Assassination Classroom (Season 1)

I'm not much of a shonen person, and I'm not entirely sure what drove me to check out Assassination Classroom. That being said, I'm glad I did, because its first season was an absolute blast.

Assassination Classroom has an incredibly weird and inventive premise. It starts with a weird-looking octopus eventually named Koro shows up and blows up the moon. He makes a deal with the government to teach Class 3-E, the lowest ranked class in a prestigious junior high school, with the ultimatum that the students have to kill him in a year or else he'll destroy the Earth too. Yeah, it's wild, and there's a lot to it, but it really is a great concept in a lot of ways. For starters, the sheer concept of an "assassination classroom" is absolutely hilarious. Seeing the students randomly pull out guns and knives in class will never not be hilarious, and all the other 3-E teachers being other assassins and government employees leads to some very fun scenarios. Karasuma and Irina are very unconventional teachers, and seeing them grow into their new positions is a blast. Of course, Koro-sensei himself is a highlight of the series. Despite being a terrifying world-ending threat, he's also super charismatic and a genuinely stellar teacher who goes neurotic over helping them learn, which just leads to a super complex and fascinating character. There's this looming feeling of confliction throughout the season, where you want the students to kill Koro-sensei to save the world and win the money prize they deserve, but you also want Koro-sensei to stay alive and keep teaching them, which in turn leads to the even more interesting element of AssClass's story.

On top of being an incredibly fun story about assassination one's teacher, Assassination Classroom is also a commentary on the Japanese education system, and a really well-executed one at that. Class 3-E isn't just the lowest ranked class in the school, it's a tool the principal uses to stoke fear into its students. He posits that if the worst performing students get shunned from the rest of the school and open to discrimination, everyone else would perform well out of fear of being like them. The saddest part is that a large chunk of 3-E's students aren't actually bad learners, as we eventually learn it's more common that they're only specialized in a single subject, or that their grades fell off for personal real-life reasons. Seeing Koro-sensei desperately try to help 3-E flourish in a school designed to help them fail is just as engaging as the assassination stuff, if not even moreso. It helps that AssClass does an incredibly job at giving the whole class equal amounts of screentime. There is technically a main protagonist in Nagisa Shiota, and a great one at that, but he never overshadows the rest of the cast. Pretty much every episode shines a spotlight on another student, and the show as a whole rarely ever isolates one character from everyone else. This is an ensemble cast through and through, and the way AssClass efficiently develops its massive 22-student class in such a short span of time is probably one of its most impressive feats. 

Another impressive thing about this first season of AssClass is how well it's structured. For a show based on a manga, it's hard to even tell with how tightly-knit Season 1 is, everything gets paid off in a super satisfying manner. Nagisa spends the season taking notes on Koro-sensei's weaknesses, and they're used in the big final assassination attempt. Irina spends the season coming off as incompetent only to show the students how good of an assassin she really is in a final arc. Many episodes focus on the conflict between Class 3-E and Class 3-A, culminating in 3-E's victory in the finals. The list goes on, it's great. That being said, I do have one pretty major criticism with Assassination Classroom, an issue that I've noticed many shonen anime suffer from: Narration. You will not go an episode without Nagisa telling you that they're assassins, they gotta kill their teacher, they have a year to do it, the weapons aren't designed to kill humans, Koro-Sensei is actually a really good teacher, he moves at Mach 20, you get the point. It's exhausting. I get that shonen anime are meant for kids, but they're not that stupid. The vast majority of the narration in this series post the first episode are either things we already know or can easily imply by just... watching the show. 

Highlights:

School's Out, 1st Term: Ending the Class 3-E storyline on a high note, this episode has the students finally manage to beat 3-A on the finals (as well as getting full marks for their assassination lessons). It's a super heartwarming finale to all the school stuff and sets up the final arc in a great way when the students learn they won a summer vacation over 3-A. Also, Karma getting a reality check when he didn't do as well thanks to his cocky attitude was a great twist.

Go Time: If I had any another criticisms about AssClass's first season, it's that it is a bit on the slow side for its first half. I praised how well laid-out it is, but that does mean that a lot of the season's best moments are all in the final arc. That being said, what a final arc. Go Time has the students pull off their biggest assassination attempt yet, and it's an absolute spectacle to watch, which also makes it absolutely crushing to watch them lose when Koro pulls yet another superpower out of his ass. The second half of Go Time tosses in yet another twist when half the students all gets poisoned, with the antidote being ransomed for a frozen Koro-sensei.

Karma Time, 2nd Period: The last four episodes of the arc has the non-poisoned half of the class slowly work their way up a hotel fighting off enemies and all getting time to shine. As you can tell by the title, Karma gets a great moment here as he shows how much he's grown since his failure during the finals. But despite that, Nagisa was just as notable. I think it's really cool that the main character of an anime has a super androgynous design, and it's finally utilized here as Nagisa has to disguise as a girl to sneak through a club. It's a great sequence that shows how much of a pure cinnamon roll Nagisa is, as despite being pulled over by a drunk rich guy, he manages to talk him out of smoking and into bettering himself.

Nagisa Time: This was a good finale. Nagisa's final battle with Takaoka wasn't super crazy choreography-wise, but it got the vibes perfect. Between the compelling drama of Nagisa having to be talked out of not killing Takaoka, and the shadow-heavy visuals, the stakes feel higher than ever. There aren't really any surprises here, but the plot is resolved in super satisfying fashion.

Overall, Season 1 of Assassination Classroom really feels like a complete package. It's funny, action-packed, filled with a very lovable cast of characters, tackles the education system in a super compelling way, and ends on a fantastic final batch of episodes. It may have a bit of a slow start, and suffers from some very ham-fisted narration, but overall, this show is an incredibly good time.

4/5 Stars

Why I Love Iconoclasts

Metroid Fusion is known for being one of the most unique and niche games in the series. With a stronger focus on stealth and horror, story, and combat, along with a more linear progression, Fusion goes against a lot of the series' predefined philosophies. While this direction for the series may not be for everyone, Fusion still gained quite the cult following since it manages to accomplish a lot of its goals incredibly well. The combat and boss encounters are still some of the best the series has seen, the story is actually my personal favorite in the franchise, the setpieces and scares are memorable, and the linear structure makes for a tight and perfectly paced experience. With its rumored sequel left as vaporware and the Metroid series shifting towards 3D before going a long hiatus, there wouldn't been another game quite like Fusion for years. But of course, leave it to the indie devs to scratch that itch and then some.

Iconoclasts is an indie game made by a Swedish developer named Konjak, who had previously been known for the ridiculously bombastic Noitu Love series. Those games were blisteringly fast-paced hour-long run-and-guns, so Iconoclasts being a lengthier, more story-driven, metroidvania was a pretty big jump in scale for Konjak, especially considering that he took most of it on alone. Yeah, this was a solo project, and across what has to have been a grueling seven years of development, Konjak managed to craft a full 10-hour campaign with incredibly detailed and fluid spritework while also making the entire soundtrack himself. How impressive is that? But even beyond the impressive development, what immediately stuck out about Iconoclasts is the fact that unlike many metroidvanias that took inspiration from the typical Super Metroid or Symphony Of The Night, Konjak decided to base Iconoclasts off of the uncharacteristically linear Metroid Fusion instead. Iconoclasts doesn't go full horror like Metroid Fusion does, but it takes a lot of inspiration from its design philosophy. Fusion uses its linear structure to put a stronger emphasis on setpieces and story beats, and in turn, Iconoclasts ups the ante by delivering even more frequent and bombastic setpieces not unlike those in the Noitu Love games and telling an even more developed story within its tightly-knit metroidvania world. Obviously, I do not mean to diss Super Metroid and games inspired by it since that's also one of my favorite games ever and even higher up on my list, but by taking inspiration by a more unconventional metroidvania instead while adding its own flare, Iconoclasts is able to really differentiate itself as a unique entry in the genre.

In Iconoclasts, you play as a mechanic named Robin. She mostly controls like a standard 2D Metroid game, but one of the things that really helps it stand out is how it handles the weapon types. You have a standard gun as you'd expect, and it feels great to use, but you progressively get two other guns with their own unique purposes. The roller bomb gun is fine enough and used for some neat puzzles, but the coolest gun is the Usurper Gun which you can use to swap places with enemies. It's a super creative weapon that's a blast to use. On top of the gun, you also have a wrench you can use, not unlike that in Ratchet & Clank but even more versatile. The wrench can be used as a light melee attack, but it'll primarily be used for puzzle-solving from turning cranks to open gates and move platformers, to latching onto a zip-line and riding it around, to cracking open a boss's weakspot. You can even use it to parry projectiles. While gunplay is also fun, the wrench really is the heart of Iconoclasts' gamepaly and it's not only utilized super well but just simply feels great to use, with a great sense of weight to it.

But while the moveset is great, what really makes Iconoclasts such a blast is how much it's willing to change up what you're doing. This game is blisteringly fast in its pacing and constantly tosses new, unique setpieces at you. This is entirely intentional as Konjak claims he didn't want it to ever feel like the action got interrupted, and yeah, he definitely accomplished that. From a variety of fun minigames like sorting items with an elevator, to an exhilarating train sequence, to one of my favorite water levels in any game, to a horror-tinged darkened cave, there's a lot of memorable moments here, but two in particular really stuck out to me. First off, there's the fact that at certain points, control gets passed off to someone other than Robin, like the shotgun-toting pirate Mina or the swordsman Elro. Then, there's The Tower, a pretty divisive part of the game. This is when you get essentially tossed in jail and striped of many of your weapons, so you have to solve your way out. It's the one point the game slows down a bit, and The Tower as a location feels more like a Zelda dungeon where you have to methodically use elevators to get around. Personally, this was one of my favorite parts of the game. It's a great change of pace, one of the most effective puzzles in the game, and does an incredible job at putting you on the defensive, coming the closest to capturing the atmosphere of Metroid Fusion. All of these setpieces that vary in intensity and gameplay styles really show off just how versatile Iconoclasts is as a game, but The Tower in particular managing to pull off slowing down the pacing for a bit without it feeling like a low point of the game is incredibly impressive.

The highlight of Iconoclasts has to be the bosses though, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise if you've played Noitu Love, which is a borderline boss rush. Iconoclasts packs in a whopping 25 bosses in the whole game, and they are pretty much all an absolute blast to fight. They run the gamut from giant mechanical monsters, to smaller more personal fights with people your size. The bosses are also super creative too, rarely ever requiring you to use the same tactics on them, so let me run through some of the highlights. Inti separates Robin and Mina with a gate, so you have to repeatedly swap between the two to take it out. Carver is a giant worm that chases you around in circles, and you need to link your wrench to a line circling the arena to evade it. The Silver Watchmen are brutal samurais that you have to be at the top of your game to fight, but the best one is easily the one that hops on your elevator and starts trying to stab you from the roof. Omega Controller is a giant spinning sawblade that causes reality to warp while you're fighting it. Ash has the game go full Metal Gear Solid as you need to outwit him in a stealth-off. Mother's Corners has you fight two super fast ninjas at the same time whose moves perfectly play off each other. And of course, Agent Black is a super emotional and climactic fight with some of the most heartwrenching music in a video game and... Oh, wait, I haven't talked about the story yet, have I?

Iconclasts's story is another highlight of the game, it's a great balance of plot-driven dystopia and character motivation-driven drama. The main premise is that Robin lives in a corrupt theocracy where a religious power called the One Concern controls not just what everyone does, but the planet's lifeblood itself. For the horrible crime of helping people and fixing stuff without a license, Robin gets arrested and decides to fight back against One Concern with a crew of, wait for it, iconoclasts. Plot-wise, it's a good setup that's explored really well. The vast majority of NPCs are unwilling to help Robin or even jerkish towards her because of their fear of One Concern, the world of Iconoclasts feels believably awful to live in. The themes of distrusting higher powers is not only one that resonates with me purposefully, but it's similarly explored well especially with a pretty tragically hilarious final boss twist. But what really makes Iconoclasts's story so great is the character work. At its core, Iconoclasts is a game built around motivations. Every single character has their own unique goal which they proceed to act on throughout the game. Robin has the simplest goal, she doesn't want to be labeled a heretic and needs a nap. Mina is Robin's sidekick and the best character in the game, a hilariously snarky pirate who's trying to rebel against multiple religions at the cost of being way too headstrong and prickly. Elro's family died and he desperately spends the game trying to protect Robin, but only keeps making things worse because he refuses to give her autonomy. Royal is a prideful brat who wants claims he's supposed to be the future leader of One Concern, but similarly makes things worse for himself culminating in a pretty crushing end to his arc. And of course, there's Agent Black, wracked with grief and anger towards Robin and Elro to the point where she will stop at nothing to take everything from them. This leads to that aforementioned boss fight, where you need to literally pry the rocket you're supposed to use to save the world from her cold, dead hands. It's a truly emotionally raw sequence, up there with what happens to Royal. Not everyone gets a happy ending in Iconoclasts, but they all get an ending worthy of their character, and the way their decisions and motivations drive every facet of the plot is really what elevates the story.

Back to the lighthearted stuff, Iconoclasts looks freaking amazing. The spritework in this game is clean, detailed, fluid, and incredibly charming. The bosses are massive and intricate, the weapons you wield pack so much punch to them, the colors and bright and pop, and the character sprites are just simply adorable, particularly that of Robin. There's so many little nuances in the animation, so many character expressions. My favorite detail is that Robin's bouncy idle animation stops after a certain traumatic event in the story, there really is a lot of thought put into how everything looks. As I previously said, Konjak made all of the spritework himself and considering the sheer quality and polish on display here, that is incredibly impressive. I also said that Konjak made the music himself and, as you'd probably expect, it's pretty great too. There's a unique blend of chiptune and synths that fit Iconoclasts' dark futuristic world really well. The boss themes hit and the area themes are catchy and atmospheric, but the real highlight is the theme that plays during the Agent Black fight, Moonlight, which is far and away the best track in the game. It's sweeping, climactic, emotional, powerful, it's probably one of my favorite tracks in a video game, and it'll likely always be the thing I associate Iconoclasts with most. It also took me five years to realize it was a re-imagining of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata which only makes it better.

Overall, Iconoclasts feels like the absolute best thing you could want from an indie game. It's a game that feels like a product of someone's unique vision, blending their unique influences with their own unique original ideas making for a final product that's really unlike anything else I've played. The structure of Metroid Fusion, the gameplay of Ratchet & Clank, the pacing and bosses of a Treasure game, and an emotional and thematically fascinating story combine to create something entirely new. Iconclasts is both a blast to play and an absolute marvel on a presentation level, it was one of those games that I couldn't help but blaze through when I first got it because I was just so engrossed in it and its world. And five years later, it's still a game that I just can't stop thinking about.

What We Do In The Shadows (Season 5)

Season 4 of What We Do In The Shadows was a bit of a let-down coming off the heels of its pretty stellar first three seasons, but thankfully, its fifth season is a bit of a return to form. It doesn't quite reach the heights of WWDITS's best, but it's easily one of the most consistent seasons in the series.

Season 5 of WWDITS starts with Guillermo having Derek making a vampire only to learn that Nandor would have to kill him if he learned he was sired by someone other than them, so much of the season has Guillermo keep his being a vampire a secret as his powers slowly creep in and more members of the household slowly find out. I criticized Season 4 for being too heavy on the drama, but this is the perfect type of plot for the series. Guillermo having to spend more time with Lazslo and eventually Nadja is a nice change of pace for the series, and the constant secret-keeping brings to mind Season 5 of Friends. In general, WWDITS feels like it leans a lot more heavy on the comedy, and rediscovered a lot of what made the series so fun initially. This season has the most scenes with the vampires interacting with normal society since probably Season 1, and it's great! Among all the fantastical drama, it's easy to forget that the main hook of WWDITS was supposed to be the juxtaposition between the vampires and everyone else. The vampires spending all their time doing vampire-related stuff just isn't as compelling or funny. Colin not being a baby anymore was also a massive improvement, it's easy to take for granted how funny he is as a character and a he stole a lot of the episodes across this season.

However, Season 5 still isn't perfect, and there are some issues with the show that unfortunately carried over from last season. The biggest issue is probably Nadja, who it still feels like the series doesn't really know what to do with. Her storyline this season is a tad better than the nightclub one from Season 4. She learns she has a curse and reconnects with her home to figure out how to remove it. The joke of Little Antipaxos was definitely funny at first, but it got pretty played out as the season went on. The other issue I have is with The Guide, who I was never really a fan of. It feels like the writers keeps trying to force her as a part of the cast, but I'm just not really sold on her. Kristen Schaal is a good actress, but her accent as The Guide is really annoying, and as a character, The Guide just doesn't have any depth or personality outside of being slightly annoying (and we already have Colin for that). One other thing I found weird (not bad, just notable) about this season is just how gory it is. WWDITS was never averse to gore and blood splatter, but this season goes shockingly far with it. I'm fine with most of the excessive gore, though the whole subplot about Guillermo's animal hybrids was really uncomfortable and did not need an entire episode dedicated to it.

Highlights:

The Roast: Doug Jones is a treasure. Like, I already knew that he's a physical acting legend and fantastic at being scary, but now that Baron got his whole body back, Jones is able to carry an entire episode comedically and does so wonderfully. His line delivery is pitch perfect, every single movement and facial expression is perfectly calibrated, you can tell he had the time of his life here. This episode is also a densely-packed riot from start to finish. From the titular roast, to Baron chasing Guillermo around, to the plot ramifications of the vampire community knowing about Guillermo being a Van Helsing and everyone other than Nandor knowing about Guillermo being a vampire, to the hysterical payoff of the Baron getting burned again, The Roast is the whole package.

Exit Interview: This was a good finale that resolves everything on a pretty satisfying note. Guillermo ends up deciding that he doesn't want to be a vampire, and the way it gets resolved is fittingly funny. My favorite part of the episode, though, was most of the cast showing up to say goodbye to Guillermo throughout. Really gave it series finales vibes.

Overall, Season 5 of WWDITS was good. The core secret-keeping plot was fun, the comedy and mundane elements got more of a focus, and the second half was mostly really strong. It's not as consistently hilarious as the earlier seasons and still suffers from figuring out what to do with certain characters, but where Season 4 left me underwhelmed, this season left me quite satisfied and content.

3/5 Stars

Succession (Season 4)

I haven't been able to watch TV as much lately, but I'm back and I'm ready to finally review the final season of Succession. If you've seen my past reviews, you'll know that I'm not the biggest fan of this show. I think it's good and more than competent on pretty much every level, but it's just too repetitive. Season 3 in particular felt like it kept hinted at the illusion of change without doing anything to actually change. But now we're at the final season, and if there's any time to shake things up, it's now. And boy, does Season 4 of Succession shake things up.

Season 4 of Succession starts right where the previous season ended off, with Kendall, Shiv, and Roman Roy forming a united front against their father Logan. The first two episodes are about what you'd expect, with the three siblings repeatedly facing off against their father. It's pretty much standard Successon fare, solid, but not particularly memorable. But then the third episode happens, and Logan dies. I remember the night that episode aired and just how shocked everyone was, this was a massive plot twist. We all thought Logan would either pick someone to take his place or be forced to step down, and if he did die, it'd be near the end of the season if not the finale. But with eight episodes remaining, the one question on everyone's mind was: Where would the series go from here?

Well, the answer to that question would be: Some of the best material in the entire show. For starters, Logan's death ironically breathes new life into a series that I had previously found repetitive. With Logan gone, there is now a deadline. Someone has to take his position because Waystar Royco can't stay without a CEO for long. It's also a concept rich with dramatic potential. The Roy siblings are already messed up from lifetimes of abuse, so forcing them to grapple with their feelings towards their father post his death is simply really compelling television. And on top of all that, there's the looming buyout from Matsson which the siblings are incredibly conflicted towards. Matsson himself is a great new antagonist, he's absolutely despicable and revels in it, a joy to watch in all of his appearances throughout the season. What really solidifies Season 4 as the high point of the season for me, though, are the final three episodes which take the three Roy siblings and systematically takes everything from them piece by piece. Episode 8 focuses on Shiv's downfall (along with one of the worst things the siblings has ever done), Episode 9 focuses on Roman's downfall, and the finale gives the dealing blow to Kendall. It's an intense, crushing, and satisfying final streak that ends the series on a really high note.

Highlights:

Connor's Wedding: What can I really say about this episode that hasn't already been said? Logan's death was a massive plot twist that shook up the show for the better, and this episode in particular did a great job dealing with the sibling's complex grief. Better episode than anything from the first three seasons and we haven't even gotten started yet.

America Decides: The last three episodes in this season are all amazing, but America Decides in particular pretty much sickened me. Taking place during an election, America Decides is the most political episode of Succession, showing how the fate of who becomes president is less up to the voters and more up to the few volatile rich people in power, and it just so happens that things are really starting to come to roost for those few volatile rich people. The Roys putting a literal Nazi in power is absolutely one of the worst things they've done in the show, and a grim reminder that as bad as you may feel for them after Logan's death, they're still horrible people. This episode also just has so many amazing individual moments. Tom asking Shiv if her pregnancy is just another trick, Connor's hilarious "the conheads are coming" speech, and of course, Kendall learning Shiv is working with Matsson and voting for the aforementioned Nazi out of spite. Amazing episode, and absolutely deserved of being called the most "shocking episode of the season" by the showrunner.

Church And State: While definitely the weakest of this finale trio, Church And State is still a stellar penultimate episode in a number of ways. It tackles the fallout of the events of America Decides and shows Roman getting some sort of comeuppance, and it shows Logan's funeral and the incredibly varied eulogies that the siblings deliver.

With Open Eyes: And finally, With Open Eyes was an absolutely stellar finale that manages to encapsulate the entire series in less than 90 minutes. None of the siblings become CEO of Waystar Royco, instead Tom does, and even he's still being held under a tight leash. Kendall, Shiv, and Roman can't be CEO because when their last chance is to form a united front, they still can't resist the urge to backstab and turn against each other. Even if it seems like they settled on Kendall being CEO, Shiv and Roman just can't bring themselves to actually go through with it because it's not in their nature. It's a vicious cycle of betrayal, and with this finale, it finally bites the Roys in the ass. Perfect ending.

Ugh, fine, this season was really good. I never really got Succession, and honestly I still don't think that's the case, but I can't deny that it stuck the landing hard. It makes sense, though. My biggest issue with the show was that it felt like it kept treading water, so it's only natural that the final season, where everything finally comes to a close, would be the best season of the show. It's simply a great payoff.

5/5 Stars

Here's my ranking of the seasons of Succession:

4 > 2 > 3 > 1

Here's my ranking of the Succession finales:

4 > 2 > 3 > 1

Favorite Episode: America Decides

Why I Love Sin & Punishment

I've already made a post about my very mixed opinions on Treasure and the quality of their games. They don't always hit the mark, but I respect that they're games are as bonkers, experimental, and boundary-pushing as they are. And when Treasure does get it right, it's something truly special. Enter Sin & Punishment, easily one of the best games Treasure has ever made. It's got everything that defines Treasure as a company. Genre-blending, complex movesets, unpredictable level design, unnecessarily deep lore for those interested, and visuals you wouldn't think the N64 was even capable of. There's just something so original about Sin & Punishment to this day, there isn't really a game like it outside of its sequel, and even that doesn't quite match the same feeling of experimentalism that the original has.

Sin & Punishment can best be described as an on-rails gallery platformer shooter. I'd say it's a game where you automatically run through stages, dodging left and right, jumping across platforms, and gunning down enemies, but that's only like a third of the game. It doesn't mention the more traditional gallery shooter bits, the 2D platformer segments, the sword fight, or the mech sequences. Sin & Punishment is a game that's willing to change gameplay styles constantly, but what makes it work is that they all use the same, very unique control scheme. The N64 controller's weird three-prong design has been a punching bag for a while now, but Sin & Punishment is one of the few games that feels entirely built around its imperfections. You use the analog stick to aim, and you can use either the D-pad or the C-buttons to strafe left and right, accomodating for both right-handed and left-handed people. Pretty much everything else is done with the shoulder buttons. It can be a bit weird at first, but once you get the hang of it, these controls work wonderfully. And where most N64 games only really make you use just the D-pad or just the joystick, Sin & Punishment manages to use all three prongs of the controller in a way that feels entirely natural.

Like most other Treasure games, Sin & Punishment also boasts a surprisingly complex moveset. Along with moving and aiming, you can press the L and R buttons to jump or press them twice to double jump, double-tap the directional button to roll, change your shot type between a standard shot and a less powerful homing shot, and coolest of all, if you press the shoot button (Z) when an enemy or projectile is near by, you can pull out a sword and knock it out of the way. This counterattack actually becomes really important as the game goes on. Along with being practically necessary for some boss fights, it soon becomes clear that there are just too many enemies for you to simply shoot. Eventually, you start to get into this rhythm of sweeping your cursor around, dodging left and right, slashing away at anything that comes near, and it just feels great. It's also quite necessary to use every move at your disposal because Sin & Punishment has a combo system too. The more enemies you can take out without getting hit, the more points you get. Your combo is communicated through a simple number that shows whenever you land a hit, and it just feels super satisfying to watch that number go up. With an abundance of moves and a addicting scoring system that encourages using said moves, Sin & Punishment manages to pack in a lot of depth, and encourages replaying the game to improve your score and even get a 1cc. And even with how crazy the level design gets, the fact that the control scheme and scoring system remains consistent throughout means the skill ceiling remains consistently high throughout.

Speaking of which, let's talk about that level design, shall we? Sin & Punishment has ten levels across three acts and a prologue, and they're practically all different from one another. You start running through a city, before being tossed into an elevator that takes you to a boss you fight solely on a 2D plane, before getting into a mech fight over a pool of blood, and you get the picture. Pretty much every level in Sin & Punishment is memorable, both due to the variety of settings and the variety of what you do within those settings. The highlight of the game for me is Act 2 which easily has the best levels it has to offer. 2-1 is a lengthy platforming gauntlet with chase scenes and sword fights (it's my favorite level), 2-2 is a show-stopping stage where you soar across the skies taking out aircraft carriers, and 2-3 has you run through a subway with each car boasting a new enemy type. Nearly every level has at least one boss fight, as you'd expect from Treasure, and the game culminates in one of the nuttiest final bosses I've ever seen in a video game. You played Sonic Frontiers and thought fighting a moon was weird? How about fighting a decoy of Earth in a giant mech-alien by shooting asteroids, solar flares, and falling stars back at it, while also defending your own Earth from said asteroids, solar flares, and falling stars:

It's just as crazy to actually play, believe me.

Sin & Punishment is a pretty short game capping at around an hour in length, but it makes up for that by being incredibly replayable. It's so replayable in fact that immediately after beating the game for the first time, I decided to replay it just because of how breezy and fun it was. For me, that's the mark of a great, replayable game. Beyond simply replaying to improve your score, Sin & Punishment has three difficulties, and they're all worth playing on their own since they all have unique enemy and boss placements, the harder difficulties even having exclusive bosses. On top of that, beating each difficulty unlocks something new in the game's menu, including a sound test, a frame skip option, and my personal favorite, the Turbo Mode which makes the game go at double speed. It's just as crazy as you'd expect. The most interesting unlock is the subtitles option. See, Sin & Punishment only released in Japan, but it's voiced in English. So for the game's intended audience, they won't be able to actually understand the story unless they unlock the subtitles. It's a pretty neat concept, and would get expanded on even more as time goes on so that not only people from one country can benefit from it. Ico, at least outside of America, has a New Game+ where you can unlock subtitles for Yorda's alien speech, and the infinitely less good The Quiet Man has a second playthrough that adds in audio you couldn't hear the first time (though, once again, to far less success). Sin & Punishment also has a surprisingly fun and lengthy tutorial that basically feels like another level in itself, and a two-player mode where one person can move and the other person can aim. Treasure games don't often have much in terms of content, but Sin & Punishment has so many ways to keep playing that it makes for a game that's incredibly easy to jump back into at any time.

On a presentation level, Sin & Punishment is also fantastic across the board, mostly. The story is admittedly kind of convoluted and the voice acting isn't very good, but I think it does just enough to give the game a consistent sense of forward momentum and urgency, and works as somewhat of a love letter to Studio Gainax's similarly excessive work. And like in most of other Treasure games, there is a lot of world-building and lore hidden in if you're really interested. In terms of visuals, I've often see Sin & Punishment described as poorly aged, but I think that's selling the technical prowess on display really short. The art direction in this game is striking and stylish. From those bright orange fields you run in during the prologue, to the grand sense of scale that makes all the locations that you visit feel bigger than they actually are, to the sharp angular character and boss designs, to the pool of blood setting that caps off Act 1, there are so many memorable bits of imagery here. This game is filled with explosions, crazy imagery, weird camera angles, and badass character designs, and it just looks so cool. But on top of everything, the most impressive thing about Sin & Punishment's visuals is that even with its abundance of enemies and explosions, even with its long interconnected levels, even with its massive bosses, this game does not lag. Sin & Punishment keeps a consistent 30fps throughout, on a console where frame dips were a frequent occurrence. The music by Toshiya Yamanaka is just as unconventional as the rest of the game, it's a strange proggy jazz fusion that not only sounds great but gives S&P its own unique flavor. It's laid-back and gritty at the same time. 

Overall, Sin & Punishment is, for me, the Treasure game that perfectly toes the line between being creative and unconventional, and also just being a really damn fun and well-designed game. It has a unique control scheme that makes the most of the N64 controller's weird layout, has a wild variety of stages and bosses that keeps you guessing, and boasts an absolutely nuts narrative. It also feels great to play, has an addicting scoring system, is super well-balanced in its difficulty, packs in tons of replayability, and has impressive visuals that can keep up with the game's fast pacing without sacrificing framerate. There still aren't many games quite like Sin & Punishment to this day, it's entirely itself, and that's something I respect immensely.

My Favorite Video Games (and why they're great)

So my previous Top 50 list started to feel really strained and like it was missing a lot. So, I decided to expand it to a borderline Top 100 with each placement getting an entire blog post about why I loved it, but even that wasn't enough. I've played so many video games already and I'll probably play so many more that a game making it into such a large list is still such an accomplishment, to the point where I can't not look at any of these games as anything other than something truly special. So from here on out, this will be my ever expanding list of favorite video games. Obviously, no game is perfect and if you really wanted to, you could find tons of nitpicks for every single game on this list, but for me, these are titles that are more than the sum of their parts and all ended up making some sort of positive impact on me as some of the best the medium has to offer.

1. Super Mario Galaxy
2. Kirby And The Forgotten Land
3. Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil
4. Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess
5. Freedom Planet 2
6. Klonoa: Door To Phantomile 
   
7. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers Of Sky
8. Celeste
9. Super Mario Galaxy 2
10. Freedom Planet
11. Kirby's Return To Dream Land
    
12. Legend Of Zelda: Wind Waker 
    
13. Metroid Prime Remastered
14. Sonic Adventure
    
15. Trails In The Sky Trilogy
16. One Step From Eden
17. Banjo-Kazooie
    
18. Chrono Trigger/Cross
19. Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening
20. Super Paper Mario
21. Densetsu No Starfy 3
22. Ape Escape 3
23. Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection
24. Castlevania: Order Of Ecclesia (+Dominus Collection)
    
25. Touhou 11: Subterranean Animism
26. Undertale
27. Ace Attorney Trilogy
28. Ys Origin
29. Pokemon Emerald
30. Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage
31. Ape Escape
    
32. Mega Man X4
33. Castlevania: Rondo Of Blood
34. Panel De Pon
35. Metroid Dread
36. Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion
37. Dektarune 
38. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
39. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
40. Pikmin 3 Deluxe
41. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
42. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
43. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
44. Kirby's Epic Yarn
45. A Hat In Time
46. Sonic Unleashed
    
47. Sly 2: Band Of Thieves
48. Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure 
    
49. Ico + Shadow Of The Colossus
50. Donkey Kong Bananza 
51. Super Smash Bros Ultimate
52. Phantasy Star Online
53. Super Monkey Ball 2
54. Portal 2
    
55. We Love Katamari
56. Super Mario Odyssey
57. Drill Dozer 
    
58. Sonic X Shadow Generations
    
59. Legend Of Zelda: Majora's Mask
60. Paper Mario: The Origami King
    
61. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
62. CrossCode
63. Parasite Eve
64. Mario Party 3
65. Super Metroid
    
66. Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime
67. Hollow Knight
68. Spyro 3: Year Of The Dragon
69. Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando
    
70. Ristar
71. Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
72. Super Mario 3D World & Bowser's Fury
73. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
74. Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver
75. Touhou Luna Nights
76. Mega Man Battle Network 3
    
77. Nights Into Dreams
78. Penny's Big Breakaway
    
79. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
80. Resident Evil (2002)
81. Chrono Cross
82. Omori 
    
83. Einhander 
84. Radiant Silvergun
85. Mario Kart World
86. Umihara Kawase (Shun)
    
87. Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
88. Wii Sports (Resort) 
89. Hamtaro: Ham Hams Unite  
90. Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc 
91. F-Zero X
92. Threads Of Fate 
93. Mushihimesama
94. Rhythm Heaven Fever
95. Puyo Puyo Fever 2
96. Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon
97. Bayonetta Origins: Cereza And The Lost Demon
98. R4: Ridge Racer Type 4
99. Kirby: Planet Robobot 
100. Rayman 2: The Great Escape
101. Poinie's Poin
102. Mario Party 6
103. Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
104. Kirby Triple Deluxe
105. Touhou 18: Unconnected Marketeers 
106. Sonic Rush
     
107. Final Fantasy V
108. Kururin Squash
109. Sonic 3 & Knuckles
110. Sly Cooper And The Thievius Raccoonus
111. Curse Crackers: For Whom The Belle Toils 
112. Touhou 14.3: Impossible Spell Card 
     
113. Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance 
114. Sonic Adventure 2
115. Donkey Kong Country 3 
116. Napple Tale: Arsia In Daydream  
117. Ape Escape: Million Monkeys 
     
118. Legend Of Zelda: The Minish Cap
119.  Shantae: Half-Genie Hero 
120. Silhouette Mirage  
121. Wario Land 3
122. Iconoclasts
123. Final Fantasy VI
124. Sin & Punishment
125. Touhou 8: Imperishable Night 
126. Game & Watch Gallery 2
     
127. Mega Man 3
128. Jack Bros 
129. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
130. Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
131. Pokemon Black/White Version 2
132. Twinkle Star Sprites
133. Paper Mario
134. Panzer Dragoon Saga
     
135. Soulcalibur
136. Spyro The Dragon
     
137. Plants Vs Zombies
138. CTR: Crash Team Racing 
139. Bomberman Generation
140. Hamtaro: Ham Ham Heartbreak
141. Garou: Mark Of The Wolves
142. Metroid Fusion
143. Ape Escape 2
144. Kirby Air Ride
145. Crazy Taxi
146. Super Smash Bros Melee
     
147. Tekken 3
148. The Legendary Starfy
149. Wario Land 4
150. Saturn Bomberman
151. Kirby Super Star Ultra
152. Luigi's Mansion 3
153. Warioware Gold
154. Metal Slug X
155. Legend Of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
156. Waku Waku 7 

Lucky Star

Slice of life is, and probably always will be, my favorite genre of anime. It's cute, comfy, nostalgic, often funny, and its sheer love for the mundanity always gives me some much needed perspective. It hits on my love for fun character interactions, since the best slice of life offer casts so great and close-knit that you could watch them do anything. And the animation is often way more expressive than it ever needed to be, especially if it's made by Kyoto Animation. Why am I saying all this now? Well, it's because I finally watched one of the defining slice of life shows, Lucky Star, and even with its reputation, I was still surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

Lucky Star is basically anime Seinfeld. It's a show about a group of girls going to school and talking about stuff. For a Seinfeldian conversation to work, you need to nail two things: The writing and the chemistry between the characters. The latter is nailed right from the start. Konata, Kagami, Tsukasa, and Miyuki make for a fantastic cast. They have charismatic and well-defined personalities, are fun to watch regardless of how they're paired, and carry the show's many conversations incredibly well. Konata is obviously the highlight, a lovable nerd who's also an absolute gremlin, but the whole quartet is great. Kagami's straight man snark is a blast, Tsukasa is an absolute treasure, and Miyuki may be one of the most adorable characters ever created in an anime. But even the side characters are pretty stellar, like Konata's silly police cousin Yui, the Moe destructions Yutaka and Minami who also happen to have a super heart-warming friendship, and the Yuri fanatic Hiyori.

In terms of the writing, though, Lucky Star does have a bit of growing pains. Most people know that the first few episodes of Lucky Star had a completely different director than the rest of the show, so conversations tend to ramble and the show is less frequently funny. It's still not bad though, these early episodes do introduce the cast pretty effectively and there are some funny or relatable moments that caught me off guard (Miyuki hitting the light switch when leaving a restaurant). In Episode 5, KyoAni swapped directors and the show became a lot more manic in its pacing while still keeping all of that relatable commentary. Episodes also start to have actually have a connective theme or setting rather than just feeling like an aimless string of disconnected skits, which leads to loads of great brick jokes that get set up in one episode and paid off episodes later. 

Of course, I can't talk about Lucky Star without talking about the anime of it all. Konata being a massive Otaku means this show references the anime culture of the early 2000s, when it was made. I've seen complaints that this makes Lucky Star dated and, I mean, I see it. Personally, I hold a lot of nostalgia for the 2000s in general so that doesn't bug me too much, but seeing the cast use flip phones and play their PS2s and DSs is definitely surreal. However, while the anime referenced is often old, I think the ideas at play still hold up pretty well. Lucky Star skewers the anime industry and pokes fun at many of its most notable tropes, tropes that are still used to this day. I can only imagine that if Lucky Star was made today, it'd absolutely demolish the current isekai trend. It also helps that Konata is really the only true nerd of the main cast, so there's also just inherent comedy in her friends having to humor her ramblings.

In terms of presentation, Lucky Star looks great. I mean, it's a Kyoto Animation show, what did you expect? It's fluid, expressive, and every once in a while (though not nearly as often as Nichijou), they throw in an absolutely wild of sakuga just for the sake of it. Voice acting-wise, Lucky Star is phenomenal. As I've repeatedly stated, the cast has fantastic chemistry and bounces off each other very well. You can tell KyoAni knows this because a whole bunch of the EDs are just Konata singing karaoke with the other girls, getting progressively louder culminating in that iconic Cha La Head Cha La bit. The dub is also great, I actually might even prefer it since it really just feels like a bunch of teenage girls casually chatting. I also have to give props to Stephanie Sheh who plays Akira Kogami, the mood-swinging idol who closes off each episode. She switches between Akira's cutesy facade and her more jaded and cruel persona so well, elevating the Lucky Channel segments with how much she hams it up.

Highlights:

Energetic Despite Not Being Myself: Athletic festival episodes are almost always a blast, and this was no exception. Tsukasa was probably the MVP here, between her hysterical hurdle stumble, her learning a recorder, and her very bad luck at the lunch line.

Let's Go To The Festival: For a show so focused on Otaku culture, I was desperately hoping for an episode where the cast actually goes to a festival and it was great, with the highlight being the hilarious punchline of Akira announcing she'll show up in this episode only to just be a poster that gets knocked over.

Base Of The Sun: This is one of few Lucky Star episodes to drop the comedy and throw in a slightly more dramatic sketch. Kagami's argument and subsequent reconciliation with her sister is surprisingly really heartfelt and made for one of the most memorable moments of the anime.

Pandora's Box: The culmination of all of the Lucky Channel segments, as Minoru finally snaps at Akira for everything she's put him through, and it's absolutely glorious. On top of that, you get a very fun trip to Kyoto where Tsukasa gets harassed by deers, the group argues over how to say cheese in India, Minoru chases after a bus, Kagami almost gets a love letter, and... the cast goes to visit Kyoto Animation itself? That's all new levels of meta. 

The Yonder Here: I spent a lot of the season feeling bad for Konata. Her mom's dead, her dad's a skeezy lolicon, and she's only grown up to become an otaku because that's all she knew. However, in what is arguably the climax of the anime, The Yonder Here reveals that, no, Konata's doing okay. The scene where Kanata's ghost visits the family to see how they're doing is easily the most heartfelt part of the series, and we learn that despite being the creepiest character on the show, Kanata's father still loves his family more than anything else in the world.

To Be Decided: I was kinda expecting Lucky Star to end with the graduation, but to have it end with the cast performing the title sequence fits the show's more low-key vibe perfectly. It brings the series full circle, not unlike the Seinfeld finale but way less awful. It even finally lets Akira make a proper appearance in the show!

Overall, Lucky Star is great, an absolute classic. As a defining entry in the slice of life genre, it has everything I love from these types of series, from the likable cast, to the funny relatable humor, to the rare but impactful emotional gut punches. While it gets off to a shaky start and doesn't quite reach the heights of my favorites, I did very much enjoy my time with Lucky Star.

4/5 Stars