1999 (Shenmue, Everquest, Planescape: Torment, Rayman 2 and Silent Hill are released)
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (PS1/PC, 1999/DC, 2000)
Subgenre: 3D Zelda-like Action Adventure w/ manual jumping, Minor stealth element but it's barely used
Perspective: TP View w/ FP view aiming mode
Movement Mechanics: Swimming, Glide jump (default)
Other: Overworld and dungeons split
Playthrough (DC) - Video Review - Mini Review
Subgenre: 3D Zelda-like Action Adventure w/ manual jumping, Minor stealth element but it's barely used
Perspective: TP View w/ FP view aiming mode
Movement Mechanics: Swimming, Glide jump (default)
Other: Overworld and dungeons split
- Mostly linear structure (have to do the main dungeons and their sub areas in order, some freedom in the order in which you can sidetrack and collect optional upgrades and spells by passing ability gates - most abilities are gained by defeating bosses)
- Fairly frequent teleporters (one per area and dungeon, one right before the final boss, can teleport between visited portals), one shortcut between dungeon 3 and the road to necropolis/dungeon 1
- No maps (not even a world map in-game nor in the manual and no compass either - can find a WM online though), basic directions are given by the elder god after beating a boss or when standing on the floor panel in the beginning room, and from Ariel in the sanctuary)
- Save anywhere (3 slots, simply named A-C - they don't show status/location/time taken) but you'll start at the beginning (elder god's chamber) when loading and have to pick quit and then continue to load, You end up in the beginning room after dying on the spectral plane
- Parallel worlds theme (spectral and material realms/planes (can switch/shift from material to spectral anywhere and the other way at certain points called planar portals) - some objects and materials act differently in each (can't open doors/pick up or hold onto weapons (except for the soul reaver blade)/push blocks on the spectral plane and water becomes like air here, different enemies, can move through grates/fences/gates on the spectral plane with the phasing ability, enemy clan leaders/bosses can also switch momentarily) and the level design morphs a bit in some places which can allow you to reach new areas)
- Pretty much seamless world (masks some loading with corridors)
- Puzzle focus with many block puzzles (can pull blocks sideways and flip them (can also flip them onto higher ground, can push/pull blocks and climb walls while carrying a weapon)
- Some HP and MP recharge spots
- Upgradeable soul reaver weapon (touch fire on the material plane after upgrading it - stronger and immolates enemies when the finisher is used but otherwise the same), HP and MP upgrades (some are well hidden, have to find 5 pieces per hp upgrade though)
- Many shorter but unskippable in-game cutscenes (skippable credits)
- No weapon inventory
- Can't talk to any human NPCs/neutrals except Ariel
- No difficulty options and no second quest
Playthrough (DC) - Video Review - Mini Review
Shadow Man (PC/DC/N64/PS1, 1999)
Subgenre: 3D TPS/Collectathon (dark souls to increase your level which in turn lets you unlock doors leading to other areas and special items (95/120 are needed and some are pretty well hidden), three pieces for the l'eclipser which lets you kill the bosses and explore their areas, 500 (!) red pots/cadeaux to upgrade your life bar fully - optional but I'd recommend 200+)
Perspective: TP View w/ FP View aiming mode
Movement Mechanics: Underwater swimming
Other: Some separate areas, Some dungeons, Horror theme
Playthrough (PC) - Mini-Review (N64)
Subgenre: 3D TPS/Collectathon (dark souls to increase your level which in turn lets you unlock doors leading to other areas and special items (95/120 are needed and some are pretty well hidden), three pieces for the l'eclipser which lets you kill the bosses and explore their areas, 500 (!) red pots/cadeaux to upgrade your life bar fully - optional but I'd recommend 200+)
Perspective: TP View w/ FP View aiming mode
Movement Mechanics: Underwater swimming
Other: Some separate areas, Some dungeons, Horror theme
- Parallel world theme (kingdom of the dead kind of place called Deadside where the player char (Mike) turns into Shadow Man and if he dies in the real world he ends up there - similar to Soul Reaver or Zelda 3), The mechanic isn't as fleshed out though - the "dark world"/deadside is a separate world here besides when you get to fully explore the liveside areas (which only make up maybe a fifth of the game or less), Your Shadow Man form has a few differences (can climb walls behind "blood waterfalls" using the Poigne, is immune to falling or drowning and can be made immune to fire, can upgrade the main gun)
- Partially non-linear structure (more than one coffin gate can be opened at various points in the game and there are some branching paths in some sub areas, can choose which bosses to face when besides the first one - collect special keys and use on the gates to their areas, have to assemble the l'eclipser before you can explore the liveside locations properly - can only see a little bit of them before doing so)
- No in-game maps (the game came with a very vague map)
- Can teleport between worlds and visited sub areas at any point using an item you get near the beginning, Some shortcuts within sub areas (there could've been a few more though considering the lack of maps and some are one way)
- Gain mainly weapons and key type abilities besides the wristlets/poigne, using the l'eclipser item in the real world locations changes the enemies and what you can reach there, the flambeau weapon can also be used as a torch - useful in some areas until you find the flashlight
- Some sequence breaking possibilities (can reach some dark souls sooner than intended, in a couple of rooms you can ignore pressing a switch or skip the intended platforming segment with some smart platforming)
- No journal/quest log feature but you can see how many dark souls are left to collect in each sub area as well as in the whole game via the pause menu
- Story/lore exposition is mainly done via dark and poetic monologues by Mike when entering new areas and tomes with text and images (similar to Soul Reaver/System Shock 2 respectively - these help a bit in figuring out what to do next at times and one of them is basically required)
- Upgradeable charge attack+shadowgun lock-on range (?)+voodoo weapon ammo capacity (based on your level - collect dark souls) and life bar (100 red pots/cadeaux per HP)
- Some decent platforming, spatial awareness and timing puzzles; basic switch puzzles
- Save feature (anywhere, 7 slots - each one only shows a letter to note which area you're in (?) and not time taken nor current stats) - loading takes you to the beginning of the area you saved in though
- Infinite lives (dying just puts you in Deadside if you were controlling Mike at the church or back at the beginning of the current area (or the one you just teleported to) if you already were in Deadside or in one of the boss areas as Mike, there are also some checkpoints within sub areas - when luke's ghost appears it means you've reached one)
- Alternate ending of sorts - special game over cutscene for if you die to the final boss
- Non-interactive dialogue with NPCs, Can get advice on what to do next from a couple of NPCs but it's usually too vague to be of much use
- Can't keep health items for later use
Playthrough (PC) - Mini-Review (N64)
Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! (PS1, 1999/Multi, 2018 (Remake))
Subgenre: 3D Collectathon Platformer (Need ~4000 gems in total which is 40% of all gems - note that most are worth more than 1) and 40/64 orbs to get to the final boss, need 10+ spirit particles/glowing spheres per level to unlock its power up)
Perspective: TP View (w/ near-FP view free-look/aiming mode)
Other: Hub areas, (Mostly) flight-based bonus levels
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Rocket: Robot on Wheels (N64, 1999)
Subgenre: Banjo-Tooie/Spyro 2-like, 3D Collectathon Platformer (hundreds of bolts/tokens though some are worth more than 1 - for unlocking moves and activating vehicles (doesn't take that long), dozens of tickets for unlocking levels, 100% for the good ending and to see the credits, 4 screws in some levels)
Movement Mechanics: Double jump, Hookshot/Upgraded grapple, Grapple (default ability)
Other: Hub area connected to levels which don't interconnect, Vehicles which can be summoned from specific points in the levels (magic carpet, car, robot dolphin, airglide bike hybrid, etc; these stay where you left them but can't be moved to other levels), Various mini-games
Playthrough - Mini Review
Subgenre: 3D Collectathon Platformer (Need ~4000 gems in total which is 40% of all gems - note that most are worth more than 1) and 40/64 orbs to get to the final boss, need 10+ spirit particles/glowing spheres per level to unlock its power up)
Perspective: TP View (w/ near-FP view free-look/aiming mode)
Other: Hub areas, (Mostly) flight-based bonus levels
- Gain some new and permanent abilities with which to reach new parts of previously visited areas (need to buy them with gems here): climbing, underwater swimming and charging/boosting (can swim on surfaces by default here) as well as charging into/out of water, headbash - ground stomp
- Partially non-linear (hub areas with several level entrances open at once (can at most get access to 6 new regular levels at once here), Can exit a partially finished level to go unlock more hub areas and levels, Levels are a bit less linear overall, Can exit levels at any point with your collecting progress saved (except for the glowing spheres progress which resets), Can replay beaten levels (can only enter them from one spot though) and move between hub areas)
- Mini-map (shows the basic layout in 2D TD view+your position+the current level's exit portal and current side quest NPC but not level entrances nor ability NPCs in hub areas (can talk to Elora and have her teleport you to an unplayed level in the current hub area though (except for in the last area but it's smaller)), can be toggled on/off), Can press all shoulder buttons to make Sparx (the fly mascot) point towards the nearest treasure (seems to work best if the treasure is around the same position as you are vertically?)
- Frequent checkpoints and you can save your collection progress anywhere (1 slot per game though and only 3 per card, shows current level and overall completion percentage; the game also auto-saves when entering or exiting a level), Still uses extra lives+unlimited continues
- Many side quests/mini-games inside levels (for getting the green orbs)
- Each level now has a power up which you can activate for that level by collecting the glowing spheres and moving through its power up gate - temporary but you can move through each gate over and over to keep picking one up while in a level and some are used to increase traversal abilities)
- Some good puzzles and some decent ones (partially destructible environment)
- Various possible sequence breaks via an unintended double jump (hold charge without pressing a direction in mid-air before you start falling for a bit and you'll go upwards a little bit, can also use it to bounce off of certain enemies and high into the air but this is much harder to pull off)
- Basic quest log/journal (shows collecting percentages+number of gems out of the total number per level and if you've gotten the other items for any visited levels, doesn't show previous dialogue)
- No control config and only single analog stick support
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Rocket: Robot on Wheels (N64, 1999)
Subgenre: Banjo-Tooie/Spyro 2-like, 3D Collectathon Platformer (hundreds of bolts/tokens though some are worth more than 1 - for unlocking moves and activating vehicles (doesn't take that long), dozens of tickets for unlocking levels, 100% for the good ending and to see the credits, 4 screws in some levels)
Movement Mechanics: Double jump, Hookshot/Upgraded grapple, Grapple (default ability)
Other: Hub area connected to levels which don't interconnect, Vehicles which can be summoned from specific points in the levels (magic carpet, car, robot dolphin, airglide bike hybrid, etc; these stay where you left them but can't be moved to other levels), Various mini-games
- Partially non-linear structure (can enter the third level before finishing the second (or even entering the second if you collected everything in level 1 and the hub area up to that point), can do the fourth level (arabian flights) before the third (mines), can do the fifth level (pyramid) before entering the fourth if you collect a lot of tokens and nearly all tickets up until that point, can enter the final level before finishing the sixth, open-ended levels and in some aspects the hub area, linear final level)
- Save & quit only (does save all completion progress however and you can use it anywhere). Loading a save restores your HP and puts you at the beginning of the hub area
- HP recharge stations (about one per area)
- Some backtracking to progress as well as to get to some items - there are also vehicles (1-2 per level) but they don't carry over between levels, upgradeable life bar (find the upgrades in the levels))
- Some good puzzles (logical, sound sequence, spatial awareness/parallel worlds ones in the pyramid) and some decent ones (using objects and certain NPCs as platforms, color mixing (fountains) and coloring puzzles, etc)
- Start with a grapple hook/tractor beam (works on specific parts of each level as well as some thrown objects) which also lets you carry and throw objects and some enemies
- Various hidden items
- There's a hint system for the tickets and some other objectives in levels+you can see your completion stats via the pause menu
- Some interesting movement upgrades (freeze ray - lets you create platforms on water+freeze some enemies, grapple upgrade/hookshot - lets you aim it in FP view+reaches much further - Ocarina of Time, )
- Can quickly exit any level via the pause menu
- Some sequence breaking possibilities (can get to the food fright level before the pyramid one via an alternate path in the hub area; minor: if you position yourself correctly you can get to the top of the roman tower right away - kinda tricky, damage boost jumping during the indoors bomb throwing segment in the arabian level, can get to the upper part of the room outside the pyramid level without the hookshot/upgraded grapple)
- Codes for "super" versions of your moves+faster movement
- A few shortcuts within levels
- Vehicles stay where you left them while in a level unless summoned via the vehicle pads
- Forgiving about falling into death pits (arabian level, mine) - lose 1 HP and respawn near where you fell
- Can't carry items (including bombs) between rooms through doorways
- Can't kill some enemies (item thieves)
- No level maps
- Some control/interface issues (camera issues in tighter spaces and you can't make it stay in place while moving if it's not behind you+can't turn it near walls (sometimes can't turn it at all for seemingly no reason)+can't place it behind your avatar while your back is next to a wall, camera sometimes forces an overly zoomed in view, camera sometimes doesn't focus on Rocket enough when jumping, slow turning vehicles, floaty jumps+dolphin jumps and grapple swings, etc.)
- Some trial & error (even if you make it on time with more than 1 second to go during the screw collecting mini-game in the hub area you can still fail as the timer just keeps going (have to quickly grab the ticket), no hints for the machine part locations - only a problem in some levels though, the game doesn't tell you that you should go back to the hub area when you have enough bolts/tokens for a movement upgrade, etc)
- Various tedious aspects (having to replay a longer segment after falling down (inside the dinosaur robot statue, inside the roman tower and the water cave in the same level, level 6, etc. (or the opposite in one part of the arabian level)) - no checkpoints in the middle of levels or platforming challenges, plenty of dead space and no teleporters or alternate entry points within levels, no item magnet (Sonic 3) - breaks flow a bit, etc.)
- Uneven difficulty
- So-so draw distance on certain objects (dolphin vehicle in roman level, some machine parts in the arabian level, electric barrier around the snake head entrance in the pyramid level)
Playthrough - Mini Review
Outcast (PC, 1999)
Subgenre: 3D Open World Action Adventure/ARPG-ish (dialogue trees, trading, reputation system, some large cities, basic crafting of weapon ammo (give found materials to smiths and they'll do it for free), some moral choices (the thief), various fetch quests)
Perspective: TP View (optional FP view)
Movement Mechanics: Underwater swimming
Other: Talanzaar and Shamazaar are partial hub areas, One animal mount
Playthrough - Mini Review
Subgenre: 3D Open World Action Adventure/ARPG-ish (dialogue trees, trading, reputation system, some large cities, basic crafting of weapon ammo (give found materials to smiths and they'll do it for free), some moral choices (the thief), various fetch quests)
Perspective: TP View (optional FP view)
Movement Mechanics: Underwater swimming
Other: Talanzaar and Shamazaar are partial hub areas, One animal mount
- Non-linear structure with soft gating in the form of enemies and money (sometimes way too much to deal with in your current state; can take on a variety of different quests in any order in each area, warp gates/gateways (daokas) connect the different sub areas - Talanzaar is a hub of sorts as it connects to three other areas (not Ranzaar/the first village and not Okaar which you get to via Okasankaar; Shamazaar also connects to three other areas but two of the gates are in an enemy temple and lead to soldier camps in other areas), Static difficulty so if you for example went past Shamazaar and then back it will be pretty easy
- Save anywhere (9 nameable slots and it shows a screenshot from where you saved+date but not exact time - pretty limited name lengths though and in-game you can't see the dates, can't be near enemies or "energy"), HP restoration from Shamaz/priest NPCs - one per area
- Few movement/traversal abilities gained (progression is generally quest driven with some puzzles here and there, can use invisibility (PPS) to solve some problems in an alternate way, need to use certain weapons to get past certain obstacles at a few points (seems optional besides using a gun on the symbol wheel at one point), can use explosives as an alternate method to remove certain doors, can ride a certain animal (Twôn-Ha - similar to a camel or ostrich, have to buy it first) - can't climb the short but steep terrain in Shamazaar for example but can jump over it while riding a Twon-ha (optional), oxygen tank items let you stay longer under water)
- F-link/teleporter beacons (they work like the one in Flashback and are found in the second area, you can use 3+ to teleport back and forth between several locations, can only be used within the same sub area)
- Quest log ("note pad"; automatically summarizes quests though in some cases important info is missing) and lexicon features (while NPCs speak english they also use many made up terms which are translated here)
- Pretty detailed mini-map for sub areas (zoomable, shows layout with color coded terrain types and creatures in 2D (neutral creatures are yellow, NPCs blue and enemies red), semi-transparent, no topography (see Hunter or Virus)) and compass (top of HUD), Scanner/advisor feature (notifies you of nearby items - Metal Mutant and Saboteur)
- Control config (including camera movement speed/mouse sensitivity)
- Can raid enemy supply convoys to make the outposts in the same area weaker over time
- Basic stealth element (decent but can't cling to walls or lean around corners)
- Upgradeable weapons in a sometimes unusual way (automatic pistol (UZA-SH/Tracer) rate of fire+added ricochet, rocket launcher (HAWK-MK8/Perforator) rocket and load speed, mine launcher (LN-Duo 500) has different triggering methods (lvl 0=proximity mine/lvl 1=timed/lvl 2=on impact, flame thrower (FT-74) delay and reach)
- Can climb buildings (via ledges) and jump across rooftops in cities
- Makes you feel vulnerable by trapping you and temporarily removing all but the first gun at one point
- Shows your completion percentage before the staff roll
- Some fall damage - even from fairly short heights
- Unlimited carry capacity for ammo and consumable items
- No difficulty options
- Minor sequence breaking possibilities (more using glitches)
Playthrough - Mini Review
System Shock 2 (PC, 1999)
Subgenre: 3D Action Adventure/ARPG (stat upgrades, 3 classes w/ different stat boosts and starting cyber modules/exp points picked in the beginning - marine (weapons and stats focused), navy (tech skill focused), OSA agent (psi power/magic focused), manual stat and skill point distribution at upgrade stations (generally 2-3 per floor/deck) using modules gained through sub quests and exploration)/Survival Horror, Computer hacking (besides disabling security (cameras and turrets) and opening some doors you can steal from vending machines/replicators and with lvl 3 hacking you can hack turrets to make them fight for you), Minor Stealth aspect to the camera system here (get a short warning period before the alarm goes off, can hear them and can move outside of their sight range which includes directly below them)
Perspective: FP view
Other: Vending machines/replicators (can't sell items however you can use a recycler item or the molecular transmutation psi power to turn some of them into money/nanites), Weapon deterioration and repairing, Weapon modifications, Coop mode via LAN (where different characters can complement each other, Multiplayer turns normal mode into hard mode), Checkpoints/regeneration chambers and recharge stations (for energy weapons/special batteries/implants/powered armor)+surgical units/med beds for healing, Keeps the P&C Mode of SS1, Fall damage - reduced by increasing Agility, Weapon recoil - also reduced via Agility, Features NPCs killing themselves and some other disturbing scenes
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Subgenre: 3D Action Adventure/ARPG (stat upgrades, 3 classes w/ different stat boosts and starting cyber modules/exp points picked in the beginning - marine (weapons and stats focused), navy (tech skill focused), OSA agent (psi power/magic focused), manual stat and skill point distribution at upgrade stations (generally 2-3 per floor/deck) using modules gained through sub quests and exploration)/Survival Horror, Computer hacking (besides disabling security (cameras and turrets) and opening some doors you can steal from vending machines/replicators and with lvl 3 hacking you can hack turrets to make them fight for you), Minor Stealth aspect to the camera system here (get a short warning period before the alarm goes off, can hear them and can move outside of their sight range which includes directly below them)
Perspective: FP view
Other: Vending machines/replicators (can't sell items however you can use a recycler item or the molecular transmutation psi power to turn some of them into money/nanites), Weapon deterioration and repairing, Weapon modifications, Coop mode via LAN (where different characters can complement each other, Multiplayer turns normal mode into hard mode), Checkpoints/regeneration chambers and recharge stations (for energy weapons/special batteries/implants/powered armor)+surgical units/med beds for healing, Keeps the P&C Mode of SS1, Fall damage - reduced by increasing Agility, Weapon recoil - also reduced via Agility, Features NPCs killing themselves and some other disturbing scenes
- Partially non-linear structure (multiple solutions to various situations - a lot of combat is avoidable, optional items can be acquired with certain skills, partially non-linear progression on some floors) however the early progression of quests is linear and has more handholding via voiced instructions from a contact than in the prequel, Once you reach deck 4 (several hours into the game) and meet with Shodan near the beginning of it you can choose to explore deck 4 or deck 5 first, Somewhat different routes depending on your char build - mainly affects combat though, A single central elevator connects to 5 out of 6 decks on the von braun/main ship and a second elevator connects decks 5 and 6 (after that there are two other separate areas in the late game (can't return to the main ship at this point but can find new upgrade stations and chemicals as well as some shops) but they are basically linear except for one part of the Rickenbacker and one part of the Body of the Many)), Sometimes what you do in one sub area or floor affects something in another and you'll sometimes have to come back to a point of interest later on (you also find an optional code for a locked room on deck 2 while on a later floor)
- Some interesting abilities related to exploration and traversal however they are optional besides radiation protection (Instantaneous Quantum Relocation - teleport to a marked location/teleport beacon placed anywhere you've been to (current sub area only, alt+t deletes the current beacon, optional), Kinetic Redirection - pull small objects towards you (can also pull and stack destroyed turrets which allows you to reach higher in some spots (optional), explosive barrels can also be moved (optional)), enemy and item radar (Enhanced Motion Sensitivity/Remote Pattern Detection respectively), Photonic Redirection/Invisibility (optional), Neural Decontamination and Neural Toxin Blocker powers - shields you from 80% radiation damage and 100% toxin absorption respectively (some armors and items also help here as does high endurance, surgical units/med beds help with radiation, armor can be combined with psi for -95% radiation), Psionic Hypnogenesis/Electron Suppression - paralyze organic and semi-organic enemies or robots respectively (can also be done with one of the energy weapons, useful but optional); the teleport beacon and the Metacreative Barrier (mainly for trapping enemies) can also be used as platforms to reach certain places (optional) - the latter is more useful for this as it lets you use the beacon to teleport to a safe spot, )
- Save anywhere (multiple nameable slots (the game automatically enters current area+time taken by default), one quick save which happens automatically once per floor/deck and can be overwritten with Alt+S)
- Good map system (see SS1; note that it's not zoomable here though and various parts are pre-explored, also can't view previous floors and sub areas if you're not currently in them, much more vague map in one later area and no maps in the last two areas though they are more straightforward) and toggleable mini-map, Highlights interactive objects when near them (similar to the tooltip in SS1), Map markers - can only place map markers where your avatar is (not anywhere you click on the map) and can't drag and drop existing ones
- Inventory space is based on Strength (limited inventory space similar to Diablo with some stackable items)
- HP regen ability (Cerebro Stimulated Regeneration)
- Tons of character customization (O/S upgrades - mostly stat buffs including movement speed+some combat and quality of life stuff+salvage healing items from destroyed robots, 5 stats (8 levels w/ implants and psi powers; strength, endurance, psionics/magic, cybernetic affinity (helps w/ hacking/repairing/modifying) and agility)), 5 Technical Skills (6 levels; hack, repair, modify weapon, maintenance - increases effectiveness of maintenance tools and the charge of electric-powered items including weapons and the powered armor, research (use new weapons and implants+do more damage to enemies and learn more about them - a basic form of crafting as it requires chemicals, optional), 4 Weapon Skill categories (6 levels) and additional Psi Powers (35, 5 tiers), Implants give a temporary boost to one or more stats or skills for as long as you keep them charged
- Skill and stat upgrades can also be acquired via software items (can't be used to meet minimum stat requirements for things like research however - only give an existing skill a boost but for research there is also the lab assistant implant)
- Good sense of vulnerability and loneliness, Doesn't pause while checking inventory/map or using the upgrade terminals
- Quest/mission log
- Some sequence breaking possibilities (can jump down to skip walking around at one point in deck 4 (ops deck) if you do it right, can skip opening a shaft on floor 5 (for some optional goodies) by performing a tricky jump, can skip raising all the rockets for a certain late game puzzle if you have enough agility and use straferunning, speed boosters/high agility let you make some other unintended jumps, can also skip finding door codes if you know them already and this lets you skip ahead quite a bit at times, the teleport beacon and the Metacreative Barrier (mainly for trapping enemies) can be used as platforms to reach certain places as well as to skip triggering a barrier on Deck 6 created by the many that forces you to go back a bit on that floor and fight a mini-boss, oversights: minor skip where you can reach some items through a platform from below in the beginning, can grab a key card through a wall on the top of the von braun bridge, can skip some cutscenes with an exploit; more with out of bounds glitches)
- Difficulty options (4 levels - one main category here unlike in SS1 where you could tweak the levels in 4 different ones however you can also change it during gameplay here, higher levels: upgrades cost more, enemies deal more damage, using regeneration chambers costs more - free on Easy, lower drop rates, higher enemy respawn rates, fewer HP and psi points/MP)
- Resource management (alarms set off large amounts of enemies to go to the area that the player was last seen in by a camera - this goes on for 2 mins or until you disable security in the area/use the remote electron tampering psi power, weapon deterioration and maintenance+repairing (repair=fix a broken weapon while maintenance=upgrade the condition of a damaged weapon) for most weapons, jack of all trades character builds are discouraged. there's a time limit to disabled security (and to implants though you can generally go back and recharge them pretty easily or use a battery) and hacking attempts cost a small amount of money)
- Control config, Hotkeys for loading and changing ammo as well as healing and alternate firing modes for ranged weapons
- Good tutorials after the character creation (voiced instructions that don't pause gameplay, some in-game tutorial messages are conveyed through text boxes at info terminals though)
- The three different psi shields can be combined with each other and with powered armor for near invulnerability
- Some breakable obstacles and exploding barrels as well as some breakable doodads (a bit underused when it comes to exploration though as only breakable windows lead to new paths)
- Enemies can open unlocked doors (besides the ones triggering a loading screen) - Can't lock or re-lock opened doors to keep enemies away - can be annoying when trying to reorganize your inventory/decide on what to upgrade/read or listen to a message/check the map
- Talking NPCs that don't interrupt gameplay (later used in Half-Life), Telepathic communications from the antagonists (plus some radio communications from survivors) and enemies talking to themselves or to you as they seek you out
- Areas feel more like actual places than the average FPS level from the '90s (and in some ways more so than in SS1 which was overly maze-like at times), Item placement tends to align with the theming of each deck (makes them feel more distinct and convincing)
- Basic physics - can knock down items from heights with shots and can push some smaller boxes and other objects as well as exploding barrels (though not all exploding barrels for some reason), Can crush some enemies with the elevators and can also make them ride them to get them out of your way, Can jam some doors with for example a wrench
- Various scripted events (see the mini review)
- Can split up item stacks to recycle only parts of them - some consumable items don't stack however
- Respawning enemies in previously visited areas (happens more if using the resurrection stations to respawn yourself after dying?) - some enemies can be used for farming though it takes a while
- Some gear has hard stat requirements (str and/or weapon skill in the right category to use (oddly there's no str req for the grenade launcher), maintenance to be able to repair a damaged but not broken weapon - assault rifle for example requires a 4 in maintenance just to maintain, laser rapier has an agility requirement, later exotic weapons have both quite high requirements in that skill and research skill requirements) - would've preferred if you could still do these things without the required stats only less optimally
- Modifying/upgrading a weapon is partially based on chance which is increased by modify skill and cybernetic affinity stat (you can critically fail at it and break the weapon), Can use a french epstein device to upgrade level 1 weapons to level 2 instead of using modify (there are 4 hidden ones in the game)
- Semi-randomized loot from enemies and sometimes enemies themselves
- Some skippable cutscenes and some unskippable ones
- No target identifier here - instead shows the health bar of an enemy while attacking it by default
- A few shortcuts, No placed teleporters here
- From SS1: Most storytelling is done without cutscenes (voice logs, radio transmissions (including live ones during events and ones from survivors); more flavor text here), alternate ammo types for different kinds of enemies, persistent world - items stay where you dropped them (except for the teleport beacon), can lean around corners (can also lean forward here), temporary str and speed upgrade items (boosters) - doesn't have the dermal patches from SS1 though, can examine inventory items and GUI icons, can sometimes look into a room through bars/grating/crevices/windows to scout ahead a bit (generally not via a narrow path like a ventilation shaft here though), sometimes new enemies appear when revisiting a place you've been to which makes backtracking more interesting
- No mines here but instead of mines there are piles of worms that deal toxic damage if stepped on
- No cyberspace besides the tutorial and finale here (and gameplay in cyberspace is like in the main game here)
- Can't respec your build but can undo your choices while at an upgrade unit
- Few puzzles (2 or 3 fewer than in SS1)
- No subtitles (voices often overlap or get drowned out by noise and you can't always repeat them - can generally check the logs to repeat something though, some are kinda low in the sound mix) - added in a mod
- Missing some cool features from SS1 (No jump jets or flashlights here though (also no skates but you can increase speed via abilities and stats), see the mini review for more)
- Collision damage from running or jumping too fast into walls or other obstacles (if you have 5+ agility and use a speed booster you can actually die from running or jumping into something)
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Threads of Fate (PS1, 1999)
Subgenre: 3D ARPG (Use-based stat progression for MP and HP (you can also buy HP and MP upgrades at a shop though it's expensive), Stat increasing items and dishes - STR and DEF are the only stats besides HP and MP)
Perspective: TP View (sometimes locked TD view or SV)
Other: Town hub w/ a gate bringing up an area/level select menu that grows larger as you progress, 3 forced side view platformer levels ending with mini-games (pretty short but you get sent back to the beginning if you fall down a pit here and there's a time limit), One short escort segment, Optional collectathon/grinding element (if you gave the legendary gear to Jargen then he can cook stat increasing dishes for you - these require killing 50+ of one enemy type each)
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
The Misadventures of Tron Bonne (PS1, 1999)
Subgenre: TPS/Dungeon Crawler/Puzzle Hybrid
Perspective: TP View/FP View/TD-ish View hybrid
Other: Hub map for missions and menu hub for your home base, A few mini-games (for training the servbots and for money)
Playthrough - Mini Review
Subgenre: 3D ARPG (Use-based stat progression for MP and HP (you can also buy HP and MP upgrades at a shop though it's expensive), Stat increasing items and dishes - STR and DEF are the only stats besides HP and MP)
Perspective: TP View (sometimes locked TD view or SV)
Other: Town hub w/ a gate bringing up an area/level select menu that grows larger as you progress, 3 forced side view platformer levels ending with mini-games (pretty short but you get sent back to the beginning if you fall down a pit here and there's a time limit), One short escort segment, Optional collectathon/grinding element (if you gave the legendary gear to Jargen then he can cook stat increasing dishes for you - these require killing 50+ of one enemy type each)
- 2 different playable chars (pick before beginning - mostly the same path)
- Mostly linear structure (Mostly linear (sometimes 2.5D-style) levels connected to dungeons - sometimes can't backtrack into town after entering a level from where you entered it and sometimes can't go backwards when moving between rooms, can visit Lakeside before Mel's Atelier but your char will just say a couple of lines and go back to town, can fight trap master before gorotan, mostly optional duels with Rod (and his dog) - to make extra money), Some backtracking to reach new parts of previously visited levels (optional items) and to progress
- Some ability gating (Rue gains monster transformations that he can switch between on the fly - floating over swamp water, double jumping, climbing certain trees, melting ice blocks, fitting into small spaces, etc. (can't transform in non-hostile areas nor into bosses); Mint is a spellcaster and some of them are used to activate things or remove obstacles) - some of it is for optional items only and while Mint gains a jumping dash it isn't required
- Town teleporters appear at the end of visited levels/areas
- Save and rest in towns (6 slots per game, shows time taken+current chapter and basic stats) - can sometimes save within a sub area/level as well
- Lives system (coins give extra lives and restore different amounts of MP when respawning, frequent checkpoints)
- No maps and no mini-maps (zoomed in view, first ruins area is a looping maze)
- Healing springs in some hostile area rooms (one use only though), Can't buy or find HP or MP restorative inventory items, Regain MP by attacking enemies, Mint gains a healing spell in the late game
- Minor sequence breaking (can use the gargoyle's double jump to skip ahead a bit in the ruins, more?)
- Minor puzzles (one more involved one before the final boss)
- Unlockable third ending (beat both Mint's and Rue's games)
- Frequently respawning enemies in some rooms and they seem to always respawn if you re-enter a room
- No journal/quest log feature - can only repeat the last thing an NPC says to you
- Some new boss encounters while moving through visited areas
- Can only carry 4 transformation coin types at once and if you pick up a new one then the first stack you collected is removed from the transform menu
- No item drop magnet (see Sonic 3 or God of War, they're pretty small with small hit boxes)
- No full control config - can only pick between 4 settings and they all map jump+cancel to circle
- Optional rumble feature
- Enemy HP/MP drops don't disappear based on a timer however there can only be 2-3 in a room at any one point (if you kill more enemies before picking them up then the previous ones disappear)
- Many invisible walls (can't jump over small fences in the first town for example, levels/hostile areas that look open tend to have a path that you can't stray from besides some branching paths here and there)
- Enemies keep dropping MP/HP even if you already have a full stock
- Story dialogue choices don't really matter
- Unskippable cutscenes and staff roll
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
The Misadventures of Tron Bonne (PS1, 1999)
Subgenre: TPS/Dungeon Crawler/Puzzle Hybrid
Perspective: TP View/FP View/TD-ish View hybrid
Other: Hub map for missions and menu hub for your home base, A few mini-games (for training the servbots and for money)
- Three different robots and game modes (Gustaff - mech for action missions, Finkel - flying search robot for digging (FP view, can't shoot (only perform a basic melee attack which also opens barrels)), Gustaff Tank for carrying cargo (can't attack)) - puzzle missions)
- Gain two new tools which let you explore further into two areas by letting you break through certain walls
- Partially non-linear mission-based structure (choose between 4 at a time on a map screen after the intro level (6 after gathering 1 million zenny/gold; raid a town while fighting police, treasure search, escort bots stealing farm animals and protect their truck) - each mission is actually a pack of 3 different levels besides mission 4, your home base is a hub menu rather than an in-game area here - you'll unlock 5 more rooms for it over the course of the game based on amount of missions cleared and if you have 1 million gold or not, can go to the final level/rescue mission without having beaten all of the missions (I had two mission levels left to do when I unlocked it))
- Mini-maps only for the ruins missions (shows the layout of an area (don't have to fill it in here)+doors and your location but not chests or cracked walls and you can't tell if you've been down a path or not in missions 3-4, very zoomed in besides in the block puzzle missions, can't put markers on the map; no mini-map during robbery missions or farm missions but their level design is straightforward with several invisible walls) - can find full maps online
- Save at your base between missions (five slots (shows number of missions cleared and time spent)
- Tactical and Action Adventure/ARPG elements (can send servbots to scout ahead between missions (up to 3 and later on 4 - Brains is important here as well as for item appraisal and in puzzle missions), can develop new items and weapons+upgrades for the Gustaff robot (defense, energy, e-tanks; these are attached automatically) at your base - costs money but is instantly finished, can talk to each of the 40 servbots at the base for tips and general comments, each servbot has 3 stats which can be upgraded and each one has different max stats as well as a special skill (Pokémon-like; if a bot doesn't have one from the get go its special skill is unlocked by raising stats or giving it a certain item), short briefings before missions), Can appraise and sell items in the Storage room of your base, The Gustaff robot's ranged weapons' effectiveness is upgradeable and tied to which servbot is chosen as "sniper" for a mission here
- You're accompanied by six CPU allies (servbots) of your choosing during missions and can manually order them to check buildings and caves for goodies or to distract/attack an enemy for a bit (the latter tends to temporarily knock them out, hold R2 to aim and then shoot out a beacon that they'll follow) - they can't be killed
- Can replay mission 4 (ruins treasure hunt, enemies respawn in-between visits but not while in it) - can retreat from anywhere in a mission area but you won't keep the items collected (have to manually retreat to the ship in mission 4 except for the run in which you beat its boss)
- Some destructible buildings and other objects during action missions
- HP restoration points in the mission 3 ruins
- No fast travel
Playthrough - Mini Review
Alundra 2 (PS1, 1999)
Subgenre: 3D ARPG-ish (no exp point leveling) Clash at Demonhead/Zelda-like
Perspective: TP View (mostly TD though; 3 camera angle and zoom settings, angle is sometimes changed to a fixed side view perspective where you can only move left/right and sometimes it's a tilted view/beat 'em up style perspective where you can move freely)
Other: Hub map (popful mail-style except there's 2 entry points to each area and which one you'll use depends on which direction you came from on the map), One SV minecart segment and several mini-games (some mandatory), Timed escape sequence after the final boss
Playthrough - Mini-Review
Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return (PS1, 1999)
Subgenre: 3D-ish Action Adventure (3D engine however you are still locked onto vertical and horizontal paths in the levels which you switch between at specific points or sometimes automatically as you move along a path, various invisible walls)/Zelda- or Spyro 2-like, Collectathon element (cogs quest and various other fetch quests; optional (77 out of 133 quests are optional): have to collect AP (adventure points) by collecting gems+finishing quests and finding optional quests to open some chests (golden tower), 6 spell parts for the 3 towers containing weapons, 5 seeds/clues for finding hidden doors to the towers, 30 ice candy for pig ball weapon, 20 fireflies for song of wisdom, etc)
Perspective: Mixed (automatic camera), TP view minecart and mouse mini-games as well as boss fights, Some bird's eye/TD view towns
Movement Mechanics: Temporary glide jump (bird clothes), glide jump/temporary flight if mashing the button+climb ice poles (squirrel clothes), surface swimming (swimming pig suit), swinging and climbing onto platforms from below (grapple)
Other: Hub area (unlocked in the late game), 5 mini-games (3 are mandatory), No real shops but some basic trading, No missable events/quests here
Playthrough - Video Review/Analysis - Mini Review
Valkyrie Profile (PS1, 1999)?
Subgenre: JRPG (TB battles?)/2.5D Platformer Hybrid (location exploration)
Perspective: 3D-ish world map/overworld exploration (3D background, 2D sprites), 2.5D battle backgrounds
Other: Separate overworld
Start with all movement abilities?
Zeux's World (PC, 1999) - WIP
SMW-like Platformer (hub map, alternate exits, blocks that are filled in or removed by pressing a switch block somewhere else, hidden blocks, etc)
Item inventory (4 slots, can access the items during a level)
Mega Zeux power up that makes you run faster, jump higher and makes you invincible - drains gems (similar to Super Sonic)
Some consumable spell books that alter your movement (wind - for jumping further/higher in a weird way, slow time (for everyone else but you, doesn't work on bosses), time stop/stop watch) - Can buy these in one level
"Although the player character can eventually unlock a few special abilities, those come with tradeoffs and are almost never required for anything"
Ultima IX: Ascension (PC)?
Subgenre: 3D RPG/ARPG
Perspective:
With mods?
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Requiem: Avenging Angel (PC)? - FP ARPG?
Romancia ~Another Legend~ (PC)(Untranslated) - ARPG-ish, Remake (plays almost the same but includes the option to save anywhere and a narration mode which includes clues and other commentary at the top of the screen)
Donkey Kong 64 (N64, 1999)? - WIP
3D Platformer, Collectathon
Hype: The Time Quest (PC, 1999/PS2)? - TP View Action Adventure, Some flight segments
No ability gating?
Time-traveling puzzles
Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine (PC, 1999/N64, 2000)? - 3D AA, TP View
Rittai Ninja Katsugeki Tenchu: Shinobi Gaisen (PS1, 1999)? - 3D Action Adventure, Stealth?, Updated version of Tenchu 1?
King's Quest: Mask of Eternity (PC)? - 1998?
Sorcerian Original (PC) - 2D ARPG, SV
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation (PC/DC)?
Subgenre: 3D Puzzle Platformer/TPS/Maze Platformer
Perspective: TP View
Other: Several hub areas connected to various levels (similar to Hexen or Spyro 1) but still mostly linear structure?, Some vehicle segments
No ability gating besides flares actually being useful here?
Maken X (DC)? - FP View, Jumping
Dragon Valor (PS1) - 3D ARPG, TP View, No platforming segments?
Lands of Lore III (PC) - FP ARPG
Crusaders of Might and Magic (PC) - ARPG, TP View
Spriggan: Lunar Verse (PS1)? - 3D AA, TP View
Omikron: The Nomad Soul (PC)? - 3D AA, TP View
Rising Zan: The Samurai Gunman (PS1)? - 3D AA, TP View, Linear?
Soul of the Samurai (PS1)? - 3D AA, TP View
Xena: Warrior Princess (PS1)? - 3D AA, TP View, Linear?
Nocturne (PC)? - 3D AA, TP View
Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace (PC/PS1)? - 3D AA, TP View/TD View (high angle), Linear?
Vampire Hunter D (PS1)? - 3D AA w/ fixed camera angles (see RE), TP View
Subgenre: 3D ARPG-ish (no exp point leveling) Clash at Demonhead/Zelda-like
Perspective: TP View (mostly TD though; 3 camera angle and zoom settings, angle is sometimes changed to a fixed side view perspective where you can only move left/right and sometimes it's a tilted view/beat 'em up style perspective where you can move freely)
Other: Hub map (popful mail-style except there's 2 entry points to each area and which one you'll use depends on which direction you came from on the map), One SV minecart segment and several mini-games (some mandatory), Timed escape sequence after the final boss
- Mostly linear structure (backtracking with new abilities for items and mini-games or sometimes to progress, can go to a couple of areas early but there's no point, some non-linear dungeons, can't go back to some areas during some parts)
- Multi-purpose tool items (rings; float in place in mid-air+stun enemies+manipulate green blocks and statues, steal HP and breath underwater, make rocks fall on enemies+temporarily activate certain platforms, walk on lava and light torches+activate red statues)
- Some decent-good puzzles (lure enemies to trigger bombs and onto switches (Landstalker), luring fire spirits into unlit torches, platforming puzzles, one-way/conveyor belt tiles puzzle in the seagull ruins dungeon, bomb chain puzzles after the volcano, change direction of moving green statue puzzle and green statue "facing to create platforms" (similar to light beam puzzles) puzzles, spatial awareness puzzle in final dungeon) and timing-based challenges
- Save points and HP/MP restoration points - 1-2 of each per area (can also carry hp/mp and hp+mp potions)
- Difficulty options (easy and normal)
- Skippable cutscenes and staff roll (unskippable get item jingles and in-game cutscenes that show what happened when triggering a switch (same with summon animations))
- No area maps besides one on a sign in Gwaba town (can find a compass early on but a. it's big and placed in the middle of the screen (while it is semi-transparent it's distracting enough to not want to leave on) and b. it's an active item so you have to put it in your pocket and select it to use it (it's also not particularly useful), No quest log/journal feature
- Full control config, No dual analog support (rotate camera with shoulder buttons)
- Slow MP regen if standing still (can also gain HP regen but it's equally slow)
- Some environmental storytelling (foreshadowing with the screw in the intro (and the other symbolism)+the ducks+the mini-boss that you can see through a telescope for example)
- Some minor sequence breaking possibilities (can steer your avatar in mid-air to skip some platforming segments, )
- Fast travel in the late game only and you can't teleport out of dungeons from anywhere (teleporters between the three ruins dungeons are unlocked after beating eden ruins, one-way teleporters out some dungeons, some teleporters in the whale dungeon and varunia ruins, gain a dragon mount in the late-game which lets you travel anywhere on the hub map)
- Frequent loading screens (~7-9 seconds)
- Enemy bombs also hurt enemies and trigger switches
- Can jump over some enemies and projectiles (can also bounce slightly on small enemies without damaging them as well as use certain enemies as platforms)
- Can't carry puzzle objects between rooms/sub areas
- Long item trade quest - lacks clues?
- Mostly meaningless dialogue choices (however in a couple of spots you can ask an NPC things and there's a basic dialogue tree+sometimes you can choose whether to give an object to an NPC and at one point can haggle for more money from one)
- Rare MP drops from enemies and none from bushes - can lead to backtracking
- Item drops disappear quickly (about 5 seconds) - sometimes it happens during an in-game cutscene
- Various invisible walls (low fences, rooftops, can't jump over the blockade in dun webb from the floor above, etc.)
- Mostly uninteractive environments (can't examine doodads in towns and odd looking objects in hostile areas)
- Enemies and bushes keep dropping items which you have a full stock of (HP/MP)
Playthrough - Mini-Review
Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return (PS1, 1999)
Subgenre: 3D-ish Action Adventure (3D engine however you are still locked onto vertical and horizontal paths in the levels which you switch between at specific points or sometimes automatically as you move along a path, various invisible walls)/Zelda- or Spyro 2-like, Collectathon element (cogs quest and various other fetch quests; optional (77 out of 133 quests are optional): have to collect AP (adventure points) by collecting gems+finishing quests and finding optional quests to open some chests (golden tower), 6 spell parts for the 3 towers containing weapons, 5 seeds/clues for finding hidden doors to the towers, 30 ice candy for pig ball weapon, 20 fireflies for song of wisdom, etc)
Perspective: Mixed (automatic camera), TP view minecart and mouse mini-games as well as boss fights, Some bird's eye/TD view towns
Movement Mechanics: Temporary glide jump (bird clothes), glide jump/temporary flight if mashing the button+climb ice poles (squirrel clothes), surface swimming (swimming pig suit), swinging and climbing onto platforms from below (grapple)
Other: Hub area (unlocked in the late game), 5 mini-games (3 are mandatory), No real shops but some basic trading, No missable events/quests here
- Mostly linear structure (can fight the mines area boss/ghost pig before going to area 5/circus village and fight the first 5 pigs in any order if you can find their doors and have the pig bags+the swimming suit, partially non-linear areas/levels (branching paths and various optional quests and items), 3 optional tower challenge levels (need to have done tower of strength to fully finish tower of wisdom, need mini form to finish tower of courage), have to do various things in a set order in the second area, trolley/minecart ride clues to the boss doors can be picked up before or after area 3, the world structure is also a bit more basic - basically a line from one area to the next with each one connecting to 1-2 others besides the underground mines hub maze (unlocked after beating the flame pig boss) which connects to each area via the black doors)
- Frequent save points (multiple slots, shows time taken and current location+AP+events cleared, can restore your HP and reset platforms by reloading a save), Can quickly reload a save from anywhere via the pause menu
- Some other ability gating
- No area maps or even a world map (see the first game) except for in towns for some reason (no indication that you've cleared an area of its items either, the forest and water temple areas are more maze-like and so is the underground area below the mines which connects to each other area, hard to keep track of certain door and chest locations)
- No lives system here and area progress is kept if you die and pick continue (you respawn where you entered the area)
- The game is more forgiving about falling into water (lose 1 HP and respawn on the previous safe platform - actually too forgiving once you get the mermaid scale (which you can get very early) as you then don't take any damage at all) but not when falling into spikes, When falling into pits or lava you die
- Can't examine quests/events in the quest log to get more info about them - only see the titles, Your flying buddy sometimes helps describe quests/events however you can't review this info
- Skippable FMV cutscenes but not in-game cutscenes of which there are many more (can't skip on a per sentence or scene basis during these either)
- Consumable teleporter items return and are gained early on (magic wings - can teleport between visited areas and save points within them, common item) and later on you unlock fast travel to the forest and mining town via the bell items as well as to any area via the underground mines (however this area is a maze) and with Baron the flying dog if you save him, One shortcut between the ranch area and the water temple area
- Three movement speed upgrades and several life bar upgrades, Two elemental shield items
- Inventory restorative items and quest/puzzle items (some are used automatically; some decent puzzles (some spatial awareness ones too) and various basic ones, highly interactive world overall)
- The game sometimes blurs the line between town and hostile area
- Unlockable "cartoon finale" alternate ending (100% it) and 4 unlockable events/quests (have a save file from the first Tomba game on your Memory Card - at the Grapplejack point or later you'll unlock four extra events which will give a lot of AP each)
- Basic cooking (dry found fish in the sun in the first area, bake/fry food in an oven/burning machine, boil potatoes in the mines, collect ingredients and give them to the chief in coal-mining town to have him make sandwiches for you; ingredients respawn when re-entering areas they're in)
- Shows enemy health bars but only when grabbing them
- Can escape from boss battles w/ teleporter items
- Restoration theme returns - new music and sometimes new NPCs/NPC dialogue and quests in restored areas (the ranch area changes the most as you no longer freeze and snowballs+ice block obstacles disappear, no new enemies or hazards and the ones that were there aren't removed either), No new enemies in previous areas - just the boss doors
- Minor sequence breaking possibilities (can get a 1/2 HP upgrade before getting the grapple in the mines, more?)
- Silent protagonist and non-interactive dialogue
- Placed HP items (these respawn after dying but not from exiting and re-entering an area, no health drops from enemies but you can find and carry HP restoring items), One healing spring
- Can't access the inventory menu while climbing or in mid-air
- Can keep farming mud balls in the mines for gems and consumables
- Unlimited inventory?
- Kill enemies to fill up your MP bar (would encourage aggressive play but the spells are optional besides using them as a key before the finale and never really needed for combat, can also drink found potions to refill it)
- Partial control config with two face button settings only - can't map dash or attack to a shoulder button for example, No camera control
- Limited draw distance on chests - fairly easy to miss some of the optional ones
- 30 FPS (prequel ran at 60 FPS)
Playthrough - Video Review/Analysis - Mini Review
Valkyrie Profile (PS1, 1999)?
Subgenre: JRPG (TB battles?)/2.5D Platformer Hybrid (location exploration)
Perspective: 3D-ish world map/overworld exploration (3D background, 2D sprites), 2.5D battle backgrounds
Other: Separate overworld
Start with all movement abilities?
Zeux's World (PC, 1999) - WIP
SMW-like Platformer (hub map, alternate exits, blocks that are filled in or removed by pressing a switch block somewhere else, hidden blocks, etc)
Item inventory (4 slots, can access the items during a level)
Mega Zeux power up that makes you run faster, jump higher and makes you invincible - drains gems (similar to Super Sonic)
Some consumable spell books that alter your movement (wind - for jumping further/higher in a weird way, slow time (for everyone else but you, doesn't work on bosses), time stop/stop watch) - Can buy these in one level
"Although the player character can eventually unlock a few special abilities, those come with tradeoffs and are almost never required for anything"
Ultima IX: Ascension (PC)?
Subgenre: 3D RPG/ARPG
Perspective:
With mods?
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Requiem: Avenging Angel (PC)? - FP ARPG?
Romancia ~Another Legend~ (PC)(Untranslated) - ARPG-ish, Remake (plays almost the same but includes the option to save anywhere and a narration mode which includes clues and other commentary at the top of the screen)
Donkey Kong 64 (N64, 1999)? - WIP
3D Platformer, Collectathon
Hype: The Time Quest (PC, 1999/PS2)? - TP View Action Adventure, Some flight segments
No ability gating?
Time-traveling puzzles
Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine (PC, 1999/N64, 2000)? - 3D AA, TP View
Rittai Ninja Katsugeki Tenchu: Shinobi Gaisen (PS1, 1999)? - 3D Action Adventure, Stealth?, Updated version of Tenchu 1?
King's Quest: Mask of Eternity (PC)? - 1998?
Sorcerian Original (PC) - 2D ARPG, SV
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation (PC/DC)?
Subgenre: 3D Puzzle Platformer/TPS/Maze Platformer
Perspective: TP View
Other: Several hub areas connected to various levels (similar to Hexen or Spyro 1) but still mostly linear structure?, Some vehicle segments
No ability gating besides flares actually being useful here?
Maken X (DC)? - FP View, Jumping
Dragon Valor (PS1) - 3D ARPG, TP View, No platforming segments?
Lands of Lore III (PC) - FP ARPG
Crusaders of Might and Magic (PC) - ARPG, TP View
Spriggan: Lunar Verse (PS1)? - 3D AA, TP View
Omikron: The Nomad Soul (PC)? - 3D AA, TP View
Rising Zan: The Samurai Gunman (PS1)? - 3D AA, TP View, Linear?
Soul of the Samurai (PS1)? - 3D AA, TP View
Xena: Warrior Princess (PS1)? - 3D AA, TP View, Linear?
Nocturne (PC)? - 3D AA, TP View
Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace (PC/PS1)? - 3D AA, TP View/TD View (high angle), Linear?
Vampire Hunter D (PS1)? - 3D AA w/ fixed camera angles (see RE), TP View
Outliers:
Ape Escape (PS1, 1999)
Subgenre: 3D Platformer, TP View w/ FP aiming/look around modes, Collectathon (relatively low quotas though)
Other: Level-based (hub room/home base connects to a level select screen, a mini-game hub and a training area hub)
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Rayman 2 (N64/PC, 1999/PS1/DC, 2000) - 3D Platformer, Collectathon, Hub Map, TP View w/ FP view free-look mode while standing still, Swimming, Some auto-scrolling segments, Button mashing bonus levels (optional)
Can exit new levels via their entrances (can't exit beaten levels from anywhere though - a few levels do have an additional exit around mid-way however, single entry point to each level)
Gain one permanent movement ability over the course of the game (grappling hook swinging via floating O symbols/purple lums) - not used to backtrack and discover new areas in previous levels though
Upgradeable life bar via on foot racing mini-games found in some levels and freeing lums from cages (upgrades with each 10 cages)
Linear structure (basic hub map screen - there's a few sub levels (more like mini-games) but they are unlocked at the beginning of regular levels; the PS2 version replaces the map with several hub worlds but they're still linear and there are some issues with them - see notes in review)
Gain a charge attack some ways into the game
Saves collecting progress in levels (but not opened door progress for the most part), in media res beginning (escape from captivity - very short segment though)
Collectathon element (50 lums/energy shards (1000 in total) and 5+ cages per level - getting all of them is optional and the requirement to progress at a few points is pretty low (not sure how low but I never needed to backtrack to collect more lums), some rescued NPCs talk with you and help you progress, need 100% in a level to reach its bonus level though this is completely optional)
The spoken "help!" from cages is used as an audio cue to help a bit in finding them, no level maps
One alternate bad ending (keep the treasure when asked by Jano)
Minor sequence breaking opportunities using damage boosts to reach higher (more with glitches)
Can only save in-between levels but there are fairly frequent checkpoints within them and you also have infinite lives (sadly the photographer was replaced by a green lum/shard which isn't as visually interesting, can switch slots by pressing Esc when prompted to save, you only lose a bit of health from falling into pits or moving into other lethal hazards - then get sent to the previous checkpoint reached; in the later PS2 version you can save at the beginning of each sub area of a level)
Long levels overall and they usually feature some optional detours for items
Decent timing puzzles and basic ricocheting bullets (Turrican?) puzzles, Basic switch puzzles
Unlock more lore as you collect lums/shards (pretty shallow and presented in text form though)
Some quest-driven progression (have to learn the name of a sub area within a level from a later level to enter it and get an item for an NPC who then helps you progress, no magic seed (grow plants) ability - this is handled by Globox instead which is a temporary helper)
Playthrough (100%) - Mini-Review
Silver (PC, 1999)
Subgenre: 3D-ish ARPG/Hack 'n Slash (static camera angles, pre-rendered backgrounds, use-based spell levels - 3 per spell/orb, shield deterioration - can't repair, critical hit chance), Killathon (often can't even go back to a previous room within a sub area until you've cleared the one you just entered)
Perspective: Mostly TD and Isometric or Bird's Eye view, Otherwise TP View
Other: No platforming, Mouse-driven beat 'em up/hack 'n slash combat (quick attack/swing left or right/lunge forward and stab/back attack moves with LMB and directional movement while holding ctrl; block and dodge with RMB), Fight alongside 2 CPU controlled NPC allies after the intro gameplay (similar to Secret of Mana but can't configure their behavior as much and they're more passive when not controlled directly), Shops (food, info, items; traders restock once in a while) - can't sell items though, Can choose not to let party characters join you when you meet them as well as switch between chars at the camp (they level up while outside of the party)
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Shenmue (DC) - TP/FP View Action Adventure (or Quest Adventure/Beat 'em up Hybrid), some QTE segments, No jumping
Playthrough - Mini-Review
Urban Chaos (PC, 1999/DC/PS1, 2000) - 3D proto-Open World, Action Adventure-lite (level-based and linear in terms of the story missions, pretty large and maze-like levels)/TPS
TP View
Three playable chars, Persistent stat upgrades but non-persistent weapon inventory
Can replay beaten missions but everything in them resets when you do (can’t dynamically move between previously visited mission areas)
Mini-Review
Drakan: Order of the Flame (PC, 1999) - 3D, TR-inspired Action Adventure in fantasy setting (level-based w/ large levels and objectives, no ability gating?), TP View; deteriorating gear, world map, inconsistent hit detection, flight segments (the dragon gains new attacks but no movement abilities)
Everquest (PC, 1999) - MMORPG, Jumping
Septentrion: Out of the Blue (PS1)? - Sequel to SOS (SNES, 1993), 3D, TP View
Hybrid Heaven (N64) - 3D ARPG, TP View, Real-time w/ pausing battles?, Jumping but no platforming segments?
Soul Calibur/SoulCalibur (DC) - 3D Fighting, Mission Mode is non-linear (Hub map)
Spellbinder: The Nexus Conflict (PC)? - TP/FP View (toggleable) ARPG?
Jet Force Gemini (N64)? -
Bomberman 64: The Second Attack! (N64)? -
Ape Escape (PS1, 1999)
Subgenre: 3D Platformer, TP View w/ FP aiming/look around modes, Collectathon (relatively low quotas though)
Other: Level-based (hub room/home base connects to a level select screen, a mini-game hub and a training area hub)
- Ability gating and persistent tools/gadgets (you can also backtrack to use them in previous levels though it is optional)
- Can exit any level at any time, Can replay beaten levels and capturing+big coin collecting is saved
- Save between levels
- No level maps but there is a radar for spotting monkeys (can also view their stats and current mood/situation)
- Most levels have more of a sandbox/open-ended structure
- Some breakable walls and platforms
- Monkey bestiary feature
- Minor puzzles here and there
- No control config besides face button mapping for gadgets and a vibration toggle
- No fast travel/teleporters (mostly short levels though)
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Rayman 2 (N64/PC, 1999/PS1/DC, 2000) - 3D Platformer, Collectathon, Hub Map, TP View w/ FP view free-look mode while standing still, Swimming, Some auto-scrolling segments, Button mashing bonus levels (optional)
Can exit new levels via their entrances (can't exit beaten levels from anywhere though - a few levels do have an additional exit around mid-way however, single entry point to each level)
Gain one permanent movement ability over the course of the game (grappling hook swinging via floating O symbols/purple lums) - not used to backtrack and discover new areas in previous levels though
Upgradeable life bar via on foot racing mini-games found in some levels and freeing lums from cages (upgrades with each 10 cages)
Linear structure (basic hub map screen - there's a few sub levels (more like mini-games) but they are unlocked at the beginning of regular levels; the PS2 version replaces the map with several hub worlds but they're still linear and there are some issues with them - see notes in review)
Gain a charge attack some ways into the game
Saves collecting progress in levels (but not opened door progress for the most part), in media res beginning (escape from captivity - very short segment though)
Collectathon element (50 lums/energy shards (1000 in total) and 5+ cages per level - getting all of them is optional and the requirement to progress at a few points is pretty low (not sure how low but I never needed to backtrack to collect more lums), some rescued NPCs talk with you and help you progress, need 100% in a level to reach its bonus level though this is completely optional)
The spoken "help!" from cages is used as an audio cue to help a bit in finding them, no level maps
One alternate bad ending (keep the treasure when asked by Jano)
Minor sequence breaking opportunities using damage boosts to reach higher (more with glitches)
Can only save in-between levels but there are fairly frequent checkpoints within them and you also have infinite lives (sadly the photographer was replaced by a green lum/shard which isn't as visually interesting, can switch slots by pressing Esc when prompted to save, you only lose a bit of health from falling into pits or moving into other lethal hazards - then get sent to the previous checkpoint reached; in the later PS2 version you can save at the beginning of each sub area of a level)
Long levels overall and they usually feature some optional detours for items
Decent timing puzzles and basic ricocheting bullets (Turrican?) puzzles, Basic switch puzzles
Unlock more lore as you collect lums/shards (pretty shallow and presented in text form though)
Some quest-driven progression (have to learn the name of a sub area within a level from a later level to enter it and get an item for an NPC who then helps you progress, no magic seed (grow plants) ability - this is handled by Globox instead which is a temporary helper)
Playthrough (100%) - Mini-Review
Silver (PC, 1999)
Subgenre: 3D-ish ARPG/Hack 'n Slash (static camera angles, pre-rendered backgrounds, use-based spell levels - 3 per spell/orb, shield deterioration - can't repair, critical hit chance), Killathon (often can't even go back to a previous room within a sub area until you've cleared the one you just entered)
Perspective: Mostly TD and Isometric or Bird's Eye view, Otherwise TP View
Other: No platforming, Mouse-driven beat 'em up/hack 'n slash combat (quick attack/swing left or right/lunge forward and stab/back attack moves with LMB and directional movement while holding ctrl; block and dodge with RMB), Fight alongside 2 CPU controlled NPC allies after the intro gameplay (similar to Secret of Mana but can't configure their behavior as much and they're more passive when not controlled directly), Shops (food, info, items; traders restock once in a while) - can't sell items though, Can choose not to let party characters join you when you meet them as well as switch between chars at the camp (they level up while outside of the party)
- Frequent save points overall (multiple nameable slots) however each one can only be used once - there's also no place where you can rest and save back at the rebel camp or barracks in-between sub objectives
- Mostly linear structure (starts off completely linear but opens up a bit after getting the map about 1.5 hours into it (can visit a small area near the rebel camp as well as explore near your house though the enemies there are very tough and numerous), some backtracking to previous areas to open up new paths in them with keys or key-style items, can fight the fire orb boss before getting the ice orb though you can't get to the orb behind it if you do, can skip the swamp boss for later)
- Text+dialogue option (lets you speed things up when wanted but still listen to the good bits of dialogue, fully voiced dialogue)
- Can run by double clicking (later used in Diablo 2; since there's no stamina they might as well have let you auto-run though)
- Option to auto-change ranged weapon when one runs out of ammo (however it doesn't work for spells or wands)
- Can drag a box around several item drops with RMB to pick them all up
- Magic items (each holds an attack or defense spell) slowly regenerate their energy/MP and your char slowly regenerates MP as well (Ys/Diablo), Special attacks also recharge and each one has a separate charge meter
- Find a hub map some ways into the game (M hotkey brings it up, can be used to fast travel between visited locations and can be accessed from any screen as long as there aren't enemies on it)
- One environmental change switch (valve spanner item is used to drain the flooded lower city of Rain)
- Sometimes different party dialogue depending on who's with you
- No attack combos (some weapons do more damage when slashing or hitting normally rather than stabbing)
- Turn into a god form of sorts before the final boss
- Can't ask NPCs questions
- The game doesn't pause while using the wheel menu
- Some unavoidable damage
- One healing point (near your house) and a healing spell gained about midway through
- Automatic side dodging when enemies fire at you however it's not always reliable
- Can't lock onto enemies (there's also no circle strafe)
- Can't farm for items/gold in most areas (can do it on one screen in Rain though it's rather slow)
- No ability gating besides the temporary torch used to see in the cave though it's used more like a key (there's a ring of invisibility magic item but you don't need to use it to sneak past enemies)
- No area maps
- No quest log/journal feature
- Some "pixel" hunting (exits, some objects)
- Unskippable game over (about 10 seconds) and in-game cutscenes
- Mostly non-interactive environment (can't even speak to most NPCs in the first town and at some points you can't talk to NPCs after that, at least interactive parts tend to stand out well)
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Shenmue (DC) - TP/FP View Action Adventure (or Quest Adventure/Beat 'em up Hybrid), some QTE segments, No jumping
Playthrough - Mini-Review
Urban Chaos (PC, 1999/DC/PS1, 2000) - 3D proto-Open World, Action Adventure-lite (level-based and linear in terms of the story missions, pretty large and maze-like levels)/TPS
TP View
Three playable chars, Persistent stat upgrades but non-persistent weapon inventory
Can replay beaten missions but everything in them resets when you do (can’t dynamically move between previously visited mission areas)
Mini-Review
Drakan: Order of the Flame (PC, 1999) - 3D, TR-inspired Action Adventure in fantasy setting (level-based w/ large levels and objectives, no ability gating?), TP View; deteriorating gear, world map, inconsistent hit detection, flight segments (the dragon gains new attacks but no movement abilities)
Everquest (PC, 1999) - MMORPG, Jumping
Septentrion: Out of the Blue (PS1)? - Sequel to SOS (SNES, 1993), 3D, TP View
Hybrid Heaven (N64) - 3D ARPG, TP View, Real-time w/ pausing battles?, Jumping but no platforming segments?
Soul Calibur/SoulCalibur (DC) - 3D Fighting, Mission Mode is non-linear (Hub map)
Spellbinder: The Nexus Conflict (PC)? - TP/FP View (toggleable) ARPG?
Jet Force Gemini (N64)? -
Bomberman 64: The Second Attack! (N64)? -