GRYITH
2021
Honestly haven't got much to say.
Perfected, clean, varied and creative gameplay. Next-level level design and really appealing art design, and the most perfectly executed difficulty curve I've ever seen in a video game.
You could say this was the year of time loop games, with Returnal, Loop Hero, Echoes of the Eye and this. And every single one of those games is awesome, this stands out though, other than EOTE, as a highlight, easily the best game Arkane have released in their new lineup, just generally a triumph.
Some of the writing gets on my nerves, some of it is really endearing and charming, especially in the second half, but the first couple of hours just have me wincing with every other line.
A must-play that I'll easily be coming back to again very soon.
And I've not even talked about the entire other game mode yet.
Perfected, clean, varied and creative gameplay. Next-level level design and really appealing art design, and the most perfectly executed difficulty curve I've ever seen in a video game.
You could say this was the year of time loop games, with Returnal, Loop Hero, Echoes of the Eye and this. And every single one of those games is awesome, this stands out though, other than EOTE, as a highlight, easily the best game Arkane have released in their new lineup, just generally a triumph.
Some of the writing gets on my nerves, some of it is really endearing and charming, especially in the second half, but the first couple of hours just have me wincing with every other line.
A must-play that I'll easily be coming back to again very soon.
And I've not even talked about the entire other game mode yet.
2021
Really interesting visuals, super fun and smooth gameplay and a great drop-in-drop-out gameplay loop, definitely one I'll be playing a lot.
2010
Is this game underrated? Maybe. Is it still hard to rate more than 6/10? Definitely.
At the end of the day it's just a pretty decent shooter than happens to take place in Rapture, there isn't enough gameplay variety and I sometimes thought the game was taking me where I've already been when it was supposed to be new locations.
Even when I first played this, it occurs to me now, I never finished it. So this is actually my first time beating it. And I hoped I'd think more of the game by the end.
There's some interesting things in the story, when the game remembers it has one, and even then it seems more than half-baked.
Not much else to say.
At the end of the day it's just a pretty decent shooter than happens to take place in Rapture, there isn't enough gameplay variety and I sometimes thought the game was taking me where I've already been when it was supposed to be new locations.
Even when I first played this, it occurs to me now, I never finished it. So this is actually my first time beating it. And I hoped I'd think more of the game by the end.
There's some interesting things in the story, when the game remembers it has one, and even then it seems more than half-baked.
Not much else to say.
2021
Actually extremely smart to add depth to the gameplay by making my eyes fill up with tears so it becomes harder to keep my eyes open.
This sure is a game, you sure do shoot aliens.
I was kinda expecting there to be more to it, but it's very simple and basic.
I was kinda expecting there to be more to it, but it's very simple and basic.
2021
I don't know if I'll finish this game...
Gameplay:
This is to Far Cry 5 what Just Cause 4 is to Just Cause 3, it's almost identical but tacks on a few small mechanics or gameplay quirks that either add nothing meaningful or just bog things down. The base gameplay is still decent, the main part of the actual play experience I take issue with is the world. FC5 struck this perfect balance of giving you plenty of options for what to do whilst also; 1. Making it a manageable ammount and 2. Making everything feel seperate from each other, with very clearly defined locations and characters. This game does none of that. From the moment you finish the tutorial you're given about ten missions, all of which consist of doing basically the same thing for 8/10 of them (go to place, clear it of enemies), and every time you beat a mission it seems to add three more. The characters are not only numerous but each one is so bland and lacking in personality that for all intents and purposes there aren't any, and the entire map feels like the same place over and over and over with no variety for its entire square-footage. The experience of playing this game feels like beating a level in a linear game and then just hitting restart on the same mission over and over for 60 hours.
Story:
I was legitimately fascinated by the dynamic between the evil dictator and his son, but I haven't seen them for the last 15 hours of my current 20 hour play time. The most boring part of this story is the resistance but that's all you get to see, and as I mentioned in the gameplay section, there's about 100 main characters to follow, and they're all so flat and lacking in any memorable traits that they move past being forgettable and into just being one amalgamated mass of 'who cares'.
It's such a shame too, because not only was FC5s cult legitimately interesting, but the charcaters you interacted with along the way we're really endearing too, and the story of 5 worked as a fantastic metaphor for ignorance and the spread of disinformation in media and isolated communities, and how that can affect anyone (even you). So how does Far Cry 6 follow up 5s great themes? It doesn't.
On the lead-up to release, Ubisoft made it very clear that this game about fighting back against an evil dictatorship would have no political messaging at all, and I foolishly told myself that it was just the same case as the director of Luca saying it's not an LGBT allegory to hide it from Disney execs.
Sadly, I was wrong. This game has absolutely nothing to say, to an almost insulting level. No where is that better exemplified than in the perfect 50/50 split of male and female enemies, because you definitely want to have equal opportunities for who's working for a backwards dictator, and who I'm going to blow the brains out of. It's honestly mind-boggling how you could go so far out of your way to have such a politically charged setup and very intentionally work backwards from the inside to make sure those charges are never allowed to go off.
To be clear about the story, I think Giancarlo Espesito absolutely does a great job, and so does the kid acting his son, I just wish they were actually part of the game in any meaningful capacity.
Art:
Outside of lighting, raw texture quality, some postprocessing and the ammount and quality of lots of effects (particles etc), this is barely a step up from 5, which graphically was barely a step up from 4. I played this on PS5 expecting to be blown away only to be met by mediocrity.
But hey maybe, like 5, they make up for it with the art design?
In Far Cry 5, they perfectly capture the American south, contrasting the beauty of the countryside with the dark violence of the cult, it knew when to be loud and bombastic and when to be minimal and serene. Far Cry 5 had stark, recognisable imagery and a great variety of environments to visit.
Far cry 6, however, decided that it was going to take Mexico (complete with orange filter) and say it was in the Carribbean so they could make absolutely sure you couldn't draw upon any real world conflict that it could be alluding to. You get to fight people in red and white jackets and your choice of environment is rocky mountain or small town next to rocky mountain. Outside of a few statues there is nothing interesting to see, nowhere interesting to go, and nothing to draw you in or feel any sentiment towards whatsoever.
Far Cry 6 is a game that goes out of its way to be nothing. It makes sure not to have any themes or messages, so gives itself no story or setting, it makes sure to have the widest appeal possible and keep you playing for the most possible time, so gives you the most tried-and-true gameplay experience possible and a thousand missions that all consist of the same thing. It's the sequel to the game that should have reinvigorated the franchise, and it is cold and dark and empty.
This could be good to watch a postcast to, but if you want that and a game that's substantive and superior in every way, just play the fantastic and grossly underrated Far Cry 5.
Gameplay:
This is to Far Cry 5 what Just Cause 4 is to Just Cause 3, it's almost identical but tacks on a few small mechanics or gameplay quirks that either add nothing meaningful or just bog things down. The base gameplay is still decent, the main part of the actual play experience I take issue with is the world. FC5 struck this perfect balance of giving you plenty of options for what to do whilst also; 1. Making it a manageable ammount and 2. Making everything feel seperate from each other, with very clearly defined locations and characters. This game does none of that. From the moment you finish the tutorial you're given about ten missions, all of which consist of doing basically the same thing for 8/10 of them (go to place, clear it of enemies), and every time you beat a mission it seems to add three more. The characters are not only numerous but each one is so bland and lacking in personality that for all intents and purposes there aren't any, and the entire map feels like the same place over and over and over with no variety for its entire square-footage. The experience of playing this game feels like beating a level in a linear game and then just hitting restart on the same mission over and over for 60 hours.
Story:
I was legitimately fascinated by the dynamic between the evil dictator and his son, but I haven't seen them for the last 15 hours of my current 20 hour play time. The most boring part of this story is the resistance but that's all you get to see, and as I mentioned in the gameplay section, there's about 100 main characters to follow, and they're all so flat and lacking in any memorable traits that they move past being forgettable and into just being one amalgamated mass of 'who cares'.
It's such a shame too, because not only was FC5s cult legitimately interesting, but the charcaters you interacted with along the way we're really endearing too, and the story of 5 worked as a fantastic metaphor for ignorance and the spread of disinformation in media and isolated communities, and how that can affect anyone (even you). So how does Far Cry 6 follow up 5s great themes? It doesn't.
On the lead-up to release, Ubisoft made it very clear that this game about fighting back against an evil dictatorship would have no political messaging at all, and I foolishly told myself that it was just the same case as the director of Luca saying it's not an LGBT allegory to hide it from Disney execs.
Sadly, I was wrong. This game has absolutely nothing to say, to an almost insulting level. No where is that better exemplified than in the perfect 50/50 split of male and female enemies, because you definitely want to have equal opportunities for who's working for a backwards dictator, and who I'm going to blow the brains out of. It's honestly mind-boggling how you could go so far out of your way to have such a politically charged setup and very intentionally work backwards from the inside to make sure those charges are never allowed to go off.
To be clear about the story, I think Giancarlo Espesito absolutely does a great job, and so does the kid acting his son, I just wish they were actually part of the game in any meaningful capacity.
Art:
Outside of lighting, raw texture quality, some postprocessing and the ammount and quality of lots of effects (particles etc), this is barely a step up from 5, which graphically was barely a step up from 4. I played this on PS5 expecting to be blown away only to be met by mediocrity.
But hey maybe, like 5, they make up for it with the art design?
In Far Cry 5, they perfectly capture the American south, contrasting the beauty of the countryside with the dark violence of the cult, it knew when to be loud and bombastic and when to be minimal and serene. Far Cry 5 had stark, recognisable imagery and a great variety of environments to visit.
Far cry 6, however, decided that it was going to take Mexico (complete with orange filter) and say it was in the Carribbean so they could make absolutely sure you couldn't draw upon any real world conflict that it could be alluding to. You get to fight people in red and white jackets and your choice of environment is rocky mountain or small town next to rocky mountain. Outside of a few statues there is nothing interesting to see, nowhere interesting to go, and nothing to draw you in or feel any sentiment towards whatsoever.
Far Cry 6 is a game that goes out of its way to be nothing. It makes sure not to have any themes or messages, so gives itself no story or setting, it makes sure to have the widest appeal possible and keep you playing for the most possible time, so gives you the most tried-and-true gameplay experience possible and a thousand missions that all consist of the same thing. It's the sequel to the game that should have reinvigorated the franchise, and it is cold and dark and empty.
This could be good to watch a postcast to, but if you want that and a game that's substantive and superior in every way, just play the fantastic and grossly underrated Far Cry 5.
2013
Can't believe I was literally lied to all these years, I was led to believe this game was garbage not even worth playing, and instead it's actually really good?? And actually feels pretty consistent with the tone of the series???
The art design is great, the direction is super fun, there could have been more bosses but all the ones that are in here are super fun and cool. I wish the gameplay depth ammounted to more than basically just 'switch to a different weapon' but what can you do, I feel like the gameplay is involved enough to constitute a moderate ammount of depth even if it's nothing special, player involvement is what I personally constitute as depth anyway. The platforming could use more variety as it's mostly just 'jump here, pull out platform, keep going' but with different coats of paint, could have been more creative instead of just being things to get you between the combat arenas.
I'm really glad I played DMC5 before this, I feel like if this was my first in the series I'd be like 'wow if this is considered dog then the mainline games must really be something!' and sure, this doesn't have as much replay value or complex gameplay as the mainline games but this still rocks.
Really enjoyed it, don't get the hate.
The art design is great, the direction is super fun, there could have been more bosses but all the ones that are in here are super fun and cool. I wish the gameplay depth ammounted to more than basically just 'switch to a different weapon' but what can you do, I feel like the gameplay is involved enough to constitute a moderate ammount of depth even if it's nothing special, player involvement is what I personally constitute as depth anyway. The platforming could use more variety as it's mostly just 'jump here, pull out platform, keep going' but with different coats of paint, could have been more creative instead of just being things to get you between the combat arenas.
I'm really glad I played DMC5 before this, I feel like if this was my first in the series I'd be like 'wow if this is considered dog then the mainline games must really be something!' and sure, this doesn't have as much replay value or complex gameplay as the mainline games but this still rocks.
Really enjoyed it, don't get the hate.
2021
I LOVE THIS LITTLE CROW AND HIS FIGHTING SKILLS!!
This game is very good but not quite great, feel like the combat could use just a little more fluidity and things to it, but this is a very very good game! I just don't think I'll be finishing it, but I've played about 5 hours so I think it's worth logging.
This game is very good but not quite great, feel like the combat could use just a little more fluidity and things to it, but this is a very very good game! I just don't think I'll be finishing it, but I've played about 5 hours so I think it's worth logging.
1996
One star for having genuinely well and interestingly directed moments.
Half a star for being iconic.
That's all I can say positively, played this for two hours in total and it's garbage even by point-and-click standards.
Half a star for being iconic.
That's all I can say positively, played this for two hours in total and it's garbage even by point-and-click standards.
1995
Terrible naming convention aside (clock tower: the first fear > Clock Tower > Clock Tower 2 (which is clock tower 3,) great) this is marginally better than the 3d sequel, and most of that is charm.
Played this for about 3 hours before realising how bored I was.
Played this for about 3 hours before realising how bored I was.
2021
This review contains spoilers
After the amazing The Hex, Daniel Mullins Games has taken what was done in that game and expanded upon those ideas and gameplay twists, and has created a fantastic and well-developed card game that takes place in at atmospheric and interesting world with a fascinating story; AND it never sacrifices game to facilitate more story.
Perfect story, perfect world, perfect art design, perfect sound design, perfect gameplay, perfect game.
The twists are still powerful and effective even after The Hex, and everything works perfectly.
I recommend this to anyone, I hate card games but this is a 10/10. The implication that this is connected to The Hex is also fantastic.
Perfect story, perfect world, perfect art design, perfect sound design, perfect gameplay, perfect game.
The twists are still powerful and effective even after The Hex, and everything works perfectly.
I recommend this to anyone, I hate card games but this is a 10/10. The implication that this is connected to The Hex is also fantastic.
Ok, Bates seemed cool, but I couldn't even get through 2 hours of this one, maybe these games just suck.
2016
Played this entire game way back when, was my first exposure to anything even clock tower adjascent, having just finished clock tower, clock tower and clock tower 2, I feel like I should have taken this as a sign.
1994
As far as point-and-click games go this is great! The art, story and world is what pulls it together, but it was an ordeal to get this working and in english. Might pick this up and finish it at a later date but considering it took me about a week to rack up 3 hours in this game I think I'm just not one for point-and-click/light novel games.
Been meaning to give this a go for a while though, just as a piece of history, finally got to hear THE Konami song in its natural habitat.
Been meaning to give this a go for a while though, just as a piece of history, finally got to hear THE Konami song in its natural habitat.
1997
I'll be clear right now: an entire star of my rating is entirely because I'm enamored by how cheesy and goofy this game is, this is a 2 star game easily, honestly maybe less.
This isn't AWFUL. The low budget shows, but it's a fun sci-fi survival horror that wears it's inspirations on it's sleeves. I definitely won't be playing this ever again, and it took me playing it on-and-off for over a week to actually beat the game. Nevertheless, enjoyed my time with it ENOUGH.
This isn't AWFUL. The low budget shows, but it's a fun sci-fi survival horror that wears it's inspirations on it's sleeves. I definitely won't be playing this ever again, and it took me playing it on-and-off for over a week to actually beat the game. Nevertheless, enjoyed my time with it ENOUGH.