindless once magic is unlocked.
Bubsy 4D🟩 Following on from the excellent Demon Tides earlier this year, this continues the tradition of expressive movement tech, but the structure supporting it is a bit under-baked. A good game, but frustrating for its proximity to greatness. As a speedrun game, though, this has potential.
The game's main menu feels very placeholder-y. For a series that typically has such fun, vivid presentation, this feels like I accidentally found a leftover dev menu that they forgot to replace. Selecting the top option, highlighted by default, takes you into a long, unskippable dialogue.
Vanilla Sky, Die Another Day, The Girl Who Leapt through Time, Foreign Correspondent #LastFourWatched
Junkster🟩 Bite-sized 3D platforming challenges with a Nuts 'n Bolts-like building mechanic. Puzzles are quite clever, and the building element is fun, if a bit restrictive. I need to be thoughtful about how I use my resources, but use-cases are too narrow to allow for truly creative problem solving.
Supergirl, Bad Taste, The Brave Little Toaster, A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon #LastFourWatched
Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops, Toy Story 5, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Jackass Forever #LastFourWatched
I have to shout out how damn cool the menus are in the new 3D platformer Junkster. Just look at these!
LocoRoco Midnight Carnival🟩 A truly admirable job of finding a new mechanical angle for a series with such a singular core gameplay loop, without it feeling out-of-step with what came before. This one emphasizes chaining super-charged jumps from beginning to end. Gets UNBELIEVABLY hard at the end.
I love this picture. "We modeled new light posts, background buildings, and road signage. What's that? You're asking about the street texture? Nah, we nailed that the first time. No need"
Like, I won't say that it looks *better* than it did in 2D, but, considering what could have been, especially when translating a style that has "90s Nickelodeon" squash-and-stretch and exaggerated, off-model transformations, they did a pretty astounding job in the conversion. Credit where it's due
Rayman Legends is one of my favorite games, and I'm trying to process how I feel about the remake. First thought is that Rayman Legends' 2D art style feels unbeatable: timeless, comical, suited to the format. But, if they *must* convert to 3D, it looks as good as possible under that condition.
Mina the Hollower🟩 Excellent adventure dense with secrets, but damn is it challenging, particularly towards the beginning. The lack of map and density of the world means you have to keep *a lot* in short term memory at once; maybe not the most ethical way to design a "can't put it down" quality.
Unlike some other pigs, in which jamming your fist up their assholes bring them to life.
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight🟩 Is it frivolous to say that this is maybe my favorite Batman story? It was so much fun seeing how they connected the pieces of decades of Batman media to form an original story that contains and surpasses (in its breadth and joy) its component parts!
Down by Law, La Jetée, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Beau Travail #LastFourWatched