Moot_Geeza wrote:

51. Valfaris - Switch (8hrs 9mins) Ghastly looking run & run side scroller with visuals that seem to be stuck in an undesirable early 32-bit limbo.  Overly pixellated characters coexist on a 2D plane with some fairly obvious 'HERE COME THE POLYGONS' geometry additions such as rotating cogs, all coupled with a strong metal motif (replete with the devil horns/power chord/headbang combo when you collect new weapons).  It's certainly not a sight for sore eyes, which is a bit of a catch-22 as it's a fucking eyesore.  It's the designer's vision and it's probably a job well done on some level, but no sir I don't like it.  CRT filters help to an extent, but half the game looks like a magic eye picture of Dio's haemorrhoids.  That's pretty much it for the negatives though, the game itself is sailing pretty close to masterpiece territory.  Yes, I like lots of things I play and I'm reasonably easy to please with tight new retro experiences, but this is one of the best games I've played in recent years.  It's not quite as air-punchingly good as Huntdown for my admittedly oddbod tastes, but that was a very specific tarted up retro experience that erred on the simpler side of gaming history.  Valfaris is the better game if we're talking head vs heart.   It's fairly standard in terms of the basics; multi directional shooting with a bumper assigned to lock you in position.  You also have a melee attack and a secondary weapon (which has its own energy bar).  Using the former replenishes the latter.  Throw in a shield on top of the rock solid foundations and you've suddenly got a game that feels a little different to its genre peers.  The shield relies on the same energy bar as the secondary weapon, and a last minute block can turn projectiles into a counter attacks that are unleashed when you release the button.  It all feels pretty intuitive once you get going, and the levels themselves are superb.  The bosses might not look particularly memorable, but each one requires a pattern to defeat that many Cuphead guardians would be proud of.  The various weapon unlocks mostly seem worth experimenting with (all of which can be ugraded), and it turns out I happily backed what seems to be the Reddit crew's equivalent of the water magic for the majority of the game.  *Shrug*, it worked for me.   I'm struggling to think of a run & gun game that plays better than this, all things considered, and as I can't do so off the top of my head I'm willing to declare this the best example of the genre ever created.  If you appreciate what this is trying to do it's a pretty special game.  Ultimate form [insert retro template] types are the best thing about modern gaming for me.  I might moan about open worlds getting larger elsewhere but at the same time I've never been this well catered for with the kind of experiences I love.  [9]