Bio
Long time gamer.

https://www.youtube.com/@AoEBeale
Personal Ratings
1★
5★

Badges


1 Years of Service

Being part of the Backloggd community for 1 year

Best Friends

Become mutual friends with at least 3 others

Noticed

Gained 3+ followers

Liked

Gained 10+ total review likes

N00b

Played 100+ games

Roadtrip

Voted for at least 3 features on the roadmap

Shreked

Found the secret ogre page

Favorite Games

Yakuza 0
Yakuza 0
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Age of Empires IV
Age of Empires IV
Fallout: New Vegas
Fallout: New Vegas
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne

195

Total Games Played

000

Played in 2024

072

Games Backloggd


Recently Played See More

Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Mario Kart: Super Circuit

Mar 05

Age of Empires IV
Age of Empires IV

Aug 31

Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition
Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition

Aug 30

NGU Idle
NGU Idle

Aug 29

Spelunky
Spelunky

Aug 29

Recently Reviewed See More

Basically an updated version of the SNES Super Mario Kart with improvements from the N64 Mario Kart.

Unfortunately, the handling is pretty awful. The game also suffers from the fact that the courses are still 2d, which means that all courses are flat with no changes to elevation. Because of this, courses are rarely memorable outside of a few exceptions: like Sunset Wilds changing the lighting every lap, Lakeside Park having a volcano that is more active every map, and Rainbow Road with its jump walls.

Since this is a GBA title, there's a single player focus as multiplayer is much more cumbersome to set up compared to console titles. But the only single player options are time trials, single races, and Grand Prix. There's a definite lack of single-player options.

Shelved again. I really want to like this game. For every good design idea, there's also a bad design idea. It's been a while since I've played a game that seems to have open-ended character creation and exploration that railroads the player this hard.

You are going to make a party composition like this, or die. You are going to primarily focus on elemental geomancy as a primary battle strategy, or die. You are going to do these quests and sidequests in this specific order, or die.

The writing can't tell how seriously it wants to take itself. It neither commits to being a grand adventure, nor a farce, and ends up with a weird tonal compromise.

But when you figure out combat, it's pretty great, when you finally know which quests wont kill you at your level, it's great. Especially if you've got someone to play co-op with.

I was prepared to throw 5 stars at this game right around chapter 8. However,t he last 5 hours were so much different and worse that what came before that I need to dock a whole star.

Despite being derided as a walking simulator, the core gameplay loop is actually fantastic. I loved creating routes, optimizing my paths between different bases, and integrating my constructions with the other online players. Planning delivery loops, then executing them by foot or vehicle is one of the coziest gameplay loops that I've encountered in a while. The trickle of new equipment is perfectly spaced out to give the player a sense of "oh! I can now put this on the map here, here and here" to optimize routes.

Walking and driving around wouldn't be as fun if it wasn't for the world design, which is top notch. The creepy, otherworldly aspect is contrasted well with the beautiful, scenic landscape.

The initial lore and mystery of the game is also highly compelling. I want to know how the world got like this; I want to know who the hell all of these people are.

Unfortunately, the last few hours of the game tank the overall quality of the whole experience. By chapter 9, walking and delivering is basically done - the player is in for a few boss fights that aren't terribly challenging, but are terribly time consuming. More of the third-person shooter sections appear: not the game's strong suit. It's a shame the game ends with hours of game play that the game really doesn't handle well.

And then the story. Most of the early story and lore is told in the first few hours. Enough to set the tone and get one excited to delve into the mystery. But, the meat of the game really spaces out the focus on the story. A few cutscenes and arcs here and there, but most of the lore is gained from emails and data logs, and even then, in small chunks.

Then the end game dumps the rest of the story on the player all at once. There are emotional moments that don't land, and scenes that should be tense but are more laughable and confusing as meaningless antagonists threaten the player and the plot seems to twist itself for no real reason. There are plot revelations that are like, "This is true. But actually it was this all along! But actually someone else did this! But actually it was really THIS behind everything, but actually this person is good, but actually this person is bad but no wait they're good!" The characters aren't developed enough to give a shit and it feels like Kojima is just making things up at the end. No emotional stakes. Please get an editor, Kojima.

Despite that - the beginning and middle of the game are incredible and those parts will stick with me for a long, long while.