Hizamaru
This review contains spoilers
After 10 years, Destiny 2's final campaign is a just "more of what's there already."
Played one Destiny campaign where you do a jumping/platforming section within a mission, kill a boss or mini-boss and then move onto the next area to jump to more areas or kill more things? You've played this, except the last mission, which is a genuine change from other expansion campaign mission structure. Even with the way the game looks visually and sounds, which has been always a consistent high point for this series, I'm still finding myself underwhelmed. Why am I STILL wondering why I can't run away from the Witness with his multi-dimensional hands that make him seem creepy? Why am I watching the Vanguard do all this cool stuff in cutscenes that I cannot do nor get to experience? The Guardian is the biggest threat to the Witness, yet I really don't feel like the Witness cared about me at all and his focus was elsewhere completely.
It's Destiny's most focused expansion campaign on characters like the main vanguard, who's been with us (except Cayde) for 10 years, interesting for really only 4 or so. In the expansion though, I found myself repeating the same story-beats that I swore we'd already addressed in seasons prior. Zavala being such a glaring issue with how much focus he recieves. It feels very much like Season of the Haunted 2.0, but since this has already happened it feels like I'm being beaten over the head with him addressing his family. While the voice acting by Keith David here is commendable, giving a good emotional performance, it feels ultimately distracting from what this campaign really should've focused on.
If anything, it feels more like Lightfall was switched around with The Final Shape. Lightfall should've been a more emotional, character focused story where we found people at their lowest points, with The Final Shape being a triumphant all-out war against a winning force.
This just isn't good enough for a 10 year build-up. The end of the campaign didn't feel satisfying in the slightest and felt almost a little pathetic once I realized the true ending for this 10 year build-up will most likely be locked for a few more days behind world's first raid completion and another campaign mission to unlock later. It completely nullified the change of mission and encounter made for the final boss featuring more mechanics than pointing and clicking and basic movement.
I don't want more Destiny. I want a satisfying ending to story you've been building up for 10 years. You should've gone all out.
Played one Destiny campaign where you do a jumping/platforming section within a mission, kill a boss or mini-boss and then move onto the next area to jump to more areas or kill more things? You've played this, except the last mission, which is a genuine change from other expansion campaign mission structure. Even with the way the game looks visually and sounds, which has been always a consistent high point for this series, I'm still finding myself underwhelmed. Why am I STILL wondering why I can't run away from the Witness with his multi-dimensional hands that make him seem creepy? Why am I watching the Vanguard do all this cool stuff in cutscenes that I cannot do nor get to experience? The Guardian is the biggest threat to the Witness, yet I really don't feel like the Witness cared about me at all and his focus was elsewhere completely.
It's Destiny's most focused expansion campaign on characters like the main vanguard, who's been with us (except Cayde) for 10 years, interesting for really only 4 or so. In the expansion though, I found myself repeating the same story-beats that I swore we'd already addressed in seasons prior. Zavala being such a glaring issue with how much focus he recieves. It feels very much like Season of the Haunted 2.0, but since this has already happened it feels like I'm being beaten over the head with him addressing his family. While the voice acting by Keith David here is commendable, giving a good emotional performance, it feels ultimately distracting from what this campaign really should've focused on.
If anything, it feels more like Lightfall was switched around with The Final Shape. Lightfall should've been a more emotional, character focused story where we found people at their lowest points, with The Final Shape being a triumphant all-out war against a winning force.
This just isn't good enough for a 10 year build-up. The end of the campaign didn't feel satisfying in the slightest and felt almost a little pathetic once I realized the true ending for this 10 year build-up will most likely be locked for a few more days behind world's first raid completion and another campaign mission to unlock later. It completely nullified the change of mission and encounter made for the final boss featuring more mechanics than pointing and clicking and basic movement.
I don't want more Destiny. I want a satisfying ending to story you've been building up for 10 years. You should've gone all out.
2007
Persona 3 is really endearing with it's characters. It's the first JRPG I've ever played and it's certainly a little rough from that perspective. I think the biggest thing currently holding me back from continuing the playthrough is that Persona 3's opening takes a rough moment to start and time-investment from what I understand about intention of the developers (more or less the whole point of Persona 3) is more or less supposed to be "wasteful". Maybe it's just the fact that Persona 3 is an incredibly long game (like all the Persona games are) but I've not had this stop me before with even visual novels.
There's some really frustrating mechanics going on that I feel I'm almost suffering through for the "initiation" of the rest of the game. Stuff like the status changes and the academic systems and balancing school life? I really do understand what the game is going for but god is this game incredibly frustrating and feels like I'm making constant mistakes at every corner. I know, that's the point, but it really is like a lump in the throat I just want to swallow down so I can learn more about the characters and the overall plot.
There's some really frustrating mechanics going on that I feel I'm almost suffering through for the "initiation" of the rest of the game. Stuff like the status changes and the academic systems and balancing school life? I really do understand what the game is going for but god is this game incredibly frustrating and feels like I'm making constant mistakes at every corner. I know, that's the point, but it really is like a lump in the throat I just want to swallow down so I can learn more about the characters and the overall plot.
2022
At the time of writing this, it's been 8 years since Overwatch 1 released. Almost an entire decade has passed and Overwatch has changed but in meaningless way and the smaller changes have resulted in negativity.
It's fucking outstanding that this game has not had any actual gameplay changes or additions. Everything has been scaled back or cancelled, modified versions of what already existed. Videogames trends and development can change at the fastest paces and Overwatch has felt content to sit within mediocrity with expected and formulaic "content releases" that do nothing but release skins and "modes" which have been done to death.
To build an entirely new game on an upgraded engine is usually a good sign of advancement but Overwatch 2 has not done any of this. I think most people were too blinded by the existence of a second game and promised future development to see (that when a game comes out and delivers next to no actual gameplay/mechanical features added) what was being offered to them.
I wouldn't judge the game on this fact if that wasn't their intention, you can release a multiplayer online game and not change it, in fact in some sense it's quite respectable to do so, to have confidence in your release is something hard to find. Overwatch has committed itself to future content updates since the game released however and the promises and alluded changes are insulting when you look at the "content" (skins) being peddled out by the development team.
Everything that could be praised about Overwatch back when it released has been smothered by piles of absolute horseshit. The developers have failed to innovate in a game that had every advantage it ever could have had with being the talk of the town for an entire year or more. Instead of keeping the game consistently updating and expanding it's reach they felt over-confident and content to release skins and half-ass every opportunity they had. They looked at one terrible business model that no one liked and implemented it as a core reward feature, then dropped it entirely for something even worse.
It will continue to do this until it dies a slow painful death like most multiplayer shooters eventually do. A remarkable game because of poor management and development that deserves to be unremarkable solely for the reasons it is remarkable, but with a name like Blizzard attached to it, it never will be.
It's fucking outstanding that this game has not had any actual gameplay changes or additions. Everything has been scaled back or cancelled, modified versions of what already existed. Videogames trends and development can change at the fastest paces and Overwatch has felt content to sit within mediocrity with expected and formulaic "content releases" that do nothing but release skins and "modes" which have been done to death.
To build an entirely new game on an upgraded engine is usually a good sign of advancement but Overwatch 2 has not done any of this. I think most people were too blinded by the existence of a second game and promised future development to see (that when a game comes out and delivers next to no actual gameplay/mechanical features added) what was being offered to them.
I wouldn't judge the game on this fact if that wasn't their intention, you can release a multiplayer online game and not change it, in fact in some sense it's quite respectable to do so, to have confidence in your release is something hard to find. Overwatch has committed itself to future content updates since the game released however and the promises and alluded changes are insulting when you look at the "content" (skins) being peddled out by the development team.
Everything that could be praised about Overwatch back when it released has been smothered by piles of absolute horseshit. The developers have failed to innovate in a game that had every advantage it ever could have had with being the talk of the town for an entire year or more. Instead of keeping the game consistently updating and expanding it's reach they felt over-confident and content to release skins and half-ass every opportunity they had. They looked at one terrible business model that no one liked and implemented it as a core reward feature, then dropped it entirely for something even worse.
It will continue to do this until it dies a slow painful death like most multiplayer shooters eventually do. A remarkable game because of poor management and development that deserves to be unremarkable solely for the reasons it is remarkable, but with a name like Blizzard attached to it, it never will be.
2017
Laws of War was something that I really didn't expect Bohemia to run with, but I think it might actually be the best campaign they've done in the series and is a serious attempt at telling a war-related story. It's a story told from the unseen perspective never shown in any aspect of the games, it doesn't have any large-scale battles or much fighting at all. What is here is a moral question left up to the player which they make up from the campaign itself or the original ARMA 3 campaign.
It's not a big campaign by any means and it's not spectacular and it doesn't have any preaching to the player about what's wrong. Merely the player making the choices and the reaction from the aid workers and reporter, and it works well. Good attempt by Bohemia here to step up their game.
It's not a big campaign by any means and it's not spectacular and it doesn't have any preaching to the player about what's wrong. Merely the player making the choices and the reaction from the aid workers and reporter, and it works well. Good attempt by Bohemia here to step up their game.
2021
I'll preface this by saying I didn't play Ready or Not prior to it's 1.0 release. If you aren't aware, Ready or Not had some small features moved around, removed or added towards it's release.
Ready or Not's a real mixed bag. If everything in this game goes right and you're not dealing with frustrating AI (both from your SWAT teammates and your enemies), then you'll most likely have a fun, if not somewhat tedious time. Unfortunately, when you start seeing the problems with the AI being overtuned or logically broken by what can only be inferred as 'by design' considering a lack of proper patching and reverting back to a previous or better state, the tedium comes full force.
At the other end of this, you have stuff like the way Rules of Engagement and Squad Management works which feel more like a problem of not being incentivized to care. Why would I care about my squad when a lot of the time they get in my way, or they're likely to harm a non-lethal run? The best skills that they offer if they're well-managed are merely health and armor padding. There's no penalty nor worthwhile benefit to caring and when the suspects within the game are terminators at worst or amusingly stupid at best, lethal playthroughs become the only source of enjoyment. Another big issue is that this game really needs to tone down it's use of bombastic levels filled to the brim with suspects. Towards the later missions, I feel less like a SWAT commander and more like John Wick with my 4 lackeys going into the gang leader's compound. It needs more bite-sized levels to not only ease people to the pace of this game but also to make sure the larger, more gun-ho levels hit as they should.
There's a real lack of smart or impactful story-telling where it matters. Ready or Not has a lot of levels and missions where they quite clearly had inspiration from real-world events. One of the earliest levels within the game is contextualized from the point of a SWAT team attending a call out to a son killing their mother, with gunfire still being exchanged afterwards. Like most missions in Ready or Not, things are not as they seem and you stumble across a more complex situation than you're told. So where does this mission fail? Contextual lines and dialogue. This is a real big problem with the game in general. I think I heard my SWAT teammates talk in reaction to an event or asking questions once or twice. While this is really bad for making me see them as anything more than emotionless robots, it ruins some the concepts of these missions. Stumbling across suspects or things that are not outlined in the briefing or what you've been told should be reacted to, but they aren't. When a core part of the case is suddenly complicated, there is no questioning by the player or team. Twists and surprises become too hidden to the point that 99% of the playerbase doesn't understand the situation and believe they've just walked into a gang territory at war.
That being said, Ready or Not has one or two moments that are great, both due to their shock and context gathered within the missions, but almost because of the lack of dialogue from the player's character. Again, this game is a mixed bag in that respect.
What holds up Ready or Not, is the detail put into the equipment, and the large range of weapons. I do know that there has been a reduced weapon pool for the player to deploy with, which is a slight shame, but the weapons within the game are quite enjoyable. Animation-wise, they've quite clearly made things satisfying and accurate. The customization that is there is nice, and the ability to customize your squad's loadouts makes for a good way to specialize and put together a strategy (although, this is somewhat pointless due to the AI at the moment of review). Even things like the gore, the sound design and the slide/peeking and player movement is suitable to the game it wants to be.
The biggest problem is that all the things it does spectacularly well are let down by everything they play off being missing or just bad.
Ready or Not's a real mixed bag. If everything in this game goes right and you're not dealing with frustrating AI (both from your SWAT teammates and your enemies), then you'll most likely have a fun, if not somewhat tedious time. Unfortunately, when you start seeing the problems with the AI being overtuned or logically broken by what can only be inferred as 'by design' considering a lack of proper patching and reverting back to a previous or better state, the tedium comes full force.
At the other end of this, you have stuff like the way Rules of Engagement and Squad Management works which feel more like a problem of not being incentivized to care. Why would I care about my squad when a lot of the time they get in my way, or they're likely to harm a non-lethal run? The best skills that they offer if they're well-managed are merely health and armor padding. There's no penalty nor worthwhile benefit to caring and when the suspects within the game are terminators at worst or amusingly stupid at best, lethal playthroughs become the only source of enjoyment. Another big issue is that this game really needs to tone down it's use of bombastic levels filled to the brim with suspects. Towards the later missions, I feel less like a SWAT commander and more like John Wick with my 4 lackeys going into the gang leader's compound. It needs more bite-sized levels to not only ease people to the pace of this game but also to make sure the larger, more gun-ho levels hit as they should.
There's a real lack of smart or impactful story-telling where it matters. Ready or Not has a lot of levels and missions where they quite clearly had inspiration from real-world events. One of the earliest levels within the game is contextualized from the point of a SWAT team attending a call out to a son killing their mother, with gunfire still being exchanged afterwards. Like most missions in Ready or Not, things are not as they seem and you stumble across a more complex situation than you're told. So where does this mission fail? Contextual lines and dialogue. This is a real big problem with the game in general. I think I heard my SWAT teammates talk in reaction to an event or asking questions once or twice. While this is really bad for making me see them as anything more than emotionless robots, it ruins some the concepts of these missions. Stumbling across suspects or things that are not outlined in the briefing or what you've been told should be reacted to, but they aren't. When a core part of the case is suddenly complicated, there is no questioning by the player or team. Twists and surprises become too hidden to the point that 99% of the playerbase doesn't understand the situation and believe they've just walked into a gang territory at war.
That being said, Ready or Not has one or two moments that are great, both due to their shock and context gathered within the missions, but almost because of the lack of dialogue from the player's character. Again, this game is a mixed bag in that respect.
What holds up Ready or Not, is the detail put into the equipment, and the large range of weapons. I do know that there has been a reduced weapon pool for the player to deploy with, which is a slight shame, but the weapons within the game are quite enjoyable. Animation-wise, they've quite clearly made things satisfying and accurate. The customization that is there is nice, and the ability to customize your squad's loadouts makes for a good way to specialize and put together a strategy (although, this is somewhat pointless due to the AI at the moment of review). Even things like the gore, the sound design and the slide/peeking and player movement is suitable to the game it wants to be.
The biggest problem is that all the things it does spectacularly well are let down by everything they play off being missing or just bad.
2023
Elder Scrolls is a weird fantastical fantasy setting that's fun to read about and visiting the places in game are a novelty. There's an aspect of charm within some of the dialogue between characters. Is it full of bugs and jank? Yes. No doubt about it. Fallout 4 at least has relatively decent shooting, even if everything else about the game is disappointing and boring.
The weirdness and the settings are really what help Bethesda. They're a lot different from studios like Gearbox who overdo their humor and dialogue. It's acceptable. It's why people like the Elder Scrolls and Fallout, these are series based upon concepts and settings which are stretched, but you can still take them seriously.
Starfield feels like every part of what made those two series interesting had been ripped out. There's no real interesting lore here, there's no craziness, there's no charm. When you've stripped this all back, you're left with a game that plays like Fallout 4 with a less interesting setting, with surprisingly blander exploration, with questionably uninspired music, a whole lot of bugs, and a terrible story with terrible dialogue and a main skill system that seems bafflingly bad.
I usually end Bethesda games the same way. Halfway through a playthrough, closing the game because I just couldn't take it for the next few hours, then going and playing something else. I at least usually find something good to say about each game when I do this, but I just couldn't for Starfield. Everything was mediocre or bad and nothing stood out well.
The weirdness and the settings are really what help Bethesda. They're a lot different from studios like Gearbox who overdo their humor and dialogue. It's acceptable. It's why people like the Elder Scrolls and Fallout, these are series based upon concepts and settings which are stretched, but you can still take them seriously.
Starfield feels like every part of what made those two series interesting had been ripped out. There's no real interesting lore here, there's no craziness, there's no charm. When you've stripped this all back, you're left with a game that plays like Fallout 4 with a less interesting setting, with surprisingly blander exploration, with questionably uninspired music, a whole lot of bugs, and a terrible story with terrible dialogue and a main skill system that seems bafflingly bad.
I usually end Bethesda games the same way. Halfway through a playthrough, closing the game because I just couldn't take it for the next few hours, then going and playing something else. I at least usually find something good to say about each game when I do this, but I just couldn't for Starfield. Everything was mediocre or bad and nothing stood out well.
2016
A battlefield game set within World War 1 according to the creative director who worked on Battlefield 1 had been a dream and passion project for DICE. It's a well-known fact among diehard Battlefield fans but should be relatively obvious to anyone who's played Battlefield 1.
You can alone see the love poured into this game's animations, sounds and background detail. I will not claim to be a World War 1 expert but there is a distinct way information about the battles within the war (and surrounding the war) are presented within Operations and the singleplayer story mode which are perfect for getting you curious about the events.
I don't think I've shot a gun in a video game and felt as good as when I do when I'm shooting a bolt-action rifle in Battlefield 1, maybe its the sound being as amazing as it is, maybe the animations just tickle my brain in a certain way with the kickback and the pull-back and the reload, but it is undeniable to me that this game has so much love put into it and is extremely fun to play because of it.
You can alone see the love poured into this game's animations, sounds and background detail. I will not claim to be a World War 1 expert but there is a distinct way information about the battles within the war (and surrounding the war) are presented within Operations and the singleplayer story mode which are perfect for getting you curious about the events.
I don't think I've shot a gun in a video game and felt as good as when I do when I'm shooting a bolt-action rifle in Battlefield 1, maybe its the sound being as amazing as it is, maybe the animations just tickle my brain in a certain way with the kickback and the pull-back and the reload, but it is undeniable to me that this game has so much love put into it and is extremely fun to play because of it.