AyoNW
V sad about this game. I love the central mechanic. I love that it's not flight but it's falling in different directions. I think the main character is neat and the controls are cool. I just don't like much else. I don't like that it's an open world with brown, sludgey environments and very little to remember. I don't like the combat (or, honestly, the fact that there is combat). I don't like the story, I don't like the mission design. Sad.
If I were redesigning this, I'd first switch up the aesthetic, but that's personal taste. I'd remove the intricacies of combat because I'd rather have no combat than bad combat, and I'd probably focus on making the world and its landmarks feel distinct and react to gravity shifts in distinct ways. But that's just me idk if I'm making sense. Either way this game did not scratch the itch I had for a fluid 3D action game with exciting vertical movement.
I stopped about halfway through, and maybe it picks up after that but my backlog is too long for me to get stuck on a game I'm not enjoying frankly. I literally didn't want to turn on my PlayStation for weeks because this was what I had to play. Fun games don't make me dread playing them lol.
If I were redesigning this, I'd first switch up the aesthetic, but that's personal taste. I'd remove the intricacies of combat because I'd rather have no combat than bad combat, and I'd probably focus on making the world and its landmarks feel distinct and react to gravity shifts in distinct ways. But that's just me idk if I'm making sense. Either way this game did not scratch the itch I had for a fluid 3D action game with exciting vertical movement.
I stopped about halfway through, and maybe it picks up after that but my backlog is too long for me to get stuck on a game I'm not enjoying frankly. I literally didn't want to turn on my PlayStation for weeks because this was what I had to play. Fun games don't make me dread playing them lol.
2023
So chill. Gorgeous visuals, such a well crafted world. The climbing mechanic is phenomenal - really translates the feeling of looking for handholds in actual rock climbing, and alternating the triggers whilst moving becomes almost hypnotic after a while. Procedural animation is phenomenal also, sells it so well. The game is short but sweet - completed it within 3 train commutes and it did not outstay its welcome. Story was scant and I'm not the greatest fan of piecing backstory together via letters, and I did find myself sometimes wishing there were more meaningful interactions with the environment, but that's not what this game is and I accept that.
2024
Loved this, wow. Fez and Super Metroid's funky weird kid who's in their animal obsession phase.
Absolutely gorgeous game. I looked at the filesize and how is it only 80-something megabytes? The colours, the lighting, the effects. Genuinely one of the prettiest games I've played.
Design-wise, loved the lack of handholding, loved the multiple intuitive uses for each item (some interactions really caught me off guard), loved the movement and lack of combat. Level design is superb, so densely packed with secrets and puzzles. And one sequence to get the P. Flame was one of the best "wow, this game has made me feel like a genius" moments I've ever had in a game.
Like Fez, this game's layers of esoteric puzzles that require community collaboration and secret codes and interpretations and digging have completely washed over me. I just don't care and I'm okay with that. I didn't use a walkthrough or seek any help until I reached the credits and I was happy with that. But then I did search the cat codes after that point because I really fucking wanted to free them and frankly didn't feel like combing through this massive map in the hopes of finding more of them.
Absolutely gorgeous game. I looked at the filesize and how is it only 80-something megabytes? The colours, the lighting, the effects. Genuinely one of the prettiest games I've played.
Design-wise, loved the lack of handholding, loved the multiple intuitive uses for each item (some interactions really caught me off guard), loved the movement and lack of combat. Level design is superb, so densely packed with secrets and puzzles. And one sequence to get the P. Flame was one of the best "wow, this game has made me feel like a genius" moments I've ever had in a game.
Like Fez, this game's layers of esoteric puzzles that require community collaboration and secret codes and interpretations and digging have completely washed over me. I just don't care and I'm okay with that. I didn't use a walkthrough or seek any help until I reached the credits and I was happy with that. But then I did search the cat codes after that point because I really fucking wanted to free them and frankly didn't feel like combing through this massive map in the hopes of finding more of them.
This review contains spoilers
Who's even doing it like Kojima for real? Bigger, bolder, more ambitious than the first game and mostly nails it. Love the story and the setting - Raiden as a foil for Snake is such a good character, and I love the big reveal that the whole scenario was planned by the Patriots to mirror Shadow Moses. Plus Kojima is the only one who would name his two main characters Jack and Rose 3 years after Titanic came out lmao. Again, like the ending of the first game, oddly life affirming too. I've been really in the dumps lately about death and meaning, and Snake's speech on what we leave behind and why struck me as quite beautiful. Also on story - I actually almost shed tears seeing Snake and Otacon's secret handshake they're so fucking cute. Just like the first one, I'm hard pressed to find a modern game telling anywhere near as compelling a story as these games have so far, and I feel privileged to be experiencing them for the first time as an adult.
Gameplay mechanics-wise I'm slightly more mixed. Loved a lot of the innovations - first person aiming, hanging, peeking around corners. The moveset is so much more fleshed out than before. But then that's also the biggest problem, the control scheme feels like it's struggling to keep up. So many times I would try and press against a wall and peek around the corner to shoot, and realise my fingers were doing up twister on the controller to make that happen. Or I'd try and shuffle along a wall and the camera angle would shift without warning and throw off my input, leading to me getting spotted. Wasn't too fun, and actually very much soured my experience with Tanker coming straight from MGS1, where the controls were so simple and straightforward.
Apart from those niggles though, had a great time. Beautiful, complex, layered story, told with humour and utter sincerity, as well as clever tricks you can only do in an interactive medium like games (I knew about Fission Mailed from years ago and wish I hadn't so I could be surprised by it). Phenomenal sequel.
Gameplay mechanics-wise I'm slightly more mixed. Loved a lot of the innovations - first person aiming, hanging, peeking around corners. The moveset is so much more fleshed out than before. But then that's also the biggest problem, the control scheme feels like it's struggling to keep up. So many times I would try and press against a wall and peek around the corner to shoot, and realise my fingers were doing up twister on the controller to make that happen. Or I'd try and shuffle along a wall and the camera angle would shift without warning and throw off my input, leading to me getting spotted. Wasn't too fun, and actually very much soured my experience with Tanker coming straight from MGS1, where the controls were so simple and straightforward.
Apart from those niggles though, had a great time. Beautiful, complex, layered story, told with humour and utter sincerity, as well as clever tricks you can only do in an interactive medium like games (I knew about Fission Mailed from years ago and wish I hadn't so I could be surprised by it). Phenomenal sequel.
2020
This review contains spoilers
Foregone is mid and that's okay.
I bought it on a whim during a Black Friday sale, and played the entire thing on mute whilst I binge watched the Spider-Man films before No Way Home. Ideal way to play, honestly.
What I liked: The graphics were amazing. It looked like 3D animation that was somehow rotoscoped with pixel art. Felt like a real labour of love, particularly with the character animations. The combat was actually quite fun too, especially when I found some weapon combinations that worked for me. The level design was passable but enjoyable to traverse, particularly when new abilities unlocked with time.
What I didn't like: The story and setting was so fucking boring bro. Like I felt like I missed nothing by totally zoning out from any story content whatsoever. I couldn't tell you anything about the main character, she was such a void of personality, only there to make perfectly functional quips. Environmental storytelling and secret notes to fill out the lore is fucking boring when there's no engaging plot. Plus the vaguely fantasy/steampunk? No fuckin clue what the setting was, was boring as heck. Can't even comment on the music because I played the whole thing on mute. The visuals, whilst technically really impressive, were impossible to read. Some challenges relied on you killing a certain number of enemies in a harsh time limit, but when there are 10 enemies in the same spot, and they're all doing elaborate death animations that don't immediately signal that they're dead, it's so difficult to read what's even happening. Pair that with a million particles on screen, the massive slowdown when lots is happening, and the busy backgrounds, and it's just soup. Chunky soup. The UI is also awful because why the heck is all the text so damn tiny? I played the whole thing in handheld mode and I had to squint to even see things. The loot was shit because why would I care about the differences between a purple gun and a gold one? Beyond the damage numbers I didn't give a shit. Every weapon, armour, etc had so many damn buffs and effects like "extra 4% chance to stun" like what the fuck why would I EVER care enough to upgrade that stat. A number that tiny makes me feel absolutely nothing. Every weapon felt the same and I totally disregarded those buffs and effects. I wish it was simplified and obfuscated a bit so I could focus more on "what type of weapon build do I want?" rather than "what numbers am i meant to be optimising?". Similarly, the skill trees and upgrade paths were overly granular and specific - I stuck to my preferred abilities and kept it moving tbh. And the boss battles were dead. It just became "hit enough times, roll away" - no interesting mechanics or anything either. Boring. ALSO the structure was sort of strange? Like it wanted to be a Metroidvania but it just ended up being totally linear along the main path, alongside a series of side missions which were actually quite challenging. It was just a bit oddly communicated to me, I initially didn't know what the missions were meant to be in relation to the "open world".
Foregone was mindless and a fun distraction whilst I had a film on in the background, and that's about all it was to me. It really needed an entirely different approach to its story and characters, and much more interesting setting, to stand out. It also needed a complete overhaul of its loot system (or for it to be scrapped entirely in favour of traditional unlocks) - I wasted so much time deleting grey weapons from my inventory just to hoard more gold ones I wasn't using. MID. But fun mid.
I bought it on a whim during a Black Friday sale, and played the entire thing on mute whilst I binge watched the Spider-Man films before No Way Home. Ideal way to play, honestly.
What I liked: The graphics were amazing. It looked like 3D animation that was somehow rotoscoped with pixel art. Felt like a real labour of love, particularly with the character animations. The combat was actually quite fun too, especially when I found some weapon combinations that worked for me. The level design was passable but enjoyable to traverse, particularly when new abilities unlocked with time.
What I didn't like: The story and setting was so fucking boring bro. Like I felt like I missed nothing by totally zoning out from any story content whatsoever. I couldn't tell you anything about the main character, she was such a void of personality, only there to make perfectly functional quips. Environmental storytelling and secret notes to fill out the lore is fucking boring when there's no engaging plot. Plus the vaguely fantasy/steampunk? No fuckin clue what the setting was, was boring as heck. Can't even comment on the music because I played the whole thing on mute. The visuals, whilst technically really impressive, were impossible to read. Some challenges relied on you killing a certain number of enemies in a harsh time limit, but when there are 10 enemies in the same spot, and they're all doing elaborate death animations that don't immediately signal that they're dead, it's so difficult to read what's even happening. Pair that with a million particles on screen, the massive slowdown when lots is happening, and the busy backgrounds, and it's just soup. Chunky soup. The UI is also awful because why the heck is all the text so damn tiny? I played the whole thing in handheld mode and I had to squint to even see things. The loot was shit because why would I care about the differences between a purple gun and a gold one? Beyond the damage numbers I didn't give a shit. Every weapon, armour, etc had so many damn buffs and effects like "extra 4% chance to stun" like what the fuck why would I EVER care enough to upgrade that stat. A number that tiny makes me feel absolutely nothing. Every weapon felt the same and I totally disregarded those buffs and effects. I wish it was simplified and obfuscated a bit so I could focus more on "what type of weapon build do I want?" rather than "what numbers am i meant to be optimising?". Similarly, the skill trees and upgrade paths were overly granular and specific - I stuck to my preferred abilities and kept it moving tbh. And the boss battles were dead. It just became "hit enough times, roll away" - no interesting mechanics or anything either. Boring. ALSO the structure was sort of strange? Like it wanted to be a Metroidvania but it just ended up being totally linear along the main path, alongside a series of side missions which were actually quite challenging. It was just a bit oddly communicated to me, I initially didn't know what the missions were meant to be in relation to the "open world".
Foregone was mindless and a fun distraction whilst I had a film on in the background, and that's about all it was to me. It really needed an entirely different approach to its story and characters, and much more interesting setting, to stand out. It also needed a complete overhaul of its loot system (or for it to be scrapped entirely in favour of traditional unlocks) - I wasted so much time deleting grey weapons from my inventory just to hoard more gold ones I wasn't using. MID. But fun mid.
1998
This review contains spoilers
Holy shit LOL this game goes insane. Literally living Kojima's movie.
Absolutely beautifully made. Clever, inventive, exciting, fucking odd and strange and weird and one of a kind. Funny, has a massive heart, life affirming. Such a strong vision brought to life in such a strong way.
Really glad I played the first two Metal Gear games first, they give a lot of context to the way the design evolved. This game feels like Kojima just redoing the first two with more modern technology - lots of the same ideas/setpieces/even similar level designs sometimes, redone with higher fidelity and stretched further.
Some of the ideas in here still feel absolutely brand new to this day. When Naomi says "put the controller to your arm" and then it rumbles to simulate the nanomachines in Snake's arms getting stimulated? Psycho Mantis? The whole codec system and the amount of discovery and subtle branching choices. It's just amazing. Ludonarrative harmony to the max. I was Snake. This was MY movie.
Also wasn't expecting the plot to be so life affirming? There's so much heart. Everyone is so earnest whilst exploring love and life and war and death. It's just great man. Even with blocky PS1 graphics I was enthralled.
Only loses a half star because there were a couple of frustrations with the combat at moments, and the moveset feeling basic, but those are such small complaints in the face of such a stunningly made game.
Absolutely beautifully made. Clever, inventive, exciting, fucking odd and strange and weird and one of a kind. Funny, has a massive heart, life affirming. Such a strong vision brought to life in such a strong way.
Really glad I played the first two Metal Gear games first, they give a lot of context to the way the design evolved. This game feels like Kojima just redoing the first two with more modern technology - lots of the same ideas/setpieces/even similar level designs sometimes, redone with higher fidelity and stretched further.
Some of the ideas in here still feel absolutely brand new to this day. When Naomi says "put the controller to your arm" and then it rumbles to simulate the nanomachines in Snake's arms getting stimulated? Psycho Mantis? The whole codec system and the amount of discovery and subtle branching choices. It's just amazing. Ludonarrative harmony to the max. I was Snake. This was MY movie.
Also wasn't expecting the plot to be so life affirming? There's so much heart. Everyone is so earnest whilst exploring love and life and war and death. It's just great man. Even with blocky PS1 graphics I was enthralled.
Only loses a half star because there were a couple of frustrations with the combat at moments, and the moveset feeling basic, but those are such small complaints in the face of such a stunningly made game.
2023
It's just so fuckin boring bro. I really wanted to love this game to spite the gamers, support a project with a black woman lead, etc and etc. It's just numbing my damn mind.
Traversal is flashy but feels absolutely automatic, especially compared to games of a similar scope with much more involved movement. Combat is boring and the upgrade system with silly percentages annoys me. The cutscenes and lore are so unbelievably dry. I just couldn't. Found out that the combat and traversal open up massively later on but I cannot be fucked to get to that point anymore. I gave it 3 hours and that was enough.
One day soon I'll come back and give this an honest second attempt, just not now. It's been sat inside my PlayStation since January and I just needed to be honest with myself and shelve it for now.
Traversal is flashy but feels absolutely automatic, especially compared to games of a similar scope with much more involved movement. Combat is boring and the upgrade system with silly percentages annoys me. The cutscenes and lore are so unbelievably dry. I just couldn't. Found out that the combat and traversal open up massively later on but I cannot be fucked to get to that point anymore. I gave it 3 hours and that was enough.
One day soon I'll come back and give this an honest second attempt, just not now. It's been sat inside my PlayStation since January and I just needed to be honest with myself and shelve it for now.
This review contains spoilers
Yes it's more of the same. But that same is such a perfectly fine tuned, well balanced, addictive same that I can't complain fr.
Traversal is perfect. The new swinging animations are gorgeous, and I shudder to think about the amount of animation transitions there are. Everything just works so smoothly and fits together so well. Swinging, web wings, tricks, everything.
Combat I think has some hits and some misses. It largely feels identical to the first two games, which I think was a bit of a missed opportunity - I think it could have been cool if there were some meaningful differences between Peter and Miles when it came to combat. Maybe Pete could be slightly tankier whilst Miles is more agile? Idk. I'm glad at least they had parity on gadgets (but damn, rip the trip wire). I played on spectacular difficulty so maybe that's why, but I found the combat encounters, particularly towards the end, legitimately challenging. Enemies had so much health and I found myself overwhelmed pretty often with large groups.
I don't like the parry system. The timing never quite felt good somehow, like attacks would take slightly longer than expected to come out every time and throw me off. Also Spider-Man in these games has never been a stop and block kinda guy, he's a jump and dodge guy, and that's hardwired into my brain and thumbs. So it's weird now getting big attacks I have to sit still and parry (which you can't do in midair, which screws me when I'm doing an air combo but need to parry), and which I get punished for if I attempt to dodge. It was very difficult muscle memory to undo.
When it comes to stealth I lowkey think the web line is one of the best innovations in this game. For real. I loved it. Changing the space and creating new pathways is very much a bit of me. And I've loved stealth takedowns in Spider-Man games since the TASM game (which I still think pips this game when it comes to stealth takedowns and the sheer cool factor that came with those animations but hey). Speaking of other Spider-Man games, seeing the venomised NY was really cool after playing Web of Shadows - felt like a deliberate callback to me.
Really liked the story - I absolutely love the Insomniac versions of these characters, and the new spin on Harry and Venom works so well imo. The new boroughs in the map were good too, seeing more residential areas and exploring them with the Web wings worked well. The map honestly hits differently now I've actually been to New York, I'm just seeing spots I visited and reminiscing.
I can sit here and say the game does nothing meaningfully new, it treats Miles like a bit of an afterthought sometimes (and his new suit is disgusting), the swing-cutscene-combat mission structure started to get boring, and so on. But the shit is fun. Consistently. I couldn't put the game down the entire time I was on it, it's the most I've touched my PS5 in so long.
Oh I've just remembered - I liked how far they went to try and make the non-Spider-Man content fun. Gave MJ a sprint and a gun, gave Hailey a graffiti mini game, the entire funfair section, it was nice.
If it were down to me, I think I'd make sweeping changes to the next Spider-Man game. I would either:
- Make it linear, as in no open world NY, and really tighten up the pacing of the story
- Take it out of NY entirely - go to space, or different dimensions, something. Kinda want to see more of the space/fantasy side of Spider-Man now
Traversal is perfect. The new swinging animations are gorgeous, and I shudder to think about the amount of animation transitions there are. Everything just works so smoothly and fits together so well. Swinging, web wings, tricks, everything.
Combat I think has some hits and some misses. It largely feels identical to the first two games, which I think was a bit of a missed opportunity - I think it could have been cool if there were some meaningful differences between Peter and Miles when it came to combat. Maybe Pete could be slightly tankier whilst Miles is more agile? Idk. I'm glad at least they had parity on gadgets (but damn, rip the trip wire). I played on spectacular difficulty so maybe that's why, but I found the combat encounters, particularly towards the end, legitimately challenging. Enemies had so much health and I found myself overwhelmed pretty often with large groups.
I don't like the parry system. The timing never quite felt good somehow, like attacks would take slightly longer than expected to come out every time and throw me off. Also Spider-Man in these games has never been a stop and block kinda guy, he's a jump and dodge guy, and that's hardwired into my brain and thumbs. So it's weird now getting big attacks I have to sit still and parry (which you can't do in midair, which screws me when I'm doing an air combo but need to parry), and which I get punished for if I attempt to dodge. It was very difficult muscle memory to undo.
When it comes to stealth I lowkey think the web line is one of the best innovations in this game. For real. I loved it. Changing the space and creating new pathways is very much a bit of me. And I've loved stealth takedowns in Spider-Man games since the TASM game (which I still think pips this game when it comes to stealth takedowns and the sheer cool factor that came with those animations but hey). Speaking of other Spider-Man games, seeing the venomised NY was really cool after playing Web of Shadows - felt like a deliberate callback to me.
Really liked the story - I absolutely love the Insomniac versions of these characters, and the new spin on Harry and Venom works so well imo. The new boroughs in the map were good too, seeing more residential areas and exploring them with the Web wings worked well. The map honestly hits differently now I've actually been to New York, I'm just seeing spots I visited and reminiscing.
I can sit here and say the game does nothing meaningfully new, it treats Miles like a bit of an afterthought sometimes (and his new suit is disgusting), the swing-cutscene-combat mission structure started to get boring, and so on. But the shit is fun. Consistently. I couldn't put the game down the entire time I was on it, it's the most I've touched my PS5 in so long.
Oh I've just remembered - I liked how far they went to try and make the non-Spider-Man content fun. Gave MJ a sprint and a gun, gave Hailey a graffiti mini game, the entire funfair section, it was nice.
If it were down to me, I think I'd make sweeping changes to the next Spider-Man game. I would either:
- Make it linear, as in no open world NY, and really tighten up the pacing of the story
- Take it out of NY entirely - go to space, or different dimensions, something. Kinda want to see more of the space/fantasy side of Spider-Man now
2022
Very very fun game. Had to jump off controller and play with keyboard to unlock the part of my brain that put in 100s of hours on SSF2. I think that's the game it's most similar to to me. Slippery, floaty, but somehow satisfying.
It has a long way to go. Visually the presentation is amazing but the animations lack a level of clarity, and the vfx don't help. I can't play 2v2 because I genuinely don't know what's happening at any given moment. It needs more heft and it needs more momentum, movements feel a bit inconsequential when you can practically cancel everything into everything else. Those are nitpicks though, the game is fun as heck. They just added in LeBron James and I cannot fault the direction they're taking it.
It has a long way to go. Visually the presentation is amazing but the animations lack a level of clarity, and the vfx don't help. I can't play 2v2 because I genuinely don't know what's happening at any given moment. It needs more heft and it needs more momentum, movements feel a bit inconsequential when you can practically cancel everything into everything else. Those are nitpicks though, the game is fun as heck. They just added in LeBron James and I cannot fault the direction they're taking it.
2008
I have a long history with Kung Fu Panda. I was about 7 when the film came out, became obsessed with it, and badly wanted the video game. I didn't have a console but really REALLY wanted the HD version. I managed to get the DS version and played that one obsessively.
It's a fun 2.5D platformer, entirely touch controlled but it feels quite good. The story is set after the movie and involves you saving the Furious Five, then fighting Tai Lung again. Good shit. I played it to 97% completion (cannot find the final couple of souls for the life of me) and moved on with my life.
...Until I got an Xbox 360 earlier this year. Finally I realised I had the opportunity to play the big boy console version I was so desperate to try. And play it I did. It was OK.
What I liked: The animations during combat were really quite good. They had a nice sense of weight to them and helped the attacks feel satisfying when using them. The levels were relatively varied and actually very faithful recreations of areas from the movie (particularly the Jade Palace - I rewatched the film after completing the game and had flashbacks to the Tai Lung boss fight when I saw the Jade Palace in the film). Po's voice actor was also very good at pretending to be Jack Black. The other VAs were not good matches for the celebrity actors (shout out to the Ian McShane and Jackie Chan impersonators for being especially awful) but I genuinely thought they splashed out for Jack Black before seeing that it was an impersonator. Overall what I really liked (and why I even played it) was that it was a mindless 3D platformer and it's exactly what I wanted at that moment.
What I didn't like: Some of the level design was WACK, power scaling is nonexistent so when you upgrade your moves, you just one-shot every enemy. Also the narrative was fucked. Instead of doing an original story after the movie like the DS version, they decided to retell the movie? But with different events? And for some reason Po knows perfect Kung Fu before he ever starts training? Makes no sense. Undermines the story. Makes every setpiece feel like a cheaper version of the movie. 0/10.
It's a fun 2.5D platformer, entirely touch controlled but it feels quite good. The story is set after the movie and involves you saving the Furious Five, then fighting Tai Lung again. Good shit. I played it to 97% completion (cannot find the final couple of souls for the life of me) and moved on with my life.
...Until I got an Xbox 360 earlier this year. Finally I realised I had the opportunity to play the big boy console version I was so desperate to try. And play it I did. It was OK.
What I liked: The animations during combat were really quite good. They had a nice sense of weight to them and helped the attacks feel satisfying when using them. The levels were relatively varied and actually very faithful recreations of areas from the movie (particularly the Jade Palace - I rewatched the film after completing the game and had flashbacks to the Tai Lung boss fight when I saw the Jade Palace in the film). Po's voice actor was also very good at pretending to be Jack Black. The other VAs were not good matches for the celebrity actors (shout out to the Ian McShane and Jackie Chan impersonators for being especially awful) but I genuinely thought they splashed out for Jack Black before seeing that it was an impersonator. Overall what I really liked (and why I even played it) was that it was a mindless 3D platformer and it's exactly what I wanted at that moment.
What I didn't like: Some of the level design was WACK, power scaling is nonexistent so when you upgrade your moves, you just one-shot every enemy. Also the narrative was fucked. Instead of doing an original story after the movie like the DS version, they decided to retell the movie? But with different events? And for some reason Po knows perfect Kung Fu before he ever starts training? Makes no sense. Undermines the story. Makes every setpiece feel like a cheaper version of the movie. 0/10.
1987
This review contains spoilers
After procuring a PS3, the first thing I decided I wanted to do was become a Metal Gear fan, properly. I played through most of Peace Walker on PSP years ago with no context, so I got the Legacy Collection and I'm working my way through it in release order. So I started here, at Metal Gear.
The game is fun. For being the first in the series, and the first real stealth game, it's actually fun. Sneaking through a room, freezing behind cover and silently punching out a guard actually feels great. As does clocking the puzzles in rooms full of traps and tricks. The story was fun enough but I really loved the codec calls as a means of delivering both exposition and gameplay hints.
Having said all of that, some of these puzzles are so damn obscure that I had to rely on a walkthrough. I'm sure I could have punched every wall in a massive room to see which was hollow and needed to be blown up, but uhhhhh I value my time enough to not do that shit. I needed the walkthrough and I needed to cheese it multiple times. I realised that if you died enough times, you'd get fully refilled on ammo and rations. Early on I was annoyed that the game pitied me, by the end I was intentionally stepping onto electrified floors to summon my care package. Having said all of this though, the obscurity of these puzzles actually makes them feel really unique and clever when they come together. The parachute thing off the roof? That gives you a little cut scene of Snake floating down, after you've navigated the wobbly bridge and blown up a helicopter? Cinematic shit fr.
This game clearly lays the groundwork as best as it could, and it seems to be feeling out what stealth games can even be. A lot of the time it's seriously unfun, and it hasn't aged incredibly, but it's always engaging.
The game is fun. For being the first in the series, and the first real stealth game, it's actually fun. Sneaking through a room, freezing behind cover and silently punching out a guard actually feels great. As does clocking the puzzles in rooms full of traps and tricks. The story was fun enough but I really loved the codec calls as a means of delivering both exposition and gameplay hints.
Having said all of that, some of these puzzles are so damn obscure that I had to rely on a walkthrough. I'm sure I could have punched every wall in a massive room to see which was hollow and needed to be blown up, but uhhhhh I value my time enough to not do that shit. I needed the walkthrough and I needed to cheese it multiple times. I realised that if you died enough times, you'd get fully refilled on ammo and rations. Early on I was annoyed that the game pitied me, by the end I was intentionally stepping onto electrified floors to summon my care package. Having said all of this though, the obscurity of these puzzles actually makes them feel really unique and clever when they come together. The parachute thing off the roof? That gives you a little cut scene of Snake floating down, after you've navigated the wobbly bridge and blown up a helicopter? Cinematic shit fr.
This game clearly lays the groundwork as best as it could, and it seems to be feeling out what stealth games can even be. A lot of the time it's seriously unfun, and it hasn't aged incredibly, but it's always engaging.
If I was rating this based on gameplay alone it would be a solid 9. Takes everything I loved about Mario Smash Football, removes everything I hated from Mario Strikers Charged, and creates a modern interpretation of the gameplay which I've really warmed up to as I've continued to play. It's more readable that Charged, chaotic but fun. Unlike the other two games I don't constantly feel the urge to turn items off. Online play is great and works really well, and I enjoy the club system.
However. As a game? This is poor. Where's all the content? There's a couple of AI tournament brackets, online play, a tiny handful of gear choices, characters and stadiums, and that's it? POOR. I know this game is getting post-launch support. I know it's a scummy modern Nintendo thing but I'm excited to see how the game looks when all the content is actually in place. With a bigger roster (looks like they're going for 20 based on leaks), more stadiums (with varying sizes), more gear options, more online options (like 4v4 teams, I'm not even annoyed by that but it should be there), more options in general (let me change the zoom on the pitch, let me turn off music during gameplay but keep the music during celebrations), this will be incredible. I'm putting it out there. I do wish there was substantial single player but I'm not going to kid myself into thinking that's coming.
However. As a game? This is poor. Where's all the content? There's a couple of AI tournament brackets, online play, a tiny handful of gear choices, characters and stadiums, and that's it? POOR. I know this game is getting post-launch support. I know it's a scummy modern Nintendo thing but I'm excited to see how the game looks when all the content is actually in place. With a bigger roster (looks like they're going for 20 based on leaks), more stadiums (with varying sizes), more gear options, more online options (like 4v4 teams, I'm not even annoyed by that but it should be there), more options in general (let me change the zoom on the pitch, let me turn off music during gameplay but keep the music during celebrations), this will be incredible. I'm putting it out there. I do wish there was substantial single player but I'm not going to kid myself into thinking that's coming.
Fun game! Felt like a looooot of potential that wasn't realised though.
The presentation is great throughout - love Sly's voice acting, the cel shading and animation, and the general vibes of everything. Music was cool (though the Vita version has really compressed audio for some reason?) and it was an okay length.
The platforming gameplay, especially when all of the upgrades and new moves are added, was really fun. Moving around mostly feels good, and hopping and swinging from point to point realises that fantasy of slinking around like a thief. The level design helps a lot with that too, with lots of pipes to shimmy along and points to perch on.
However.
There were many, many frustrations in this game. Movement was cool until you slip off the level, fall and lose half of your progress. Combat is fine until you realise you die in one hit and half of the enemies don't telegraph their attacks for shit. Honestly the health system, or lack thereof, was by far my biggest complaint. It just felt so fuckin annoying. It didn't even add to the difficulty of things, just made me dread making a mistake - if I did, I was losing soooooo much time.
My other big frustration was all of the non-Sly gameplay. I'm normally a sucker for a mini game but all of these were poor. Random, annoying vehicles, twin stick shooters, jetpacks, turrets, none of it was the Sly Cooper experience I wanted. All of them felt like sloppy padding that was added for the sake of adding it.
But gripes aside, glad I finally played this. I'm very excited to get to the next few games - hoping that all the potential gets realised with more time and budget.
The presentation is great throughout - love Sly's voice acting, the cel shading and animation, and the general vibes of everything. Music was cool (though the Vita version has really compressed audio for some reason?) and it was an okay length.
The platforming gameplay, especially when all of the upgrades and new moves are added, was really fun. Moving around mostly feels good, and hopping and swinging from point to point realises that fantasy of slinking around like a thief. The level design helps a lot with that too, with lots of pipes to shimmy along and points to perch on.
However.
There were many, many frustrations in this game. Movement was cool until you slip off the level, fall and lose half of your progress. Combat is fine until you realise you die in one hit and half of the enemies don't telegraph their attacks for shit. Honestly the health system, or lack thereof, was by far my biggest complaint. It just felt so fuckin annoying. It didn't even add to the difficulty of things, just made me dread making a mistake - if I did, I was losing soooooo much time.
My other big frustration was all of the non-Sly gameplay. I'm normally a sucker for a mini game but all of these were poor. Random, annoying vehicles, twin stick shooters, jetpacks, turrets, none of it was the Sly Cooper experience I wanted. All of them felt like sloppy padding that was added for the sake of adding it.
But gripes aside, glad I finally played this. I'm very excited to get to the next few games - hoping that all the potential gets realised with more time and budget.
Despite everything this game is fun!
Immortals borrows heavily from Breath of the Wild, obviously, and sort of loses every direct comparison with how that game made me feel. Where Zelda's world felt lived in and real, much of this world felt artifical. Where Zelda encouraged quiet, thoughtful exploration, this game has you stand around and point out every secret or collectible. Plus the map, my goodness. It's horrible. I reached a point where I had to filter out every non-quest icon because there were so fucking many cluttering the map.
Combat is pretty fun but mind numbing, puzzles were mildly challenging (some were harder or more finicky) but repetitive, physics puzzles were jarring and frustrating. With the puzzle design I got the sense that whoever designed them thought they were being much more clever than they were. It does work really well in moments, but those moments get bogged down when the same mechanic is stretched totally thin and reused everywhere, but worse. Idk. The writing was similar, way way too snarky for its own good. I appreciated when the characters slowed down and were sincere rather than trying to be funny and witty. Typhon's VA was sick.
What else... I'm tired of these types of open worlds. This could have BANGED as a linear 3D platform I can't lie. It wasn't enhanced by being in a massive open world, honestly I'd say the open world leads to its biggest issues. Horrible map and icon overload. Puzzles being reused and reused in the overworld. Meaningless, boring combat encounters. That's just me tho.
I mainlined this game in about 30 hours and won't be going back for the DLC. Oh, music and graphics were excellent too. No structure idk, those are my thoughts.
Immortals borrows heavily from Breath of the Wild, obviously, and sort of loses every direct comparison with how that game made me feel. Where Zelda's world felt lived in and real, much of this world felt artifical. Where Zelda encouraged quiet, thoughtful exploration, this game has you stand around and point out every secret or collectible. Plus the map, my goodness. It's horrible. I reached a point where I had to filter out every non-quest icon because there were so fucking many cluttering the map.
Combat is pretty fun but mind numbing, puzzles were mildly challenging (some were harder or more finicky) but repetitive, physics puzzles were jarring and frustrating. With the puzzle design I got the sense that whoever designed them thought they were being much more clever than they were. It does work really well in moments, but those moments get bogged down when the same mechanic is stretched totally thin and reused everywhere, but worse. Idk. The writing was similar, way way too snarky for its own good. I appreciated when the characters slowed down and were sincere rather than trying to be funny and witty. Typhon's VA was sick.
What else... I'm tired of these types of open worlds. This could have BANGED as a linear 3D platform I can't lie. It wasn't enhanced by being in a massive open world, honestly I'd say the open world leads to its biggest issues. Horrible map and icon overload. Puzzles being reused and reused in the overworld. Meaningless, boring combat encounters. That's just me tho.
I mainlined this game in about 30 hours and won't be going back for the DLC. Oh, music and graphics were excellent too. No structure idk, those are my thoughts.
2022
Very endearing, super simple platformer. Really well polished, fun central mechanic. So very GBA-like to have 3 buttons and a d-pad control everything. I got that feeling I normally get with games where I felt a real compulsion to hoover up every stray fruit and gem, and it felt really good collecting everything and slowly figuring out levels.
Brutal difficulty spikes though. Sometimes I found myself having to put my Switch down for the night and attempt a level the next day because it was frustrating me so much lol. A lot of little moments that just felt like total BS, and it's not the chill slightly easy platformer I initially thought it would be. But it was a fun time.
Ran like ass for a 2D platformer with a bunch of slowdown (and the game crashed the instant I beat the final boss which has led to me just abandoning my effort to 100% it because fuck that. I seriously thought it was a meta game element at first but nope, it just crapped out on me and didn't save.), but it was made by one person so I'm very willing to go easy on that part.
Brutal difficulty spikes though. Sometimes I found myself having to put my Switch down for the night and attempt a level the next day because it was frustrating me so much lol. A lot of little moments that just felt like total BS, and it's not the chill slightly easy platformer I initially thought it would be. But it was a fun time.
Ran like ass for a 2D platformer with a bunch of slowdown (and the game crashed the instant I beat the final boss which has led to me just abandoning my effort to 100% it because fuck that. I seriously thought it was a meta game element at first but nope, it just crapped out on me and didn't save.), but it was made by one person so I'm very willing to go easy on that part.