49 reviews liked by Chaddam_hussien
Holy shit that was so fucking good!
I bought Sekiro on release almost 5 years ago, and tried to play it; keyword here being 'tried', because I fucking sucked. I genuinely did not understand how the game works or what exactly it expected me to do. I tried playing it countless times and each time I got stuck at either Lady Butterfly or Gyoubu. I thought the game was just too hard for me, and that my skill level simply was not adequate for this game. Then, I decided to give it another try a couple of weeks ago, and for some reason the combat finally 'clicked' for me, probably because this time I went in not caring much whether or not I manage to finish it this time, which made me play without panicking or worrying much. That was the key. Once I understood the combat and stopped panicking -and got rid of the muscle memory I had carried over from other FromSoftware games- every encounter became a breeze. Some bosses were very difficult initially but again once you understand how a certain boss works you can pretty much just finish it hitless.
That's really the beauty of Sekiro. At the core of its combat is an intricate dance, and once you learn the choreography of that dance, it becomes one of the most cathartic gameplay experiences you could possibly have. No game has done combat like this, and no game has done sword fighting like this.
If it wasn't for the Dragon Rot being an extremely underwhelming mechanic, and the game trying to push crowd control with a combat system that is simply not designed for it, I would not have hesitated to rate it at a perfect 10.
There is no game like Sekiro, and if you are stuck with frustration like I was, do yourself a favor and just keep trying. It is really worth it once you get the hang of things.
Hesitation is defeat.
I bought Sekiro on release almost 5 years ago, and tried to play it; keyword here being 'tried', because I fucking sucked. I genuinely did not understand how the game works or what exactly it expected me to do. I tried playing it countless times and each time I got stuck at either Lady Butterfly or Gyoubu. I thought the game was just too hard for me, and that my skill level simply was not adequate for this game. Then, I decided to give it another try a couple of weeks ago, and for some reason the combat finally 'clicked' for me, probably because this time I went in not caring much whether or not I manage to finish it this time, which made me play without panicking or worrying much. That was the key. Once I understood the combat and stopped panicking -and got rid of the muscle memory I had carried over from other FromSoftware games- every encounter became a breeze. Some bosses were very difficult initially but again once you understand how a certain boss works you can pretty much just finish it hitless.
That's really the beauty of Sekiro. At the core of its combat is an intricate dance, and once you learn the choreography of that dance, it becomes one of the most cathartic gameplay experiences you could possibly have. No game has done combat like this, and no game has done sword fighting like this.
If it wasn't for the Dragon Rot being an extremely underwhelming mechanic, and the game trying to push crowd control with a combat system that is simply not designed for it, I would not have hesitated to rate it at a perfect 10.
There is no game like Sekiro, and if you are stuck with frustration like I was, do yourself a favor and just keep trying. It is really worth it once you get the hang of things.
Hesitation is defeat.
Dragon Age: Origins
2009
not sure if crpg fatigue has just set in for the moment, but as much as i appreciate seeing how this is an evolution in presentation and interface from baldur's gate, neverwinter nights, and kotor, i am finding myself bored to tears by its writing. more hampered by the limitations of its switch to full 3d than it is empowered, there has (as of several hours deep) been nothing approaching the wonderful depth and complexity of exploring athkatla in bg2 and i just feel like i'm being pushed from place to unremarkable place by a bog-standard fantasy campaign... and, uh, i'm sure that i'll enjoy that plenty some other time. perhaps i'll revisit later in the year. for now, moving on.
Kingdom Hearts III
2019
The only good thing that this game has done to me is breaking the A button on my cheap 360 controller motivating me to buy a brand new controller instead.
Qomp
2021
aquelas pessoas que por medo da criatividade compartilham do sentimento de que "a cortina é azul porque ela é azul" e brincam que o leitor pretensioso vai ver pong como uma alegoria à guerra fria têm pesadelos com esse jogo todas as noites, acordam suadas, sem entender o porquê
Qomp
2021
A pretty novel use of a one-button game.
The levels were well designed with generous checkpoints, and each introduced a new mechanic or a new twist on existing mechanics.
The boss fights were good, but it wouldn't have hurt to have more variety.
A short game with no fluff or collectibles and doesn't overstay its welcome.
The levels were well designed with generous checkpoints, and each introduced a new mechanic or a new twist on existing mechanics.
The boss fights were good, but it wouldn't have hurt to have more variety.
A short game with no fluff or collectibles and doesn't overstay its welcome.
Iron Lung
2022
i cut the lights, i play during a thunderstorm, my whole internet goes out mid-session while the tension becomes truly terrifying, and what do i get in return? a sound clip of david szymanski going BLAAAARRGRRHGHRH
this is what every sewerslvt fan looks like
Soma
2015
Actually dealing with most monsters in this game is painful, there's no gettiing around that. The team largely dropped the ball in terms of the enemies.
With that said... there is one level in the middle of the game that manages to be absolutely amazing. Quite possibly the best horror game level that I have ever played.
Most importantly though, and why I have to give this a full score... the game has one of the strongest, smartest narratives that I have ever experienced across all media. As such, I kind of have to acknowledge its value. It raises a lot of hard, complicated philosophical questions that you don't even necessarily notice as you play. Yet then you start to think about it a little. Then a little more. You realise that some things that you thought of as completely obvious might be really complex!
The writing puts the existential horror into the subtext and it works extremely well.
I absolutely love this game, despite its massive flaw.
With that said... there is one level in the middle of the game that manages to be absolutely amazing. Quite possibly the best horror game level that I have ever played.
Most importantly though, and why I have to give this a full score... the game has one of the strongest, smartest narratives that I have ever experienced across all media. As such, I kind of have to acknowledge its value. It raises a lot of hard, complicated philosophical questions that you don't even necessarily notice as you play. Yet then you start to think about it a little. Then a little more. You realise that some things that you thought of as completely obvious might be really complex!
The writing puts the existential horror into the subtext and it works extremely well.
I absolutely love this game, despite its massive flaw.
I was having a bit of a game block recently and I wanted a palate cleanser, nothing seemed more fit than Marvel’s Spider-Man, I just watched ATSV before starting this game and considering that its now both on PC and remastered I felt that it was the right game to revisit, and with games I revisit I tend to have completionist tendencies.
As a lot might expect it was indeed a chore but that’s on me (and insomniac too but mainly me for pushing through even though it is WIDELY known that Spiderman is literally fast food gaming).
What caught me by surprise is how the story took a 180 degree shift in my mind, what seemed to be a decent spiderman story is now an plot full of highs such as a really unique spiderman ending, some interesting conflicts especially with Oscorp and Sable and a cool new take on MJ which all happen in the second half and also a plot full of lows that makes the first half appear as test scenarios to try out how to make a spiderman game, I also don’t really know why they made spiderman that friendly with the police, I get that he doesn’t have to hate them but it feels like he’s uncharacteristically not witty.
The game pulls off the grounded spiderman feel very well even when it goes into MCU territory when it mentions tech and gadgets, it’s a good balance obviously made to help the IP become more video game friendly, the story starts becoming interesting in the last 4 hours or so in which it demonstrates a good take on the whole Oscorp shtick which makes a genuinely decent baby’s first political thriller.
As for the actual game I decided to play it on Spectacular, and while they nailed the game feel it is an extremely exploitable combat. Sure, I like the idea that I have an option to web someone if he’s close to a wall instead of beating them down, but I don’t think it’s really that balanced because you can do it on every single enemy. I also really wish they implemented a combat system that doesn’t feel so 1v1-ish like the Arkhams. There’s a lot of gameplay flaws that most people (including me) would not really care about because you play as spiderman.
Overall it’s a really average game that ventures into amateurism occasionally only saved by the fact that this is Spiderman despite of it all.
As a lot might expect it was indeed a chore but that’s on me (and insomniac too but mainly me for pushing through even though it is WIDELY known that Spiderman is literally fast food gaming).
What caught me by surprise is how the story took a 180 degree shift in my mind, what seemed to be a decent spiderman story is now an plot full of highs such as a really unique spiderman ending, some interesting conflicts especially with Oscorp and Sable and a cool new take on MJ which all happen in the second half and also a plot full of lows that makes the first half appear as test scenarios to try out how to make a spiderman game, I also don’t really know why they made spiderman that friendly with the police, I get that he doesn’t have to hate them but it feels like he’s uncharacteristically not witty.
The game pulls off the grounded spiderman feel very well even when it goes into MCU territory when it mentions tech and gadgets, it’s a good balance obviously made to help the IP become more video game friendly, the story starts becoming interesting in the last 4 hours or so in which it demonstrates a good take on the whole Oscorp shtick which makes a genuinely decent baby’s first political thriller.
As for the actual game I decided to play it on Spectacular, and while they nailed the game feel it is an extremely exploitable combat. Sure, I like the idea that I have an option to web someone if he’s close to a wall instead of beating them down, but I don’t think it’s really that balanced because you can do it on every single enemy. I also really wish they implemented a combat system that doesn’t feel so 1v1-ish like the Arkhams. There’s a lot of gameplay flaws that most people (including me) would not really care about because you play as spiderman.
Overall it’s a really average game that ventures into amateurism occasionally only saved by the fact that this is Spiderman despite of it all.
The Last of Us 2 is a game that tries to deliver a message about violence and the vicious cycle of revenge, and a game that tries to be a slow but tense and grounded experience. It is also a game that fails spectacularly at both aspects. To get to the bottom of how and why that happened, I need to talk about Part 1.
I love The Last of Us Part 1, and always have. It was one of the very first games I played that managed to make me genuinely care about it's character and their fates. It is also one of the very few works of fiction that I can describe with confidence as having a perfect ending. It's gameplay was never that great. It is basic and slow and sometimes even boring, but through Naughty Dog's usual and frankly impressive ability to craft well-paced and entertaining adventures, some of the best characters in video game history, and an exceptionally well-written story, The Last of Us Part 1 becomes much more than the sum of its parts.
With that being said, The Last of Us Part 2 loses all of that magic, because it lacks the great characters of its predecessor, it lacks the well-written story, and it is painfully unaware of its own shortcomings. The characters are bland. The writing is clichéd when it's not cheap, and cheap when it's not contrived. The frankly basic gameplay loop that Part 1 managed to keep fresh through keeping it short and to the point loses all of its appeal by the halfway point. While the game does improve on almost every core mechanic, that improvement is still minimal, and coupled with the game's length, which is too long for the basic loop, and its atrocious pacing, it makes for an unsatisfying gameplay experience.
To make matters worse, the small interactions and witty entertaining dialogue that made the long and slow exploration segments of the first games tolerable and even fun are either gone or massively worse than their Part 1 counterparts, and that should not come as a surprise, considering how underdeveloped and/or unlikeable most of the new characters are. This goes beyond bad writing and becomes frankly an insult when the game tries to force an emotional reaction out of the player by killing off one of these characters, that you, likely, never even gave a fuck about.
Credit where credit is due, the game's presentation is almost flawless. This is, hands down, one of the most graphically impressive game I've ever played, but otherwise, the game feels empty. Style over substance.
The Last of Us Part 2 is a game that has something to say, but it says it in the most blunt and forced way possible, and its gameplay is too bland to soften the blow of that atrocious story. It is a misguided attempt at artistic expression through the medium of video games, and it is kind of sad to watch it fail that miserably.
I love The Last of Us Part 1, and always have. It was one of the very first games I played that managed to make me genuinely care about it's character and their fates. It is also one of the very few works of fiction that I can describe with confidence as having a perfect ending. It's gameplay was never that great. It is basic and slow and sometimes even boring, but through Naughty Dog's usual and frankly impressive ability to craft well-paced and entertaining adventures, some of the best characters in video game history, and an exceptionally well-written story, The Last of Us Part 1 becomes much more than the sum of its parts.
With that being said, The Last of Us Part 2 loses all of that magic, because it lacks the great characters of its predecessor, it lacks the well-written story, and it is painfully unaware of its own shortcomings. The characters are bland. The writing is clichéd when it's not cheap, and cheap when it's not contrived. The frankly basic gameplay loop that Part 1 managed to keep fresh through keeping it short and to the point loses all of its appeal by the halfway point. While the game does improve on almost every core mechanic, that improvement is still minimal, and coupled with the game's length, which is too long for the basic loop, and its atrocious pacing, it makes for an unsatisfying gameplay experience.
To make matters worse, the small interactions and witty entertaining dialogue that made the long and slow exploration segments of the first games tolerable and even fun are either gone or massively worse than their Part 1 counterparts, and that should not come as a surprise, considering how underdeveloped and/or unlikeable most of the new characters are. This goes beyond bad writing and becomes frankly an insult when the game tries to force an emotional reaction out of the player by killing off one of these characters, that you, likely, never even gave a fuck about.
Credit where credit is due, the game's presentation is almost flawless. This is, hands down, one of the most graphically impressive game I've ever played, but otherwise, the game feels empty. Style over substance.
The Last of Us Part 2 is a game that has something to say, but it says it in the most blunt and forced way possible, and its gameplay is too bland to soften the blow of that atrocious story. It is a misguided attempt at artistic expression through the medium of video games, and it is kind of sad to watch it fail that miserably.