DourCricket
2019
Disco Elysium - AKA - No Truce With the Furies. I had been following this game under its previous title for quite some time, and was pretty excited about it. A dialogue driven RPG focusing on replayability and ROLE PLAYING above all else, set in a bizarre anachronistic world sounded pretty cool to me. Now that I've actually played it, it's quite a bit better than cool...
There's a lot to talk about with Disco, and I'm not entirely sure where to start, so I'll just start listing stuff. This game is hysterical, I can't remember a game that has made me laugh more than this one. This game has a fascinating talent/perk tree where your thoughts talk to you. It has an emphasis on dialogue, but is generally quite pithy. It encourages you to talk, but not just say anything because you might piss everyone off. There are 'cop' archetypes, and they're great - Sorry Cop, Apocalypse Cop, Supercop, etc. Your partner Kitsuragi is a fucking bro. The main story is pretty good, but the side stuff and characters and just HEART make this game shine.
You're an amnesiac cop in a part of town that is 99% union controlled - and your authority doesn't quite reach alllll the way here, due to some background politics stuff you find out more and more about as the game goes on. This is a very lived in world, and it becomes clearer the longer you go the devs worked their asses off on making this feel like a real place. As you move through the story, time passes by either investigating things or talking to folks, and the mood of the day changes significantly as time passes. Normally I'm not a huge fan of 'timed' elements, but Disco Elysium makes them work well by rarely having anything be actually timed, you can try again tomorrow if you miss something specific.
As you move through this world and progress, you get skill points to invest in your 'thought cabinet'. This shows all of your different personality aspects (24 in total) who as you rank them up, get more and more to say in dialogue to let you know what is going on underneath the surface. High Empathy? You know when others are suffering and what to say. High Logic? Easily point out others mistakes to trap them in lies. High Espirit De Corps? Read your fellow police officers (including your partner) like a map and play off of them easily. High Physical Instrument? Kick ass and take names!! I had terrible physical stats and almost died fetching my tie from ceiling fan.... as you level up you put points into these and they can do more for you. My main stat was Volition and he was a total bro. He's essentially my will-power, and moral guideline. My very high volition also was able to spot when my other stats were compromised by being Into a certain young lady. He always looked out for me :'(
This game is filled to the brim with beautiful and wonderful moments. The art style is incredibly expressive, and the music is somber with a touch of upbeat and inquisitive. There are tons of great moments of humanity in this game, ugly and brutal, sensitive and kind. Sitting with Kitsuragi on the swings awaiting a thawed ice sheet, investigating a Bear refrigerator, hunting a definitely-not-real cryptid for an aged married couple (AMAZING ENDING TO THIS), tracking down the killer, going over your first day back on the job on a balcony with a cigarette... Great great shit. There's a whole other entry for Disco Elysium just for all my favorite moments!
On the downsides, it is ALL talking, and I do think there needed to be SOME other gameplay hook to balance things out a bit. I've no idea what, and it could have easily backfired if done wrong, but it got to be a little much at times. Also there's a couple of things where, if I hadn't just save-scummed, I'm not sure I could have finished the quest. There needed to be some other way to redo checks, or just make sure I passed a certain check when I needed to. All in all, this is a superb RPG and I'm a bit worried it is hurting my feelings for other RPGs I am currently playing because of it hahaha.. it has heart, it has creativity, it has beauty and I love it.
There's a lot to talk about with Disco, and I'm not entirely sure where to start, so I'll just start listing stuff. This game is hysterical, I can't remember a game that has made me laugh more than this one. This game has a fascinating talent/perk tree where your thoughts talk to you. It has an emphasis on dialogue, but is generally quite pithy. It encourages you to talk, but not just say anything because you might piss everyone off. There are 'cop' archetypes, and they're great - Sorry Cop, Apocalypse Cop, Supercop, etc. Your partner Kitsuragi is a fucking bro. The main story is pretty good, but the side stuff and characters and just HEART make this game shine.
You're an amnesiac cop in a part of town that is 99% union controlled - and your authority doesn't quite reach alllll the way here, due to some background politics stuff you find out more and more about as the game goes on. This is a very lived in world, and it becomes clearer the longer you go the devs worked their asses off on making this feel like a real place. As you move through the story, time passes by either investigating things or talking to folks, and the mood of the day changes significantly as time passes. Normally I'm not a huge fan of 'timed' elements, but Disco Elysium makes them work well by rarely having anything be actually timed, you can try again tomorrow if you miss something specific.
As you move through this world and progress, you get skill points to invest in your 'thought cabinet'. This shows all of your different personality aspects (24 in total) who as you rank them up, get more and more to say in dialogue to let you know what is going on underneath the surface. High Empathy? You know when others are suffering and what to say. High Logic? Easily point out others mistakes to trap them in lies. High Espirit De Corps? Read your fellow police officers (including your partner) like a map and play off of them easily. High Physical Instrument? Kick ass and take names!! I had terrible physical stats and almost died fetching my tie from ceiling fan.... as you level up you put points into these and they can do more for you. My main stat was Volition and he was a total bro. He's essentially my will-power, and moral guideline. My very high volition also was able to spot when my other stats were compromised by being Into a certain young lady. He always looked out for me :'(
This game is filled to the brim with beautiful and wonderful moments. The art style is incredibly expressive, and the music is somber with a touch of upbeat and inquisitive. There are tons of great moments of humanity in this game, ugly and brutal, sensitive and kind. Sitting with Kitsuragi on the swings awaiting a thawed ice sheet, investigating a Bear refrigerator, hunting a definitely-not-real cryptid for an aged married couple (AMAZING ENDING TO THIS), tracking down the killer, going over your first day back on the job on a balcony with a cigarette... Great great shit. There's a whole other entry for Disco Elysium just for all my favorite moments!
On the downsides, it is ALL talking, and I do think there needed to be SOME other gameplay hook to balance things out a bit. I've no idea what, and it could have easily backfired if done wrong, but it got to be a little much at times. Also there's a couple of things where, if I hadn't just save-scummed, I'm not sure I could have finished the quest. There needed to be some other way to redo checks, or just make sure I passed a certain check when I needed to. All in all, this is a superb RPG and I'm a bit worried it is hurting my feelings for other RPGs I am currently playing because of it hahaha.. it has heart, it has creativity, it has beauty and I love it.
So, I sort of finished this game...? I beat Zorah Magdaros this time, and there was a credits scene! Now, there's a meaningful post-game to this story of course, and I feel like I should probably get there buuuuut... I dunno, just wasn't interested in fighting these monsters a whole bunch of times again just to track down a pink Rathian? Anyway, I consider myself finished with it and it sorta cemented my decision to skip Iceborne, so here's my review!
I may not LOVE Monster Hunter, but I sure as hell respect it. What do you do in this game, Monster Hunter? You hunt monsters! No fuss, no "Disco what now??" feelings on the title, just good ol' killin' nazis. I mean monsters! Each monster has a name and their own personalities, and that is 99% of the combat and gameplay in the game is taking on these big beasties. Each monster lives in an ecosystem in each of the 5 maps with others, some are exclusive to a 'zone', but some are found in multiple areas. This can lead to some superb moments where others will show up in your battles leading to some epic clashes. More than once Anjanath (a firebreathing, furry T-rex. Oh and it has wings too) showed up during my hunts to take on whatever I was tangling with at the time and I would politely excuse myself off to the sideline and watch them duke it out. It was never not awesome to watch one mini-Kaiju bodyslam another one and shoot fire at it.
The primary loop for the game is hunting monsters for their bodyparts, building up new weapons and armor, and going to take on bigger and better challenges. This is generally pretty 'easy' during most of the game, but eventually led to me getting to the first first 'ending' of the game and calling it quits. Normally I'd only have to kill a monster maybe one extra time, often not even that, to get necessary parts or just to move the story along. However in the 'post' game, you have to hunt many new 'versions' of the previous monsters to track down the big bosses, and they didn't feel very new or interesting to me so I ended up calling it quits at that point. The core gameplay is certainly great but I just don't have time to kill three dragons 6 times each to make sure my gear is up to par for the next fight...
Story and character wise, the game is pretty much a wash. You're a blank slate, your Palico is just a yes-man with cat puns, Mercer plays a team leader whose grandpa is still in charge of the New World base... you'd think there might be some drama or intrigue in this story, some sort of tension about giant monsters roaming the land but.... Nah. Nothing much. Not terrible but not great.
Overall a very interesting and enjoyable game that is one of the finer 'treadmills' I've seen, but I'm just a bit too old and short on time to really give it its' due.
I may not LOVE Monster Hunter, but I sure as hell respect it. What do you do in this game, Monster Hunter? You hunt monsters! No fuss, no "Disco what now??" feelings on the title, just good ol' killin' nazis. I mean monsters! Each monster has a name and their own personalities, and that is 99% of the combat and gameplay in the game is taking on these big beasties. Each monster lives in an ecosystem in each of the 5 maps with others, some are exclusive to a 'zone', but some are found in multiple areas. This can lead to some superb moments where others will show up in your battles leading to some epic clashes. More than once Anjanath (a firebreathing, furry T-rex. Oh and it has wings too) showed up during my hunts to take on whatever I was tangling with at the time and I would politely excuse myself off to the sideline and watch them duke it out. It was never not awesome to watch one mini-Kaiju bodyslam another one and shoot fire at it.
The primary loop for the game is hunting monsters for their bodyparts, building up new weapons and armor, and going to take on bigger and better challenges. This is generally pretty 'easy' during most of the game, but eventually led to me getting to the first first 'ending' of the game and calling it quits. Normally I'd only have to kill a monster maybe one extra time, often not even that, to get necessary parts or just to move the story along. However in the 'post' game, you have to hunt many new 'versions' of the previous monsters to track down the big bosses, and they didn't feel very new or interesting to me so I ended up calling it quits at that point. The core gameplay is certainly great but I just don't have time to kill three dragons 6 times each to make sure my gear is up to par for the next fight...
Story and character wise, the game is pretty much a wash. You're a blank slate, your Palico is just a yes-man with cat puns, Mercer plays a team leader whose grandpa is still in charge of the New World base... you'd think there might be some drama or intrigue in this story, some sort of tension about giant monsters roaming the land but.... Nah. Nothing much. Not terrible but not great.
Overall a very interesting and enjoyable game that is one of the finer 'treadmills' I've seen, but I'm just a bit too old and short on time to really give it its' due.
2019
Ooof, Observation. I've been looking forward to playing this one for at least a year, after I tried this developers previous game Stories Untold (review shortly after this one!) and have kept my eye on it. I bought it on the EGS a few months ago and figured Halloween is a great time to sit down and play it!
I kinda wish I hadn't. The game is set in the near future, and you are an AI of some limitations, on a space station a few miles above Earth. The game opens with the 'incident', where power is lost and one of your crewmembers boots you back up, and you need to work with them to get shit figured out. This is initially very interesting as you have to work from limited camera work and interface with other systems to get things done, but this also leads to the games main issue - the cameras move slow as SHIT and what you need to do is always an open question.
The game will give you goals frequently, but tell you almost nothing about how to complete them. Turn this on, set this to locked, open the doors, etc. You then have to 'wander' the camera around each area to try and find WTF the game is talking about and then figure out how the hell it wants to do shit. I had to look up at least 5 puzzles because I had no frickin' clue what the game actually wanted me to do. There's also a pretty severe lack of reactivity and believability with some of what the characters do. There's one scene where you're some doors to keep a character somewhere... there are FOUR exits to the room, and it takes a full 30~ seconds for you to deal with each. Why didn't they just leave?!?!
The story has some interesting and shocking beats to it (We're above Saturn!), but ultimately leans heavily into the MYSTERY of it all, and I'm usually not a big fan of that. I like the unknown and the mysterious, but when 95% of a horror/sci-fi thing goes completely unexplained and unaddressed, I'm just left disappointed. What is the marker? How did we GET to Saturn? When/Who/How was the original message sent? How are there so many of us? What is this 'planet'? How did SAM evolve? How did Fisher evolve? Why are some copies evil? What is happening to SAM at the end? "BRING HER" "BRING THEM" what does any of that mean? Not all of these questions need answers obviously, but SOME of them definitely do to feel meaningful. I didn't even know what to think or feel at the end, it just LOOKED cool, and nothing else.
I kinda wish I hadn't. The game is set in the near future, and you are an AI of some limitations, on a space station a few miles above Earth. The game opens with the 'incident', where power is lost and one of your crewmembers boots you back up, and you need to work with them to get shit figured out. This is initially very interesting as you have to work from limited camera work and interface with other systems to get things done, but this also leads to the games main issue - the cameras move slow as SHIT and what you need to do is always an open question.
The game will give you goals frequently, but tell you almost nothing about how to complete them. Turn this on, set this to locked, open the doors, etc. You then have to 'wander' the camera around each area to try and find WTF the game is talking about and then figure out how the hell it wants to do shit. I had to look up at least 5 puzzles because I had no frickin' clue what the game actually wanted me to do. There's also a pretty severe lack of reactivity and believability with some of what the characters do. There's one scene where you're some doors to keep a character somewhere... there are FOUR exits to the room, and it takes a full 30~ seconds for you to deal with each. Why didn't they just leave?!?!
The story has some interesting and shocking beats to it (We're above Saturn!), but ultimately leans heavily into the MYSTERY of it all, and I'm usually not a big fan of that. I like the unknown and the mysterious, but when 95% of a horror/sci-fi thing goes completely unexplained and unaddressed, I'm just left disappointed. What is the marker? How did we GET to Saturn? When/Who/How was the original message sent? How are there so many of us? What is this 'planet'? How did SAM evolve? How did Fisher evolve? Why are some copies evil? What is happening to SAM at the end? "BRING HER" "BRING THEM" what does any of that mean? Not all of these questions need answers obviously, but SOME of them definitely do to feel meaningful. I didn't even know what to think or feel at the end, it just LOOKED cool, and nothing else.
2019
Ahh, Goose Game. It's turned into an Internet Thing, at this point, a Meme if you will, but Brynne and I were on this game before it was cool! And speaking of Brynne, we played the vast majority of this together, and had a very entertaining and stealthy and goosey time. Goosey is a thing right?
You are a goose in small-town England, right out of Hot Fuzz. It's a peaceful day in the village, and you are a vindictive goose out to terrorize the locals. You work your way through several areas of the town with a trusty checklist of being a real spotted dick - stealing glasses, breaking property, locking people in garages, posing for applause... okay that last one wasn't that mean but it was still funny. As you work down your checklist of nefarious deeds, new areas will open up and you will wreak havoc on a new group of folks.
Each area has some mini story to tell about the folks that stay there, and they're all pretty entertaining. My favorite is probably a pair of neighbors who clearly butt-heads regularly, as anything you do out of sight will cause one to start yelling the other and blaming them haha... There's also a moment in each segment where after you've caused enough havoc, the owner will bust out a No-Goose sign and hammer it down in the yard and proceed to chase you off. At first you will think "How did everyone have these goose signs ready?!" but oh no, there's payoff to that!
The game has certain stealth elements to it as well, as you are unable to fight off or manipulate the people you run across physically so there's some sneaking and hiding elements as well. Metal Goose Solid is a running gag on the internet right now and it's not too far off in my estimation. Hopefully in the sequel we'll get to meet the Goose's lost rival, whose wing is a transplant of the Goose's brother while standing on top of a metal gear shouting BROTHERRRRRRR... if only we can get so lucky.
So I guess I can wrap this up with only one thing to say: I blame it on the juice, I blame it on that Goose baby.
You are a goose in small-town England, right out of Hot Fuzz. It's a peaceful day in the village, and you are a vindictive goose out to terrorize the locals. You work your way through several areas of the town with a trusty checklist of being a real spotted dick - stealing glasses, breaking property, locking people in garages, posing for applause... okay that last one wasn't that mean but it was still funny. As you work down your checklist of nefarious deeds, new areas will open up and you will wreak havoc on a new group of folks.
Each area has some mini story to tell about the folks that stay there, and they're all pretty entertaining. My favorite is probably a pair of neighbors who clearly butt-heads regularly, as anything you do out of sight will cause one to start yelling the other and blaming them haha... There's also a moment in each segment where after you've caused enough havoc, the owner will bust out a No-Goose sign and hammer it down in the yard and proceed to chase you off. At first you will think "How did everyone have these goose signs ready?!" but oh no, there's payoff to that!
The game has certain stealth elements to it as well, as you are unable to fight off or manipulate the people you run across physically so there's some sneaking and hiding elements as well. Metal Goose Solid is a running gag on the internet right now and it's not too far off in my estimation. Hopefully in the sequel we'll get to meet the Goose's lost rival, whose wing is a transplant of the Goose's brother while standing on top of a metal gear shouting BROTHERRRRRRR... if only we can get so lucky.
So I guess I can wrap this up with only one thing to say: I blame it on the juice, I blame it on that Goose baby.
2017
Finished it two years later! So, I replayed this game because I only half finished it back in the day, but I really liked it. I liked it so much, I kept an eye on the devs with their next project - Observation. I haven't written my observation review yet, and that's okay because I kind of hated it. Since I did not like it, I thought I should go back and finish this to perk my feelings back up. So I did!
Untold Stories is a horror game a couple of years old, that is technically 4 separate stories each with their own gameplay quirks. The first one is pretty solidly the best one, as a text adventure set with a creepy background about a man returning to his childhood home and finding things.... wrong. Each of the stories goes into some separate tale of isolation and woe, and they do culminate in a meaningful ending of sorts in the fourth story that I did not expect but enjoyed!
The second story is more weird than scary, but I appreciated the visuals and theme. The third SEEMS like it is going to be a terrifying monster/invasion story, but never actually pays it off? You also spend a lot of time doing annoying busywork in that one to get the story rolling and that was pretttty lame. And then you think cool shit is about to happen, and you switch to direct character control rather than oblique interactions AAAAAANNNND... nothing?! Ah well. The fourth story is a mix of the previous three, showing how they're actually connected in some unexpected manners.
The game is only a few hours long, so not a tremendous amount to talk about. Each story is at least interesting enough to want to get through, has some very nice visuals and tells a compelling story. It makes me wish we got a proper sequel instead of... Observation.
Untold Stories is a horror game a couple of years old, that is technically 4 separate stories each with their own gameplay quirks. The first one is pretty solidly the best one, as a text adventure set with a creepy background about a man returning to his childhood home and finding things.... wrong. Each of the stories goes into some separate tale of isolation and woe, and they do culminate in a meaningful ending of sorts in the fourth story that I did not expect but enjoyed!
The second story is more weird than scary, but I appreciated the visuals and theme. The third SEEMS like it is going to be a terrifying monster/invasion story, but never actually pays it off? You also spend a lot of time doing annoying busywork in that one to get the story rolling and that was pretttty lame. And then you think cool shit is about to happen, and you switch to direct character control rather than oblique interactions AAAAAANNNND... nothing?! Ah well. The fourth story is a mix of the previous three, showing how they're actually connected in some unexpected manners.
The game is only a few hours long, so not a tremendous amount to talk about. Each story is at least interesting enough to want to get through, has some very nice visuals and tells a compelling story. It makes me wish we got a proper sequel instead of... Observation.
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...
Hitman 2 - Season Pass
#39
PC - Steam
Beaten October 14th
Nearing the end of the year, I return to one of the first games from this year (that actually released in 2018) to go through all of the DLC content now that it is released. I'm usually not one for going through DLC piecemeal, it usually feels like a waste of time/money to do things one at a time rather than in a nice chunk. For Hitman 2, I purchased the season pass shortly after beating the main game on a decent sale, and I've now come back to finish it all as IO Interactive announces they're finished with the major updates.
The DLC is composed of two proper maps and some sniper challenges (I did not bother with the latter), a bank heist mission and a tropical island adventure! An adventure about murder. Oddly enough this second mission has a few interesting angles I will get to shortly.. I also did two Elusive Targets that popped up while going through these levels, and those are neat. It took me forever to find the first target, and then ended up electrocuting myself before taking her out, locking me from the misssion... oops. The second went better, dropped an explosive ducky next to her and booked it out of there!
The bank level is a bit small, definitely larger than Hawke's Bay but not really full-level sized I thought. It looks excellent and there's plenty of challenge in figuring out how to get from area to area within and I liked the mission stories as well. There is a great 'kill' to push the main target out of a window that is prominent in the main floor (but the game really should have put more attention on beforehand, I did not notice it at all until my second run!) that deeply amused me. Also the secondary objective is to collect three data pads from three targets, which is interesting and all, but makes the actual vault section unnecessary and its like... why WOULDN'T you want your players to get into a cool bank vault?!
The second level is a beautiful multi-island beach resort, that certainly looks great. It actually looked a little too good as I got some chug from my laptop in trying to run it which was odd. There are three targets, and the twist here is that they don't actually seem like terrible people... they run a business that helps people shed all of their previous internet/tabloid history and assume new identities, but we never see them help heinous people like dictators, axe murderers, etc. however they ARE guarding info on the Secret Society we're chasing so we have to take them down. Seems a tad extreme but story isn't what we're here for okay?! There is also a cool mechanic where after 2 are down, a tropical storm rolls into the level and changes a bit of the dynamic. Mostly its just a lighting change as far as I can tell, and the rolling thunder makes noise a bit less noticeable to guards. Sadly no rain or lightning! This one was a great level to go through and had lots of inventive ways to take out the targets, and the stories seemed interesting as well. I'm a tad bit invested to see where the story is going for the sequel??
For the money, I'm not 110% sure these two maps were worth it, but it was still an interesting clockwork sandbox experience that I deeply enjoy about the rebooted Hitman franchise. The unlockables and twisting turns you're able to take with each level is fun, and the game's sense of humor and visual gags remains on point. Bring on Hitman 3!
#39
PC - Steam
Beaten October 14th
Nearing the end of the year, I return to one of the first games from this year (that actually released in 2018) to go through all of the DLC content now that it is released. I'm usually not one for going through DLC piecemeal, it usually feels like a waste of time/money to do things one at a time rather than in a nice chunk. For Hitman 2, I purchased the season pass shortly after beating the main game on a decent sale, and I've now come back to finish it all as IO Interactive announces they're finished with the major updates.
The DLC is composed of two proper maps and some sniper challenges (I did not bother with the latter), a bank heist mission and a tropical island adventure! An adventure about murder. Oddly enough this second mission has a few interesting angles I will get to shortly.. I also did two Elusive Targets that popped up while going through these levels, and those are neat. It took me forever to find the first target, and then ended up electrocuting myself before taking her out, locking me from the misssion... oops. The second went better, dropped an explosive ducky next to her and booked it out of there!
The bank level is a bit small, definitely larger than Hawke's Bay but not really full-level sized I thought. It looks excellent and there's plenty of challenge in figuring out how to get from area to area within and I liked the mission stories as well. There is a great 'kill' to push the main target out of a window that is prominent in the main floor (but the game really should have put more attention on beforehand, I did not notice it at all until my second run!) that deeply amused me. Also the secondary objective is to collect three data pads from three targets, which is interesting and all, but makes the actual vault section unnecessary and its like... why WOULDN'T you want your players to get into a cool bank vault?!
The second level is a beautiful multi-island beach resort, that certainly looks great. It actually looked a little too good as I got some chug from my laptop in trying to run it which was odd. There are three targets, and the twist here is that they don't actually seem like terrible people... they run a business that helps people shed all of their previous internet/tabloid history and assume new identities, but we never see them help heinous people like dictators, axe murderers, etc. however they ARE guarding info on the Secret Society we're chasing so we have to take them down. Seems a tad extreme but story isn't what we're here for okay?! There is also a cool mechanic where after 2 are down, a tropical storm rolls into the level and changes a bit of the dynamic. Mostly its just a lighting change as far as I can tell, and the rolling thunder makes noise a bit less noticeable to guards. Sadly no rain or lightning! This one was a great level to go through and had lots of inventive ways to take out the targets, and the stories seemed interesting as well. I'm a tad bit invested to see where the story is going for the sequel??
For the money, I'm not 110% sure these two maps were worth it, but it was still an interesting clockwork sandbox experience that I deeply enjoy about the rebooted Hitman franchise. The unlockables and twisting turns you're able to take with each level is fun, and the game's sense of humor and visual gags remains on point. Bring on Hitman 3!
2019
Hitman 2 - Season Pass
#39
PC - Steam
Beaten October 14th
Nearing the end of the year, I return to one of the first games from this year (that actually released in 2018) to go through all of the DLC content now that it is released. I'm usually not one for going through DLC piecemeal, it usually feels like a waste of time/money to do things one at a time rather than in a nice chunk. For Hitman 2, I purchased the season pass shortly after beating the main game on a decent sale, and I've now come back to finish it all as IO Interactive announces they're finished with the major updates.
The DLC is composed of two proper maps and some sniper challenges (I did not bother with the latter), a bank heist mission and a tropical island adventure! An adventure about murder. Oddly enough this second mission has a few interesting angles I will get to shortly.. I also did two Elusive Targets that popped up while going through these levels, and those are neat. It took me forever to find the first target, and then ended up electrocuting myself before taking her out, locking me from the misssion... oops. The second went better, dropped an explosive ducky next to her and booked it out of there!
The bank level is a bit small, definitely larger than Hawke's Bay but not really full-level sized I thought. It looks excellent and there's plenty of challenge in figuring out how to get from area to area within and I liked the mission stories as well. There is a great 'kill' to push the main target out of a window that is prominent in the main floor (but the game really should have put more attention on beforehand, I did not notice it at all until my second run!) that deeply amused me. Also the secondary objective is to collect three data pads from three targets, which is interesting and all, but makes the actual vault section unnecessary and its like... why WOULDN'T you want your players to get into a cool bank vault?!
The second level is a beautiful multi-island beach resort, that certainly looks great. It actually looked a little too good as I got some chug from my laptop in trying to run it which was odd. There are three targets, and the twist here is that they don't actually seem like terrible people... they run a business that helps people shed all of their previous internet/tabloid history and assume new identities, but we never see them help heinous people like dictators, axe murderers, etc. however they ARE guarding info on the Secret Society we're chasing so we have to take them down. Seems a tad extreme but story isn't what we're here for okay?! There is also a cool mechanic where after 2 are down, a tropical storm rolls into the level and changes a bit of the dynamic. Mostly its just a lighting change as far as I can tell, and the rolling thunder makes noise a bit less noticeable to guards. Sadly no rain or lightning! This one was a great level to go through and had lots of inventive ways to take out the targets, and the stories seemed interesting as well. I'm a tad bit invested to see where the story is going for the sequel??
For the money, I'm not 110% sure these two maps were worth it, but it was still an interesting clockwork sandbox experience that I deeply enjoy about the rebooted Hitman franchise. The unlockables and twisting turns you're able to take with each level is fun, and the game's sense of humor and visual gags remains on point. Bring on Hitman 3!
#39
PC - Steam
Beaten October 14th
Nearing the end of the year, I return to one of the first games from this year (that actually released in 2018) to go through all of the DLC content now that it is released. I'm usually not one for going through DLC piecemeal, it usually feels like a waste of time/money to do things one at a time rather than in a nice chunk. For Hitman 2, I purchased the season pass shortly after beating the main game on a decent sale, and I've now come back to finish it all as IO Interactive announces they're finished with the major updates.
The DLC is composed of two proper maps and some sniper challenges (I did not bother with the latter), a bank heist mission and a tropical island adventure! An adventure about murder. Oddly enough this second mission has a few interesting angles I will get to shortly.. I also did two Elusive Targets that popped up while going through these levels, and those are neat. It took me forever to find the first target, and then ended up electrocuting myself before taking her out, locking me from the misssion... oops. The second went better, dropped an explosive ducky next to her and booked it out of there!
The bank level is a bit small, definitely larger than Hawke's Bay but not really full-level sized I thought. It looks excellent and there's plenty of challenge in figuring out how to get from area to area within and I liked the mission stories as well. There is a great 'kill' to push the main target out of a window that is prominent in the main floor (but the game really should have put more attention on beforehand, I did not notice it at all until my second run!) that deeply amused me. Also the secondary objective is to collect three data pads from three targets, which is interesting and all, but makes the actual vault section unnecessary and its like... why WOULDN'T you want your players to get into a cool bank vault?!
The second level is a beautiful multi-island beach resort, that certainly looks great. It actually looked a little too good as I got some chug from my laptop in trying to run it which was odd. There are three targets, and the twist here is that they don't actually seem like terrible people... they run a business that helps people shed all of their previous internet/tabloid history and assume new identities, but we never see them help heinous people like dictators, axe murderers, etc. however they ARE guarding info on the Secret Society we're chasing so we have to take them down. Seems a tad extreme but story isn't what we're here for okay?! There is also a cool mechanic where after 2 are down, a tropical storm rolls into the level and changes a bit of the dynamic. Mostly its just a lighting change as far as I can tell, and the rolling thunder makes noise a bit less noticeable to guards. Sadly no rain or lightning! This one was a great level to go through and had lots of inventive ways to take out the targets, and the stories seemed interesting as well. I'm a tad bit invested to see where the story is going for the sequel??
For the money, I'm not 110% sure these two maps were worth it, but it was still an interesting clockwork sandbox experience that I deeply enjoy about the rebooted Hitman franchise. The unlockables and twisting turns you're able to take with each level is fun, and the game's sense of humor and visual gags remains on point. Bring on Hitman 3!
2019
The odyssey through the Gears of War franchise continues to the most recent one, and I'm here on day 1 to play it! It's been a long, strange trip through this series and this one takes some turns I'm both happy with and pretty meh about. The gameplay remains very strong, and the art direction which took its very colorful turn in 3 continues here in spades. The two open Acts are exceptional in their vistas and shooting galleries. The story is... good? I guess? Up and down, I'll say.
Starting with the unreservedly good, the gunplay is still excellent and all of my old favorites return and the guns from 4 that didn't get enough time to shine make a solid showing here. With the addition of Jack as a real squadmate who can do various things for you (namely bonus powers and pick shit up) it really helps bring the Big Guns more to the fore, but there's a bit of a negative to this as because they're not part of your bread and butter I rarely felt like I was "good" with them, so I often skipped and just used my regular guns for fights. But still, the option is there and if I ever replay the game I'll be able to make better use of it. The combat arenas are generally pretty interesting in layout and they certainly are a delight to look at. There is a new gun or two in here but they were pretty crap as I recall.. also basically no new enemies? Or I think there were, but they were basically just variations on the old guys.
Speaking of the new Jack, this introduces a new "RPG" lite character building system to the game which I thought was good, but kinda tacked on. It encourages some exploration at least so that was cool, though I did not bother with it much. The open areas in Act 2 and 3 are very resplendent in their appearance but also a bit tacked on? There was only one sequence where the gameplay of maneuvering the skiff really came into play, it was mostly just an excuse to show off the area design and throw in sidequests (which I admittedly did not bother with. Gotta finish these games!). Seriously though, looked amazing.
Story wise, things get more murky. It picks up where we left off in 4, JD and the gang have found the swarm are 'reviving' the Locust (are they still locust even?) and we're trying to unite humanity and stop them. Well, shit goes down in Act 1 that shows that JD apparently at some point shot innocent protesters..? And then they attack and overwhelm a major human city and there's a timeskip. Oh JD is a huge dick now? Wait what?! This is a pretty obvious hit job on JD to have him pass the reigns on to Kait as the main character, and that becomes more obvious in Chapter 3 when he comes back (with new guy Fahz, or as Marcus says "Just Shut The Fuck Up") he is accepted more or less without a serious pushback after about 10 minutes. There is an interesting point here in the early game with "Is Kait going to go bad or isn't she" that is completely abandoned at the halfway mark and we get into a more traditional "Uhoh My Mom is a Monster Now!" main plot.
HOWEVER, the game ends with a very strong note pointing towards the future of the series, and I'm very curious how certain deaths will play into the story going forward. I just couldn't do it to my boy Marcus though. RIP in peace
Starting with the unreservedly good, the gunplay is still excellent and all of my old favorites return and the guns from 4 that didn't get enough time to shine make a solid showing here. With the addition of Jack as a real squadmate who can do various things for you (namely bonus powers and pick shit up) it really helps bring the Big Guns more to the fore, but there's a bit of a negative to this as because they're not part of your bread and butter I rarely felt like I was "good" with them, so I often skipped and just used my regular guns for fights. But still, the option is there and if I ever replay the game I'll be able to make better use of it. The combat arenas are generally pretty interesting in layout and they certainly are a delight to look at. There is a new gun or two in here but they were pretty crap as I recall.. also basically no new enemies? Or I think there were, but they were basically just variations on the old guys.
Speaking of the new Jack, this introduces a new "RPG" lite character building system to the game which I thought was good, but kinda tacked on. It encourages some exploration at least so that was cool, though I did not bother with it much. The open areas in Act 2 and 3 are very resplendent in their appearance but also a bit tacked on? There was only one sequence where the gameplay of maneuvering the skiff really came into play, it was mostly just an excuse to show off the area design and throw in sidequests (which I admittedly did not bother with. Gotta finish these games!). Seriously though, looked amazing.
Story wise, things get more murky. It picks up where we left off in 4, JD and the gang have found the swarm are 'reviving' the Locust (are they still locust even?) and we're trying to unite humanity and stop them. Well, shit goes down in Act 1 that shows that JD apparently at some point shot innocent protesters..? And then they attack and overwhelm a major human city and there's a timeskip. Oh JD is a huge dick now? Wait what?! This is a pretty obvious hit job on JD to have him pass the reigns on to Kait as the main character, and that becomes more obvious in Chapter 3 when he comes back (with new guy Fahz, or as Marcus says "Just Shut The Fuck Up") he is accepted more or less without a serious pushback after about 10 minutes. There is an interesting point here in the early game with "Is Kait going to go bad or isn't she" that is completely abandoned at the halfway mark and we get into a more traditional "Uhoh My Mom is a Monster Now!" main plot.
HOWEVER, the game ends with a very strong note pointing towards the future of the series, and I'm very curious how certain deaths will play into the story going forward. I just couldn't do it to my boy Marcus though. RIP in peace
2019
This review is coming WAY too late, but I figured it belongs here after Sekiro and Mario Odyssey changed my mind about needing to finish games if I just am really disliking them. However unlike those two games, there were plenty of things about Anthem that I liked, but oh boy is it a far more poorly made game than those two were.
Anthem is one of the bigger disappointment's I have felt in quite a long time, and that is due to the fact that this is BIOWARE. I have purchased every Bioware game more or less day 1 since Baldur's Gate 2, and I have NEVER felt disappointed or genuinely upset at any of them. Sure there's been big ups and downs, but I always recognized a consistent quality. Anthem has broken that chain. The story is VERY meh, there is basically one companion who is SUPER MEH, there is no roleplaying at all with your character, the missions are very boring, the enemies are boring... but the gameplay is good and so is the flying. So it has that at least! Seriously the mech suits look and play awesome, there is a good game here. I didn't do much multiplayer but had some fun when I did a few missions at least. Being a spritely Interceptor or a Storm wizard and floating over the battlefield chucking spells felt great. I just wish I cared to go back and finish it?
But, I really don't. Ouch
Anthem is one of the bigger disappointment's I have felt in quite a long time, and that is due to the fact that this is BIOWARE. I have purchased every Bioware game more or less day 1 since Baldur's Gate 2, and I have NEVER felt disappointed or genuinely upset at any of them. Sure there's been big ups and downs, but I always recognized a consistent quality. Anthem has broken that chain. The story is VERY meh, there is basically one companion who is SUPER MEH, there is no roleplaying at all with your character, the missions are very boring, the enemies are boring... but the gameplay is good and so is the flying. So it has that at least! Seriously the mech suits look and play awesome, there is a good game here. I didn't do much multiplayer but had some fun when I did a few missions at least. Being a spritely Interceptor or a Storm wizard and floating over the battlefield chucking spells felt great. I just wish I cared to go back and finish it?
But, I really don't. Ouch
2009
Resident Evil 5! My 6th Resi game of the year and the second this month. Resi 4 was just quite damn good so it propelled me right into the next game, even after I said I'd give it a break to finish Gears and/or Monster Prom and/or Pathfinder (one day Pathfinder Kingmaker... one day) but I didn't! Resident Evil 5 is... pretty good? Regular good? Good but because it has to be compared to Resident Evil 4, not that great? All of that and more!
Seriously though, playing 4 and 5 basically back to back makes many parts of 5 stand out, and not really in a good way. The first chapter tries really hard to call back to Resident Evil 4, yet also set itself apart. There's crazy townsfolk you're trapped in small areas with, weird mysteries abound, El Gigantes, chainsaw bad guys... And it all is pretty crap compared to 4. The village scene in 4 works so well because it was one of the first games to do that, it is not scary at all in 5 because we expect it to happen, and there's even more wiggle room with controls and where you can flee to (and loads of ammo, don't forget that). It is set in daylight, which is an interesting idea but doesn't really pay off in any way. The chainsaw bad guys are just literally recycled, nothing about them is different or scary (remember how they stopped showing up in 4 after a few times? Because they knew there was nothing else interesting about them after that and it would be boring to bring them back). El Gigante fight was also dumb, you're on a turret the whole time fighting it. That isn't scary or interesting!!!
This is all of Resident Evil 5's big issue - it apes 4 without really understanding at all what made it great. 4 is excellently paced, and uses its enemies and hurdles in new ways almost every time you see them, the team really flexes its creative muscles. 5 just brings all of that stuff back because folks loved 4, but not really getting that because 4 did them as much as was needed, bringing them back here with nothing interesting to twist on those formulas is just tiresome. I can think of like ten moments in Four that were standouts in great design or just scary. Five has basically nothing like that I can recall, despite beating it a few days ago now. It's monster design is absolute shit, just big scary blobs that come from nowhere. THAT'S NOT HOW YOU DO HORROR. BIG DUMB MONSTERS YOU CANT EVEN TELL WHAT THE HELL THEY ARE IS STUPID. STOP IT.
I'm sure this will get worse in 6 -_-
The story is.... eh. Bringing back Chris = great. Making it ultimately about his connection with Jill + Wesker = love it. However, the story does very very little with this. We're given a handful of flashbacks Chris has to his and Jill's encounter with Wesker (that ends with them both going over a cliff), however we receive no context at all about when this mission was or what it was about. Why the hell wasn't this playable?!?! I honestly thought I'd missed a game where this occurred (looked it up even!) but nah, just bad storytelling. Jill and Chris also barely get a reunion and she does nothing the rest of the plot other than bail out Chris + Sheva at the end on a helicopter. I DIDNT EVEN GET TO AIM THE ROCKET LAUNCHER AT WESKER
So yeah, Sheva. She was relevant to the plot for... exactly one chapter. We're on her home turf in the beginning of the story and she's pals with one of the BSAA soldiers we see early on, however we leave that part of Africa (and the game ALWAYS calls it 'Africa', never getting more specific. That's a touch racist!) and her pal exits the story the next chapter. I was even hoping we'd get some more on him near the end of the game, since he has a TERRIBLE excuse (even voiced suspiciously) for how he got out of dodge in the mess that killed his squad, but nah it was just bad directing on their part and he shows up fine at the end. There is however one real good moment at the end where it looks like Sheva is going to sacrifice herself to bring down Wesker (legit got worried) but then Chris goes Beast Mode and saves her before the big finale.
So I've spent quite a few words bagging on the game, but honestly the rest of it is solid. The shooting is good and the weapon upgrade system is just as fun as it used to be, although money feels a bit more scarce? I also deeply miss the vendor guy for some reason haha... The inventory system isn't as good as 4 (inventory blocks are just the best inventory system okay, accept it) BUT it is much more functional for all the gun switching that goes on. There are several areas as well that take advantage of the co-op partner where either each will have a section on their own to solve or you have to hit things together to move forward. I don't think the partner system is really any good and maybe there should have been a solo mode more focused on horror but what can you do?
Resident Evil 5 is pretty solidly at the bottom of my Resi list so far, but I do think it is still a good game. Solid mechanics and two good lead characters are held back by the fact that the dev team just couldn't, or wouldn't, reach for higher heights than the game that came before it.
Seriously though, playing 4 and 5 basically back to back makes many parts of 5 stand out, and not really in a good way. The first chapter tries really hard to call back to Resident Evil 4, yet also set itself apart. There's crazy townsfolk you're trapped in small areas with, weird mysteries abound, El Gigantes, chainsaw bad guys... And it all is pretty crap compared to 4. The village scene in 4 works so well because it was one of the first games to do that, it is not scary at all in 5 because we expect it to happen, and there's even more wiggle room with controls and where you can flee to (and loads of ammo, don't forget that). It is set in daylight, which is an interesting idea but doesn't really pay off in any way. The chainsaw bad guys are just literally recycled, nothing about them is different or scary (remember how they stopped showing up in 4 after a few times? Because they knew there was nothing else interesting about them after that and it would be boring to bring them back). El Gigante fight was also dumb, you're on a turret the whole time fighting it. That isn't scary or interesting!!!
This is all of Resident Evil 5's big issue - it apes 4 without really understanding at all what made it great. 4 is excellently paced, and uses its enemies and hurdles in new ways almost every time you see them, the team really flexes its creative muscles. 5 just brings all of that stuff back because folks loved 4, but not really getting that because 4 did them as much as was needed, bringing them back here with nothing interesting to twist on those formulas is just tiresome. I can think of like ten moments in Four that were standouts in great design or just scary. Five has basically nothing like that I can recall, despite beating it a few days ago now. It's monster design is absolute shit, just big scary blobs that come from nowhere. THAT'S NOT HOW YOU DO HORROR. BIG DUMB MONSTERS YOU CANT EVEN TELL WHAT THE HELL THEY ARE IS STUPID. STOP IT.
I'm sure this will get worse in 6 -_-
The story is.... eh. Bringing back Chris = great. Making it ultimately about his connection with Jill + Wesker = love it. However, the story does very very little with this. We're given a handful of flashbacks Chris has to his and Jill's encounter with Wesker (that ends with them both going over a cliff), however we receive no context at all about when this mission was or what it was about. Why the hell wasn't this playable?!?! I honestly thought I'd missed a game where this occurred (looked it up even!) but nah, just bad storytelling. Jill and Chris also barely get a reunion and she does nothing the rest of the plot other than bail out Chris + Sheva at the end on a helicopter. I DIDNT EVEN GET TO AIM THE ROCKET LAUNCHER AT WESKER
So yeah, Sheva. She was relevant to the plot for... exactly one chapter. We're on her home turf in the beginning of the story and she's pals with one of the BSAA soldiers we see early on, however we leave that part of Africa (and the game ALWAYS calls it 'Africa', never getting more specific. That's a touch racist!) and her pal exits the story the next chapter. I was even hoping we'd get some more on him near the end of the game, since he has a TERRIBLE excuse (even voiced suspiciously) for how he got out of dodge in the mess that killed his squad, but nah it was just bad directing on their part and he shows up fine at the end. There is however one real good moment at the end where it looks like Sheva is going to sacrifice herself to bring down Wesker (legit got worried) but then Chris goes Beast Mode and saves her before the big finale.
So I've spent quite a few words bagging on the game, but honestly the rest of it is solid. The shooting is good and the weapon upgrade system is just as fun as it used to be, although money feels a bit more scarce? I also deeply miss the vendor guy for some reason haha... The inventory system isn't as good as 4 (inventory blocks are just the best inventory system okay, accept it) BUT it is much more functional for all the gun switching that goes on. There are several areas as well that take advantage of the co-op partner where either each will have a section on their own to solve or you have to hit things together to move forward. I don't think the partner system is really any good and maybe there should have been a solo mode more focused on horror but what can you do?
Resident Evil 5 is pretty solidly at the bottom of my Resi list so far, but I do think it is still a good game. Solid mechanics and two good lead characters are held back by the fact that the dev team just couldn't, or wouldn't, reach for higher heights than the game that came before it.
Separate Ways is a side-story DLC for Resident Evil 4 which is included in the base PC version available on steam. It is canon (which is why I played it!)and stars Ada Wong - Leon's Catwoman to his Batman from Resi 2. I quite liked this pair in the 2nd game (the remake, the original was awful haha) so I was curious to see more of them and see things from Ada's perspective, when we pretty much only get Leon's normally.
Gameplay wise, this is basically just Resi 4 repurposed (there's a couple new areas I think, but its at least 70%+ recycled) and with 1 new gun. The main draw here is the story bits I think, and it's a more condensed R4 experience if that's what you're interested in. It was fun to get a bit more time in this world and it made me more excited to play through the main game again at least. The shooting still feels good, and contrasted with 5 I do think I prefer 4? It's definitely rougher around the edges but it just feels more in depth. I'll admit I did just start sprinting through bad guys rather than fighting them near the end because I kind of just wanted to finish? I'm rushing a bit too much in this 52 game challenge!
I appreciated the extra bits to Ada's character and the confirmation that Wesker is the Big Bad of the setting, which 5 payed off on just a short time ago for me. We get to see that she really does very clearly care about Leon and sorta doing the right thing, barring whatever deal she has with Wesker (that will get cleared up in 6 right?!?!)
Unfortunately there's just not a whole lot to say about this, the gameplay is good but exactly like Resident Evil 4 the main game, story is solid but there's not a whole lot of it. Overall not a bad use of time I'd say!
Gameplay wise, this is basically just Resi 4 repurposed (there's a couple new areas I think, but its at least 70%+ recycled) and with 1 new gun. The main draw here is the story bits I think, and it's a more condensed R4 experience if that's what you're interested in. It was fun to get a bit more time in this world and it made me more excited to play through the main game again at least. The shooting still feels good, and contrasted with 5 I do think I prefer 4? It's definitely rougher around the edges but it just feels more in depth. I'll admit I did just start sprinting through bad guys rather than fighting them near the end because I kind of just wanted to finish? I'm rushing a bit too much in this 52 game challenge!
I appreciated the extra bits to Ada's character and the confirmation that Wesker is the Big Bad of the setting, which 5 payed off on just a short time ago for me. We get to see that she really does very clearly care about Leon and sorta doing the right thing, barring whatever deal she has with Wesker (that will get cleared up in 6 right?!?!)
Unfortunately there's just not a whole lot to say about this, the gameplay is good but exactly like Resident Evil 4 the main game, story is solid but there's not a whole lot of it. Overall not a bad use of time I'd say!
2019
Almost more an animated short than a game, Later Alligator is a mini-game collection centered on an incredibly strong central theme - you're an alligator person in Alligator New York City solving alligator mysteries to save Pat, your new Alligator Pat. Or are you trying to save him..?
The writing is very sharp (although a tad too wordy in some places) and though you meet 30~odd characters through this story and only spend maybe 5 to 10 minutes with each, they are all very well done and have a strong connection to the story or place they're in. Favorites include Pat's dad who is going through a thinly veiled existential crises, his grandmother who is a mummy that hands out fortune telling cards, a niece who LOVES pancakes, a baby just trying to sleep... shit I could list out half the characters right now off the top of my head and I love basically all of them. The lovable writing is matched by an impeccable art style and music direction. It is a old-timey cartoon style, like something from Early Disney and mostly black and white outside of the Green on the gators or the occasional plot item the game wants to draw your eye to. I even added some of the songs to my spotify hahaha..
Gameplay wise (because it is a game), each family member has some little new minigame for you ranging from the very simple (lose at hide and seek, literally pick anything that's NOT the hider) to the vexing (flappy jacked bird is tough okay) and basically none of them outstay their welcome and have surprising diversity. After each you collect that family members "Token" to fill out a family tree of relations to Pat. Some of them even have a "You suck at this, just click this button and win okay?" on them that prevent frustration.
The story focuses on a paranoid young Alligator named Pat, who is the scion of a 'crime' family in the city who fears that someone is out to rub him out. Each member of the family you meet is tight-lipped about what is going on, the hints are pretty clear its just a regular surprise birthday party... or is it?!?! Yeah, it is. Or is it?!?!? The main story is interesting only in how there are multiple endings, and the game's first ending is unfortunately too "good" of an ending, I would have stopped there until I checked and saw a guide that said there were two more! And thankfully I did since that provide's context to the main character's actions (Why did you come to Alligator New York City and why are you helping Pat??), along with some actual mystery about if and who is trying to kill dear old Pat. There is also one moment of seriousness in the story, when it is revealed who is sending you tips about maneuvering about the city and getting to a hidden location. It provides a nice contrast to the generally flippant attitude of the rest of the game and stands out.
Overall this game was a delight and had one of the best damn trailers for a game I've ever had the pleasure to watch. It's one of the many indie games I'm trying to spend more time/money on rather than big budget stuff and this was well worth them both. It has a wonderful cast of characters, impeccable art, cute mini games and a satisfying climax (albeit one that shouldn't require 3-odd playthroughs...)
The writing is very sharp (although a tad too wordy in some places) and though you meet 30~odd characters through this story and only spend maybe 5 to 10 minutes with each, they are all very well done and have a strong connection to the story or place they're in. Favorites include Pat's dad who is going through a thinly veiled existential crises, his grandmother who is a mummy that hands out fortune telling cards, a niece who LOVES pancakes, a baby just trying to sleep... shit I could list out half the characters right now off the top of my head and I love basically all of them. The lovable writing is matched by an impeccable art style and music direction. It is a old-timey cartoon style, like something from Early Disney and mostly black and white outside of the Green on the gators or the occasional plot item the game wants to draw your eye to. I even added some of the songs to my spotify hahaha..
Gameplay wise (because it is a game), each family member has some little new minigame for you ranging from the very simple (lose at hide and seek, literally pick anything that's NOT the hider) to the vexing (flappy jacked bird is tough okay) and basically none of them outstay their welcome and have surprising diversity. After each you collect that family members "Token" to fill out a family tree of relations to Pat. Some of them even have a "You suck at this, just click this button and win okay?" on them that prevent frustration.
The story focuses on a paranoid young Alligator named Pat, who is the scion of a 'crime' family in the city who fears that someone is out to rub him out. Each member of the family you meet is tight-lipped about what is going on, the hints are pretty clear its just a regular surprise birthday party... or is it?!?! Yeah, it is. Or is it?!?!? The main story is interesting only in how there are multiple endings, and the game's first ending is unfortunately too "good" of an ending, I would have stopped there until I checked and saw a guide that said there were two more! And thankfully I did since that provide's context to the main character's actions (Why did you come to Alligator New York City and why are you helping Pat??), along with some actual mystery about if and who is trying to kill dear old Pat. There is also one moment of seriousness in the story, when it is revealed who is sending you tips about maneuvering about the city and getting to a hidden location. It provides a nice contrast to the generally flippant attitude of the rest of the game and stands out.
Overall this game was a delight and had one of the best damn trailers for a game I've ever had the pleasure to watch. It's one of the many indie games I'm trying to spend more time/money on rather than big budget stuff and this was well worth them both. It has a wonderful cast of characters, impeccable art, cute mini games and a satisfying climax (albeit one that shouldn't require 3-odd playthroughs...)
2011
Resident Evil 4... one of the most well respected and loved games in history, and my fifth Resident Evil game this year. Ultimately I'm not sure this holds up as "One of the Greats" so to speak, but I did really really enjoy it.
The game starts and we return as our favorite Rookie Cop, Leon S Kennedy. You are now a special agent, and you are on a secret mission - Rescue the President's Daughter!! Silly premise, but there is a bigger sin here: Umbrella. This was pointed out by one Michael Huber of Easy Allies, but each Resident Evil prior to this (1 2 and 3) end very specifically on a note of each protagonist being prepared and ready to take the fight directly to Umbrella for what their actions unleashed in Raccoon city. However, in the OPENING TEXT of 4 we learn that Umbrella was just dissolved by UN action and they're all pretty much just in jail at this point. So the Big Bad Corporation we've been psyched up to go after THREE times is just gone now? And we don't even get to see it happen?? Crazy! Anyway, it dumps us into this stupid plot, but it knows it is dumb and it leans REAL hard into it. I think that's kind of the best I can say for it - the game knows what it is, a silly bond movie with zombies, and it at least does it well. Giant bad guy statues that chase you, slow-mo knife fights between old comrades, etc etc. There are only a few main characters, Ashley and Luis are the main two who interact with Leon in a meaningful way (Ada and Leon just do the same basic song and dance from 2) and I quite liked both of them. I was saddened and a bit shocked by Luis's death, I figured it would come much later or not at all. Ashley isn't QUITE as annoying as I thought she would be, and there are very large sections of the game where she is not present for you to have to worry about her which was nice. Escort quests are pretty much always garbage.
Gameplay wise, this game is a RADICAL departure from 1-2-3. Gone is the isometric fixed camera and guns that auto aim for you, gone are the small number of enemies and smaller environments, hello to over the shoulder action! The shooting in the game is very good, because it gives some sense of "you are a real person holding a gun, your aim isn't perfect", but not enough to upset you too much I think. All of the guns have a laser sight that helps you due to the camera angle being fairly wide (which is great for spotting enemies sneaking up on you), which also helps you spot environmental cues for where to shoot. The array of guns is nice, and I always appreciate a good shotgun. In a way its good to have the merchant there (Hello STRAAANGAA), but in another way the weapon selection feels a bit more limited with the inventory management sections, because you invest in the guns you like and now there's no reason to get any other ones? I upgraded the Red9 and Striker all the way, and those bad boys carried me through the game.
There's a robust unlocking and NG+ features which I'm strongly tempted to do, plus there's a DLC chunk called "Separate Ways" starring Ada that I'm strongly contemplating. It is certainly a game that is meant to be run through several times, but I'm not sure I have the time to do it this year.
On an ending note, you can tell the makers of this game played a LOT of Metal Gear Solid. The 'codec' calls, the cutscenes with Awesome Action, a focus on getting to know the antagonists a bit more, some of the hokey dialogue.. Like damn, does Kojima have a lawsuit ready?
The game starts and we return as our favorite Rookie Cop, Leon S Kennedy. You are now a special agent, and you are on a secret mission - Rescue the President's Daughter!! Silly premise, but there is a bigger sin here: Umbrella. This was pointed out by one Michael Huber of Easy Allies, but each Resident Evil prior to this (1 2 and 3) end very specifically on a note of each protagonist being prepared and ready to take the fight directly to Umbrella for what their actions unleashed in Raccoon city. However, in the OPENING TEXT of 4 we learn that Umbrella was just dissolved by UN action and they're all pretty much just in jail at this point. So the Big Bad Corporation we've been psyched up to go after THREE times is just gone now? And we don't even get to see it happen?? Crazy! Anyway, it dumps us into this stupid plot, but it knows it is dumb and it leans REAL hard into it. I think that's kind of the best I can say for it - the game knows what it is, a silly bond movie with zombies, and it at least does it well. Giant bad guy statues that chase you, slow-mo knife fights between old comrades, etc etc. There are only a few main characters, Ashley and Luis are the main two who interact with Leon in a meaningful way (Ada and Leon just do the same basic song and dance from 2) and I quite liked both of them. I was saddened and a bit shocked by Luis's death, I figured it would come much later or not at all. Ashley isn't QUITE as annoying as I thought she would be, and there are very large sections of the game where she is not present for you to have to worry about her which was nice. Escort quests are pretty much always garbage.
Gameplay wise, this game is a RADICAL departure from 1-2-3. Gone is the isometric fixed camera and guns that auto aim for you, gone are the small number of enemies and smaller environments, hello to over the shoulder action! The shooting in the game is very good, because it gives some sense of "you are a real person holding a gun, your aim isn't perfect", but not enough to upset you too much I think. All of the guns have a laser sight that helps you due to the camera angle being fairly wide (which is great for spotting enemies sneaking up on you), which also helps you spot environmental cues for where to shoot. The array of guns is nice, and I always appreciate a good shotgun. In a way its good to have the merchant there (Hello STRAAANGAA), but in another way the weapon selection feels a bit more limited with the inventory management sections, because you invest in the guns you like and now there's no reason to get any other ones? I upgraded the Red9 and Striker all the way, and those bad boys carried me through the game.
There's a robust unlocking and NG+ features which I'm strongly tempted to do, plus there's a DLC chunk called "Separate Ways" starring Ada that I'm strongly contemplating. It is certainly a game that is meant to be run through several times, but I'm not sure I have the time to do it this year.
On an ending note, you can tell the makers of this game played a LOT of Metal Gear Solid. The 'codec' calls, the cutscenes with Awesome Action, a focus on getting to know the antagonists a bit more, some of the hokey dialogue.. Like damn, does Kojima have a lawsuit ready?
2019
I haven't played a great Beat-Em-Up in a while, and I'm still not entirely sure if I have here either haha.. My blurb review for this was "Its like Scott Pilgrim, but not really as good", and the more and more I think about it, that holds up as true. The music is exceptional, but not quite Amananaguchi. The combat is great, but you have to buy your moves instead of just earning them through play and leveling. It has RPG stats, but they come mostly through eating random crap and you have no idea what stats go where, as opposed to just choosing them yourself. The story is funny but barebones with a dumb ending, compared to SP. I'll say it probably looks better at least, but I'm generally a fan of the 'anime' aesthetic.
That being said, this will probably be a shorter review than I generally do because this game is pretty clearly in the same vein as Scott Pilgrim, but it all basically boils down to "yeah its like that but not as good". What I did really like however were the two main characters. Kyoko and Misako are worth the price of entry here, they're the cliche pair of Girly-Girl and Tomboy, but they play off of each other so well and off of the characters they meet that there wasn't any point that I wasn't charmed by both of them. I may or may not do another playthrough as Kyoko, which will count as a new number in this gaming series.
For issues I think the only issue I had was some of the gameplay. A lot of the game is actually quite hard, and some of the bosses took me at least 5 tries until the end game. I didn't realize that stats from eating things were permanent the first time, and I did not fix that until about 80% of the way into the game. You also have to purchase most of your moves which gets a bit tiresome to go and find the dojo, and it doesn't even tell you what the move does or how to do it until you buy it already... this means you've got whole sections of your basic combo locked and you don't even realize it until AFTER you get it. Kind of a pain in the ass.
I certainly quite liked the game despite my issues, the characters dialogue and their designs were top notch and it was fun to get into a beat-em-up again after my love was sparked by Castle Crashers and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World so many years ago..
That being said, this will probably be a shorter review than I generally do because this game is pretty clearly in the same vein as Scott Pilgrim, but it all basically boils down to "yeah its like that but not as good". What I did really like however were the two main characters. Kyoko and Misako are worth the price of entry here, they're the cliche pair of Girly-Girl and Tomboy, but they play off of each other so well and off of the characters they meet that there wasn't any point that I wasn't charmed by both of them. I may or may not do another playthrough as Kyoko, which will count as a new number in this gaming series.
For issues I think the only issue I had was some of the gameplay. A lot of the game is actually quite hard, and some of the bosses took me at least 5 tries until the end game. I didn't realize that stats from eating things were permanent the first time, and I did not fix that until about 80% of the way into the game. You also have to purchase most of your moves which gets a bit tiresome to go and find the dojo, and it doesn't even tell you what the move does or how to do it until you buy it already... this means you've got whole sections of your basic combo locked and you don't even realize it until AFTER you get it. Kind of a pain in the ass.
I certainly quite liked the game despite my issues, the characters dialogue and their designs were top notch and it was fun to get into a beat-em-up again after my love was sparked by Castle Crashers and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World so many years ago..