Falere
Bio
Been nerding out since Pokémon Blue, but logging games only as of 2022.
Time is precious and life is short, so I’m selective about the games I play. That’s why most everything has a high scoring!
ε=ε=ε=ε=┏( ￣▽￣)┛
Been nerding out since Pokémon Blue, but logging games only as of 2022.
Time is precious and life is short, so I’m selective about the games I play. That’s why most everything has a high scoring!
ε=ε=ε=ε=┏( ￣▽￣)┛
Badges
GOTY '23
Participated in the 2023 Game of the Year Event
1 Years of Service
Being part of the Backloggd community for 1 year
Liked
Gained 10+ total review likes
GOTY '22
Participated in the 2022 Game of the Year Event
Favorite Games
040
Total Games Played
007
Played in 2024
008
Games Backloggd
Recently Played See More
Recently Reviewed See More
I spent a lot of time honing my critical thinking with BG3's Honour Mode at the end of last year, then started my year by finishing Alan Wake 2, which had a heavy story and at one point scared me so bad that I had to take constant mini breaks to regain my composure. While I'll write those two games off as amazing and unforgettable, I wanted something a little more easygoing for my next title. Seeing as how Spider-Man 2 was the last game before checking off playing all 2023 GOTY nominees, it was a perfect choice.
I read a lot of reviews that considered SM2 a "mid" sequel and that it didn't belong on the GOTY list, so I went in with tempered expectations. I should do that more often because I enjoyed it much more than expected! I wanted a fun MCU-level story that had simple gameplay, which is exactly what I got.
The story was your typica Marvel level story with multiple villains all culminating into one epic blowout at the end, but the way they incorporated each villain into portions of the game made sense based on story progression. I really liked Kraven's character. Knowing nothing about him from the comics, I liked his intimidation factor and there's always something satisfying about overpowered villains who just hunt for fun instead of having a singular goal. Another character that stood out was The Lizard. His exhilarating chase scene on the river was one of my favorite parts of the game. Insomniac did such a fantastic job with the seamless transition between cutscenes and gameplay.
Moving onto overall mission structure, this is where I docked half a star. I know how the formula works, I enjoyed the first SM and Miles Morales, but it was more of the same. Watch cutscene and beat up some bad guys. Zip here to do a task and beat up some bad guys. Fly some bee drones and beat up some bad guys. It's NYC, I know the enemy types are limited, but there was nothing exciting about the combat loop. These criminals really be criminaling.
The last thing I want to mention is the traversal. SM2 might be the only open world game where I only used fast travel maybe once or twice (but when I did, the seamless transition was a serious chef's kiss). The traversal is absolutely fantastic and I couldn't get enough. It was fast, fluid, and fun. The amount of skills they added in for traversal made it even better, you could hit a wall and get your momentum back immediately. By the end of the game I could stay up in the sky forever! Spider-Man can basically fly.
Overall, the only issue I had with this game was the stale mission structure, but that was overshadowed by the actual fluidity of combat itself, seamless cutscene to action transition, fun Hollywood level movie experience and overall beautiful world. In true MCU form, the post credits cutscene have me looking forward to Spider-Man 3!
I read a lot of reviews that considered SM2 a "mid" sequel and that it didn't belong on the GOTY list, so I went in with tempered expectations. I should do that more often because I enjoyed it much more than expected! I wanted a fun MCU-level story that had simple gameplay, which is exactly what I got.
The story was your typica Marvel level story with multiple villains all culminating into one epic blowout at the end, but the way they incorporated each villain into portions of the game made sense based on story progression. I really liked Kraven's character. Knowing nothing about him from the comics, I liked his intimidation factor and there's always something satisfying about overpowered villains who just hunt for fun instead of having a singular goal. Another character that stood out was The Lizard. His exhilarating chase scene on the river was one of my favorite parts of the game. Insomniac did such a fantastic job with the seamless transition between cutscenes and gameplay.
Moving onto overall mission structure, this is where I docked half a star. I know how the formula works, I enjoyed the first SM and Miles Morales, but it was more of the same. Watch cutscene and beat up some bad guys. Zip here to do a task and beat up some bad guys. Fly some bee drones and beat up some bad guys. It's NYC, I know the enemy types are limited, but there was nothing exciting about the combat loop. These criminals really be criminaling.
The last thing I want to mention is the traversal. SM2 might be the only open world game where I only used fast travel maybe once or twice (but when I did, the seamless transition was a serious chef's kiss). The traversal is absolutely fantastic and I couldn't get enough. It was fast, fluid, and fun. The amount of skills they added in for traversal made it even better, you could hit a wall and get your momentum back immediately. By the end of the game I could stay up in the sky forever! Spider-Man can basically fly.
Overall, the only issue I had with this game was the stale mission structure, but that was overshadowed by the actual fluidity of combat itself, seamless cutscene to action transition, fun Hollywood level movie experience and overall beautiful world. In true MCU form, the post credits cutscene have me looking forward to Spider-Man 3!
This review contains spoilers
I haven't truly enjoyed a game's story like this for a long time. I got attached to characters and continuously hoped that some wouldn't die (aka my boy Gav), akin to my thoughts while watching a good show. With that said, there are moments in shows and movies that slow down in order to build character development and focus on world building. In FFXVI, the pacing between story events and unrelated sidequests really broke the immersion. It's an unfortunate pattern in this game where after you clash with the Eikons that shake the earth, sidequests are dropped on you in a batch instead of being spread out naturally throughout the course of the game. While you do unlock a few quests here and there when visiting new locations, the majority of them are dropped as a batch immediately after story moments. One of the best examples is actually in the late game after finishing Waloed. Right before you're given the option to launch the last mission, a batch of 10+ sidequests appear at the Hideaway that are actually quite good. Why would I want to take a break to pick a flower for Dion (just kidding, I'd do anything for Dion) when I can launch myself at Origin and stop Ultima from ending the world? The last few sidequests related to Dion, Joshua and Jill were my favorites, but having them all dropped in after Waloed, right before the suicide mission just seemed like odd pacing.
Additionally, the quality of the majority of sidequests weren't engaging or interesting. Clive was an errand boy for half of them (looking at you, Mid) and SO much of it was "I need this, find it here, fight enemies, pick up item, deliver back to npc". Classic fetch quest, but there were way too many that made it a slog to complete.
With all the downsides of the game out of the way, I can't gush enough on story, characters, gameplay and music. Those factors were enough to bring it to a 4.5/5 even with the pacing and sidequest disappointment. I loved the smoothness of combat, especially swapping Eikon abilities mid animation to chain things together to get the largest stagger damage possible. I ended up never swapping out TItan's powers after unlocking them, the oomph (and damage) of the punches was too satisfying to give up. Additionally, I can't stop listening to the OST even after completing the game. The music, in addition to the cinematics of all Eikon fights was such a perfect chef's kiss moment for each one.
The last thing I'll gush over is the Eikons themselves. So spectacular in their design! The first time I saw Odin and Bahamut on the field, I was in LOVE. Every Eikon looked fantastic and I was excited like a little kid every time a character primed into one. My personal perfect definition of "epic".
Additionally, the quality of the majority of sidequests weren't engaging or interesting. Clive was an errand boy for half of them (looking at you, Mid) and SO much of it was "I need this, find it here, fight enemies, pick up item, deliver back to npc". Classic fetch quest, but there were way too many that made it a slog to complete.
With all the downsides of the game out of the way, I can't gush enough on story, characters, gameplay and music. Those factors were enough to bring it to a 4.5/5 even with the pacing and sidequest disappointment. I loved the smoothness of combat, especially swapping Eikon abilities mid animation to chain things together to get the largest stagger damage possible. I ended up never swapping out TItan's powers after unlocking them, the oomph (and damage) of the punches was too satisfying to give up. Additionally, I can't stop listening to the OST even after completing the game. The music, in addition to the cinematics of all Eikon fights was such a perfect chef's kiss moment for each one.
The last thing I'll gush over is the Eikons themselves. So spectacular in their design! The first time I saw Odin and Bahamut on the field, I was in LOVE. Every Eikon looked fantastic and I was excited like a little kid every time a character primed into one. My personal perfect definition of "epic".
My initial review of Season 0 after binge playing the game since early access.
I like to call Diablo 4 the "modern Diablo 2". It took the slower gameplay and darker atmosphere from D2 and incorporated some of D3's QoL changes. The game looks fantastic, voice acting is great, it's perfectly dark and gritty and I enjoyed the story for the most part. I have some gripes about the pacing of it, but that's a review for another time.
Here's where it gets difficult for me to criticize the current end game for Diablo 4. It's still early and I think the game will be completely different in a year or two. However, the lack of end game activities outside of Nightmare Dungeons isn't very enticing. My party and I spent some time grinding a dungeon for EXP and item drops, which really burnt me out. They're short, the objectives are more or less the same (see locked door, bring items to podium to open door) and the mob density doesn't have the same dopamine rush of greater rifts in D3. I have hopes that Blizzard will implement new activities that'll keep the player base going outside of the current options, but at the moment it falls short.
I like to call Diablo 4 the "modern Diablo 2". It took the slower gameplay and darker atmosphere from D2 and incorporated some of D3's QoL changes. The game looks fantastic, voice acting is great, it's perfectly dark and gritty and I enjoyed the story for the most part. I have some gripes about the pacing of it, but that's a review for another time.
Here's where it gets difficult for me to criticize the current end game for Diablo 4. It's still early and I think the game will be completely different in a year or two. However, the lack of end game activities outside of Nightmare Dungeons isn't very enticing. My party and I spent some time grinding a dungeon for EXP and item drops, which really burnt me out. They're short, the objectives are more or less the same (see locked door, bring items to podium to open door) and the mob density doesn't have the same dopamine rush of greater rifts in D3. I have hopes that Blizzard will implement new activities that'll keep the player base going outside of the current options, but at the moment it falls short.