Aleyceps
BACKER
2021
This review contains spoilers
Before Your Eyes, although short, hit very hard with me personally due to its subject matter. The mid-game pivot was somewhat scary due to a battle with a disease myself, and I am grateful that I got to see past events again through the eyes of Benny. What some may see as a gimmick in its use of a webcam, I see as a core part of the story which was well used and crafted for the experience. I will recommend this game and encourage others to take advantage of the blink tracking.
The Witch Queen was arguably the greatest hyped expansion for destiny since Forsaken. Did it deliver? First impressions were very good but cracks begin to form after the campaign is over. I was asking myself “what’s left to do?” And what was left wasn’t impressive.
The Campaign: was quite fun, good higher difficulty content. We played the campaign in a 3 person fireteam and difficulty scaling seemed good. The cutscenes had obviously been given more thought, and i loved it. There are like 3 big twists in the campaign, and the last one is the only that really worked for me; being that the sisters of fundament were tricked by the Witness, the traveler was there in the sky to save them but they were tricked into choosing the deep. After the campaign is over there are some low quality checklist quests that aren’t worth doing. And theres nothing else really to do other than power grind and do the raid.
The Raid: Vow of the Disciple is a mixed bag. Day One was atrocious, the first few hours were riddled with error codes and Bungie eventually decided to extend the contest mode to 48 hours instead of the usual 24. The contest extension was definitely too long and it allowed many people to get the emblem who wouldn’t have otherwise. Both good and bad encounters can be found. Opening is waaay too long, Acquisition is great, Caretaker is decent, Exhibition is not good, Rhulk has good DPS but a bad first phase, and in between all of that are jumping puzzles that can take too long. Vow is just too slow to be a fun farm. The weapons work great in the meta, similar to DSC. I wish it were shorter and i’m not a big fan of the map design.
Innovation: Weapon crafting seems great at first but the perk pools are extremely disappointing at the moment. I’m worried about the issues it will cause in effect to the chase of random rolls.
Taking a step back: the rest of this expansion lacks a week-to-week reason to play, destiny’s main activities are very bland. Right now there is no reason to play ritual activities, wellspring, or master vow. The larger portion of the game is very empty. Perhaps this year of seasons will improve those areas.
Favorite Mission: The Arrival
Least favorite mission: The Mirror
The Campaign: was quite fun, good higher difficulty content. We played the campaign in a 3 person fireteam and difficulty scaling seemed good. The cutscenes had obviously been given more thought, and i loved it. There are like 3 big twists in the campaign, and the last one is the only that really worked for me; being that the sisters of fundament were tricked by the Witness, the traveler was there in the sky to save them but they were tricked into choosing the deep. After the campaign is over there are some low quality checklist quests that aren’t worth doing. And theres nothing else really to do other than power grind and do the raid.
The Raid: Vow of the Disciple is a mixed bag. Day One was atrocious, the first few hours were riddled with error codes and Bungie eventually decided to extend the contest mode to 48 hours instead of the usual 24. The contest extension was definitely too long and it allowed many people to get the emblem who wouldn’t have otherwise. Both good and bad encounters can be found. Opening is waaay too long, Acquisition is great, Caretaker is decent, Exhibition is not good, Rhulk has good DPS but a bad first phase, and in between all of that are jumping puzzles that can take too long. Vow is just too slow to be a fun farm. The weapons work great in the meta, similar to DSC. I wish it were shorter and i’m not a big fan of the map design.
Innovation: Weapon crafting seems great at first but the perk pools are extremely disappointing at the moment. I’m worried about the issues it will cause in effect to the chase of random rolls.
Taking a step back: the rest of this expansion lacks a week-to-week reason to play, destiny’s main activities are very bland. Right now there is no reason to play ritual activities, wellspring, or master vow. The larger portion of the game is very empty. Perhaps this year of seasons will improve those areas.
Favorite Mission: The Arrival
Least favorite mission: The Mirror
This review contains spoilers
Hellblade is not what i expected when i downloaded it, the trailer for the second game had me interested so I gave the first a chance. This is definitely not a game for everyone, but if you give it a chance i think you will at least come out of it with something new.
The game is broken up into mostly puzzles, exposition, and combat. Some of the puzzles frustrated me or lost my patience; like the maze or the conundrum involving running through a waterfall and pushing down a bridge. On those puzzles I ended up looking up a video. By far my favorite parts of the game were combat focused. All of the boss battles had me extremely invested, and the upgrades which allow you to improve your combat felt very good, i only wish it had more combat sections. The exposition sections were very hit or miss, some are tedious and boring while others are quite interesting and help push the story along. My favorite parts of the game are: The boss battles, Final confrontation with Hela, and the blindness shard.
I can't help but wonder what could have been if Hellblade was the length of a modern AAA. While it has the graphics, it just isn't long enough to leave as much of an impact that it can. Senua, The story, Combat, and Investment would all benefit Greatly from this, however that is the downside of a game this beautiful being made by an indie studio.
To speak on the major spoilers in the game, i see what they went for with the "your progress will restart", however i don't think it was developed enough and had me somewhat bitter after finishing the game. I found out about her psychosis half way through the game after looking up why my graphics were fucking up, and part of the game became more interesting because of it. It was hilarious finding out my 30 minutes of being aggravated with the graphics settings was all intentional, and i appreciated the game more afterwards.
TLDR: Play Hellblade, you'll thank me
The game is broken up into mostly puzzles, exposition, and combat. Some of the puzzles frustrated me or lost my patience; like the maze or the conundrum involving running through a waterfall and pushing down a bridge. On those puzzles I ended up looking up a video. By far my favorite parts of the game were combat focused. All of the boss battles had me extremely invested, and the upgrades which allow you to improve your combat felt very good, i only wish it had more combat sections. The exposition sections were very hit or miss, some are tedious and boring while others are quite interesting and help push the story along. My favorite parts of the game are: The boss battles, Final confrontation with Hela, and the blindness shard.
I can't help but wonder what could have been if Hellblade was the length of a modern AAA. While it has the graphics, it just isn't long enough to leave as much of an impact that it can. Senua, The story, Combat, and Investment would all benefit Greatly from this, however that is the downside of a game this beautiful being made by an indie studio.
To speak on the major spoilers in the game, i see what they went for with the "your progress will restart", however i don't think it was developed enough and had me somewhat bitter after finishing the game. I found out about her psychosis half way through the game after looking up why my graphics were fucking up, and part of the game became more interesting because of it. It was hilarious finding out my 30 minutes of being aggravated with the graphics settings was all intentional, and i appreciated the game more afterwards.
TLDR: Play Hellblade, you'll thank me
To preface; I had a load of fun playing this for the first time. It felt like being part of something big and new, unlike most other games because of the mystery every fnaf game has. I likely rate this higher than it deserves because of that.
Its hard to compare Security Breach to other installments in the FNaF series because it plays entirely different to the other games. Most titles have you trapped in a single room and trying to stay alive as long as possible, they involve a lot of strategy and difficulty. However Security Breach launches you into a free roam mall almost entirely open for exploration. Due to its free roam and great environmental design exploring the Pizza Plex's various areas can be very fun but this comes almost at the expense of the difficulty and stress previous games are notorious for. It doesn't help that the game was very clearly not ready, being delayed by a couple hours on launch day and still including many glitches which warranted a very fast patch.
The ending really dragged down my enjoyment, and I mean all of them. Getting to the exit at 6:00 doesn't feel rewarding in the slightest, the extra endings are extremely forgettable, and the "true ending" was soooo lackluster.
Another springtrap model. A buggy ass fight. A 7 second cutscene of him getting grabbed and us running away. That did not feel good for the time investment. The only cool part of the true ending was seeing another pizzeria buried under the pizzaplex, which I saw coming as soon as someone mentioned a pit under roxy raceway. The worst of this ending is that it kinda completely invalidates the Pizzeria Simulator ending, which was the best ending out of any game and the real ending to the fnaf story as far as I'm concerned.
Overall i found the story and exploration very fun, however it was lacking the difficulty and scariness i desired. The best parts of the game is when it returns to its roots and puts you in a room frantically keeping animatronics away. This new formula requires refining but i think it can be done. I am excited to see the next entry in the FNaF series
Its hard to compare Security Breach to other installments in the FNaF series because it plays entirely different to the other games. Most titles have you trapped in a single room and trying to stay alive as long as possible, they involve a lot of strategy and difficulty. However Security Breach launches you into a free roam mall almost entirely open for exploration. Due to its free roam and great environmental design exploring the Pizza Plex's various areas can be very fun but this comes almost at the expense of the difficulty and stress previous games are notorious for. It doesn't help that the game was very clearly not ready, being delayed by a couple hours on launch day and still including many glitches which warranted a very fast patch.
The ending really dragged down my enjoyment, and I mean all of them. Getting to the exit at 6:00 doesn't feel rewarding in the slightest, the extra endings are extremely forgettable, and the "true ending" was soooo lackluster.
Another springtrap model. A buggy ass fight. A 7 second cutscene of him getting grabbed and us running away. That did not feel good for the time investment. The only cool part of the true ending was seeing another pizzeria buried under the pizzaplex, which I saw coming as soon as someone mentioned a pit under roxy raceway. The worst of this ending is that it kinda completely invalidates the Pizzeria Simulator ending, which was the best ending out of any game and the real ending to the fnaf story as far as I'm concerned.
Overall i found the story and exploration very fun, however it was lacking the difficulty and scariness i desired. The best parts of the game is when it returns to its roots and puts you in a room frantically keeping animatronics away. This new formula requires refining but i think it can be done. I am excited to see the next entry in the FNaF series
2014
I can't consciously review this game without extreme bias. I have fond memories playing Destiny, it was my first fps. I still remember exploring the Cosmodrome for the first time, obtaining the coveted Gjallarhorn, trying my first Vault of Glass, and meeting the most helpful and fun people I have met in an online game. I now play with a completely different group on D2, but occasionally i will get on my old guardian in Destiny and do a raid or two with the faithful players still in xbox's lfg. Thank you Bungie.
A good add on to the original TLOU story. Adds some extra depth to Ellie's character that is appreciated. However it does feel as though the scenes that take place with Ellie protecting Joel were simply cut from the base game and thrown in to make this DLC longer (probably not the case). Overall a fun experience for people who want extra story.
This has been the worst year of destiny content so far, and I'm not sure that will change will season of the seraph but i can hope. Kings Fall 2 was the best part but its not new content. Story was boring as shit along with the 3 and 6 man activities, i wasn't very impressed with any of the loot. The most embarrasing excuses for events ended off the season on a nothing burger. It can't get too much worse than this
2022
I played Scorn through game pass for pc, and i’m not sure if its xbox’s fault or not but it was riddled with technical and performance issues. Every time it loaded a new area it began to stutter tremendously, cutscenes stuttered and audio cut out, several times I couldn’t interact with a pillar and was forced to quit to the main menu and reload. I will note that the themes surprised me, and the atmosphere was stellar. Despite the problems I still find it lingering in my head, somehow I found some fun in the mess. There should have been more puzzles, the combat should have been better, but there was certainly S C O R N.
There were so many more technical problems I had to talk about while playing Scorn, however after finishing it I came across ProtoBozo 's review. They summed it up absolutely perfectly and I see no reason to repeat what has already been said so please go read it!
There were so many more technical problems I had to talk about while playing Scorn, however after finishing it I came across ProtoBozo 's review. They summed it up absolutely perfectly and I see no reason to repeat what has already been said so please go read it!
I have mixed feelings on Haunted’s main activities, public events and patrol chest farming. On one hand its nice to not have a half baked 6 man, but public events arent much better. Loot is good but half of it is old. Compelling writing and dialogue (as always these days) but the gameplay is hurting because of the shift in focus. Duality dudgeon is fun, not quite as good as Grasp. Duality’s loot could not have more of an existential crisis, we can only craft the old opulent gear and not the new weapons for some reason. Iron banner and rift along side it are a very fun change of pace and at the moment all the bugs in it have been fixed.
Haunted was very cookie cutter, the weekly quests are no longer fun. I want to see bungie take more risks in coming seasons. No more reused ideas, no more copy paste 6 player seasonal activity. I am super excited for King's Fall in 18 and can only hope a great season accompanies it.
Haunted was very cookie cutter, the weekly quests are no longer fun. I want to see bungie take more risks in coming seasons. No more reused ideas, no more copy paste 6 player seasonal activity. I am super excited for King's Fall in 18 and can only hope a great season accompanies it.
I had such a hard time getting into Majora's Mask when I started it in 2021. I don't know if it was the save system, gameplay loop, or burnout from just finishing Ocarina but I dreaded turning on my N64 to play it. I didn't want to go through an entire cycle or multiple just to get something done. In Ocarina I could mess around for a bit and turn it off but Majora requires much more attention.
I revisited it late 2022 and something just clicked. I was dumping so much time into the world. I ended up getting all of the masks and doing side quests between dungeons. The theme and atmosphere felt right to me at the time and it captured me.
Favorite dungeon: Stone Tower Temple
Least favorite dungeon: Woodfall Temple
I revisited it late 2022 and something just clicked. I was dumping so much time into the world. I ended up getting all of the masks and doing side quests between dungeons. The theme and atmosphere felt right to me at the time and it captured me.
Favorite dungeon: Stone Tower Temple
Least favorite dungeon: Woodfall Temple
This game's steam port is the most broken game I have tried to play. It's a miracle I managed to finish it. Even if it didn't constantly crash and skip cutscenes it wouldn't hit as hard as the first.
2015
This review contains spoilers
This is heroic campaign only.
I actually enjoyed this campaign. Not up to the standards Bungie set but it is still fun. Most of my problems with 4's gameplay were at least slightly improved here (sometimes it is night and day) but it's real problem is the story. I see that they probably had a really good pitch but the execution fell apart. Spartan Locke is not interesting, most of the details require you to have payed attention to extra media, and Cortana's return almost spoils the end of 4. Arbiter's inclusion is much appreciated, and Buck isn't really necessary even though I loved him in ODST.
Most of the missions were varied in layout and environments, with better map design than 4. The movement is fun, and gunplay is standard. Prometheans are much improved: more variety and easier to differentiate from a distance. They are more fun to fight than they were in 4 (and their weapons have a bit more personality) but they are still the weakest enemy type in Halo.
Favorite mission: Enemy Lines/ Blue Team
Least favorite mission: The breaking
I actually enjoyed this campaign. Not up to the standards Bungie set but it is still fun. Most of my problems with 4's gameplay were at least slightly improved here (sometimes it is night and day) but it's real problem is the story. I see that they probably had a really good pitch but the execution fell apart. Spartan Locke is not interesting, most of the details require you to have payed attention to extra media, and Cortana's return almost spoils the end of 4. Arbiter's inclusion is much appreciated, and Buck isn't really necessary even though I loved him in ODST.
Most of the missions were varied in layout and environments, with better map design than 4. The movement is fun, and gunplay is standard. Prometheans are much improved: more variety and easier to differentiate from a distance. They are more fun to fight than they were in 4 (and their weapons have a bit more personality) but they are still the weakest enemy type in Halo.
Favorite mission: Enemy Lines/ Blue Team
Least favorite mission: The breaking
1994
I started my first time playthrough of BUNGiE's deep roots with Pathways Into Darkness. Pathways was a hit in the recent games I've played, so my interest was piqued in what the Marathon Trilogy would have to offer.
Bungie really found their footing here and it shows; They have had laser focus on Sci-Fi shooters ever since. There is a clear bridge here between PiD and Halo. It still has the charming but cartoony aliens from PiD, but in a moody and grounded space ship environment that feels similar to Halo. The combination makes for a unique experience under BUNGiE's belt, which is brilliantly assisted by Alexander Seropian's soundtrack.
The gameplay is expanded from PiD, providing a generally faster pace that was desired in PiD. The player movement along with it added sprinting, a parallax effect in order to look up and down (Marathon was the first game to implement this), and low gravity jumps.
The largest complaint I have seen by far is that people don't like its labyrinthian map design, but I don't mind. I enjoyed the Labyrinths assisted by AlephOne's transparent map overlay, they're really something I've never experienced before in a game. The carefree non-restrictive map design also allowed for some very creative levels which you wouldn't really see today. Having come out in 1994 there are other things which seem dated; the biggest example I can think of is that entities have collision detection which means BOBs get in the way a lot and enemies can easily surround you with no way to counter maneuver.
As far as story goes: Leela isn't that interesting, as a computer would be, but Durandal has a charming personality which kept me interested and reading the consoles. Some people may be put off with having to read between levels in order to get the story, but its very entertaining if you don't mind. The game ended pretty abruptly with a very short last mission, and the story they were telling ended without a great conclusion, which doesn't feel good for this game but I'm excited for what 2 and 3 do with it.
Favorite level: Neither High nor Low
Least favorite level: Ingue Ferroque
Bungie really found their footing here and it shows; They have had laser focus on Sci-Fi shooters ever since. There is a clear bridge here between PiD and Halo. It still has the charming but cartoony aliens from PiD, but in a moody and grounded space ship environment that feels similar to Halo. The combination makes for a unique experience under BUNGiE's belt, which is brilliantly assisted by Alexander Seropian's soundtrack.
The gameplay is expanded from PiD, providing a generally faster pace that was desired in PiD. The player movement along with it added sprinting, a parallax effect in order to look up and down (Marathon was the first game to implement this), and low gravity jumps.
The largest complaint I have seen by far is that people don't like its labyrinthian map design, but I don't mind. I enjoyed the Labyrinths assisted by AlephOne's transparent map overlay, they're really something I've never experienced before in a game. The carefree non-restrictive map design also allowed for some very creative levels which you wouldn't really see today. Having come out in 1994 there are other things which seem dated; the biggest example I can think of is that entities have collision detection which means BOBs get in the way a lot and enemies can easily surround you with no way to counter maneuver.
As far as story goes: Leela isn't that interesting, as a computer would be, but Durandal has a charming personality which kept me interested and reading the consoles. Some people may be put off with having to read between levels in order to get the story, but its very entertaining if you don't mind. The game ended pretty abruptly with a very short last mission, and the story they were telling ended without a great conclusion, which doesn't feel good for this game but I'm excited for what 2 and 3 do with it.
Favorite level: Neither High nor Low
Least favorite level: Ingue Ferroque
2023
The good:
-Exploring Hogwarts as a fully realized explorable map is amazing, so many small and large details that really make it awe inspiring to wander around
-This is truly a faithful adaptation to BOTH the movies and books. It combines them wonderfully and takes it's own creative liberty in areas that are disputed
-Hard mode combat feels great and fluid (once you get used to holding r2 for spells, though sometimes it is still too hard to juggle them and you end up doing something you didn't mean to)
-Revelio pages are a great way to get people engaged in what they're actually looking at. They give cool information and tidbits that actually help you to answer certain questions in the game
-The broom is fun asf
-Beast collecting is super cute, and customizing the room of requirement is a guilty pleasure of mine. Organizing things is really fun, and this game succeeds where Unpacking failed. Unpacking didn't engage me because everything I organized wasn't mine, but in Hogwarts Legacy everything in the room of requirement is EARNED
-Sabastian's quest, I'll say no more
The bad:
-Your choices have absolutely no weight or dramatic tension, it doesn't matter what you say or do because the person you're talking to will always end up agreeing
-The previous leads into a larger issue of dialogue and writing, it is SO stale and tiresome. Someone always has their dick in your ear saying some nonsense to fill the air; and you're spoon fed every piece of information through a talking head without a chance to just experience something and think about it yourself. Also, most people may not care but every dialogue between characters is made of medium shot close ups and I HATE it
-The wiggenweld potion system is shit, reminds me of the same problem scorn had. They absolutely should have functioned more like an estus flask
-The open world outside of the Hogwarts grounds is quite repetitive
-The loot system becomes redundant in mid-late game, to the point where if you do a main mission it is common to get nothing but under-leveled gear. It fills up your inventory fast and discourages exploring to find chests.
-Exploring Hogwarts as a fully realized explorable map is amazing, so many small and large details that really make it awe inspiring to wander around
-This is truly a faithful adaptation to BOTH the movies and books. It combines them wonderfully and takes it's own creative liberty in areas that are disputed
-Hard mode combat feels great and fluid (once you get used to holding r2 for spells, though sometimes it is still too hard to juggle them and you end up doing something you didn't mean to)
-Revelio pages are a great way to get people engaged in what they're actually looking at. They give cool information and tidbits that actually help you to answer certain questions in the game
-The broom is fun asf
-Beast collecting is super cute, and customizing the room of requirement is a guilty pleasure of mine. Organizing things is really fun, and this game succeeds where Unpacking failed. Unpacking didn't engage me because everything I organized wasn't mine, but in Hogwarts Legacy everything in the room of requirement is EARNED
-Sabastian's quest, I'll say no more
The bad:
-Your choices have absolutely no weight or dramatic tension, it doesn't matter what you say or do because the person you're talking to will always end up agreeing
-The previous leads into a larger issue of dialogue and writing, it is SO stale and tiresome. Someone always has their dick in your ear saying some nonsense to fill the air; and you're spoon fed every piece of information through a talking head without a chance to just experience something and think about it yourself. Also, most people may not care but every dialogue between characters is made of medium shot close ups and I HATE it
-The wiggenweld potion system is shit, reminds me of the same problem scorn had. They absolutely should have functioned more like an estus flask
-The open world outside of the Hogwarts grounds is quite repetitive
-The loot system becomes redundant in mid-late game, to the point where if you do a main mission it is common to get nothing but under-leveled gear. It fills up your inventory fast and discourages exploring to find chests.
2020
I really still don’t know if i love this game or am disappointed by it. I might have to play it again, but at the same time I don't really want to. At the twist i was ready to hate it, really i thought it was ruined because it completely changed what the story was supposed to be about.
Maybe this is one of the most profound stories about friendship, growing up, trauma, and fear. Or maybe it's a heartless game, which abandons the topics it builds for the sake of shock horror. I shouldn’t tell you which, you should play it for yourself. So many people love it, but I haven't seen a good defense for its insensitive treatment of mental health.
All I am certain of in Omori is: the combat could use some work. Certain dialogue and actions can take a long time to deliver a small point. Side quests aren’t that interesting. And this group of characters is incredible, each of them is built so well the the point you start to really think you KNOW these kids. I found myself caring deeply for all of them and it is the sole reason I stuck around to the credits.
Maybe this is one of the most profound stories about friendship, growing up, trauma, and fear. Or maybe it's a heartless game, which abandons the topics it builds for the sake of shock horror. I shouldn’t tell you which, you should play it for yourself. So many people love it, but I haven't seen a good defense for its insensitive treatment of mental health.
All I am certain of in Omori is: the combat could use some work. Certain dialogue and actions can take a long time to deliver a small point. Side quests aren’t that interesting. And this group of characters is incredible, each of them is built so well the the point you start to really think you KNOW these kids. I found myself caring deeply for all of them and it is the sole reason I stuck around to the credits.