Dmg_Inc
Pure unadulterated fun, start to finish.
2022
Ghostwire Tokyo is a visual delight with a cool concept and a somewhat different twist on the open-world action genre.
The gameplay loop is pretty fun, though I felt that it did get a bit repetitive after a dozen or so hours of playing. The campaign is fairly short, and it's loaded with your typical run-of-the-mill open-world side-adventures, ala Assassin's Creed, Spider-Man, Arkham City etc. However, I found getting around Tokyo in Ghostwire to not be nearly as enjoyable as in those other games, making the side-adventures a tad less desirable to complete.
Visuals are great, especially the presentation of Tokyo itself. Moreover, the monster (visitor) designs are absolutely top notch. There are some truly terrifying creatures in this game.
Their horrific portrayal, along with the creepy abandoned city creates an atmosphere that is quite chilling, which was a tad more on the horror side of the genre than I had expected going in.
Regarding the story: I found it very difficult to follow, and thus with the exception of what was happening on the surface level, I had a really tough time understanding what the heck was going on, which made it challenging for me to connect to the characters -- this simply could just boil down to me being too smooth-brained to properly connect the dots.
Overall, Ghostwire Tokyo is a pretty solid open-world game that I would definitely recommend trying, especially if you can find it on the cheap. I did enjoy most of my time playing.
However, despite the campaign being fairly short with some oddly rushed pacing toward the last couple of chapters, I was still ready for the game to be over with when the ending arrived.
The gameplay loop is pretty fun, though I felt that it did get a bit repetitive after a dozen or so hours of playing. The campaign is fairly short, and it's loaded with your typical run-of-the-mill open-world side-adventures, ala Assassin's Creed, Spider-Man, Arkham City etc. However, I found getting around Tokyo in Ghostwire to not be nearly as enjoyable as in those other games, making the side-adventures a tad less desirable to complete.
Visuals are great, especially the presentation of Tokyo itself. Moreover, the monster (visitor) designs are absolutely top notch. There are some truly terrifying creatures in this game.
Their horrific portrayal, along with the creepy abandoned city creates an atmosphere that is quite chilling, which was a tad more on the horror side of the genre than I had expected going in.
Regarding the story: I found it very difficult to follow, and thus with the exception of what was happening on the surface level, I had a really tough time understanding what the heck was going on, which made it challenging for me to connect to the characters -- this simply could just boil down to me being too smooth-brained to properly connect the dots.
Overall, Ghostwire Tokyo is a pretty solid open-world game that I would definitely recommend trying, especially if you can find it on the cheap. I did enjoy most of my time playing.
However, despite the campaign being fairly short with some oddly rushed pacing toward the last couple of chapters, I was still ready for the game to be over with when the ending arrived.
1991
Never has there been a game that frustrated me so badly yet continuously would draw me back in for repeated punishment. The life of a 90s child...
2019
An absolute masterpiece and the staple of what a remake should be. RE:2 Remake is nothing short of phenomenal in the way it plays, in the stunning visuals, and in the intense, terrifying atmosphere that it manifests. It honors the greatness of original game while improving upon it in almost every single aspect.
2020
Resident Evil 3 Remake in many ways is just as solid as Resident Evil 2 Remake - in its gameplay, visuals, and atmosphere. The game is just so incredibly short that it felt like it could have been RE:2 Remake DLC. Moreover, Mr. X in RE:2 felt like more of a Nemesis than Nemesis did in this game, which is a shame considering they clearly had the means to implement something similar or even expand upon the Mr. X system.
Overall, RE:3 Remake is still a solid game that I enjoyed for the short thrill ride that it was. But it could have been so much more...
Overall, RE:3 Remake is still a solid game that I enjoyed for the short thrill ride that it was. But it could have been so much more...
Dark Souls 2 is not quite the masterclass in game design that the first game was, but it still feels close enough to its predecessor to be an enjoyable title. There are little things throughout the game that make it feel not nearly as tight as the first Dark Souls, but I feel a lot of the hatred of the game that is found among many in the DS community to be a bit unwarranted. Yes, the adaptability stat is ambiguous and sucks because of the impact it has on gameplay. Yes, the level design isn't the marvel that it was in the first game. Yes, the player-character movement isn't as tight (though I barely noticed this until it was pointed out to me). And yes, it often feels like they tried to fit too many uninspired boss fights into the game. However, none of these flaws completely ruined the experience for me, and it retained enough of the enjoyable aspects of the Dark Souls formula for me to enjoy myself start to finish.
Dragon Quest XI was my first foray into the Dragon Quest series. This was a JRPG series I had heard great things about for decades, but I never felt the itch to play any of the games. Recently, however, after rediscovering my adoration for JRPGs that had been absent for many years, I decided to give this one a go, being that I had heard sterling praise for the game since its initial release.
Immediately after setting foot into the world of Erdrea, I fell in love with the vibrant anime art-style and the awesome character models created by the legendary Akira Toriyama (RIP). As I continued to encounter more party members, I also fell in love with the characters and their personalities. However, when it came to how the game felt to play, I found the gameplay to be somewhat lackluster. There were a lot of neat ideas, such as the monster mounting system, but I found the gameplay often ended up feeling too simple and a bit shallow, including the combat, which I felt was incredibly forgiving and easy, to the point where I never really felt that I had to strategize with any of my abilities. Almost every single encounter, outside of maybe a couple of boss fights, all just came down to me using my pure-offensive abilities and taking such little damage that I was rarely ever concerned about the health of any of my characters. Perhaps I was over-leveled most of the game, but I never went out of my way to do any extended grinding that I should have been. I do realize there are different difficulty settings you can apply at the start of the game to provide more of a challenge, but unless you know what sort of impact the different settings are going have (which I did not as a new player), and you opt for the default experience as I did, you will rarely find yourself even remotely challenged, unless perhaps you are brand new to turn-based RPGs. Furthermore, I could not find any way to change the difficulty in the middle of a playthrough, so I sort of felt stuck with just continuing on with the default game-mode.
Another minor complaint I have about the game is regarding the OST: While I absolutely loved the music (both the symphonic and synthesized versions), I did find that it got rather repetitive. The same handful of themes seem to just repeat themselves throughout the entirety of the game, and I did find that a bit disappointing, especially when comparing it to the likes of Final Fantasy, which has a plethora of different themes for its characters and areas. But perhaps I was just spoiled by Nobuo Uematsu over the years.
In conclusion, I loved the cast characters enough to play from start to finish -- and admittedly, the ending credits made me a bit emotional, reflecting on my 70-hour journey with them. But had the visuals and character-writing not been so damn charming, Dragon Quest XI would have just felt like a very mediocre game, and I'm not too sure I would have been motivated to finish it, especially considering the amount of time it asks you to invest.
Immediately after setting foot into the world of Erdrea, I fell in love with the vibrant anime art-style and the awesome character models created by the legendary Akira Toriyama (RIP). As I continued to encounter more party members, I also fell in love with the characters and their personalities. However, when it came to how the game felt to play, I found the gameplay to be somewhat lackluster. There were a lot of neat ideas, such as the monster mounting system, but I found the gameplay often ended up feeling too simple and a bit shallow, including the combat, which I felt was incredibly forgiving and easy, to the point where I never really felt that I had to strategize with any of my abilities. Almost every single encounter, outside of maybe a couple of boss fights, all just came down to me using my pure-offensive abilities and taking such little damage that I was rarely ever concerned about the health of any of my characters. Perhaps I was over-leveled most of the game, but I never went out of my way to do any extended grinding that I should have been. I do realize there are different difficulty settings you can apply at the start of the game to provide more of a challenge, but unless you know what sort of impact the different settings are going have (which I did not as a new player), and you opt for the default experience as I did, you will rarely find yourself even remotely challenged, unless perhaps you are brand new to turn-based RPGs. Furthermore, I could not find any way to change the difficulty in the middle of a playthrough, so I sort of felt stuck with just continuing on with the default game-mode.
Another minor complaint I have about the game is regarding the OST: While I absolutely loved the music (both the symphonic and synthesized versions), I did find that it got rather repetitive. The same handful of themes seem to just repeat themselves throughout the entirety of the game, and I did find that a bit disappointing, especially when comparing it to the likes of Final Fantasy, which has a plethora of different themes for its characters and areas. But perhaps I was just spoiled by Nobuo Uematsu over the years.
In conclusion, I loved the cast characters enough to play from start to finish -- and admittedly, the ending credits made me a bit emotional, reflecting on my 70-hour journey with them. But had the visuals and character-writing not been so damn charming, Dragon Quest XI would have just felt like a very mediocre game, and I'm not too sure I would have been motivated to finish it, especially considering the amount of time it asks you to invest.