5/5 ★ – Bengerman10's review of Blue Prince.

In her book Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance, Ruth Emmie Lang writes "She sat studiously, both hands in her lap, listening to the sermon and nodding occasionally. I was able to piece together a few of the things she thought were important from the timing of those nods." I talk a lot about pop culture being a part of who I am. I like having conversations with people about art. It tells me a lot about who they are and what they find important - or, as Lang wrote, through observing what art they nod their heads at. I think that if someone were to talk to me about Blue Prince, they would learn a lot about me. Who I am and what I find important, the things that make my brain buzz. I was enraptured from the moment Blue Prince began and it's very likely it will be one of the few games I've ever played where I'm not sure that magic will ever quite fade. A lot of people have talked about Blue Prince as an impossible game to have conversations about, but it's almost the exact opposite for me. This is exactly the kind of game I want to have conversations about. I want to subtly talk about the thing I just found out, the thing you just found out, the thing neither of us can find out. Stopping just short of pulling up the curtain, but instead teasing what is behind it. I felt the oh-so-rare-for-me video game magic while I played Blue Prince, but I don't think it was until I got the quiet, almost melodic cut scene before credits rolled that I realized I already sorely missed it. I missed the first time I stepped foot into Mt. Holly, I missed the moments I spent pouring over books in the library, I missed the aching decisions about which direction I wanted to go next, and feeling of an answer being right there at the tip of my brain but still so far out of reach. Everything I thought maybe I didn't like so much all the sudden I loved and wished I had enjoyed more while I still had it. It recalled memories of going through Blighttown for the first time, getting eaten alive by an Anglerfish in Outer Wilds, hearing the "wah-ha-ha-haaaaaah" wail from Mario in Super Mario 64 when you've landed on a pit of lava butt first. The kinds of things that you just wish you could experience again for a first time, even if you didn't know it while you were going through it. I love this game, and I think that's the only lens I'll ever really be able to talk about it through.