Banishers feels like its constantly at odds with itself. It's trying really hard to be God of War 2018, but the combat is iffy and the world traversal is a bit boring. The story is phenomenal and the side missions all fit cohesively with the core themes, however all the great side-missions are followed up by these like side-epilogues that for the most part boil down to fetch quests or other menial tasks. What's weird is the major bits needed for the different endings are in the main side missions, so the after-missions really just feel like completionist filler.

In summary Banishers should've tried to trim off some of the fat, if not dropped the open world completely in favor of a more linear game.

Also throughout my game I kept running into a glitch where the music would just cut out or restart abruptly. Offputting but never game ruining, that is until halfway through the final cutscene the music stopped and I sat watching what probably would've been a lot more effective with some good score.

Inescapable advertises itself as a bit of a Danganropa or 999 clone, a "murder game" with a zany cast of characters and bizarre complicated plot.

It is not. This is a cut and dry social sim, where pretty much no characters are likeable and the writing is terrible. It's like playing through a season of Big Brother. I got about halfway through and couldn't take any more of this absolute embarassment.

Not the worst game I've played this year, because it wasn't completely unpleasant unlike some others, but it goes absolutely nowhere, every character (especially the protagonist) is annoying and one-dimensional and it overstays its welcome significantly.

Avoid - 1.5/10

Confused. Stupefied, even.

So horribly mismanaged. It almost feels like the devs didn't know that this was to be split into two parts. But they did! This was announced two years before this game. And they also had more time to work on it than most previous Harry Potter games. But there is clearly so much filler that it is so difficult to wrap your head around the process and decision making behind the creation of this game. I mean, even aside from the fact that this is a COVER-BASED SHOOTER... that doesn't even utilize cover!

There's just so much repeat content. In-between the actual story beats which follow the movie, the game presents a set of three small maps every once in a while. You will often return to these locations during the main story or vice versa, making very few areas feel actually unique. The first set is somewhat special, with one mission involving an escape from a dragon cave. Because, you know, going into a dragon cave only to escape it while being hunted is a great idea. But there is also one that's... in an abandoned nuclear powerplant?

Yes, a nuclear powerplant. Not only that, but you return to it later as part of the main story. For some reason they fit in a section where the main characters find Dean Thomas and Griphook traveling and discussing how they're trying to avoid Snatchers (which always conveniently spawn right behind them and in front of you), which gives Harry a lead on Gryffindor's sword. But... he doesn't even catch up to them. Why? And to make matters worse, you have to go back through the level to find a resting spot (this happens often by the way, you run through a level from the back. Filling in time at its finest). The resting spot Hermione decides on is in a cylinder, where, previously while passing it, immortal zombies resided, and in-between which a hundred Snatchers were spawning around every corner.

These are only some of the multitudes of nonsenses which the game throws at you to actually put in some gameplay. Another one worth mentioning, and perhaps the single most egregious one, is that after escaping the Ministry (which Hermione specifically mentions is the single most dangerous place they could be at given their current situation during their attempt at sneaking in) when the trio are on the run, Harry still somehow gets tips about people being held in various locations, and so he RETURNS TO THE MINISTRY TO FREE 6 RANDOM PEOPLE. WITH THE HORCRUX.

And I'm not trying to make it out as if some of the other games don't change the original stories significantly or without much sense in order to add some gameplay, the GBA version of Prisoner of Azkaban comes to mind as it has Malfoy guard the cage Sirius is locked in so there can be a final boss, but this is seriously out there, and in a very serious part as well. Also, it's quite difficult not to nitpick everything, when the actual gameplay is so boring.

Everyone in their mother heard at this point that, for some insane reason, EA decided to make the Deathly Hallows games for mainline consoles be third person shooters. What some may not know is that the shooting is very bad. You unlock spells as you progress the game (There is a level system. Yes, a level system), and while there is only one strict upgrade, they all feel either awkward, look silly, or both. You can make comparisons to guns in other shooters, Stupify is a pistol, Confundo is a sniper (which zooms in Sniper Elite-style when shot by the way) and there is even a rocket launcher. Some spells cause the enemy to fall over, which is incredibly effective as it takes them out of a fight for a time. Others simply deal damage. Confusingly, however, some spells cause a paralyzing effect... like the shotgun one. That's right, you PARALYZE with a SHOTGUN instead of DOING DAMAGE WITH THE SHOTGUN SPELL.

When I said this game is confusing, this truly extends to nearly every aspect of this game. Some things are passable, the music is nice (they even reuse a melody from the very first Philosopher's Stone video game soundtrack very early on, which I found very heartwarming after this whole binge) but it all fails when you just look at what you're doing. Worth noting is that every boss fight is also very weak, you just kinda spam the same spells as always, sometimes literally spam as you just have to press the button a shitload of times aiming at a specific spot. This just wasn't the part that needed this sort of a game. The second has the Battle of Hogwarts, that's where these systems could shine perhaps, but this mellow, character-driven story of part I just doesn't fit, and that's why so much nonsensical content was created, to make it more gamey. The stealth sections in particular stand out, just such a horrible mechanic, though it is kinda cute that, even in the last part, there will always be stealth in Harry Potter games in one way or another.

I had this realization somewhere around the mid-point that I am playing a shitty shooter that is a Harry Potter movie tie-in game, and the location I spent the most time in is an abandoned nuclear powerplant. Again, in a Harry Potter game.

Why?

This review is being written by a Dad who was forced by his 5-year old Daughter to play as Bandana Waddle-Dee the entire time while she continued to run away from every boss, which resulted in a rather underpowered Bandana Waddle-Dad poking the giant enemies in the butt and trying to very slowly chip away at their health before they managed to catch up with a terrified Kirby and slap them into the next year.

All in all, I thought this game was great. I mean, I had a very stressful time with it but that has nothing to do with the game itself (Although, I do wish there was a way to make Bandana Waddle-Dee stronger, as far as I could tell this wasn't possible). The game looks and feels great, the story is mysterious and cool, the bosses are well built and the mouthful mode feature is a lot of fun.