Chowder
2007
Despite being enjoyable, I feel as though Portal has lost a lot of the impact that it may have had in the past. Because Portal permeates the cultural zeitgeist, I feel as though I have seen and absorbed a lot of this game via cultural osmosis. The novelty of the portal gun has worn due to my familiarity with pieces due to Portal 2, and I feel as though the humor and writing isn't as striking as it may have been in the past. Although I did chuckle at points, I found some of the humor to be somewhat tedious and uninspired due to it being copied later on from games like Borderlands 2 and Cyberpunk. It is still fun, but not necessarily a must play, even if it is an important part of gaming history.
2020
Imported from my Backloggery:
Despite having an initially gripping setup, characters, and truly immersive world, the game ultimately failed to bring any sort of meaningful emotional payoff for the story. Overall, I never got much out of the game beyond 'woah, this is cool'. Some SQs were great, but most were lackluster. The gameplay is rather lacking in replay value and meaningful roleplaying and decision making as well. The combat beyond the many ways you can tackle an encounter is nothing to write home about.
Despite having an initially gripping setup, characters, and truly immersive world, the game ultimately failed to bring any sort of meaningful emotional payoff for the story. Overall, I never got much out of the game beyond 'woah, this is cool'. Some SQs were great, but most were lackluster. The gameplay is rather lacking in replay value and meaningful roleplaying and decision making as well. The combat beyond the many ways you can tackle an encounter is nothing to write home about.
Imported from my Backloggery:
The story for this game is fantastic and highly engrossing. Once I got to chapter 2, I couldn't put the game down. I loved everything except for a few small issues that stopped me from enjoying the game as much as I could have. At points, I got into a few fights that I had no idea were coming. I was in a fight that I had no way of winning, so I had to download a god mode mod for that fight. Other than that, I have very few complaints. I'm now invested in The Witcher series!
The story for this game is fantastic and highly engrossing. Once I got to chapter 2, I couldn't put the game down. I loved everything except for a few small issues that stopped me from enjoying the game as much as I could have. At points, I got into a few fights that I had no idea were coming. I was in a fight that I had no way of winning, so I had to download a god mode mod for that fight. Other than that, I have very few complaints. I'm now invested in The Witcher series!
2020
Imported from my Backloggery:
Carrion was a great time, the way that it truly made you think and feel like a horror monster was rather impressive. The movement and combat are immensely satisfying, and the pacing is near perfect. My only issues are with the navigation and checkpointing. There are certain difficult moments that aren't properly checkpointed, and the roar that shows you where to go is useless. I loved the ending and the way the characters react. Fun, breezy, and easily puts you in flow state.
Carrion was a great time, the way that it truly made you think and feel like a horror monster was rather impressive. The movement and combat are immensely satisfying, and the pacing is near perfect. My only issues are with the navigation and checkpointing. There are certain difficult moments that aren't properly checkpointed, and the roar that shows you where to go is useless. I loved the ending and the way the characters react. Fun, breezy, and easily puts you in flow state.
2013
Imported from my Backloggery: (Easily beaten on hard)
Tomb Raider is a great time, as a cover shooter, it is standard, but a blast to play. Running around swapping weapons while popping heads is great, but it doesn't really make too much sense in the context of the story. You are becoming the tomb raider, not starting as a killing machine from the beginning. The game is impeccably paced and the map design is excellent. The only issue that I have is that it feels slightly dated and generic. I'm very excited to play the sequel.
Tomb Raider is a great time, as a cover shooter, it is standard, but a blast to play. Running around swapping weapons while popping heads is great, but it doesn't really make too much sense in the context of the story. You are becoming the tomb raider, not starting as a killing machine from the beginning. The game is impeccably paced and the map design is excellent. The only issue that I have is that it feels slightly dated and generic. I'm very excited to play the sequel.
2017
Imported from my Backloggery:
I enjoyed what I played of Tacoma for the most part, the narrative was interesting for the most part, and some the implications that existed in the story were interesting, and quite dark. The theme and story they were telling was singular, but Tacoma lacked one huge part of the experience, which was involvement. You don't affect anything, you are a passive observer, which deflated a lot of it for me. Most of the narrative was told to you, which bothered me. I also lost my save.
I enjoyed what I played of Tacoma for the most part, the narrative was interesting for the most part, and some the implications that existed in the story were interesting, and quite dark. The theme and story they were telling was singular, but Tacoma lacked one huge part of the experience, which was involvement. You don't affect anything, you are a passive observer, which deflated a lot of it for me. Most of the narrative was told to you, which bothered me. I also lost my save.
Imported from Backloggery: Combat: Hard - Exploration: Normal
I enjoyed the highs of this game a lot. The tension, especially in certain scenes, is turned to 11. I love the fact that there were multiple sequences that I actually found scary and nailbiting. Jonah is more fleshed out and better than ever (he's so likeable). Croft ends up in a good place too. The graphics were surprisingly underwhelming, and the gameplay was super derivative of the other games in the franchise, but the focus on plot and puzzles made up for it.
I enjoyed the highs of this game a lot. The tension, especially in certain scenes, is turned to 11. I love the fact that there were multiple sequences that I actually found scary and nailbiting. Jonah is more fleshed out and better than ever (he's so likeable). Croft ends up in a good place too. The graphics were surprisingly underwhelming, and the gameplay was super derivative of the other games in the franchise, but the focus on plot and puzzles made up for it.
Imported from my Backloggery: (Took a break at D.o.H. hate that guy!)
Precise, thrilling, tense, and engrossing, Sekiro had me gripped through almost the entire experience. Although I never connected to the world like I did in Dark Souls, the atmosphere made up for that, with creative setpieces and a cinematic story. The gameplay is simple yet precise, and puts you directly into the mindset of a samurai, where combat is lethal, and seconds matter. At a point, the inputs dissappear, and fights become a complex dance that reels you in. Exploration was fun too!
Precise, thrilling, tense, and engrossing, Sekiro had me gripped through almost the entire experience. Although I never connected to the world like I did in Dark Souls, the atmosphere made up for that, with creative setpieces and a cinematic story. The gameplay is simple yet precise, and puts you directly into the mindset of a samurai, where combat is lethal, and seconds matter. At a point, the inputs dissappear, and fights become a complex dance that reels you in. Exploration was fun too!
Imported from my Backloggery: (Beaten on Survivor Difficulty)
This game opened really strong, running and looking great, with incredibly breathtaking action setpieces, but toward the last third, the game's quality fell off, I had trouble understanding Lara's motivations throughout the game, as she flip flopped back and forth with what she wanted. Once the end came along, the gameplay and visuals stopped being original, and just felt like a repeat of the first one. Overall, it's better than the first, but a massive rehash with some much needed streamlining.
This game opened really strong, running and looking great, with incredibly breathtaking action setpieces, but toward the last third, the game's quality fell off, I had trouble understanding Lara's motivations throughout the game, as she flip flopped back and forth with what she wanted. Once the end came along, the gameplay and visuals stopped being original, and just felt like a repeat of the first one. Overall, it's better than the first, but a massive rehash with some much needed streamlining.
2019
Imported from my Backloggery account:
This game is fun gameplay-wise, but nothing beyond that. The story has a few heartfelt moments, but fails to really stick the landing overall. The villains are lackluster and downright annoying. The gameplay is serviceable and fun, but nothing beyond that. In addition, the sheer amount of talking makes the game less fun to play through multiple times, and kept me from keeping on with the game. The core gameplay loop is fun, but the rest of the game bogs it down.
Beaten: Oct 2019 in 60 hours
This game is fun gameplay-wise, but nothing beyond that. The story has a few heartfelt moments, but fails to really stick the landing overall. The villains are lackluster and downright annoying. The gameplay is serviceable and fun, but nothing beyond that. In addition, the sheer amount of talking makes the game less fun to play through multiple times, and kept me from keeping on with the game. The core gameplay loop is fun, but the rest of the game bogs it down.
Beaten: Oct 2019 in 60 hours
2019
Imported from my Backloggery:
This game was a blast. The team did an incredible job updating the classic Resident Evil gameplay into 3D, which was a huge surprise. The graphics and sound design create absolutely terrifying moments. That being said, the puzzle design was super lacking. There was never any point where I even remotely had to think, instead I was charting routes from point A to B, which was fun. In boss fights, I got frustrated bc I didn't know whether to run or fight. The story was dumb, but I loved Leon.
This game was a blast. The team did an incredible job updating the classic Resident Evil gameplay into 3D, which was a huge surprise. The graphics and sound design create absolutely terrifying moments. That being said, the puzzle design was super lacking. There was never any point where I even remotely had to think, instead I was charting routes from point A to B, which was fun. In boss fights, I got frustrated bc I didn't know whether to run or fight. The story was dumb, but I loved Leon.
2013
Imported from my Backloggery:
This game is largely forgettable in its combat and story, but some of the game mechanics were super fresh. The combo creation system was inconsequential, but a cool mechanic nonetheless. The memory remix mechanic was great though. The visual design was amazing and is something that I will always remember. The game still treated me like a baby throughout and largely felt generic. It lacks impact, and is worth a skip.
This game is largely forgettable in its combat and story, but some of the game mechanics were super fresh. The combo creation system was inconsequential, but a cool mechanic nonetheless. The memory remix mechanic was great though. The visual design was amazing and is something that I will always remember. The game still treated me like a baby throughout and largely felt generic. It lacks impact, and is worth a skip.
Imported from my Backloggery:
Red Dead 2 will probably be a game I will really enjoy in a few years, but as it stands right now, I do not have the patience or energy to play a game like this. The first the hours were relatively unexciting despite having incredible sound design, music, acting, and graphics. In addition to this, the game was simply not fun to play. The auto aim felt way worse than it did in the original, and the way the recoil works doesn't feel powerful at all. It's overwrought with tedious mechanics.
Red Dead 2 will probably be a game I will really enjoy in a few years, but as it stands right now, I do not have the patience or energy to play a game like this. The first the hours were relatively unexciting despite having incredible sound design, music, acting, and graphics. In addition to this, the game was simply not fun to play. The auto aim felt way worse than it did in the original, and the way the recoil works doesn't feel powerful at all. It's overwrought with tedious mechanics.