Absolutely. I must admit that I didn't get the excitement over O'Neal returning to the mother ship because I was not too familiar with his writing — but I'm a total convert. Great stuff, and so consistent, too.

The ending of Pillars definitely is… something. Not necessarily talking about the story, but the final fight(s), which were one of the only moments in the game when I felt actually challenged.

He's definitely the worst.

It's funny how one's impression of the game seems to depend on how quickly one discovers that system-breaking strategy in I Am Setsuna. While most reviews are positive, the one on Rockpapershotgun (I think) wasn't, at all, and part of it was that the writer seems to have stumbled upon this fairly early in the game,…

I just saw it for the first time this summer in a Carpenter retrospective (yes, big screen, 35mm, Carpenter was there and he later gave a live concert,which was great, and it was all good, and yes, I'm trying to brag), and that's exactly what I was thinking. Surprisingly slow, and easy on the action.

My spatial awareness is terrible, and I'm not too good at puzzle games, so Stephen's Sausage Roll probably would break my brain. I appreciate the dedication it inspires, though. (Like the one commenter on eurogamer who drops in in every comments' section of every review on the site and recommends, differently phrased…

That's a good point as well.

Hoo boy, this list just goes to show how out of the loop I am. Not that I don't agree, it's just that I somehow never found time to play most of these games, even though I have been very interested in them indeed. Well, at least I played and enjoyed Hyper Light Drifter and Firewatch, and Pony Island is bought and…

While I have never played Pokemon in my life, I actually think that the IP makes a ton of sense for AR, what with it being inspired by real-life bug hunts and everything. It's actually the McDonaldization of regular Pokemon — which has, all said and done, a complex enough battle system — that makes me think the game…

Firewatch Spoilers
While I actually thought that the mystery hook was the weakest part of the game (it just made me wish more for a game that would 100% commit to being a screwball comedy/romance without having to bait and subvert regular player's expectations by using generic game tropes), I actually liked how…

I knew that it was Veni, Vidi Vici, before I even clicked on the link.

I can recommend the Brutal Doom-mod, which I, ever late to the party, only discovered recently. Adds all the modern convencience and a bunch of other stuff, thus making the game feel the way you might remember it.

You were a braver 5 year old than me.
(Even though it having nice graphics and questionable gameplay actually made it into a faithful adaption of the arcade version.)

They do, though? Around here, at least. It's called Ultimate Doom. Or is that not the original version?

Spelunky and Super Meat Boy are not actually on the easy side, either. Heck, even VVVVVV demands some serious skill — the difference being of course that they (at least the latter two) let you insta-repeat the challenge you failed at, which is indeed a blessing.

To be more precise, it was the German equivalent of Nintendo Power, or what I took to be that. The magazine they sent you when you were member of Club Nintendo?

Although, in fairness, modern games sometimes go too far into the opposite direction. Say what you will about the obtuse nature of games in the 8-bit era, sometimes they succeeded — on purpose or not — to create a real sense of mystery.

If you're referring to Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder, that one holds up pretty okay-ish. If you use M.A.M.E. and find a few friends for coop-play, it makes for an entertaining enough hour or so.

See also: Dragon's Lair for the NES. Huge sprites that made the game so attractive in its screenshots in Nintendo Power that young me absolutely wanted it for his birthday.

Strangely enough, the first thing I thought of was ABBA Gold; even though I wouldn't go as far as saying that this is my favourite Best of-album of all time, it somehow seems to be stuck in my mind as the quintessential one.