Very gimmicky and linear. Felt like Capcom threw a bunch of shit at the wall to try to get it to stick, (you guys like Super Mario Sunshine and Alan Wake???) which really was not necessary. All anyone needed was more areas to explore and solve puzzles, maybe some more weapons, some more horror sections to give the main game more meat on its bones, more time with the main villains. But the little you get to explore is very sectioned off parts of the castle, the little horror you get is a retread of a moment from the base game, and then it is... stealth sections??? Oh god.

I wanted to this to be good because the final part of the RE8 campaign tease left me feeling interested, but this was not a very compelling follow up to it in my opinion. Rose has some of the worst dialogue in the entire series, worse than Jake, worse than Moira, and her one-liners are so bad. During a boss fight, a character screams "This is STUPID!!!", and you know what? I have to agree.

It feels like Capcom is getting rid of all of those last holdovers from RE7, which is a shame. The series finally came back to its survival horror roots and won everyone back over again, and now we are already heading back into the territory of action games with really bad plots.

At least we got RE7 I guess.

I think the biggest problem about Battletoads is the total inability to stick to a style and do it well.

You have likeable characters, and a fun story and fun cutscenes, totally serviceable beat-em-up gameplay with colorful and fun cartoon animation, and then in every other level it turns into a completely different game, like a racing game, or a twin stick shooter. And these levels go on for WAAAAY too long. They seriously never end.

I want to like Battletoads, but this and its NES predecessor are the epitome of the saying, "Jack of all trades, master of none". There are far better games in each of the genres Battletoads wants to be. Do not waste your time with this game.

"I'm going to start out by taking you through this first part of the game step by step.

You begin with Squall. An anti-social Garden military trainee who is yet to meet the love of his life. First off, if this storyline is truly to reach epic levels, then I hope one of the lovers dies. From Shakespeare to The English Patient to Titanic, death has proven to be the most effective instrument of high-romantic drama.

As you can see, the full-motion video is impressive, but sometimes the characters feel dead inside. They're too mechanical. Rinoa’s eyes aren't lively enough, and Squall’s face shows no character. He’s over-idealized, and the emptiness he feels inside isn't quite captured in his eyes and facial expressions. Perhaps that will change. If you think Squall looks young, check out Zell, the ultimate geekazoid. Look how he smiles right into the camera! Can you get any cheezier than that??? Oh well!

When you're in class, go into the tutorial in the study panel on your desk. Here you can download your first two guardian forces, or GFs. A Guardian Force is a powerful mythical creature, or spirit which casts and defends against certain types of magic. Shiva's elemental magic is ice. So shes effective against fire enemies.

Once you download the GF’s, leave the classroom. When you run into Selphie, tell her you don't have the time to give her a tour and then head in the direction from which she came. Notice the guy on the right. He'll give you 7 magic cards for later use. Take the cards and go down the elevator. On the next floor, keep walking out toward the screen until you find Quistis, your teacher. Talk to her and then leave the irritating music of Balamb Garden.

Welcome to the overworld, home of dated Playstation graphics. If you look at the ocean and face left, you'll spot a cave behind a small forest area. Go there to fight Ifrit, the fire boss. If you beat him, you can equip him as a GF. You will quickly learn the only way to cast non-GF magic spells is to draw the spells from your enemies while in battle. Personally I like this system a lot. It gives weaker characters something productive to do, while you wait for the impending doom of your characters GF. Sometimes only one GF will be effective on a larger enemy.

In Final Fantasy VIII, once you draw a magic spell, you can either store it or cast it. Therefor, enemies with cure spells can actually help you heal yourself. The junction system is confusing at first, but you should get the hang of it in about 30 minutes. The menu system could be much more organized. Especially the sub-menus which are opened by pressing X while on another screen. If you don't read the mandatory in game tutorials, you'll never know they exist.

For every con there is a pro however. One con is that the status screen does not show which GF are equipped. One pro is that item and magic inventory lists are now composed of pages. No more endlessly scrolling item lists.

For extended critical analysis of this game, visit flightsoffantasy.com, where we discuss the pros and cons of the junction system, the pacing problems of the battle system left over from Final Fantasy VII, and some minor story quirks.

Final Fantasy VIII is a MUST BUY. It’s not perfect, and as of yet the story is more plot driven and character driven, but this game is perhaps the most engaging RPG of all-time. The easy difficulty level allows you to freely enjoy the momentum of the story above all else. While traditional RPG elements like armor and money are less apparent in this title, its a nice change of pace without them. That doesn't mean we don't wanna see them again. Look for continued coverage of this game soon.

Oh by the way, if Square doesn't add voiceovers to Final Fantasy IX, I'm committing suicide. I hate text!"

The other Far Cry games, while they might not have an interesting map, likeable characters, or a story you actually care enough to pay attention to or follow, they at the very least have gameplay where the guns feel good to shoot. And for me, ever since I first started with FC3, decent gunplay has been enough to hold me over with a new Far Cry. It is fun to shoot enemies and just relax for a bit. Well, what if a Far Cry game did not even have fun shooting, and the enemies were all just bullet sponges? Then you would have Far Cry 6, the most boring, drawn out slog of a game I have played in a long time.

Not one bit of this game resonated with me, the characters range from boring, to completely fucking unlikable. The missions are somehow even more boring than ever. The stories in these games have never been great, but sometimes they have decent endings, and the series is built on having unique, somewhat captivating villains. But in this game, the story is shit, the supporting characters are shit, the guns are shit, the tacked-on RPG mechanics are shit, the gear is shit, the main character is shit, the villains are shit, the world is shit. I doubt I will even remember the villains name a month from now. There is nothing to care about in Far Cry 6. At all.

And when I am on my death bed years from now, wishing I just had a few more precious moments on Earth to do the things I wanted to do, I will remember playing through this game, and think, if only I hadn't wasted my time.

[Review of NG+ Mode, The Final Draft]
It was an interesting premise to this New Game Plus mode, but the additions aren't paced out very well for what is a fairly long game. Also some major additions can be easily missed, and at least one was bugged. And I don't know how I feel about the new ending. It all felt a bit rushed, and add that with all new NG+ exclusive bugs... it doesn't ruin the original experience, but it does makes you wish this mode could have had a little more meat to it, especially with the time investment required.

Japanese Action Game Dev Challenge:
1. Do not include a forced shmup stage when the game isn't a shmup.
2. Do not include a mandatory boss rematch section before the last boss.
3. Do not make the player replay the entire fucking game for a barely changed shitty final boss + ending.
[Difficulty: IMPOSSIBLE]

Finally completed this version of Half Life. Kinda disappointed, from the low scores and infamous status this version of the game has, I expected something a little more broken and jank filled, but it is just the same Half-Life experience. The only really funny bug was smacking a scientist and having his death grunt repeat over and over ad infinitum. Bonus points when the scientist was standing underwater, screaming over and over again in horrible pain, twitching and twisting while ignoring drowning like a madman.

And I always underestimate how bad Xen is when I replay this game. Yikes.