Jordan624
When I first played Gunvolt in 2018 I didn't fully grasp the concept of it and what it was meant to be. I loved the unique feel and look of it... but I struggled a lot on ny first playthrough and got mediocre rankings on every stage. When I came back to it in 2021 something just clicked and I reached a sense of flow and was racking up kudos consistently. The bosses were no trouble (for the most part) and I was doing way better in terms of completing challenges and making gear. I think when you understand how this game is meant to be played and get deep into the score attack nature of it it becomes a lot of fun. On this most recent playthrough I just did a quick run without going back for challenges (outside of a few and just replaying stages for leveling sake) and anything else besides the jewels for the best ending. Even then it was still a ton of fun. I've went from feeling kind of meh about these games to now understanding what makes them so unique and seeing the vision of what Inti had in mind. This series is something special and I see a lot of potential for it in the future if they go the right direction, and try to keep expanding on the concepts that made the first game so great on its own.
This review contains spoilers
Recreating such an iconic game as Final Fantasy VII is a herculean task. Square managed to nail Midgar with Remake, and now they've somehow topped that scope and story with Rebirth. No game is perfect, but this one is damn near perfection in every way.
The world of Final Fantasy VII is one of my favorites besides Alrest in Xenoblade 2. The thing I was most excited to see was how they would change and expand upon things like in Remake. They do it consistently with every area of the game. Whether it's Junon and learning about the history of the republic that was once there and the people who live under the large base, or the vastly expanded Gongaga region and the whole dungeon at its reactor, every area has something going on that's either expanding upon the original game or adding something completely new that compliments it. The world is really brought to life. The only thing I'd like to see added in part 3 is just being able to change the time of day. Seeing places like the grasslands and corel desert at sunset was amazing. I'd like to be able to experience areas at different times whenever.
The gameplay is absolutely a step up from Remake. The combat there was already great, but could've used some more fine-tuning for certain situations where you just had to sit and let your ATB fill up. We saw the addition of two person moves in Intermission and sure enough they made that a focal point in Rebirth now. Since you have a big party you can do all sorts of awesome attacks that utilize 2 specific characters. I adore the synergy moves that don't cost anything to use. This fixed the issue of not knowing what to do to get ATB in some situations, and some of the attacks are powerful enough to fill an entire bar on their own which is great. This has to be one of the best combat systems I've seen and I really don't even know what to expand upon for part 3. Outside of combat there's so much to do I don't even wanna try to list it all. I overall loved the world Intel as it's completely optional and doesn't affect the story, but gives you so much more lore and is worth seeing through. The summon crystals powering up your summons and making them easier to obtain through the simulator, the lifesprings giving more info on the regions, the protorelics being completely unique scenarios that lead to great character moments, etc. There's so much game that you don't have to experience. But just like the original skipping out feels like a mistake. This variety is what 16 could've used to keep things fresh. I love all the different activities this game gives you to do.
Rebirth contains a large chunk of story from 7's narrative. You visit many places and a lot happens. The big thing everyone has been waiting on though is Aerith's death and what Sephiroth intends to do leading up to that. I was surprised by the fact that most of the game plays out exactly as you would expect. The way Remake ended had me thinking we could see a lot more new stuff happening or have locations/events taking place out of order even. Yet the story goes as you think it will, and we don't see anything out of Zack (outside of the opening) until pretty far into the game. If there's one thing I wish they did, it was to start hinting or feeding info to us over time. Because of the way they decide to reveal the many timelines and throw a ton of info at you after Aerith's supposed death… you end up feeling confused and maybe even frustrated because they're actively taking away from a huge moment of emotion. I think about how they could've still left us wondering (since most people didn't even understand what they were seeing at first in the endgame anyway) while giving us these little info bits over the course of the chapters. Stuff like Cloud getting flashes of future events or other timelines, or Sephiroth starting to slowly reveal things even though the player and Cloud wouldn't be able to fully understand yet. I just wish it wasn't all at once. But I still have faith in this deviation in the story. Everything they've been doing has been intentional and meant to subvert expectations. If they're going the route I think they are where Cloud can't accept Aerith's death and still thinks she's alive… I'm super invested to see his descent into madness. We won't know for sure what's happening for a few years. But even if we learn more and things don't look promising I'm just invested to see this through. This project has been insane and if they pull it off all the way through I will be extremely happy.
Plenty of people will be able to say it better than I have in this review… but this game is amazing in every way. Almost every area and activity had some new mini game or mechanic. Many quests have unique field and battle themes which is crazy to me(and man is the OST in general fantastic). The characters are all fun to play as and have great arcs and interactions. Rebirth has brought back the feeling and emotions of original Final Fantasy VII in so many ways it doesn’t feel real. The lines I always think back to as a way to describe this remake project perfectly are from the original reveal.
“The reunion at hand may bring joy… it may bring fear… but let us embrace whatever it brings. For they are coming back. At last the promise has been made.”
And contrasting that with the line at the ending of this game I think paints a clear picture that big changes are coming. And I couldn't be more ready to see it…
“No promises await at journey's end”
The world of Final Fantasy VII is one of my favorites besides Alrest in Xenoblade 2. The thing I was most excited to see was how they would change and expand upon things like in Remake. They do it consistently with every area of the game. Whether it's Junon and learning about the history of the republic that was once there and the people who live under the large base, or the vastly expanded Gongaga region and the whole dungeon at its reactor, every area has something going on that's either expanding upon the original game or adding something completely new that compliments it. The world is really brought to life. The only thing I'd like to see added in part 3 is just being able to change the time of day. Seeing places like the grasslands and corel desert at sunset was amazing. I'd like to be able to experience areas at different times whenever.
The gameplay is absolutely a step up from Remake. The combat there was already great, but could've used some more fine-tuning for certain situations where you just had to sit and let your ATB fill up. We saw the addition of two person moves in Intermission and sure enough they made that a focal point in Rebirth now. Since you have a big party you can do all sorts of awesome attacks that utilize 2 specific characters. I adore the synergy moves that don't cost anything to use. This fixed the issue of not knowing what to do to get ATB in some situations, and some of the attacks are powerful enough to fill an entire bar on their own which is great. This has to be one of the best combat systems I've seen and I really don't even know what to expand upon for part 3. Outside of combat there's so much to do I don't even wanna try to list it all. I overall loved the world Intel as it's completely optional and doesn't affect the story, but gives you so much more lore and is worth seeing through. The summon crystals powering up your summons and making them easier to obtain through the simulator, the lifesprings giving more info on the regions, the protorelics being completely unique scenarios that lead to great character moments, etc. There's so much game that you don't have to experience. But just like the original skipping out feels like a mistake. This variety is what 16 could've used to keep things fresh. I love all the different activities this game gives you to do.
Rebirth contains a large chunk of story from 7's narrative. You visit many places and a lot happens. The big thing everyone has been waiting on though is Aerith's death and what Sephiroth intends to do leading up to that. I was surprised by the fact that most of the game plays out exactly as you would expect. The way Remake ended had me thinking we could see a lot more new stuff happening or have locations/events taking place out of order even. Yet the story goes as you think it will, and we don't see anything out of Zack (outside of the opening) until pretty far into the game. If there's one thing I wish they did, it was to start hinting or feeding info to us over time. Because of the way they decide to reveal the many timelines and throw a ton of info at you after Aerith's supposed death… you end up feeling confused and maybe even frustrated because they're actively taking away from a huge moment of emotion. I think about how they could've still left us wondering (since most people didn't even understand what they were seeing at first in the endgame anyway) while giving us these little info bits over the course of the chapters. Stuff like Cloud getting flashes of future events or other timelines, or Sephiroth starting to slowly reveal things even though the player and Cloud wouldn't be able to fully understand yet. I just wish it wasn't all at once. But I still have faith in this deviation in the story. Everything they've been doing has been intentional and meant to subvert expectations. If they're going the route I think they are where Cloud can't accept Aerith's death and still thinks she's alive… I'm super invested to see his descent into madness. We won't know for sure what's happening for a few years. But even if we learn more and things don't look promising I'm just invested to see this through. This project has been insane and if they pull it off all the way through I will be extremely happy.
Plenty of people will be able to say it better than I have in this review… but this game is amazing in every way. Almost every area and activity had some new mini game or mechanic. Many quests have unique field and battle themes which is crazy to me(and man is the OST in general fantastic). The characters are all fun to play as and have great arcs and interactions. Rebirth has brought back the feeling and emotions of original Final Fantasy VII in so many ways it doesn’t feel real. The lines I always think back to as a way to describe this remake project perfectly are from the original reveal.
“The reunion at hand may bring joy… it may bring fear… but let us embrace whatever it brings. For they are coming back. At last the promise has been made.”
And contrasting that with the line at the ending of this game I think paints a clear picture that big changes are coming. And I couldn't be more ready to see it…
“No promises await at journey's end”
I'm not technically fully done with this but considering this plays much like Origins and I'm pretty much at a point where I can collect my thoughts on it (and I just play this for short bursts when I feel like it since I've got a lot of other stuff I'm trying to fit in too) I'll just make a review now. I loved Origins back when it released. It was my introduction to Rayman, and I adored the wacky vibe of the world and characters, the amazing music, the beautiful hand drawn artstyle. Everything about it just hit perfectly. Legends delivers on that exactly as I remember Origins doing. The levels all have a distinct feel to them and each have interesting mechanics to play around with. None of them are too long or annoying, and using Murphy to move and interact with objects is a cool way to add that extra little bit of interactivity that you need to focus on besides your character. The only gripe I have is that I wish the different characters had more distinctive movesets. I might just be missing that some have slightly better abilities in terms of movement speed and such. But I would've liked if Globox for example had a move specific to him, or Barbara had something specific to her. But even then it's not a huge deal. Truthfully I don't really know what much to say because this is just a really good platformer. If I think of anything else to add I'll update this review. But really if you're like me and somehow haven't played this 10 years after the fact you really should. I have no idea why it took me so long to play Legends after loving Origins at the time. This took me back to the memories I had of playing it and loving the amazing visuals and unique music. Oh and speaking of music those music levels were great. Wish there was more of those because I do love me a good rhythm based platformer.
This review contains spoilers
This game left me with a lot of thoughts. On the one hand I love seeing Zack's arc and how he ended up with the beautifully tragic ending he was dealt. His journey was the best part of this game. Seeing how he interacts with all the strange Shinra higher ups and other soldier members or townspeople was great. The Shinra experment aspect of the narrative is another highlight. I feel like the best part of any of this story is that it shows how messed up Shinra truly is. Through the abnormal shit people spew to you like it's an average day in the company to finding out about Project G and J... they do a good job (whether intentional or not) of making Shinra feel like a truly creepy organization. Their obsession with gaining power through any means necessary is fascinating. I ultimately don't have much to say on Genesis or Angeal. Angeal on the one hand is interesting considering he's like a brother to Zack in the beginning and ends up giving him the Buster Sword (And you get to hear a little about it which is nice). Genesis though... what a pathetic annoying character. Only good thing they could do for him if he comes back somehow in Rebirth is give him something... anything more to do. And SHUT UP ABOUT LOVELESS MY GOD. In the end I was just left feeling weird about the narrative because until the final chapters, where it actually ties into the main FF7 narrative, the story just does not matter. Like I stated Zack's interactions with everyone is what makes it any bit interesting.
The gameplay is... simplistic yet has potential. I understand this was a PSP game originally so everything was designed in a very simple pick up and play fashion. My main issue comes down to there being nothing you do outside of combat. There's some fun minigame moments but I just wish there was something more going on. The only thing you do is run down corridors and fight enemies for the most part. That's every single mission in this game. The simplicity extends to the combat itself as well. I really like the action oriented nature of it (my preferred RPG playstyle). But there isn't much more to focus on besides getting weaknesses of enemies, and hoping the DMW gives you what you want it to. Speaking of which the DMW is really sick and idk why they didn't give you more control of it. The way you get to see Zack's memories as a way to expand on his interactions with characters without having to fit it in the main story somewhere is unique. Now there are ways to pull the odds of getting certain actions in your favor I'm aware. I guess I mainly would've liked there to be more interactivity with it. Maybe have it change up certain combat mechanics. I feel like there's a lot of changes I'd wanna make for this game, but to keep it simple why not have you be able to affect the DMW through the use of certain moves or attack patterns. Something like that. I think the fact that you also can't do certain missions or sidequests with certain characters to affect Zack's emotions with them is what also is weird (granted you can get Materia or gear, I can't remember exactly which, to increase the odds of certain actions popping up so I guess they didn't even need to go that route). Overall I just wanted more to do in the world. Otherwise the gameplay is solid.
If there's anything to end this on it's that ending. Seeing the final scenes of Zack and Cloud almost making it to Midgar, the soldier ambush, Zack's final words... they did that whole ending so much justice in this game. Legit gave me goosebumps. I'm so glad to have finally played this game despite its issues, and now that I've watched Advent Children I feel fully ready for Rebirth.
The gameplay is... simplistic yet has potential. I understand this was a PSP game originally so everything was designed in a very simple pick up and play fashion. My main issue comes down to there being nothing you do outside of combat. There's some fun minigame moments but I just wish there was something more going on. The only thing you do is run down corridors and fight enemies for the most part. That's every single mission in this game. The simplicity extends to the combat itself as well. I really like the action oriented nature of it (my preferred RPG playstyle). But there isn't much more to focus on besides getting weaknesses of enemies, and hoping the DMW gives you what you want it to. Speaking of which the DMW is really sick and idk why they didn't give you more control of it. The way you get to see Zack's memories as a way to expand on his interactions with characters without having to fit it in the main story somewhere is unique. Now there are ways to pull the odds of getting certain actions in your favor I'm aware. I guess I mainly would've liked there to be more interactivity with it. Maybe have it change up certain combat mechanics. I feel like there's a lot of changes I'd wanna make for this game, but to keep it simple why not have you be able to affect the DMW through the use of certain moves or attack patterns. Something like that. I think the fact that you also can't do certain missions or sidequests with certain characters to affect Zack's emotions with them is what also is weird (granted you can get Materia or gear, I can't remember exactly which, to increase the odds of certain actions popping up so I guess they didn't even need to go that route). Overall I just wanted more to do in the world. Otherwise the gameplay is solid.
If there's anything to end this on it's that ending. Seeing the final scenes of Zack and Cloud almost making it to Midgar, the soldier ambush, Zack's final words... they did that whole ending so much justice in this game. Legit gave me goosebumps. I'm so glad to have finally played this game despite its issues, and now that I've watched Advent Children I feel fully ready for Rebirth.
2020
This review contains spoilers
Fucking peak
If I could give this more than 5 stars I would. I'd say even paying $60 you're getting an overabundance of content that's more than worth it, and it doesn't even cost nearly that much. Probably one of the best collections there could be with the best value to it.
I'll update this and the main game with my full thoughts when I feel ready. But for now all I can really say is I'm so happy to have gotten into this series when I did back in 2018. This 5 year journey has been worth every second, and the conclusion we get here is so satisfying. Ultimately there are some things that don't ever get explained that I wish would've. But considering the scope of Aionios and everything they set up in the main game I feel they covered what they needed to the most. The gameplay, world, music, etc. was all amazing in this expansion and it might just be my favorite of the expansions/extra content we've gotten. Thank you MonolithSoft and Takahashi for giving us such an amazing storyline that I won't ever forget.
I didn't know this game even existed until this year. I watched a video about it and was completely hooked on wanting to play it for myself. Now that I have I can safely say this is one of my favorite games I've played. Everything about it is just so much of what I love.
The story alone blew me away. Even with having been spoiled on a large chunk of it from the video I watched I still was enthralled with everything. The characters all get great development. There's a lot I want to say but honestly I dont wanna spoil it at all for anyone. I feel it's truly best experienced on your own. I can't imagine how much more I would've been in love with it had I played this fully blind.
The gameplay is great and although simple at first gains some more depth by the second half. The biggest complaint I have is just the fact that there's no challenge to any fights. But I think the fast pacing and how often new environments and mechanics are introduced helps mitigate that issue at least a little.
There's so much I could talk about but really all I have to say... play this. Your only way is to emulate it unless you really wanna spend a couple hundred on a copy. But either way this is an amazing gem that sadly never got the recognition it deserved. I would love for another game to try at the ideas introduced here, and to get more of the amazing world that was developed throughout the narrative. Hopefully I can get some of that when I give Fuga a try.
The story alone blew me away. Even with having been spoiled on a large chunk of it from the video I watched I still was enthralled with everything. The characters all get great development. There's a lot I want to say but honestly I dont wanna spoil it at all for anyone. I feel it's truly best experienced on your own. I can't imagine how much more I would've been in love with it had I played this fully blind.
The gameplay is great and although simple at first gains some more depth by the second half. The biggest complaint I have is just the fact that there's no challenge to any fights. But I think the fast pacing and how often new environments and mechanics are introduced helps mitigate that issue at least a little.
There's so much I could talk about but really all I have to say... play this. Your only way is to emulate it unless you really wanna spend a couple hundred on a copy. But either way this is an amazing gem that sadly never got the recognition it deserved. I would love for another game to try at the ideas introduced here, and to get more of the amazing world that was developed throughout the narrative. Hopefully I can get some of that when I give Fuga a try.
2023
You like pizza? You like Wario? No? Well too bad play this game anyway
This is the best way to play this game now. It looks great and the new Magolor content is a lot of fun. It seemed a little simplistic at first, but as you gain more abilities it expands enough to feel like it's more engaging. As a small side story it works great. There's not much to say about the main game except that it still holds up! I really do love this game as it was the first one I played in the series, and I have a lot of memories with it. It's not the best out of the 2D titles but it's still absolutely worth playing.
2018
This review contains spoilers
Lovers' Smiles is a game that I can't even begin to describe. It's so much more than just a simple "game". It has more depth and beauty than I could describe in words. Why this wasn't a contender for goty is beyond me.
The narrative tells the story of two lovers trying to reach each other despite all odds. It's a beautiful tale told with great dialogue, and the VA surprised me with its quality considering this is an indie game. There were so many scenes that got me to tear up bc of how lines were delivered. I hope whoever the VAs were for this game get some sort of recognition. Once again this game was robbed of a goty nomination and I will never forgive that doofus Geoff Keighley for it.
But now onto the important part... the gameplay. The goal of each level is to unite the two lovers (represented by a blue and red ball) by using lines you draw to move them together. It's a simple setup that leaves itself open to many different mechanics to expand upon. For example conveyor belts are used later in the game. I love this mechanic because it's super original. I've never seen a game use something like this, and I hope it's used even more in a future title. The later levels also get extremely creative with their mechanics and environments. Stuff like red lines that you can't touch are so interesting, and they really act as a great representation of one of the many things keeping the two lovers from each other. I love how easy this game is to get into. Anyone can get the hang of it... but it takes many hours to master. As someone who has speedran this game at least 100 times I can say even now I have much to still learn of the mechanics. One of my only issues with this game is just that it runs like doo doo ass water. I have an insanely high performance PC (The Giganutbasher 10,000,000™ to be precise). This game does look really good, but how can I play it if it runs at 5 fps?!) That's really all I can complain about. Other than that it's perfect. Hopefully my issue will be addressed in the sequel since it seems they didn't patch it up in this game.
The OST for this game slaps so hard. There's so many tracks and great variety within them. I love the boss tracks in particular. The way they get you pumped up is amazing. Level 28 in particluar might just be my favorite track of all of gaming. It's a beautiful song I haven't been able to get it out of my head for weeks.
I don't know what else I can say except this game is a masterpiece. It's peak. The goat. The game of all time. I will never forget it. I can't wait to see what Lucky Games does next. I know there's a sequel that'll hopefully improve things even more. But besides that I have no idea where this developer will go after such an amazing game like this.
The narrative tells the story of two lovers trying to reach each other despite all odds. It's a beautiful tale told with great dialogue, and the VA surprised me with its quality considering this is an indie game. There were so many scenes that got me to tear up bc of how lines were delivered. I hope whoever the VAs were for this game get some sort of recognition. Once again this game was robbed of a goty nomination and I will never forgive that doofus Geoff Keighley for it.
But now onto the important part... the gameplay. The goal of each level is to unite the two lovers (represented by a blue and red ball) by using lines you draw to move them together. It's a simple setup that leaves itself open to many different mechanics to expand upon. For example conveyor belts are used later in the game. I love this mechanic because it's super original. I've never seen a game use something like this, and I hope it's used even more in a future title. The later levels also get extremely creative with their mechanics and environments. Stuff like red lines that you can't touch are so interesting, and they really act as a great representation of one of the many things keeping the two lovers from each other. I love how easy this game is to get into. Anyone can get the hang of it... but it takes many hours to master. As someone who has speedran this game at least 100 times I can say even now I have much to still learn of the mechanics. One of my only issues with this game is just that it runs like doo doo ass water. I have an insanely high performance PC (The Giganutbasher 10,000,000™ to be precise). This game does look really good, but how can I play it if it runs at 5 fps?!) That's really all I can complain about. Other than that it's perfect. Hopefully my issue will be addressed in the sequel since it seems they didn't patch it up in this game.
The OST for this game slaps so hard. There's so many tracks and great variety within them. I love the boss tracks in particular. The way they get you pumped up is amazing. Level 28 in particluar might just be my favorite track of all of gaming. It's a beautiful song I haven't been able to get it out of my head for weeks.
I don't know what else I can say except this game is a masterpiece. It's peak. The goat. The game of all time. I will never forget it. I can't wait to see what Lucky Games does next. I know there's a sequel that'll hopefully improve things even more. But besides that I have no idea where this developer will go after such an amazing game like this.
This review contains spoilers
Never before have I had such a turn around with a game. I remember first seeing this and not being interested because of the look and feel I was getting from it. But after all the praise I was seeing I decided to give Bug Fables a go. I'm so glad I did as this is one of the best RPGs I've played. Period.
Bug Fables knows what it means to be a Paper Mario game while also improving upon so much of what the first two games did. The combat feels even more in depth than Paper Mario ever did. It forces you to use all three party members to your advantage and really strategize. This game may be cute and seem geared towards kids in many ways. But the turns the narrative takes and the challenge combat provides (especially on hard) shows that this is a game for both newcomers and people who grew up with the series that inspired it.
I love the world of this game. Moonsprout crafted a world with way more than meets the eye at first glance. I love all the characters you encounter and their designs. It all feels just like a popup book and the way the artstyle seems to mix the N64 PM style with the more clean look of TTYD is just beautiful and grew on me more and more. The lore reminds me lots of Kirby where there's plenty of dark secrets to be found if you go looking... or even if you don't.
Overall I could go on and on about how good this game is. Honestly go watch Arlo's review if you want a full look at it all. But you don't need me to tell you that this is an amazing successor to PM. Despite some roughness to the look and design of some areas and traversing them... this is a magnificent game worth the money no doubt. PLAY. THIS. NOW.
Bug Fables knows what it means to be a Paper Mario game while also improving upon so much of what the first two games did. The combat feels even more in depth than Paper Mario ever did. It forces you to use all three party members to your advantage and really strategize. This game may be cute and seem geared towards kids in many ways. But the turns the narrative takes and the challenge combat provides (especially on hard) shows that this is a game for both newcomers and people who grew up with the series that inspired it.
I love the world of this game. Moonsprout crafted a world with way more than meets the eye at first glance. I love all the characters you encounter and their designs. It all feels just like a popup book and the way the artstyle seems to mix the N64 PM style with the more clean look of TTYD is just beautiful and grew on me more and more. The lore reminds me lots of Kirby where there's plenty of dark secrets to be found if you go looking... or even if you don't.
Overall I could go on and on about how good this game is. Honestly go watch Arlo's review if you want a full look at it all. But you don't need me to tell you that this is an amazing successor to PM. Despite some roughness to the look and design of some areas and traversing them... this is a magnificent game worth the money no doubt. PLAY. THIS. NOW.
This was the shit for me back when it released. Peak 2D Kirby right here, and I don't know that they can ever top it.
Best racing game I've played. Has pretty much every character imaginable and so many different tracks and mods for it. Its brought me some of the most fun I've had playing a kart racer with anyone. Mario Kart wishes it could be this good. Genuinely dont know how I hadn't heard of this game until now...
Horizon Forbidden West is one of those games that you pick up and just can't put down. I really enjoyed Zero Dawn, but it definitely left much to be desired in some areas like combat and the side missions. This game though... I don't know where to begin.
The movement and combat in general feels better. There's so many new weapons and ways to take out foes both man and machine. There's so damn much to do in the world itself that you will easily spend most of your time exploring and doing side missions of all kinds more than the main story itself. On the topic of that I found the narrative so much more engaging. Zero Dawn had a great story, but the way cutscenes are presented and the way fights play out feel so much more cinematic here. The number of characters you encounter on your journey is greatly increased, and whether returning or new they all add to the world in their own way. Everything here feels more grand and even bigger in scope than it may first appear. I enjoyed it all thoroughly.
In terms of gameplay there's so much to go over. Multiple skill trees that give a plethora of skills to use, many different missions like taking out rebel camps, returning Tallnecks and cauldrons, settlements that feel alive and have plenty of side quests to do within, etc. I have to give a special shout out to the side quests because over the 15 or so I did across the different types... they all felt well thought out and worth my time. That's surprising to me in a game with so much to do. You'd expect there to be plenty of filler. But everything feels like it connects back to the world in a meaningful way.
I could go on forever about how much of a step up this is compared to the first game. This is what a sequel should strive to be. I didn't even go into how good this game looks and runs on PS5! I don't have a 4K setup but even without that the power of what the PS5 can do is still astounding. This is one of my favorite open world games I've played. I know everyone is raving about Elden Ring at the moment (and I don't deny its greatness). But Forbidden West deserves some credit of its own.
The movement and combat in general feels better. There's so many new weapons and ways to take out foes both man and machine. There's so damn much to do in the world itself that you will easily spend most of your time exploring and doing side missions of all kinds more than the main story itself. On the topic of that I found the narrative so much more engaging. Zero Dawn had a great story, but the way cutscenes are presented and the way fights play out feel so much more cinematic here. The number of characters you encounter on your journey is greatly increased, and whether returning or new they all add to the world in their own way. Everything here feels more grand and even bigger in scope than it may first appear. I enjoyed it all thoroughly.
In terms of gameplay there's so much to go over. Multiple skill trees that give a plethora of skills to use, many different missions like taking out rebel camps, returning Tallnecks and cauldrons, settlements that feel alive and have plenty of side quests to do within, etc. I have to give a special shout out to the side quests because over the 15 or so I did across the different types... they all felt well thought out and worth my time. That's surprising to me in a game with so much to do. You'd expect there to be plenty of filler. But everything feels like it connects back to the world in a meaningful way.
I could go on forever about how much of a step up this is compared to the first game. This is what a sequel should strive to be. I didn't even go into how good this game looks and runs on PS5! I don't have a 4K setup but even without that the power of what the PS5 can do is still astounding. This is one of my favorite open world games I've played. I know everyone is raving about Elden Ring at the moment (and I don't deny its greatness). But Forbidden West deserves some credit of its own.