VIDEO GAME ESSAYS & REVIEWS

click on a column header to sort (this might be helpful when there's an actual meaty list to look at lmao)

a note on my scoring methodology: all games are scored on a sliding whole number scale from -3 to 3. i tend to write these down in a tiered list with tier names that change every year, but there's always 7 tiers, so they more or less line up with a -3 to 3 scale. games that end up positive tend to be easier to define why, while games that end up negative can end up there for a multitude of reasons, BUT if you need an """objective""" defintion into words what each score means (with examples, in my personal onion):

• 3: HOLY SHIT THIS IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER PLAYED IN MY LIFE
  • f-zero GX
  • killer7
  • outrunners (arcade)
  
  
• 2: damn this is pretty good
  • revenge of shinobi
  • pizza tower
  • tetris the absolute: the grand master 2 plus
  
  
• 1: i can gel with this
  • wonder boy in monster land
  • splatoon 3
  • petal crash
  
  
• 0: i mean, i don't regret playing it? (this is a complicated one because there's several reasons a game can end up not advancing one way or the other from the default, probably requires the most nuance)
  • flipull
  • phantasy star 2
  • castlevania 3
  
  
• -1: might just not be for me, might just be missing That Special Something, might be a good game that has some sort of Problem i can't get past, idk
  • pikmin 4
  • zombiu (on wiiu)
  • crash bandicoot 1
  
  
• -2: something went wrong somewhere
  • sonic unleashed (360)
  • super battletank: war in the gulf
  • cooking mama: world kitchen
  
  
• -3: BATSU GAME (probably the most clear cut lmao)
  • indiana jones and the last crusade (genesis)
  • mario party 10
  • (third example to go here eventually? i hope not)