bobehensley

I love the vibe this game has going for it. It's nice to see Mario in a tropical resort setting for a change. The music, level and character design all create a really relaxing atmosphere in comparison to some of the more chaotic levels of Super Mario 64. The levels aren't as ominous. Instead of falling into a bottomless pit, more often than not you will fall into a body of calm water instead.

It's nice that the world feels more forgiving and relaxing, because the gameplay certainly feels a bit more frustrating than other Mario 3D games. Mario's move set feels a bit stripped in comparison to SM64 and future Mario titles. Walking and camera movement take a bit getting used to. Mario feels a lot more slippery in this game, and I found myself missing a lot of jumps because of how sensitive the controls are (which unfortunately can't be adjusted).

And getting the hang of flood is quite a challenge in itself. It takes some time to learn how to fire water accurately at enemies, which often requires you locking Mario's movement Resident Evil 4 style. I feel like the shooting mechanic of flood breaks a lot of Mario's movement and makes the game feel clumsy. I also think that water shouldn't be a limited resource for flood. I never found rationing flood's water supply to ever be a fun mechanic, even if it's technically more realistic to have a constant need to replenish the water it has.

The charming music and atmosphere make up for this though. It's nice bit of escapism, especially in colder winter months. And in between the frustrating moments are fun platformer levels in a well realized island environment. It's the only Mario game I felt had a consistent world design and I hope they revisit this kind of world building in a future Mario title.

Even after almost 20 years since its debut, Rhythm Tengoku holds up as one of the most enjoyable rhythm games ever created. Developed by the same people who made Warioware, there is a lot of charm in these bite size rythm mini games. The music is the best I have heard in a GBA game, and there is a surprising amount of precision required to succeed. It's one of the few games where you can learn something applicable to real life, which in this case is keeping rhythm while playing an instrument. The rhythm mini games are fantastic, and there are tons of bonus features such as drum sets you can play. Overall, a fantastic game and a great start to the franchise.

Gone Home is a sweet slice of life story, told through environmental clues throughout a large house. I think the marketing for this game was a bit misleading, as it gives the impression this is a suspenseful game. On the contrary, it's a relaxing experience where you get to slowly learn about a family through what they left behind in a house.

I think the game is strongest in its storytelling in objects and brief moments of dialogue. You spend the majority of the game viewing and interacting with objects in the house to learn more about the family that lives there. A lot of care and attention went into the object scattered around the house. Items ranging from books to even discarded trash subtly tell a story about each family member. It goes a step beyond the cliche video game diaries that tell stories point blank, and it feels like you get a more personal insight into the lives of family members.

Another great aspect of this game are dialogue flashbacks with an excellent narrator. They are well spaced throughout the story and offer a genuine insight into one of the main characters. Speaking of sound, the soundtrack is also great. The ambient music is relaxing, and there's a number of great music tracks you can find on cassettes throughout the house. (this family has a lot of cassette players btw)

It's not a perfect experience however. While the rooms and objects tell interesting stories, I feel like the overall design of the house feels monotonous and unnatural. The house just feels like a series of generic hallways connecting the rooms together, seeming almost maze-like at times. Walking between rooms breaks immersion because of how disjointed the house feels. It's ironic that a game titled 'Gone Home' doesn't prioritize the architecture and authenticity of the house itself.

The story also could have been expanded. There are two main "plots" occurring in the story, the main focusing on the main character's sister and there is a subplot about the parents. I feel like there should have been more interaction between the parents and sister's stories. Both stories could have interesting intersections, but the plots disappointingly have little to no overlap with each other. I also feel the character you play as (Kate) could have had a much more fleshed out storyline. All we know is that Kate came back from a trip abroad, but that's about it. It's possible the developers did this intentionally so you could more easily be immersed as Kate or to focus more on her sister's story. However, I feel the story could be much deeper if we had known how Kate impacted the lives of her parents and sister.

Finally, I think there could have been a lot more interactive elements in the environment to increase immersion. Having some puzzles or clues to mini mysteries here and there could have improved the pacing of the game overall. There is an inventory menu in this game, but it's almost never used throughout the whole playthrough which is pretty disappointing. Clues that you receive in the main plot line just show up on the map, so it sometimes feels like I'm just going through the motions rather than solving mysteries about the house.

While there is a lot to be improved about this game, I think the foundation of this game is great. I had a good time playing this game, which took about 3 hours to complete when you are not rushing through. I would love to see a remake of this game with a more authentic house design and slightly deeper storyline. As it stands, Gone Home is still a nice game if you are looking for a short and sweet interactive slice of life. I would recommend purchasing it on sale though.