Bill Nielsen

@somanybits.bsky.social

108 Followers 201 Following

Personality of a startled deer https://www.Twitch.tv/SoManyBits

9. Star Fox - Even considering this game came out in the early 90's, the boundary pushing graphics for the era have aged terribly. Slowdown + frame rate drops crop up whenever things get too busy, which aren't ideal for a game based on precision control. Try Star Fox 64 (or the new Switch 2 game).
8. Atari 50 - Don't get this to play video games unless you have a deeply academic appreciation for more primitive titles 40-50 years ago. As a digital museum though, this thing is great: with a bit of gameplay sprinkled here and there for more context. Get the "Expanded Edition".
An advertisement for Southwest Airlines touting the opportunity to treat a case of wine as a free checked bag.
7. Resident Evil Requiem - The half of the game you play as Grace exceeded expectations with taut, tense moments that can scare the crap out of you. The other half as Leon should feels flat, a dull action game with a dizzying story that tries too hard to rehash old material.
6. Silent Hill f - A refreshing update to the series with a new setting and themes, along with substantially improved combat from previous games. The problem is... the story, while intriguing, is gated behind multiple playthroughs. The game's good, but not good or varied enough to rerun.
5. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow - this applies to a lot of retro games. If you have nostalgia for the game, or you're curious about the history of a genre, it's a high quality 00's era game. If you're just looking for a new game, there are a dozen Metroidvanias you should play instead.
4. Reanimal - There is some very creepy art here and some great directed moments through the game's use of fixed camera angles. But the whole experience feels slight: the platforming, the puzzles, and the co-op. I also hit a pretty nasty bug near the end of the game that derailed me for a half hour.
3. Elden Ring Nightreign - The Forsaken Hollows DLC: The new characters are fun and rely on brand new gameplay ideas. The bosses are pretty good, but may be just a little too tough (or at least tanky). The new map...is a huge miss. Way, way too complicated for something you only see at random!
Card Crawl: I can't really vibe with a roguelike / run based game where I win on the first try. Score chasing and daily challenges are nice, but there's just not much depth to this game to keep you coming back.
1. Marvel Cosmic Invasion: if you grew up playing this kind of game in the arcades, you'll find a worthwhile + entertaining successor. But while there's a good deal of depth + variety, I don't imagine returning after running through the main story in about 3 hours.
21. Advance Wars: a very basic strategy / tactics game that ends right when it finally seems to be kicking into gear. A good starting point for someone looking to explore the genre, but if you're a vet maybe look to later series entries instead. There is a Switch port that is basically a 1:1 copy.
20. Hollow Knight Silksong: an incredibly demanding game that will test your skill and patience. The original was a Metroidvania with Souls elements, but Silksong is a Souls game with Metroidvania elements. I'm most impressed by the sound design, which is both atmospheric and ties into progression.
A video showing the CTA’s Holiday Train approaching the station
16.-19. Alien vs. Predator, cannon Dancer, Ehrgeiz, House of the Dead 2: went to Galloping Ghost over the summer and finished up all these games with the blessing of unlimited credits. It was pretty instructive on how desperately some of these arcade games resist being finished.
15. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: A great RPG w/a sophisticated combat system that you can ignore as long as you're good at QTEs. Not a ton of exploration - lots of moving from dungeon to dungeon - but a very strong story + characters. Incredible soundtrack, I hope they do a concert tour.
Elden Ring Nightreign: You really should know Elden Ring in and out and have two other friends who will be on voice comms with you. If you can do that, there's a fast paced boss rush "Fortnite-esque" game here for you that's a lot of fun. Do not play solo unless you want tears.