Jack_OConnor
Recent Activity
Jack_OConnor
finished
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
An interesting source game that does a lot with its simple mechanics, that beings its physics and how the magic interacts with it (almost to the point of being an immersive sim), but everything around that is kind of unmemorable. The story has some points of intrigue given the twist and choices, but basically the only reason you'd remember it is because of how unapologetically horny it is.
2 days ago
Jack_OConnor
backloggd
Teardown
3 days ago
Jack_OConnor
completed
The Evil Within
3 days ago
Jack_OConnor
backloggd
The Escapists 2
5 days ago
Jack_OConnor
finished
Dead Space
As a fan of the originals, I was already skeptical about this remake even existing in the first place; the only reason you wouldn't play the OGs is because of hardware issues, and even then it's an easy fix. Playing through it all the way only confirms that the only reason you'd do so is out of sheer curiosity or because you literally can't get the first game running.
To be fair to it, it does have some great idea: the circuit breaker mechanic is genius for building tension by making it so it's impossible to progress without deliberately doing something that'll handicap you, bringing Isaac's true personality to the story was always going to be a plus, and they did at least try to tie the new fancy graphics with the limb-focused combat with the whole skin and muscle system.
The detriments far outweigh the positives, though, sometimes counter-intuitively. By bringing Isaac into the focus, now all the other characters in the story are flat, almost to the point of being completely one note, and the mocapped actors' faces only separates the idea that they're in any kind of danger. I swear, some of the actors reacted more like they got told their favorite cereal was out of stock instead of the fact their friends were dying around them. The graphics also get in the way of readability with the necromorphs, too: in the originals, you could tell immediately if you were close to killing one or doing damage to one because it was a simple texture change. Now, there's about four splatter effects for all the gore coming out of one's leg that spews out so much you can't tell if you cut it off until it topples over.
Plus, there are some ideas that seem well-intentioned, but end up dragging the game out for far too long; backtracking the Ishimura was fun for some side content, but ultimately getting clearance and having to go back is way more of a pain than necessary because there's no markers or way to find anything except by following the map, which you can't use doors with while it's opened.
Ultimately, I think the remake was made by people who meant well and were clearly fans of the series, but who came up with too many ideas on what "should" be done with it before thinking about what was practical.
To be fair to it, it does have some great idea: the circuit breaker mechanic is genius for building tension by making it so it's impossible to progress without deliberately doing something that'll handicap you, bringing Isaac's true personality to the story was always going to be a plus, and they did at least try to tie the new fancy graphics with the limb-focused combat with the whole skin and muscle system.
The detriments far outweigh the positives, though, sometimes counter-intuitively. By bringing Isaac into the focus, now all the other characters in the story are flat, almost to the point of being completely one note, and the mocapped actors' faces only separates the idea that they're in any kind of danger. I swear, some of the actors reacted more like they got told their favorite cereal was out of stock instead of the fact their friends were dying around them. The graphics also get in the way of readability with the necromorphs, too: in the originals, you could tell immediately if you were close to killing one or doing damage to one because it was a simple texture change. Now, there's about four splatter effects for all the gore coming out of one's leg that spews out so much you can't tell if you cut it off until it topples over.
Plus, there are some ideas that seem well-intentioned, but end up dragging the game out for far too long; backtracking the Ishimura was fun for some side content, but ultimately getting clearance and having to go back is way more of a pain than necessary because there's no markers or way to find anything except by following the map, which you can't use doors with while it's opened.
Ultimately, I think the remake was made by people who meant well and were clearly fans of the series, but who came up with too many ideas on what "should" be done with it before thinking about what was practical.
6 days ago