u/BLucidity

If a path is blocked by an ability gate, there should be some kind of meaningful reward behind it -- not just a second, different ability gate. Its fine if the flow is 1st gate -> item -> 2nd gate. But nothing is more deflating than backtracking to a new obstacle you can clear, only for there to be nothing beyond it but a different obstacle that you can't.

With the caveat that it's more of a Zelda-like than a Metroidvania. You absolutely can backtrack with new abilities to find secrets, but your next ability will always be in the next dungeon.

Silksong itself got several release windows that it didn't meet. When they said Sea of Sorrow would release this year, I said "nah, there's no way".

2 and X are both good games, but with some notable flaws that may or may not change how much you enjoy them.

2's strength is in its story, setting, and late game combat. Its flaw is the inconsistent tone of that story, dabbling in "anime tropes" that are much more in-your-face than the other games. Early game combat can be a slog, and it also has a few tedious gameplay systems that involve a lot of menu visits and gacha pulls. 2 gives back what you put into it, and gets better the longer you stick with it.

X's strength is in its exploration, sidequests, and open world. Unlike the other games, you can visit areas out of order, and each one is several times bigger than Gaur Plains or Valak Mountain. You've got much better mobility than the other games (and, eventually, a mech) to compensate. X's weakness is a much shallower story than the other games, and a soundtrack that is extremely inconsistent in quality.

Playing with a Gamecube controller made all the difference in this level for me. Those notches on the left stick make it much easier to avoid misinputs at the end when it turns into panic-mode.

My personal favorite album is Charcoal Grace. The way that The World Breathes With Me and Mute act as bookends, calling back to each other, is just phenomenal.

I'm inclined to say Metroid. The Igavanias, while all good, are also much less varied. They reuse area themes a lot, especially the clock tower (which is also always the top-right corner). Metroid games tend to have a little more of their own identities compared to Castlevania.

No updates, and I'm not expecting any for a long while. When a game is announced via a cinematic trailer with no gameplay, that's usually a clear flag that it's nowhere near done.

I also have a "safe" playlist, mostly for use on long carpool trips where I'm driving. It does have a few prog metal songs, but only those that are fairly approachable (like Nothing Breaks by Moron Police), or ones that are important enough to me that I don't care about being judged for them.

The only game that ranks above Outer Wilds for me is the first Xenoblade Chronicles. I played that game at a perfect time in my life and it resonated with me in so many ways.

I love how they reprised this song's "I am lost without you" melody at the end of Cormorant in Pachinko.

The other half of my music taste is mostly jazz, soul, and R&B. Izo FitzRoy, Jordan Rakei, Shubh Saran, stuff like that. Video game soundtracks too, especially Xenoblade.

This is the same problem that the hoverbike and rocket shield cause in TotK. "One solution fits all" puzzle design.

Honestly I don't care whether we get a Prime 5 or not. 4 didn't leave anything interesting to build off of. Meanwhile Prime 2 is one of my favorite games in the franchise.

Anything I've got wrong is just because I haven't played the game in almost a year, not because I'm trying to lie about its problems.

• Mostly linear level design, where each area only has a single path available at a time. Several areas also routinely block the path behind you, hindering exploration even more.

• All areas are connected by a large desert hub, where there's almost nothing to do except drive through collectible crystals. Getting the majority of the crystals is required to finish the game. Also, new crystals appear as you progress, meaning you may have to sweep the same spot multiple times for them.

• The game frequently interrupts with "hints" telling you what to do and where to go. These hints can't be turned off, and will repeat every few minutes that you're not on the main path. This includes when you're scouring the desert for those crystals.

• Every area has a Federation trooper with voiced dialogue. They're mostly inoffensive, but their bad lines are really bad. Things like "it's about to get real nerdy in here" and "look, Samus is doing Morph Ball!". One of these troopers is also the one who gives you the endless hints.

• An underbaked story that doesn't use Sylux as effectively as Prime 2 & 3 used Dark Samus.

Outer Wilds is bad for a specific demographic who don't enjoy exploring for its own sake, without a reward attached.

On the other hand, if you are in its target demographic, it's one of the best games ever made.

Yeah, XC1 splits up its quests so that most only have 1-2 objectives each. The good thing is that you get rewards more often, but it also leads to never-ending new quests like this.

XC2 has fewer quests that are often longer. It can have the same problem though, where it feels like you go back to the same guy three times for a single quest.

Zazadan's UM quest just requires it be daytime. You're thinking of the UM that only shows up in Makna on "a hot day", which is both super rare and visually similar to a normal day.

I don't have anything against Fire Emblem, but tactics games have never really captured my interest.

Don't forget the hot springs cutscene, complete with "nice bod you've got there"

Got jumpscared by the macaroni

Getting downvoted for telling it like it is. Anyone who hasn't bought them yet has no more reason to do it now.