Sim, tô escrevendo essa review de madrugada, porque esse é um daqueles jogos que têm tantos detalhes bons que, se eu deixar pra outro dia, vou acabar esquecendo deles. É aquele jogo de nicho, bem nicho mesmo, mas que não exige um conhecimento profundo sobre a época abordada, já que tem um sumário com várias notas explicando muitos detalhes, tanto geográficos quanto históricos. Isso facilitou muito pra mim, mas algumas palavras como "abadia", tive que pesquisar no Google mesmo. Basicamente, é um jogo investigativo com o foco quase todo em diálogos, feito pra tu ler, pensar no que dizer, convencer e se relacionar com os personagens, tipo um jogo da Telltale, mas menos linear, já que tu transita livremente pela cidade de Tassing.

Esse jogo me passou a mesma vibe de "O Nome da Rosa", filme de 1986, sobre um monge que investiga uma série de assassinatos dentro de um monastério (juro que daqui em diante não vou mais falar grego). Esse negócio de conhecimento proibido é muito presente em ambas as obras de uma forma que envolve todo o mistério da trama. Pra cinéfilos, tá aí uma recomendação.

Como é um jogo onde teu personagem é um prodígio a mestre artista, tu pode escolher no início os conhecimentos que Andreas aprendeu nas viagens de estudos, que vão te dar opções de falas exclusivas nos diálogos. É uma mecânica perfeita, por mais que eu tenha adquirido o "conhecimento da curtição" e não tenha conseguido "macetar" nenhuma das personagens através do diálogo, mas no trailer mostra que dá pra fazer isso sim.

Gostei muito de fuçar na vida de todo mundo e fazer vários amigos e inimigos, mesmo que o jogo todo se passe em um mapa pequeno com algumas localidades secretas a mais, tem uns time skips que vão trazendo novidades e mudanças na cidade com o passar dos anos, sempre te proporcionando aquela curiosidade pra saber como aqueles personagens queridos estão. A parte mais legal disso é ver a influência que você causou na cidade.

A estética e os simbolismos do game contribuem muito pra história, tipo as alegorias daqueles personagens que só existem na mente do Andreas, representando seus pensamentos, e as fontes diferentes nas falas dos personagens pra simbolizar status e nível de escolaridade.

No início do último ato, confesso que fiquei triste pelo que aconteceu e com medo do caminho que o jogo ia seguir, mas logo o game puxou minha atenção de volta à medida que a trama voltava para o núcleo do mistério principal.

E no final, teve uma bela conclusão, com uma explicação que amarra todas as pontas soltas, mostrando que já estava tudo ali, o jogo esfregou na sua cara, mas você não percebeu (pelo menos eu não percebi).

Não acho que esse jogo tenha um fator replay muito grande, já que o mistério depois do fim já foi solucionado, mas tô muito curioso pra saber o que aconteceria se eu tivesse seguido por outros caminhos e escolhido conhecimentos diferentes.

Edit: As crianças são muito fofinhas.

Remains one of my favorites of all time so many years later. I'm sure it helps that this was one of the first games I ever owned, but there's still such a zen-like quality to running and jumping around the most beautiful PS1 pastels and polygons while Copeland's perfect score accompanies every moment. Full completion is a breeze and rarely frustrating (Tree Tops aside of course), so much so that you could probably knock out this entire game in a weekend if you wanted.

I'll keep coming back to Spyro until the day I die, you can count on that.

Retro looking (sprites) indie football game inspired by the Tecmo Bowl games of the past. Despite its retro presentation and feel, the game has a surprising amount of layers that keep the game more on the sim side rather than arcade feel such as extended play books, audible and hot route calling, detailed statistics, etc.

Unfortunately, the game does not hold the NFL license but there are fan mods that address this and feature updated teams and rosters. Gameplay and AI difficulty can be on the frustrating side. Kicking punts, field goals etc. feels way more complicated than it needs to be. Playbooks are good and feature tons of different plays.

Legend Bowl impresses as a 2D football game despite some limitations that come along with the retro style.

Gameplay-wise, running the ball and following your blockers feels good. Passing feels almost like shooting a ball out of a cannon rather than throwing a football. Even once I got the hang of the passing controls, throwing a good pass just didn't feel as satisfying to me as it does in other football games, 2D or 3D. Defense is mostly fine, but pass coverage is hit and miss and it can be hard to get to the QB. I'm not a fan of the "mash turbo" approach in sports games, but I set an action on the back paddle of my Steam Deck to do it in a single press.

The franchise mode, while not particularly deep, is still really cool for a game this size. The inclusion of multiple roster sets is also appreciated considering the licensing restrictions. The fictional teams are fun though conceptually inconsistent. Some teams feel entirely original while others are parodies of NFL teams. For example, there's the Seattle Emeralds (original), the LA Voltage (Chargers parody), and the San Diego Kraken (Seahawks parody but in San Diego). As a whole, it works, but a few teams feel out of place.

There is an impressive amount of depth here for a 2D football game, especially considering it was developed by just one person. I did find myself missing certain things from 3D football games–things like breaking tackles based on angle, using momentum to fall forward for extra yards, and jump balls. These are the types of plays that make football feel like football, and they are hard to recreate in 2D. As such, I don't necessarily see this as a full-time Madden replacement, but if you are a sports gamer, this is a commendable effort.

Looks and sound
MGSV came out in 2015 and still holds up very well visually while still being well optimized. Sure the textures aren't as high quality as games nowadays but it has some impressive art direction that has helped it age well. I do think some of the visual effects with the man on fire were a bit weird or the 'glare' surrounding large scale fire effects in general but that is pretty much my only complaint here.

One thing I think deserves some praise is the UI. Its by far one of the best UIs I've ever seen. There's not one intrusive or irritating element and the game lets you remove any of the UI elements to your hearts content while also providing with diagetic replacements in the form of certain item upgrades. While I personally prefer using most of the UI, it is fascinating to see how the game feels without no hud.

The sound effects are all very well done from the horse as it sprints, all the various guns and items ate your disposal, the helicopter and other vehicles, the voice acting in the cutscenes and throughout the world. It adds quite a lot to the immersion in the game especially when paired with the non-intrusive UI.


Gameplay
Stealth games don't tend to have the best combat. Most of the gameplay is themed around hiding and avoiding fights. This is for one a very difficult system to build because you have to make hiding around and moving slowly and silently actually fun. You have to make the AI seem smart enough at finding the player while not making it look like its blatantly cheating. Metal Gear has always pushed the boundries with what can be done here but V perfects it. I don't like to use words like 'perfection' because it implies there's nothing else to fix or work on but I think it works here. It has been eight years and there is no stealth game that manages to challenge the smooth controls, insane variety of approach through area design, weapons, items, vehicles, mechanics that this game has shown. I have played more than 60 hours and I'm sure I haven't even scratched the surface of everything that the player can do in this game.

Even if you're thrown out of stealth into a 'boss fight' you can still deal with it in a stealthy manner. And unlike the previous metal gear games, the shooting is decent enough that being thrown out of stealth isn't annoying as hell.


Story
Metal Gear has had an interesting story throughout the past few decades. I wouldn't call it a 'good' story because Kojima has a massive lack of understanding when it comes to basics of storytelling like tone, structure or pacing. He makes up for that with how entertaining it ends up being, and interesting social and political commentary. The commentary is still here in MGSV though it's a bit subtle, subtle for MGS to be clear, since these games are pretty direct about what they want to say. It does feel a bit unfinished or abrupt in its execution but the main focus for me here is the gameplay.