I want to mention like three different games, but for each one someone would rightfully come after me for saying the game itself is mediocre. So I’ll just say I personally love these games, but I see with pretty clear eyes that aspects of them haven’t stood the test of time.
Mirror’s Edge, The Neverhood, and Yuri’s Revenge all have amazing soundtracks.
And after that disclaimer if you still try to pick a fight about how they’re not mediocre games, I’m going to also pretend I’m fighting the person who called them mediocre and then crawl out of our cartoon fight cloud.
Terry Scott Taylor has an incredibly deep back catalogue on his Bandcamp page - some pretty middle of the road, and some totally weird, worth having a rummage and seeing what you get… For those who don’t want to play lucky dip, there’s the full soundtrack to Neverhood, plus a couple of related albums (Songs from the Neverhood Vol 2 which was the platformer sequel, and Return to the Neverhood - which was released as a companion to the graphic novel).
Just started another playthrough of catalyst after 5 years, absolutely serene soundtrack. Sure the game has issues but it’s for sure one of my favorites
The Neverhood is a flawed gem, one of those fantastic point&click adventure games that have some of that moon-logic malaise so common in Sierra games, up to an absurd point.
Yet every other aspect of the game is polished and fantastic enough I would recommend it with enough warning.
I would definitely not call it mediocre, it is anything but that, it is also in retrospective a worse “game” than some contemporary titles like Broken Sword or ToonStruck.
That’s just it - the writing, animation, music, the art direction, the voices - all stunning. But, the gameplay lets it down. What makes a mediocre game for me is, if watching someone else play a thing is a preferable experience, it’s not such a good game - speaking strictly of the “gameplay” aspects of the work.
I could catch a lot of flak from this opinion but I wonder if Cyberpunk 2077 could fit in this category: I have probably something around 100 hours in that game just because I like going around in the city and there’s some great writing, both for the main questline and even some random side-quests.
But as much freedom I have from choosing how I want to deal with a mission, neither combat nor hacking is fun IMO.
Hacking feels more like an overpowered magic ability that if you put enough points into it, it lets you cheat the game, and fighting is mostly a big mess, be it physical or shooting.
I want to mention like three different games, but for each one someone would rightfully come after me for saying the game itself is mediocre. So I’ll just say I personally love these games, but I see with pretty clear eyes that aspects of them haven’t stood the test of time.
Mirror’s Edge, The Neverhood, and Yuri’s Revenge all have amazing soundtracks.
And after that disclaimer if you still try to pick a fight about how they’re not mediocre games, I’m going to also pretend I’m fighting the person who called them mediocre and then crawl out of our cartoon fight cloud.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkm0G-NTV4w&list=RDnkm0G-NTV4w&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On_p0JLNIN0&list=PLd1x_hw_n9fot9uq9hlGJFba66I85mJLr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgJhaozybz0&list=PLr8pofvqYLizBowgqhiyDDjRUZVTgElfY
Why specifically Yuri’s revenge?
The soundtrack! Maybe it’s nostalgia goggles, but I love the combo of classic cinema samples, guitar riffs, and mad science beats.
Yuri’s revenge isn’t even close to being mediocre tho, it was an amazing addon for an already amazing game.
Terry Scott Taylor has an incredibly deep back catalogue on his Bandcamp page - some pretty middle of the road, and some totally weird, worth having a rummage and seeing what you get… For those who don’t want to play lucky dip, there’s the full soundtrack to Neverhood, plus a couple of related albums (Songs from the Neverhood Vol 2 which was the platformer sequel, and Return to the Neverhood - which was released as a companion to the graphic novel).
I was honestly remiss in not mentioning him, his bandcamp is a treasure trove.
Just started another playthrough of catalyst after 5 years, absolutely serene soundtrack. Sure the game has issues but it’s for sure one of my favorites
The Neverhood is a flawed gem, one of those fantastic point&click adventure games that have some of that moon-logic malaise so common in Sierra games, up to an absurd point.
Yet every other aspect of the game is polished and fantastic enough I would recommend it with enough warning.
I would definitely not call it mediocre, it is anything but that, it is also in retrospective a worse “game” than some contemporary titles like Broken Sword or ToonStruck.
That’s just it - the writing, animation, music, the art direction, the voices - all stunning. But, the gameplay lets it down. What makes a mediocre game for me is, if watching someone else play a thing is a preferable experience, it’s not such a good game - speaking strictly of the “gameplay” aspects of the work.
I could catch a lot of flak from this opinion but I wonder if Cyberpunk 2077 could fit in this category: I have probably something around 100 hours in that game just because I like going around in the city and there’s some great writing, both for the main questline and even some random side-quests. But as much freedom I have from choosing how I want to deal with a mission, neither combat nor hacking is fun IMO. Hacking feels more like an overpowered magic ability that if you put enough points into it, it lets you cheat the game, and fighting is mostly a big mess, be it physical or shooting.
I should give it a go sometime, or at least listen to the OST.