DourCricket
2020
Carrion
#3
PC - Steam
Beaten January 27th, 2022
Carrion is a metroid-lite puzzler about a freakish monster attempting to escape an enclosed facility... but YOU'RE the monster this time! It's a very very cool premise that is unfortunately let down by some meager gameplay. There is combat but it is incredibly simplistic and wonky, there are puzzles but they're either straightforward or exasperating. So yeah, interesting game overall, held up mostly by its premise and 'feel'. While it is fun to rip through silly humans and be the bad guy, the actual GAME here of gaining new powers and moving between very samey hallways, military bases and water pipes gets old pretty fast. It took me 4 hours to finish Carrion and I was ready for it to end at about half the time.
Pros:
Awesome premise. Being a shapeshifting monster is super badass and watching yourself 'grow' and gain new powers as the game goes on is satisfying as HELL.
Sound design for the monsters and people. Ripping apart metal grates, roaring in bestial fury, the human crew screaming in terrror... it all sounds great.
Artstyle is pretty great for the monster at least. Bits of flesh glooping off, pounding through doors, nomnomoming scientists... good stuff. People and backgrounds are more "average", or at least don't stand out as strongly as the monster.
Cons:
Where to start....
The Puzzles are dumb 95% of the time. The solution is either right in your face and you progress (this generally has a nice momentum to it at least) or you realize what you have to do but now have to backtrack to either gain or lose some 'mass' to get different powers.
No map. Often not a problem as the game funnels you from one area to the next but it often returns you to old "hub" areas and you have no fucking idea where it means you to go. So then you just wander around looking for something unbroken/inactive that you now have powers to interact with and go from there.
Combat is bad. You basically auto-kill regular enemies but others have weird shields that have no counters and enemy AI is telepathic meaning setting traps is difficult at best, irksome at worst.
Meh
The Story. Again, great premise. The story as it is told however seems like its trying to tell something interesting (there's some 'flash sideways' to human characters you control) with this creature's escape and what humanity is up to but.... it goes nowhere and has no weight to it whatsoever.
Level design. There are a few cool levels (one that looks like you're in space!) but the others are just generic military bases. Not a lot of variety in where you're tearing through.
Metroidvania elements. You occasionally get new powers that let you traverse the map or fight differently but they are rarely used actively. They don't add much.
Hmmm
Different forms of your body have different powers. Neat differentiation but then it leads to several points where you're just hunting for dead bodies (need more mass) or looking for a spawn pool (need to drop some mass) so you can use the right power to progress. Sometimes this leads to interesting puzzle situations, sometimes not.
Final Grade: C
#3
PC - Steam
Beaten January 27th, 2022
Carrion is a metroid-lite puzzler about a freakish monster attempting to escape an enclosed facility... but YOU'RE the monster this time! It's a very very cool premise that is unfortunately let down by some meager gameplay. There is combat but it is incredibly simplistic and wonky, there are puzzles but they're either straightforward or exasperating. So yeah, interesting game overall, held up mostly by its premise and 'feel'. While it is fun to rip through silly humans and be the bad guy, the actual GAME here of gaining new powers and moving between very samey hallways, military bases and water pipes gets old pretty fast. It took me 4 hours to finish Carrion and I was ready for it to end at about half the time.
Pros:
Awesome premise. Being a shapeshifting monster is super badass and watching yourself 'grow' and gain new powers as the game goes on is satisfying as HELL.
Sound design for the monsters and people. Ripping apart metal grates, roaring in bestial fury, the human crew screaming in terrror... it all sounds great.
Artstyle is pretty great for the monster at least. Bits of flesh glooping off, pounding through doors, nomnomoming scientists... good stuff. People and backgrounds are more "average", or at least don't stand out as strongly as the monster.
Cons:
Where to start....
The Puzzles are dumb 95% of the time. The solution is either right in your face and you progress (this generally has a nice momentum to it at least) or you realize what you have to do but now have to backtrack to either gain or lose some 'mass' to get different powers.
No map. Often not a problem as the game funnels you from one area to the next but it often returns you to old "hub" areas and you have no fucking idea where it means you to go. So then you just wander around looking for something unbroken/inactive that you now have powers to interact with and go from there.
Combat is bad. You basically auto-kill regular enemies but others have weird shields that have no counters and enemy AI is telepathic meaning setting traps is difficult at best, irksome at worst.
Meh
The Story. Again, great premise. The story as it is told however seems like its trying to tell something interesting (there's some 'flash sideways' to human characters you control) with this creature's escape and what humanity is up to but.... it goes nowhere and has no weight to it whatsoever.
Level design. There are a few cool levels (one that looks like you're in space!) but the others are just generic military bases. Not a lot of variety in where you're tearing through.
Metroidvania elements. You occasionally get new powers that let you traverse the map or fight differently but they are rarely used actively. They don't add much.
Hmmm
Different forms of your body have different powers. Neat differentiation but then it leads to several points where you're just hunting for dead bodies (need more mass) or looking for a spawn pool (need to drop some mass) so you can use the right power to progress. Sometimes this leads to interesting puzzle situations, sometimes not.
Final Grade: C
2008
For Halloween I thought I should play a spooky game! Here are my thoughts -
-Easy mode is great. You are fairly loaded with ammo and the things don't require many shots to put down or slow them. I ended up selling 80% of the ammo I found and fully upgraded my 3 main weapons and rig. Ready for NG+! Never, lol
-800 bajillion jump scares / scare chords. Is in your face with the horror but also can build tension fairly well. The game definitely needs more moments of Horror with a capital H, but is generally content to just be more spooky.
-LOVE the upgrade system! Your armor looks great, it gets more and more plating added onto it, pretty strongly implying that it's for engineers who work in more dangerous environments, rather than a combat suit. Weapons also upgrade, but they're pretty standard in their 'trees', more damage, reduced reload, etc. It's a nice power progression though! You feel pretty Badass at the end of the game.
-Each chapter is a litttttttle samey. Arrive via train "Hey fix this thing here... OH SHIT THIS OTHER THING IN OTHER SECTION NEEDS FIX GO DO!" Rinse repeat. It has a nice ending that subverts this, the whole last chapter taking place on a planet beneath the ship.
-Story is solid enough..? Characters talk through glass panels a bit too much with you, the 'twist' with Nicole is solid and well telegraphed, Kendra seems almost relatable? I actually was crazy! I do wish Isaac would've emoted a bit more, either with gestures or grunts or something..?
-Enemy variety could use a bit of work, Black Variants were neat at first but don't seem anything more than an extra sack of hit points. The 'bosses' were solidly okay and that's about it, haha.
-VERY strong art and lighting design. The ship is definitely 'samey' as I mentioned before, but it still looks great as a horror setting.
-Easy mode is a godsend. The game is tense enough even with so little threat to the player. I spent a lot of time just using melee attacks to try and deal with the anxiety, that helped a lot I think.
-I was super invested in the game, that surprised me! I spent most of the week just wanting to sit down and keep playing it. Resident Evil is changing me!!
I don't reeeeeally feel like changing these bullet points into an actual writeup, so forgive me!!! I am now most of the way Dead Space 2 so I wanted to get a finalized version at least out so I can finish the second one and not have my thoughts mix too much. On the whole, I think Dead Space is an excellent TPS and uses its horror extremely well. It's not something wholly unsettling or horrifying, it just wants to be a cool monster movie with shit jumping out at you from the dark, while also being a pretty cool sci-fi setting. The 'planetcrackers' is just a great idea. With the focus on shooting limbs rather than just headshots, it gives it a unique twist on direct gameplay as well. Doing Resi 4 proud, even when Resi 5 and 6 don't hahaha...
-Easy mode is great. You are fairly loaded with ammo and the things don't require many shots to put down or slow them. I ended up selling 80% of the ammo I found and fully upgraded my 3 main weapons and rig. Ready for NG+! Never, lol
-800 bajillion jump scares / scare chords. Is in your face with the horror but also can build tension fairly well. The game definitely needs more moments of Horror with a capital H, but is generally content to just be more spooky.
-LOVE the upgrade system! Your armor looks great, it gets more and more plating added onto it, pretty strongly implying that it's for engineers who work in more dangerous environments, rather than a combat suit. Weapons also upgrade, but they're pretty standard in their 'trees', more damage, reduced reload, etc. It's a nice power progression though! You feel pretty Badass at the end of the game.
-Each chapter is a litttttttle samey. Arrive via train "Hey fix this thing here... OH SHIT THIS OTHER THING IN OTHER SECTION NEEDS FIX GO DO!" Rinse repeat. It has a nice ending that subverts this, the whole last chapter taking place on a planet beneath the ship.
-Story is solid enough..? Characters talk through glass panels a bit too much with you, the 'twist' with Nicole is solid and well telegraphed, Kendra seems almost relatable? I actually was crazy! I do wish Isaac would've emoted a bit more, either with gestures or grunts or something..?
-Enemy variety could use a bit of work, Black Variants were neat at first but don't seem anything more than an extra sack of hit points. The 'bosses' were solidly okay and that's about it, haha.
-VERY strong art and lighting design. The ship is definitely 'samey' as I mentioned before, but it still looks great as a horror setting.
-Easy mode is a godsend. The game is tense enough even with so little threat to the player. I spent a lot of time just using melee attacks to try and deal with the anxiety, that helped a lot I think.
-I was super invested in the game, that surprised me! I spent most of the week just wanting to sit down and keep playing it. Resident Evil is changing me!!
I don't reeeeeally feel like changing these bullet points into an actual writeup, so forgive me!!! I am now most of the way Dead Space 2 so I wanted to get a finalized version at least out so I can finish the second one and not have my thoughts mix too much. On the whole, I think Dead Space is an excellent TPS and uses its horror extremely well. It's not something wholly unsettling or horrifying, it just wants to be a cool monster movie with shit jumping out at you from the dark, while also being a pretty cool sci-fi setting. The 'planetcrackers' is just a great idea. With the focus on shooting limbs rather than just headshots, it gives it a unique twist on direct gameplay as well. Doing Resi 4 proud, even when Resi 5 and 6 don't hahaha...
A stellar expansion that twists Cyberpunk ever so slightly into a cool spy story. As always there are twists and turns here but ultimately things played pretty straight.
My story ended with a nice touch of tragedy and of course no one getting what they wanted but hey... At least we're free, yeah?
It's no Witcher 3 Xpacs but still excellent. Better than the base game actually
My story ended with a nice touch of tragedy and of course no one getting what they wanted but hey... At least we're free, yeah?
It's no Witcher 3 Xpacs but still excellent. Better than the base game actually
Gosh I do love this world... Definitely a very interesting take on a CYOA type game, its all text with some pretty nice art backdrops. You can choose one of three protagonists though it doesn't seem to affect TOO much of the plot going forward. There's a lot of good in this game - intriguing characters, great art, solid music (do I detect some tracks calling back to Bloodlines..?) and some interesting subplots. However there's a pretty big vacancy there - what about the main story?! Well, that is kind of garbage, I'm afraid.
Coteries of New York is set up in much the same way as Bloodlines - you are an unsuspecting mortal who is rudely and roughly tossed into the world of vampire politics, your sire pays you no notice and are forced to make your way through this labyrinthine world of murderers and monsters to try and hold onto a piece of your humanity.... or just hold on, period. From the get-go of Coteries it is pretty clear however that your very creation is part of a plot, however very little of the main story makes it clear that this is a central part of the story until the very end where it comes as a bit of a shock, and not really in a good way but we'll get there. The main story essentially boils down to - the red haired lady on the boxart saves your bacon when you're supposed to be executed as a baby-Vamp and you're now sworn to her in fealty. Seems like a good spot for a lot of drama right? Well, not really. The bulk of the game's story is actually you recruiting your eponymous "coterie", a group of allies and friends you do favors for in the hopes that down the line they will come through for you in the end. There are 4 "main" ones of these however there are also at least 3 side story characters who have pretty similar arcs, and they all play out in a sort of "Persona"~esque system of hanging out with them during your free time to go through their own little plots. All of the ones I met in my playthrough were actually VERY cool - my favorite being the Ace Detective nosferatu who has actually taken on the persona from a character he used to write in trashy novels! There's also a Malkavian who expresses her multiple personalities via twitter/insta handles... and constantly has a phone in her hand so she can express all of them at once. Driving with her is quite an experience... In contrast to these bombastic and likeable folks, the main story is pretty anemic (heh). You do a series of jobs for Sophia as she plots against her rivals but at no particular point do you have much say in how things go down, and the game comes to what is initially a pretty tense conclusion only for it to abruptly end with almost no fanfaire or explanation whatsoever. The game needed either a few more minutes to the story to serve as a mini-epilogue for you and your choices OR some kind of thematic narration by either you or Sophie or SOMEONE who can kinda tie up whatever themes or story they were going for here....
While Bloodlines 2 has been delayed and switched developers, I thought it was a good time to dive back into this crazy and wonderful vampire world and I'm fairly happy with what I got, especially in relation to how much I paid for it... Coteries of New York has some great characters and some fine characters, and tells a story that is surprisingly boring in comparison to its cast. It feels half-baked and almost entirely unfinished at the end, some interesting surprises notwithstanding. It might scratch this particular Hunger a bit but certainly does not sate it. Lets see if the sequel can get it right...?
Coteries of New York is set up in much the same way as Bloodlines - you are an unsuspecting mortal who is rudely and roughly tossed into the world of vampire politics, your sire pays you no notice and are forced to make your way through this labyrinthine world of murderers and monsters to try and hold onto a piece of your humanity.... or just hold on, period. From the get-go of Coteries it is pretty clear however that your very creation is part of a plot, however very little of the main story makes it clear that this is a central part of the story until the very end where it comes as a bit of a shock, and not really in a good way but we'll get there. The main story essentially boils down to - the red haired lady on the boxart saves your bacon when you're supposed to be executed as a baby-Vamp and you're now sworn to her in fealty. Seems like a good spot for a lot of drama right? Well, not really. The bulk of the game's story is actually you recruiting your eponymous "coterie", a group of allies and friends you do favors for in the hopes that down the line they will come through for you in the end. There are 4 "main" ones of these however there are also at least 3 side story characters who have pretty similar arcs, and they all play out in a sort of "Persona"~esque system of hanging out with them during your free time to go through their own little plots. All of the ones I met in my playthrough were actually VERY cool - my favorite being the Ace Detective nosferatu who has actually taken on the persona from a character he used to write in trashy novels! There's also a Malkavian who expresses her multiple personalities via twitter/insta handles... and constantly has a phone in her hand so she can express all of them at once. Driving with her is quite an experience... In contrast to these bombastic and likeable folks, the main story is pretty anemic (heh). You do a series of jobs for Sophia as she plots against her rivals but at no particular point do you have much say in how things go down, and the game comes to what is initially a pretty tense conclusion only for it to abruptly end with almost no fanfaire or explanation whatsoever. The game needed either a few more minutes to the story to serve as a mini-epilogue for you and your choices OR some kind of thematic narration by either you or Sophie or SOMEONE who can kinda tie up whatever themes or story they were going for here....
While Bloodlines 2 has been delayed and switched developers, I thought it was a good time to dive back into this crazy and wonderful vampire world and I'm fairly happy with what I got, especially in relation to how much I paid for it... Coteries of New York has some great characters and some fine characters, and tells a story that is surprisingly boring in comparison to its cast. It feels half-baked and almost entirely unfinished at the end, some interesting surprises notwithstanding. It might scratch this particular Hunger a bit but certainly does not sate it. Lets see if the sequel can get it right...?
1998
Resident Evil 2, vanilla! But not vanilla since this is the dreamcast version + a special AI upres mod that looks genuinely great. It also got me to install Playnite, a program that lets me merge all of my launcher games into one very nice looking layout and I can launch emulated games straight through it! Take that, steam..
Anyway, onto the game itself. I do wish I had written this a bit earlier, so I remembered things a bit more crisply but I just loved how invested I got into the game. I don't often go back to the PS1~ era or before of gaming, but after an initial pause after starting, I basically completed all of Claire A in two big chunks and I had an excellent time. The camera angles are very strange but SOMETIMES used to great effect with the monsters, and there's a lot of tension knowing there's a monster SOMEWHERE around but the F*%#ING camera won't let you see it.. I played on the Easy setting so I was never really threatened too terribly but frankly it was stressful enough.
To compare it straight to the Remake, it is definitely less scary and more goofy. The voice acting is bleh, the story beats and characters get significantly less, you barely know the side characters past Sherry/Leon (we'll get to Ada later) but I still liked it. There's more enemy types and locations but it is very similar. Also those missing enemy types are basically just evil animals (spiders/bats) and weird naked zombies... Would've been interesting to see their inclusion in RE2Re but it is okay.
But the music/sound effects are just the bomb.
~~~~
RE2! The original, Leon B. I did ClaireA/LeonB again because I've just always heard that they fit best with the story going forward. Perhaps I should've done the opposite here but overall I liked it more than the Leon B in RE2Remake. I can definitely see why old fans were a bit disappointed in the A/B in the remake because quite a bit is different in this B version, you basically spend the 2nd half of each game in completely different places. It was very cool to see the story beats from A actually play out in B (I can't get through this area because as Claire I needed the detonator... I'll keep an eye out for the detonator... oh wait Claire just radioed and said she blew up the wall so I can go through. Of course!! That's me in the previous run!).
Ada got done DIRTY in this game. A lady in a dress who is a crack shot who is just looking for her boyfriend... genuinely stupid cover story. Way better in Remake. Also their 'romance' is pretty forced and the voice acting is atrocious. Still fun though! Silly True End is still Silly.
Anyway, onto the game itself. I do wish I had written this a bit earlier, so I remembered things a bit more crisply but I just loved how invested I got into the game. I don't often go back to the PS1~ era or before of gaming, but after an initial pause after starting, I basically completed all of Claire A in two big chunks and I had an excellent time. The camera angles are very strange but SOMETIMES used to great effect with the monsters, and there's a lot of tension knowing there's a monster SOMEWHERE around but the F*%#ING camera won't let you see it.. I played on the Easy setting so I was never really threatened too terribly but frankly it was stressful enough.
To compare it straight to the Remake, it is definitely less scary and more goofy. The voice acting is bleh, the story beats and characters get significantly less, you barely know the side characters past Sherry/Leon (we'll get to Ada later) but I still liked it. There's more enemy types and locations but it is very similar. Also those missing enemy types are basically just evil animals (spiders/bats) and weird naked zombies... Would've been interesting to see their inclusion in RE2Re but it is okay.
But the music/sound effects are just the bomb.
RE2! The original, Leon B. I did ClaireA/LeonB again because I've just always heard that they fit best with the story going forward. Perhaps I should've done the opposite here but overall I liked it more than the Leon B in RE2Remake. I can definitely see why old fans were a bit disappointed in the A/B in the remake because quite a bit is different in this B version, you basically spend the 2nd half of each game in completely different places. It was very cool to see the story beats from A actually play out in B (I can't get through this area because as Claire I needed the detonator... I'll keep an eye out for the detonator... oh wait Claire just radioed and said she blew up the wall so I can go through. Of course!! That's me in the previous run!).
Ada got done DIRTY in this game. A lady in a dress who is a crack shot who is just looking for her boyfriend... genuinely stupid cover story. Way better in Remake. Also their 'romance' is pretty forced and the voice acting is atrocious. Still fun though! Silly True End is still Silly.
2023
This review contains spoilers
Dead Space Remake
#2
PC - Steam
Beaten February 1st, 2023
Dead Space - one of my favorite games, another horror title I have been able to face only in the recent years.. I have reviewed the original previously (beating it again last year in preparation for this remake!) so I won't be going into TOO much detail on the base game, mostly just what has been added/changed/removed here. In short though: this shit fucking ROCKS
The Good:
The Presentation! Lights, sounds, music, graphics... everything is firing on all cylinders 1000% of the time. The game looks amazing, almost every other room has some kickass dramatic lighting to it, the sounds of the ship, guns, necromorphs, ambient noises, the scramble of your radio... this is a horrifyingly beautiful game. EDIT: As is typical for all my reviews, I am listening to the soundtrack while I write this to get me in the proper headspace. DAMN this shit is scary lol
The character upgrades (minus 1...) for the story, ESPECIALLY the Ishimura herself. The two "nobody" guards at the beginning get at least a BIT more screentime which makes their demise, and impact on other characters, much more notable. Daniels gets a significant upgrade from "just a plant from the church" to an Earthgov spy trying to put things right - who is only an antagonist towards you for entirely understandable if ruthless reasons. Huge upgrade. The Ishimura as well: the ship is interconnected at all times making the place feel much more alive and less like levels in a video game. The already-stellar atmosphere and environmental storytelling of the original is amped up times 10 here, new logs, new bits of details... all stellar
Isaac is a real character now too! He speaks at appropriate times, asks good questions, we get a good sense of the man he is + some very appropriate backstory for him and Nicole. There's a few moments where it doesn't work but on the whole an excellent change.
Weapon rebalancing - the Reign of the Plasma Cutter HAS ENDED!! Actually not really, it's still a great all around weapon, not quite as OP as the original though. Really though it feels more like every other weapon got a big buff, rather than the Cutter being nerfed. Everything feels pretty great to use!
Enemy rebalancing - they're a bit tougher now, and have a, er, "meat" system? You can see the layers stripped off of their bodies (skin, muscles, bone..) until the limbs are severed. It's rad. And gross. But Mostly Rad!
Redesigned puzzles - basically the annoying puzzles were changed to be better, the cool puzzles are still there but made more clear. No more getting stuck on that asteroid for like 15 minutes!
The Bad:
Er, some tech issues...? This will be a short category lol. Definitely had some stutter, especially with screenshots. Couple of wonky physics moments.
Voice actor downgrade in one notable main character - the new voice actor for Hammond is just not up to par. And I don't mean the obvious disparity with the old actor who is a 10/10, obviously expecting that is a bit too much, but even compared to the other actors he just ain't there. No real gravitas, not a lot of believable emotion. Kynes is also a bit of a downgrade but he's not in the game anywhere near as much.
The Hmmm...:
Pacing with the side quests is a bit off. One of them (the master key quest) is definitely a bit too all over the place and not in a particularly satisfying way. The Intensity Director keeps things from being boring by throwing some random encounters at you but even that feels a bit "checkbox" as you go through the major rooms where obviously encounters are designed to happen. "Oh, no monsters last room? Definitely 2 or 3 in this one... yep there they are!". However the rewards for each, both story and gameplay wise, are generally pretty worthwhile.
The Intensity director! This one goes in "hmm" because other than the issue above, it's hard to say what exactly is the director's doing and what's just the base game design. While obviously you can only have so many encounters before things feel a tad rote, the game does still feel good to play all the way through.
So yeah, the very lengthy "good" section will tell you that overall this was an excellent game - not a huge surprise of course, the base game is also stellar. Even with that base though, the team at Motive have crafted an almost REmake level product here: one that surpasses and frankly replaces the original by keeping all of the original's successes while adding in their own excellent additions and edits to keep things fresh. While it's certainly not QUITE that level of the original Resident Evil, Dead Space Remake's superb atmosphere, combat and story makes it truly a fantastic experience from beginning to end.
Oh yeah, and there's a new secret ending too?!
Final Grade: A
#2
PC - Steam
Beaten February 1st, 2023
Dead Space - one of my favorite games, another horror title I have been able to face only in the recent years.. I have reviewed the original previously (beating it again last year in preparation for this remake!) so I won't be going into TOO much detail on the base game, mostly just what has been added/changed/removed here. In short though: this shit fucking ROCKS
The Good:
The Presentation! Lights, sounds, music, graphics... everything is firing on all cylinders 1000% of the time. The game looks amazing, almost every other room has some kickass dramatic lighting to it, the sounds of the ship, guns, necromorphs, ambient noises, the scramble of your radio... this is a horrifyingly beautiful game. EDIT: As is typical for all my reviews, I am listening to the soundtrack while I write this to get me in the proper headspace. DAMN this shit is scary lol
The character upgrades (minus 1...) for the story, ESPECIALLY the Ishimura herself. The two "nobody" guards at the beginning get at least a BIT more screentime which makes their demise, and impact on other characters, much more notable. Daniels gets a significant upgrade from "just a plant from the church" to an Earthgov spy trying to put things right - who is only an antagonist towards you for entirely understandable if ruthless reasons. Huge upgrade. The Ishimura as well: the ship is interconnected at all times making the place feel much more alive and less like levels in a video game. The already-stellar atmosphere and environmental storytelling of the original is amped up times 10 here, new logs, new bits of details... all stellar
Isaac is a real character now too! He speaks at appropriate times, asks good questions, we get a good sense of the man he is + some very appropriate backstory for him and Nicole. There's a few moments where it doesn't work but on the whole an excellent change.
Weapon rebalancing - the Reign of the Plasma Cutter HAS ENDED!! Actually not really, it's still a great all around weapon, not quite as OP as the original though. Really though it feels more like every other weapon got a big buff, rather than the Cutter being nerfed. Everything feels pretty great to use!
Enemy rebalancing - they're a bit tougher now, and have a, er, "meat" system? You can see the layers stripped off of their bodies (skin, muscles, bone..) until the limbs are severed. It's rad. And gross. But Mostly Rad!
Redesigned puzzles - basically the annoying puzzles were changed to be better, the cool puzzles are still there but made more clear. No more getting stuck on that asteroid for like 15 minutes!
The Bad:
Er, some tech issues...? This will be a short category lol. Definitely had some stutter, especially with screenshots. Couple of wonky physics moments.
Voice actor downgrade in one notable main character - the new voice actor for Hammond is just not up to par. And I don't mean the obvious disparity with the old actor who is a 10/10, obviously expecting that is a bit too much, but even compared to the other actors he just ain't there. No real gravitas, not a lot of believable emotion. Kynes is also a bit of a downgrade but he's not in the game anywhere near as much.
The Hmmm...:
Pacing with the side quests is a bit off. One of them (the master key quest) is definitely a bit too all over the place and not in a particularly satisfying way. The Intensity Director keeps things from being boring by throwing some random encounters at you but even that feels a bit "checkbox" as you go through the major rooms where obviously encounters are designed to happen. "Oh, no monsters last room? Definitely 2 or 3 in this one... yep there they are!". However the rewards for each, both story and gameplay wise, are generally pretty worthwhile.
The Intensity director! This one goes in "hmm" because other than the issue above, it's hard to say what exactly is the director's doing and what's just the base game design. While obviously you can only have so many encounters before things feel a tad rote, the game does still feel good to play all the way through.
So yeah, the very lengthy "good" section will tell you that overall this was an excellent game - not a huge surprise of course, the base game is also stellar. Even with that base though, the team at Motive have crafted an almost REmake level product here: one that surpasses and frankly replaces the original by keeping all of the original's successes while adding in their own excellent additions and edits to keep things fresh. While it's certainly not QUITE that level of the original Resident Evil, Dead Space Remake's superb atmosphere, combat and story makes it truly a fantastic experience from beginning to end.
Oh yeah, and there's a new secret ending too?!
Final Grade: A
2022
An interesting reverse-bullet-hell (did we ever pick a name for this genre other than Vampire Survivors-likes?) with some neat guns and characters. Feels more "build" based than I think I like, it pretty clearly shoves you down one of like five available paths and then you can dabble in another one or two to round out a build. The weapons are neat and there's a good variety of them plus you actually USE them which gives it a more tense feeling and also plays it out strategically when things get hairy, rather than just focusing on dodging.
Despite that the palette feels very same-y between levels and the bosses are not much to write home about.
Final Grade: B-
Despite that the palette feels very same-y between levels and the bosses are not much to write home about.
Final Grade: B-
Narrative Vampire The Masquerade CYOA game #2, and this time it's all coming together! Similar to Coteries of New York you play as a young vampire making their way through their Early Nights and trying not to get tooooo caught up in the Camarilla bullshit that's going on. This time however there's only one character rather than a choice of clans, Julia the LaSombra vamp. The intro is a whole prologue of who she is before being turned - a damn good investigative journalist who is slowly having her whole life go completely to shit. Then she's attacked by a vampire and well... turns out everything tearing her apart was a hazing ritual to see if she was worth joining the clan. Then, the real game starts! A total shithead from the first game is murdered and we do get a proper sequel~ish to Coteries which is great since that story was particularly unsatisfying! Julia is also very much her own character and she is all the witty and snarky you would expect, and you have to manuever her successfully through this investigation while she's trying to decide just how much of her actual humanity to hold onto...
A vastly improved main story however means that the very intriguing side characters and plots from the first game are mostly dropped - the focus is on Julia and the cast already around her, no forging allies here. People like you or hate you already. One of the main people in her life is her former human girlfriend, whom she is still with. There's a pretty interesting look here at a vampire/human relationship and how that is kind of inherently fucked and I appreciate that its not all sunshine and roses for them, even if the 'bad ending' is about them trying to make it work. And speaking of the ending - I really love the fact that the "bad" end is the one where Julia tries to be decent to others and look out for her own mental wellbeing, whereas the "good" ending is the proper Vampire ending of "everything is fucked but at least I'm having a great time right now!"
While Shadows of New York isn't an amazing, ground breaking experience, it is a damn good whodunnit along with a compelling main character and side plots. And I'm here for more of it!
A vastly improved main story however means that the very intriguing side characters and plots from the first game are mostly dropped - the focus is on Julia and the cast already around her, no forging allies here. People like you or hate you already. One of the main people in her life is her former human girlfriend, whom she is still with. There's a pretty interesting look here at a vampire/human relationship and how that is kind of inherently fucked and I appreciate that its not all sunshine and roses for them, even if the 'bad ending' is about them trying to make it work. And speaking of the ending - I really love the fact that the "bad" end is the one where Julia tries to be decent to others and look out for her own mental wellbeing, whereas the "good" ending is the proper Vampire ending of "everything is fucked but at least I'm having a great time right now!"
While Shadows of New York isn't an amazing, ground breaking experience, it is a damn good whodunnit along with a compelling main character and side plots. And I'm here for more of it!
There are two games I can directly credit from turning from a kid who played games, into a GAMER. They are without a doubt Final Fantasy 7 and Baldur's Gate 2. Both were hugely long Role Playing Games that told epic stories with excellent characters I got tremendously wrapped up in, as well as deep combat systems I came nowhere close to mastering hahaha. Of the two however I do believe that Baldur's Gate holds a more special place in my heart - I basically raised my love of Fantasy on the altar of the DnD 2E books I was given when I was younger, so that connection to Dungeons and Dragons Baldur's Gate has makes it all the more special. Also the ending of that game fuuuuucked me up - but we'll get to that!
So I spent a while in the previous paragraph talking about the sequel to the game I've just finished, and in fact I have a very odd history with this particular game in contrast to the sequel I love so dearly. Despite the two of them being very much a continuation of the same character and storyline (a featuer that BioWare would turn into their Magnum Opus Mass Effect, see games number 1 through 3 this year, lolol!) I did not have Baldur's Gate 1 until I believe I was in my very late teens/early 20's. My father bought me BG2 because he read the very high reviews + knew I was a fan of DnD. And thankfully he did as I do believe BG2 is the superioer game - but I spent many years replaying only THAT game (and not even its concluding expansion until several years later...) and not the first, so I had a very distinct feeling on how the game SHOULD be in my head before I actually tried it. And honestly I believe this is only my third or fourth time completing BG1... Contrasting BG2, which should be at least 7 or 8?
Anyway, BG1 was initially a pretty massive disappointment to me for a few reasons - the quests, barring a few odd exceptions, are pretty one note and straightfoward. Sarevok is a DECENT enough villain but he gets not enough screentime for like... 80% of the game basically so he's a bit weak in that regard. There are also like half dozen lackeys you have to mow through to get to him, who all have no personality. Much of the gameplay is more straightforward due to being low level DND - you have very little to actually DO for the first 5 hours or so other than wander around and shoot shit with your ranged weapons.. BG2 just has so much more going on!
But - in my later years I have certainly turned around on Baldur's Gate 1. It captures the FEEL of dnd very well - wandering around in the wilderness, doing easy enough quests and killing bad guys, with an overarching plot looming in the background of the whole thing. There's a few solid dungeon crawls, some gnolls to kick around, magic items to find... It is a bit rote, but damn if it isn't satisfying all the same. Also the music is just super.
For this review I am including the expansion Tales of the Sword Coast, but will be excluding the new Siege of Dragonspear for a couple reasons - 1. I didn't actually do everything from TotSC because Durlag's Tower is great and the werewolf island is boring - 2. Dragonspear is super-duper long and feels more like a proper minisequel like Throne of Bhaal does - 3. It lets me mark it as another complete game for my 52 game challenge!!
So anyway Durlag's Tower - SUCH an awesome dungeon. It isn't just the frequent use of clever puzzles and dastardly traps - it is the way it spins all of it together with an interesting variety of enemies for you to beat on and feels like a genuine test of your abilities up to that point in the game in a way NONE of the rest of the game does. Even the very end section of BG1 - the Undercroft maze - feels very plain in comparison as does the fight with Sarevok. Basically he's a fuckin' beast and you throw everything you got at him til' he dies. Durlag's Tower though is just full of great shit but I DID feel that the controls of the Switch version hampered me just a tad, and it dragged a bit near the end, but I was kinda ready to move on.
So in this playthrough I was Flint, a Dwarven Fighter/Cleric who is Neutral Good, and ended at a 20 rep. Not that it is particularly difficult to get to max rep, he is generally a great dude who tries to look out for the little guy! He tried to be merciful to the many douchebags on the sword coast, but it rarely worked out because his companions always blasted them 1000% so they ended up dying anyway haha... He is pretty freaked out by his heritage of Bhaal and his developing powers - he assumed that his connection with his god was giving him more powers but finding out it was an evil deity of murder doing it deeply unsettles him, and he worries deeply about his future. He hung tight with Imoen and Neera the whole game, and developed something of a romance with the latter. Flint led a pretty strict life growing up in Candlekeep under Gorion's tutelage and her 'wildness' was very intriguing to him. He partied with Khalid and Jaheria for a time but just wanted to strike out more on his own and found the pair a bit annoying... A few people fell along the way - Ajantis and Branwen and Yeslick! Yeslick sadly met his fate at the bottom of Durlag's Tower defeating a powerful demon.. which I was sad about but also a bit gleeful since he was my exact same race/class combo haha.. Anyway after conquering the tower we moved on to defeat Sarevok quickly hoping to put an end to Bhaal's plan before any more could be harmed. Flint attempted to talk Sarevok down, saying they could team up and fight the dead god together but alas it was not meant to be.. Sarevok deafeated, Flint hoped things would calm down for a time.. He was very wrong!
So I spent a while in the previous paragraph talking about the sequel to the game I've just finished, and in fact I have a very odd history with this particular game in contrast to the sequel I love so dearly. Despite the two of them being very much a continuation of the same character and storyline (a featuer that BioWare would turn into their Magnum Opus Mass Effect, see games number 1 through 3 this year, lolol!) I did not have Baldur's Gate 1 until I believe I was in my very late teens/early 20's. My father bought me BG2 because he read the very high reviews + knew I was a fan of DnD. And thankfully he did as I do believe BG2 is the superioer game - but I spent many years replaying only THAT game (and not even its concluding expansion until several years later...) and not the first, so I had a very distinct feeling on how the game SHOULD be in my head before I actually tried it. And honestly I believe this is only my third or fourth time completing BG1... Contrasting BG2, which should be at least 7 or 8?
Anyway, BG1 was initially a pretty massive disappointment to me for a few reasons - the quests, barring a few odd exceptions, are pretty one note and straightfoward. Sarevok is a DECENT enough villain but he gets not enough screentime for like... 80% of the game basically so he's a bit weak in that regard. There are also like half dozen lackeys you have to mow through to get to him, who all have no personality. Much of the gameplay is more straightforward due to being low level DND - you have very little to actually DO for the first 5 hours or so other than wander around and shoot shit with your ranged weapons.. BG2 just has so much more going on!
But - in my later years I have certainly turned around on Baldur's Gate 1. It captures the FEEL of dnd very well - wandering around in the wilderness, doing easy enough quests and killing bad guys, with an overarching plot looming in the background of the whole thing. There's a few solid dungeon crawls, some gnolls to kick around, magic items to find... It is a bit rote, but damn if it isn't satisfying all the same. Also the music is just super.
For this review I am including the expansion Tales of the Sword Coast, but will be excluding the new Siege of Dragonspear for a couple reasons - 1. I didn't actually do everything from TotSC because Durlag's Tower is great and the werewolf island is boring - 2. Dragonspear is super-duper long and feels more like a proper minisequel like Throne of Bhaal does - 3. It lets me mark it as another complete game for my 52 game challenge!!
So anyway Durlag's Tower - SUCH an awesome dungeon. It isn't just the frequent use of clever puzzles and dastardly traps - it is the way it spins all of it together with an interesting variety of enemies for you to beat on and feels like a genuine test of your abilities up to that point in the game in a way NONE of the rest of the game does. Even the very end section of BG1 - the Undercroft maze - feels very plain in comparison as does the fight with Sarevok. Basically he's a fuckin' beast and you throw everything you got at him til' he dies. Durlag's Tower though is just full of great shit but I DID feel that the controls of the Switch version hampered me just a tad, and it dragged a bit near the end, but I was kinda ready to move on.
So in this playthrough I was Flint, a Dwarven Fighter/Cleric who is Neutral Good, and ended at a 20 rep. Not that it is particularly difficult to get to max rep, he is generally a great dude who tries to look out for the little guy! He tried to be merciful to the many douchebags on the sword coast, but it rarely worked out because his companions always blasted them 1000% so they ended up dying anyway haha... He is pretty freaked out by his heritage of Bhaal and his developing powers - he assumed that his connection with his god was giving him more powers but finding out it was an evil deity of murder doing it deeply unsettles him, and he worries deeply about his future. He hung tight with Imoen and Neera the whole game, and developed something of a romance with the latter. Flint led a pretty strict life growing up in Candlekeep under Gorion's tutelage and her 'wildness' was very intriguing to him. He partied with Khalid and Jaheria for a time but just wanted to strike out more on his own and found the pair a bit annoying... A few people fell along the way - Ajantis and Branwen and Yeslick! Yeslick sadly met his fate at the bottom of Durlag's Tower defeating a powerful demon.. which I was sad about but also a bit gleeful since he was my exact same race/class combo haha.. Anyway after conquering the tower we moved on to defeat Sarevok quickly hoping to put an end to Bhaal's plan before any more could be harmed. Flint attempted to talk Sarevok down, saying they could team up and fight the dead god together but alas it was not meant to be.. Sarevok deafeated, Flint hoped things would calm down for a time.. He was very wrong!
Metal Gear Solid! Another old game I'm replaying rather than getting through new stuff... it makes me happy okay, sue me??! Also, this game is technically new since I have never played the Twin Snakes before.. So anyway, Twin Snakes is a Gamecube remake of MGS1 make by Silicon Knights using the MGS2 engine so make it feel a bit more 'modern'. I've only played the PS1 version a couple of times and only finished it once I believe (outside watching my old pal Chad complete it once) as opposed to MGS 2 + 3 which I've completed about a dozen times together and MGS4 which I think I also only beat twice... and 5 just once. But anyway we'll get to those later
With this remake we're dealing with the same story - Solid Snake is a gruff guy who pushes people away but gets shanghai-d into a mission to stop terrorists on an island off Alaska who've take control of a new Metal Gear - REX! He finds out there's a lot of shit going on underneath the surface and learns some real important life lessons along the way - the MGS standard! They brought back all of the original voice actors here and other than Cam Clarke as liquid doing a VERY unconvincing British accent (though Liquid himself is amazingly Hammy, I like to believe it is Liquid himself who is intentionally doing a bad accent) they're all pretty damn good. The dialogue however is quite poor in a lot of places and I'm curious if this game has a new script from the MGS 1 version because I don't remember it being this shitty in some places but.. I suppose I will have to replay the original to find out!
This game in particular has a very strong theme of "Genes", and I know this from my long history of deep dives in the MGS series and also because "Genes" pop up in nearly every other line of dialogue in the game. Genome soldiers, genetic destinies, twins, etc. As you fight the bosses and talk more with your support cast you learn more about everyone's histories and how they felt "boxed in" by their past selves and where they came from - Solid with his trauma at having to kill his mentor/father Big Boss, Meryl and trying to find her connection to her lost father as a soldier, Psycho mantis and his abusive father, Sniper wolf and her lack of home growing up, Liquid even trying to escape Big Boss AND Solid's shadow and feeling like Solid stole his genetic destiny from him, etc. etc. A lot of these are overdone in their melodrama (My girlfriend rolled her eyes at several scenes..) but ultimately I think are well told. The finale is a bit long in the tooth but ultimately quite good and the inestimable Jennifer Hale plays us out with the life lesson in that we have to CHOOSE what we dedicate ourselves to and then do it, not spend so much time worrying about where we are from and searching for where we should be. There's some tragedy to the story of course since I already know how Snake's story ends but overall I quite enjoy the ride.
With this remake we're dealing with the same story - Solid Snake is a gruff guy who pushes people away but gets shanghai-d into a mission to stop terrorists on an island off Alaska who've take control of a new Metal Gear - REX! He finds out there's a lot of shit going on underneath the surface and learns some real important life lessons along the way - the MGS standard! They brought back all of the original voice actors here and other than Cam Clarke as liquid doing a VERY unconvincing British accent (though Liquid himself is amazingly Hammy, I like to believe it is Liquid himself who is intentionally doing a bad accent) they're all pretty damn good. The dialogue however is quite poor in a lot of places and I'm curious if this game has a new script from the MGS 1 version because I don't remember it being this shitty in some places but.. I suppose I will have to replay the original to find out!
This game in particular has a very strong theme of "Genes", and I know this from my long history of deep dives in the MGS series and also because "Genes" pop up in nearly every other line of dialogue in the game. Genome soldiers, genetic destinies, twins, etc. As you fight the bosses and talk more with your support cast you learn more about everyone's histories and how they felt "boxed in" by their past selves and where they came from - Solid with his trauma at having to kill his mentor/father Big Boss, Meryl and trying to find her connection to her lost father as a soldier, Psycho mantis and his abusive father, Sniper wolf and her lack of home growing up, Liquid even trying to escape Big Boss AND Solid's shadow and feeling like Solid stole his genetic destiny from him, etc. etc. A lot of these are overdone in their melodrama (My girlfriend rolled her eyes at several scenes..) but ultimately I think are well told. The finale is a bit long in the tooth but ultimately quite good and the inestimable Jennifer Hale plays us out with the life lesson in that we have to CHOOSE what we dedicate ourselves to and then do it, not spend so much time worrying about where we are from and searching for where we should be. There's some tragedy to the story of course since I already know how Snake's story ends but overall I quite enjoy the ride.
2019
WHAT A GAME
That was my filler text in the post until I was ready to write the review, but I think I will leave it where it is. Control is a game by Remedy, makers of Alan Wake, Max Payne and Quantum Break. Their games have always looked interesting to me but outside of most of Max Payne 1 and an hour or so of Alan Wake (the review for which will follow this one shortly I am sure), I'd never given them much attention. But here comes Control with some very cool looking trailers showing off telekinesis powers and weird monsters and bizarre locales and that led me to do something I haven't done in quite a long time - purchase a game for 60 US dollars. Life is full of impulse decisions, and they often don't turn out very well, or at least as good as you hoped. Control however is definitely one of my best choices.
The game stars Jesse Faden (Fayden?), a young woman who has some mysterious incident involving her family and home town in her past that led to enormous amounts of death, and now she's hunting down the people who took her only remaining link to the world - her brother Dylan. She also talks to a mysterious entity only she knows about (who doesn't say anything back we can hear, only odd bright and swirling visual anomalies she seems to understand) pretty frequently, or we hear her thoughts about events and people she meets. I found her to be a compelling protagonist, with just enough relatable traits but also doesn't freak out every time something weird happens like a normal person (because the game would take 80 hours if so). Her growth through the story as a person and with her powers was one of the best parts of the story of the game, which is more interesting in concept than well executed.
The game is set in The Oldest House, a "building" in NYC, that on the outside is one thing, but on the inside is actually a sprawling extradimensional portal of sorts that the Federal Bureau of Control makes their home. This bureau finds all manner of paranormal and magical objects and tries to, well, control them. Ostensibly they say their mission is to contain, but as we learn through the story there is far too much dicking around with these objects of immense power to consider these folks safety oriented. Scattered throughout all the environments are HUNDREDS of notes, memos, pictures, short movies, etc. that talk about the various challenges and items the bureau encounters and how the people who work there deal with things. Each note you pick up is some combination of funny, interesting, or mysterious. They straight up lifted the SCP move of blacking out random nouns and verbs to make things spooky or funny, and it works damn well.
But how about the actual game itself? Oh yeah, that's a joy as well. At first you're limited to telekenis (awesome) and a regular semi-auto pistol (boring), but things mix up pretty fast with other powers and guns. About halfway through you gain the power of levitation however, and that is when shit officially Pops Off. Floating high above a battlefield and raining down missiles, debris, and the bodies of your foes upon those still unlucky enough to still live basically NEVER got old or boring. Environments are hugely destructible along with craploads of items that are able to be interacted with/manipulated. Neat artsy metal spheres in glass cases in a lobby? Grab them with your mind, yank them through the glass and hurl them through tables and chairs and watch all of it neatly fly up into the air and smash into concrete which shatters beaneath the weight of it all. Magnificent! Sadly I can't put gifs into these reviews otherwise you'd see twenty of those...
The last main topic to hit - the visual design. My god this game is gorgeous. Are the graphics great? Yes it looks amazing, but that's not what I'm talking about. The lighting, the cinematography, the layout of everything is just phenomenal. Almost every area that you walk into in this game is a visual feast which made exploration for its own sake a joy. Just look at all the fucking pictures I attached here, it is just stupendous and I feel like I'll never see anything great like this again. Which I suppose isn't fair, Dishonored 2 was only a few years ago and that was also amazing (but not Control amazing).
In the end, this is a fantastic game with only a few tiny niggles bringing it down. Jesse feels way too squishy throughout most of the game, there needs to be a few more guns/powers for offensive use, enemy variety is good, but needs to grow WAY past ordinary looking dudes (granted most of them can do weird shit, that is good), and the ending of the story doesn't really feel like an ending... But OH! It had a fake ending with fake credits!! I fucking loved that. Oh and the Ashtray Maze and when its special soundtrack kicks in and the game goes Doctor Strange/Inception on us...
That was my filler text in the post until I was ready to write the review, but I think I will leave it where it is. Control is a game by Remedy, makers of Alan Wake, Max Payne and Quantum Break. Their games have always looked interesting to me but outside of most of Max Payne 1 and an hour or so of Alan Wake (the review for which will follow this one shortly I am sure), I'd never given them much attention. But here comes Control with some very cool looking trailers showing off telekinesis powers and weird monsters and bizarre locales and that led me to do something I haven't done in quite a long time - purchase a game for 60 US dollars. Life is full of impulse decisions, and they often don't turn out very well, or at least as good as you hoped. Control however is definitely one of my best choices.
The game stars Jesse Faden (Fayden?), a young woman who has some mysterious incident involving her family and home town in her past that led to enormous amounts of death, and now she's hunting down the people who took her only remaining link to the world - her brother Dylan. She also talks to a mysterious entity only she knows about (who doesn't say anything back we can hear, only odd bright and swirling visual anomalies she seems to understand) pretty frequently, or we hear her thoughts about events and people she meets. I found her to be a compelling protagonist, with just enough relatable traits but also doesn't freak out every time something weird happens like a normal person (because the game would take 80 hours if so). Her growth through the story as a person and with her powers was one of the best parts of the story of the game, which is more interesting in concept than well executed.
The game is set in The Oldest House, a "building" in NYC, that on the outside is one thing, but on the inside is actually a sprawling extradimensional portal of sorts that the Federal Bureau of Control makes their home. This bureau finds all manner of paranormal and magical objects and tries to, well, control them. Ostensibly they say their mission is to contain, but as we learn through the story there is far too much dicking around with these objects of immense power to consider these folks safety oriented. Scattered throughout all the environments are HUNDREDS of notes, memos, pictures, short movies, etc. that talk about the various challenges and items the bureau encounters and how the people who work there deal with things. Each note you pick up is some combination of funny, interesting, or mysterious. They straight up lifted the SCP move of blacking out random nouns and verbs to make things spooky or funny, and it works damn well.
But how about the actual game itself? Oh yeah, that's a joy as well. At first you're limited to telekenis (awesome) and a regular semi-auto pistol (boring), but things mix up pretty fast with other powers and guns. About halfway through you gain the power of levitation however, and that is when shit officially Pops Off. Floating high above a battlefield and raining down missiles, debris, and the bodies of your foes upon those still unlucky enough to still live basically NEVER got old or boring. Environments are hugely destructible along with craploads of items that are able to be interacted with/manipulated. Neat artsy metal spheres in glass cases in a lobby? Grab them with your mind, yank them through the glass and hurl them through tables and chairs and watch all of it neatly fly up into the air and smash into concrete which shatters beaneath the weight of it all. Magnificent! Sadly I can't put gifs into these reviews otherwise you'd see twenty of those...
The last main topic to hit - the visual design. My god this game is gorgeous. Are the graphics great? Yes it looks amazing, but that's not what I'm talking about. The lighting, the cinematography, the layout of everything is just phenomenal. Almost every area that you walk into in this game is a visual feast which made exploration for its own sake a joy. Just look at all the fucking pictures I attached here, it is just stupendous and I feel like I'll never see anything great like this again. Which I suppose isn't fair, Dishonored 2 was only a few years ago and that was also amazing (but not Control amazing).
In the end, this is a fantastic game with only a few tiny niggles bringing it down. Jesse feels way too squishy throughout most of the game, there needs to be a few more guns/powers for offensive use, enemy variety is good, but needs to grow WAY past ordinary looking dudes (granted most of them can do weird shit, that is good), and the ending of the story doesn't really feel like an ending... But OH! It had a fake ending with fake credits!! I fucking loved that. Oh and the Ashtray Maze and when its special soundtrack kicks in and the game goes Doctor Strange/Inception on us...
Continuing our roll of Metal Gear games, Snake Eater! This game I only played many many years after its release, around 2012 or 13 I believe with the release of the HD collection on 360/PS3.. So I don't have QUITE the strong attachment to it that I do for MGS1 and MGS2 especially. However I do remember REALLY loving the game the last few times I played it, I even platinumed it! So this run was a bit disappointing I will not lie..
I played the game on Hard difficulty, keeping with my Twin Snakes and Sons of Liberty playthroughs. And while those were definitely TOUGH, I felt the hard mode in Snake Eater was a REAL son of a bitch in many places and honestly hampered my enjoyment of the game. It feels much more like a Stealth game than the other two, which is surprising that I did not respond better to that as I love the stealth genre? However I have two major issues with the game - 1. The camo system and 2. the lack of any enemy tracking system. MGS3 does a lot to be more Systems driven in its gameplay than the first two Metal Gear games are and in a lot of ways that is superb and well appreciated, but in these two instances it was the cause of a lot of frustration for me. The camo system makes the stealth system have some semblance of SENSE to it (why couldn't those genetically enhanced guards see more than 10 feet in front of their face in MGS1?) and that is great - but why do I have to dig through 3 menu screens to put on a proper camo to fit my location? MGS4 fixes this but I do think a simple menu selection system would've helped greatly here. It was just SO damn frustrating to be crawling around and because I went from one type of ground to another (often very similar colors...) the guards got suspicious and spotted me leading to a whole rigamarole of trying to get the guards to kill me so I could retstart because I do NOT want to wait 4 entire fuckin' minutes for the alert phase to end and I can get back to moving about NO MATTER HOW DAMN GOOD THE MUSIC IS OKAY
Secondly, the lack of enemy tracking. No soliton radar? Great, it was OP as shit anyway and kinda holding back the gameplay anyway, and doesn't really make sense/work with the camo system. However the replacement system is... a heartbeat monitor that beeps more when you get closer to enemies? But it has no directional function and enemies can see you from a huge distance away, making it more or less worthless. There are NVG/Heat sensors as well but honestly it always felt very clunky trying to make sure I wasn't seen as I was creeping about.. In the hard mode there definitely needs to be more feedback in who is where and what they know - that's critical to a stealth game I feel. Or I just need to play on Normal from now on unless I'm willing to play it more often haha...
So anyway onto the good - the music is top-fuckin-notch. The other Metal Gear games are no slouches in that department, but this game really sets the bar. I could listen to the alert/caution music all day, and am in fact listening to it right now. It plays so well with the tension of the scene that I never got tired of hearing it, and that's good since I got a bajillion alerts! The story is told very well - it is a much more straightforward event than MGS2 and that feels deliberate - I feel like MGS 3 is Kojima basically telling everyone "I could've made the perfect MGS1 sequel the entire time, I just didn't WANT TO that was the point". The stakes are very clear - Your former mentor has betrayed you to a crazy splinter faction of the soviet union, you need to take her and her team of badasses down so you can stop the new Metal Gear Shagohod from destroying world peace as a nuclear armed tank. And this one actually even makes sense as a nuclear tank! You meet a young Ocelot and another young spy named Eva who help you out on your quest, and there's the usual amount of double/triple/quadruple crossing going on for an MGS story, with just enough poignancy to make the ending tremendously bittersweet and impactful. You see where Big Boss is heading - a driven man who only wants to make a safe "Haven" for soldiers, no longer to be used and thrown away by their governments when convenient. Outer Heaven!!
Solid but nail-biting difficulty, frustrating menu systems for stealth and healing, compelling story that's actually well edited.. A fantastic game that may ultimately just be the best MGS overall - but honestly just not my favorite? Or I just was overconfident on this one haha...
I played the game on Hard difficulty, keeping with my Twin Snakes and Sons of Liberty playthroughs. And while those were definitely TOUGH, I felt the hard mode in Snake Eater was a REAL son of a bitch in many places and honestly hampered my enjoyment of the game. It feels much more like a Stealth game than the other two, which is surprising that I did not respond better to that as I love the stealth genre? However I have two major issues with the game - 1. The camo system and 2. the lack of any enemy tracking system. MGS3 does a lot to be more Systems driven in its gameplay than the first two Metal Gear games are and in a lot of ways that is superb and well appreciated, but in these two instances it was the cause of a lot of frustration for me. The camo system makes the stealth system have some semblance of SENSE to it (why couldn't those genetically enhanced guards see more than 10 feet in front of their face in MGS1?) and that is great - but why do I have to dig through 3 menu screens to put on a proper camo to fit my location? MGS4 fixes this but I do think a simple menu selection system would've helped greatly here. It was just SO damn frustrating to be crawling around and because I went from one type of ground to another (often very similar colors...) the guards got suspicious and spotted me leading to a whole rigamarole of trying to get the guards to kill me so I could retstart because I do NOT want to wait 4 entire fuckin' minutes for the alert phase to end and I can get back to moving about NO MATTER HOW DAMN GOOD THE MUSIC IS OKAY
Secondly, the lack of enemy tracking. No soliton radar? Great, it was OP as shit anyway and kinda holding back the gameplay anyway, and doesn't really make sense/work with the camo system. However the replacement system is... a heartbeat monitor that beeps more when you get closer to enemies? But it has no directional function and enemies can see you from a huge distance away, making it more or less worthless. There are NVG/Heat sensors as well but honestly it always felt very clunky trying to make sure I wasn't seen as I was creeping about.. In the hard mode there definitely needs to be more feedback in who is where and what they know - that's critical to a stealth game I feel. Or I just need to play on Normal from now on unless I'm willing to play it more often haha...
So anyway onto the good - the music is top-fuckin-notch. The other Metal Gear games are no slouches in that department, but this game really sets the bar. I could listen to the alert/caution music all day, and am in fact listening to it right now. It plays so well with the tension of the scene that I never got tired of hearing it, and that's good since I got a bajillion alerts! The story is told very well - it is a much more straightforward event than MGS2 and that feels deliberate - I feel like MGS 3 is Kojima basically telling everyone "I could've made the perfect MGS1 sequel the entire time, I just didn't WANT TO that was the point". The stakes are very clear - Your former mentor has betrayed you to a crazy splinter faction of the soviet union, you need to take her and her team of badasses down so you can stop the new Metal Gear Shagohod from destroying world peace as a nuclear armed tank. And this one actually even makes sense as a nuclear tank! You meet a young Ocelot and another young spy named Eva who help you out on your quest, and there's the usual amount of double/triple/quadruple crossing going on for an MGS story, with just enough poignancy to make the ending tremendously bittersweet and impactful. You see where Big Boss is heading - a driven man who only wants to make a safe "Haven" for soldiers, no longer to be used and thrown away by their governments when convenient. Outer Heaven!!
Solid but nail-biting difficulty, frustrating menu systems for stealth and healing, compelling story that's actually well edited.. A fantastic game that may ultimately just be the best MGS overall - but honestly just not my favorite? Or I just was overconfident on this one haha...
2021
The first Final Fantasy! I've been playing the PSP version off an on but rarely got very far in it - I played the original with a friend decades ago (we had fun making a bunch of different names based off our friends) but no idea how far we got. But then Square decided to remake 1-6 in a new pixel style and I decided to leap in from the start!
So from the get go - this game, despite the many cool additions over the years, IS OLD! The story is barebones even by low standards, there are lots of glaring gameplay oddities we'll get to, the pacing is off... but damn it is a solid game
The job selection process and getting to choose the names is very cool and adds replay
Story is barebones and then gets needlessly VERY confusing at the end for... some reason? To call you the hero I guess/to justify replaying with a new party.
So from the get go - this game, despite the many cool additions over the years, IS OLD! The story is barebones even by low standards, there are lots of glaring gameplay oddities we'll get to, the pacing is off... but damn it is a solid game
The job selection process and getting to choose the names is very cool and adds replay
Story is barebones and then gets needlessly VERY confusing at the end for... some reason? To call you the hero I guess/to justify replaying with a new party.
An exceptional RPG that should be experienced by anyone who loves games or rpgs or stories or being human
Do it for the working class.
Do it for the wind.
Do it for the working class.
Do it for the wind.
Siege of Dragonspear is technically just a big X-pac for Baldur's Gate 1 which I finished on the Switch earlier this year - however it is QUITE big and if we're going to include Throne of Bhaal in the reviews (and you bet your butt we are), then Siege gets its day in the limelight as well... though I'm not sure that is much in its favor to be reviewed on its own, rather than merely a part of BG1...
Dragonspear was made 15 years after BG1 and is made by a different developer (Beamdog, made up of a lot of ex-BioWare folks in fairness) but tries to make the feel as close to the original series as possible in spirit, though it does its best to serve as a bridge between BG1 and 2 in pretty much every way.
Like 2, Dragonspear's characters are much more fleshed out and talkative about their opinions and quests. Many of the characters from 1 return, especially if they will be back in a bigger way in 2 or if we never hear from them in 2 - Dragonspear tries to 'close the loop' as it were on what their characters were up to while the Bhaalspawn was hoofing it around Atkathla. Overall the characters in Dragonspear are quite good - Jaheira and Khalid actually show affection for each other, Safana gets a bit of cleverness and wit added to her usual schtick of "I use my sexuality 100% of the time" and we even see Imoen training as a mage! Pretty cool actually. I do have a beef though - this would be a great time to flesh out Imoen even more as a character but instead the game goes in the complete opposite direction, making her not a party member for essentially the entire game! Kinda bullshit, makes it harder to care about her in BG2 if you didn't already...? Like what even is the point of going to get her if you barely know her? I'm sure they had their reasons but it just doesn't sit too well with me..
Combat-wise Dragonspear uses the development of computer tech in the past decade+ to great effect. There are SEVERAL enormous battles that take place in this, including two full-on siege battles if you so choose that are epic as hell to look at, if not a complete clusterfuck.. The switch version can BARELY handle these by the way, hahaha... Also there are two sections in Baldur's Gate where it actually FEELS like you're in a GIANT ASS CITY, which is a great feeling that many RPGs fall flat on. Getting to see the throngs of people squished into the city due to the actions of Caelar's crusade is a fantastic touch.
Speaking of the story - it is... pretty good? Not superb, but good. Caelar Argent is an Aasimar knight and she is on a MISSION: to invade the nine hells and get back lost souls! Pretty righteous and awesome right? Now of course you might think "why would anyone want to stop this? She's automatically the good guy!", well, you are given several good lines at calling this out - invading hell is straight up insane, there are TONS of devils and you're fighting them on your home turf. Sure you might save a few, but how many more would you lose? It's madness to try, and that's why you need to stop her! Of course the game gives you a better reason - she attacks you and Imoen in the middle of the night and makes it personal! We later learn she was not trying to kill you but rather capture you for your blood, but still it is damn stupid to pick a fight with you. Don't worry though, we've got a whole other 2 games of people trying... Anyway - you later learn that Caelar is actually only in this for one man: her uncle, who took her place in the hells after she accidentally got herself locked up as an arrogant child. A pretty touching story honestly, and gives her some nicely needed depth as an antagonist though I do wish you could do a little more with it, the game ends like 10 minutes after this revelation...After this, Irenicus frames you for murder and you beat feet out of Baldur's Gate to... BG2!!
Overall I do think Siege of Dragonspear is a pretty solid addition to the BG saga, albeit not really a necessary one. The combat sections are pretty solid, the characters are decent enough, and the story is good for what it is, but it doesn't really feel complete as a whole. The story beats are pretty short, and the areas you wander and explore are quite limited past their immediate quest functions. It all LOOKS great and sounds great but feels, ultimately, just a bit hollow. Probably why Beamdog never got another shot at the series.
Dragonspear was made 15 years after BG1 and is made by a different developer (Beamdog, made up of a lot of ex-BioWare folks in fairness) but tries to make the feel as close to the original series as possible in spirit, though it does its best to serve as a bridge between BG1 and 2 in pretty much every way.
Like 2, Dragonspear's characters are much more fleshed out and talkative about their opinions and quests. Many of the characters from 1 return, especially if they will be back in a bigger way in 2 or if we never hear from them in 2 - Dragonspear tries to 'close the loop' as it were on what their characters were up to while the Bhaalspawn was hoofing it around Atkathla. Overall the characters in Dragonspear are quite good - Jaheira and Khalid actually show affection for each other, Safana gets a bit of cleverness and wit added to her usual schtick of "I use my sexuality 100% of the time" and we even see Imoen training as a mage! Pretty cool actually. I do have a beef though - this would be a great time to flesh out Imoen even more as a character but instead the game goes in the complete opposite direction, making her not a party member for essentially the entire game! Kinda bullshit, makes it harder to care about her in BG2 if you didn't already...? Like what even is the point of going to get her if you barely know her? I'm sure they had their reasons but it just doesn't sit too well with me..
Combat-wise Dragonspear uses the development of computer tech in the past decade+ to great effect. There are SEVERAL enormous battles that take place in this, including two full-on siege battles if you so choose that are epic as hell to look at, if not a complete clusterfuck.. The switch version can BARELY handle these by the way, hahaha... Also there are two sections in Baldur's Gate where it actually FEELS like you're in a GIANT ASS CITY, which is a great feeling that many RPGs fall flat on. Getting to see the throngs of people squished into the city due to the actions of Caelar's crusade is a fantastic touch.
Speaking of the story - it is... pretty good? Not superb, but good. Caelar Argent is an Aasimar knight and she is on a MISSION: to invade the nine hells and get back lost souls! Pretty righteous and awesome right? Now of course you might think "why would anyone want to stop this? She's automatically the good guy!", well, you are given several good lines at calling this out - invading hell is straight up insane, there are TONS of devils and you're fighting them on your home turf. Sure you might save a few, but how many more would you lose? It's madness to try, and that's why you need to stop her! Of course the game gives you a better reason - she attacks you and Imoen in the middle of the night and makes it personal! We later learn she was not trying to kill you but rather capture you for your blood, but still it is damn stupid to pick a fight with you. Don't worry though, we've got a whole other 2 games of people trying... Anyway - you later learn that Caelar is actually only in this for one man: her uncle, who took her place in the hells after she accidentally got herself locked up as an arrogant child. A pretty touching story honestly, and gives her some nicely needed depth as an antagonist though I do wish you could do a little more with it, the game ends like 10 minutes after this revelation...After this, Irenicus frames you for murder and you beat feet out of Baldur's Gate to... BG2!!
Overall I do think Siege of Dragonspear is a pretty solid addition to the BG saga, albeit not really a necessary one. The combat sections are pretty solid, the characters are decent enough, and the story is good for what it is, but it doesn't really feel complete as a whole. The story beats are pretty short, and the areas you wander and explore are quite limited past their immediate quest functions. It all LOOKS great and sounds great but feels, ultimately, just a bit hollow. Probably why Beamdog never got another shot at the series.