JosephGribbin
Okay Zelda fan complaints up top: it was a bit of a letdown having to explore the same map, I wish the dungeons were better, and Ganondorf ended up being pretty weak.
Aside from that: it fixes every issue I had with BotW and then adds a ton of cool new stuff on top. Solving problems with the insane physics system is incredibly fun and gave me some of my favourite moments in a video game this year. Idk if Zelda as a series is for me any more, but I have to admit this game was pretty great and I had a good time with it.
Aside from that: it fixes every issue I had with BotW and then adds a ton of cool new stuff on top. Solving problems with the insane physics system is incredibly fun and gave me some of my favourite moments in a video game this year. Idk if Zelda as a series is for me any more, but I have to admit this game was pretty great and I had a good time with it.
2023
One of those games that does exactly what it sets out to do. Short and sweet and perfectly executed. The art design is astonishing and the movement is refreshingly unique in a way that reminded me of standout classics like Sands of Time and Mirrors Edge. Don't sleep on it!!!
Plays great, looks great, tons and tons of great level design. Makes a lot of smart changes to the traditional mario platformer to make it more approachable without sacrificing the good stuff. The boss battles are a bit meh and I wish they got a bit more use out of the badges. All that said the level of quality here is absurdly high and I had a ton of fun with it.
The shooting is satisfying, the story has some fun spots... Thats all the things I like.
Really big shift in focus this time around. No platforming, no exploration, just shooting, shooting and more shooting. There are linear levels to shoot through, combat arenas to shoot through, and brand new missions arena things to shoot through. It's fun enough but lacks the variety and depth of the previous couple games.
The level and world design is a huge step down. Without any branching paths or exploration they feel completely lifeless, and that means there's no real thrill in unlocking new worlds and progressing through the game.
There's also an overall lack of polish to a lot of it that's hard to ignore. Lots of basic looking menus, janky vehicle sections, and reusing the same maps over and over.
I really didn't vibe with this one!
Really big shift in focus this time around. No platforming, no exploration, just shooting, shooting and more shooting. There are linear levels to shoot through, combat arenas to shoot through, and brand new missions arena things to shoot through. It's fun enough but lacks the variety and depth of the previous couple games.
The level and world design is a huge step down. Without any branching paths or exploration they feel completely lifeless, and that means there's no real thrill in unlocking new worlds and progressing through the game.
There's also an overall lack of polish to a lot of it that's hard to ignore. Lots of basic looking menus, janky vehicle sections, and reusing the same maps over and over.
I really didn't vibe with this one!
I have played this game for hundreds of hours and every time I learn something new about it's systems or it's level design. It's an astounding piece of work and kind of a miracle that everything works together so well. Also: freelancer mode is some of the best game design I've ever seen and it's a totally optional piece of free DLC.
This review contains spoilers
I enjoyed it but much less than the original. They made a number of decisions that make the game more broadly appealing and sand off a lot of the friction but leave the game feeling shallower. Stealth in particular has been simplified and is kind of brain dead, random crimes don't really count towards anything, they got rid of most of the gadgets, and most missions don't have optional objectives any more. The game has a ton of big flashy set-pieces for its main missions that seem to have been the focus, but the moment to moment gameplay isn't as compelling, and it makes a lot of the side content feel boring. I beat the first game 100% twice over but probably won't with this one.
Story-wise it's weak. Spends tons of time setting up stuff and then the final act is really rushed. A lot of story beats feel like notes or fixes for stuff that happened in the movies ( making Harry Venom would be a great fix for Spider-man 3, Peters decision around curing Harry would be a great fix for The Amazing Spider-man 2 ) but I don't think they work here in their own story. In addition many characters feel under-served or under-written. Harry is very one-dimensional, Miles' arc is a bit confused, and MJ has... a lot of strange choices around her character.
I had fun with it, it looks great, and the set-pieces are cool... But yeah a bit disappointed considering the original and Miles Morales were so strong.
Story-wise it's weak. Spends tons of time setting up stuff and then the final act is really rushed. A lot of story beats feel like notes or fixes for stuff that happened in the movies ( making Harry Venom would be a great fix for Spider-man 3, Peters decision around curing Harry would be a great fix for The Amazing Spider-man 2 ) but I don't think they work here in their own story. In addition many characters feel under-served or under-written. Harry is very one-dimensional, Miles' arc is a bit confused, and MJ has... a lot of strange choices around her character.
I had fun with it, it looks great, and the set-pieces are cool... But yeah a bit disappointed considering the original and Miles Morales were so strong.
A fairly standard platformer. Completely fine, and if you have young kids I can see this being a good game to play with them in co-op. Has these musical levels using licensed pop songs that are quite inspired, and there's obviously been a lot of love put into the art direction, but aside from that the game doesn't do a lot that's unique or interesting.
2022
A little finicky to control, and has some tough difficulty spikes later on, but it looks really nice and the level design is really good! Had a good time with it.
2022
Utterly charming little 3D platformer. Plays great and the art design is impeccable. Gets a bit samey towards the end but it doesn't overstay it's welcome.
Smaller in scope than the original PS4 game, which ends up working in its favour. Fewer tedious missions and more straight up superhero action. Not revolutionary but really really solid.
1998
It's a classic for a reason. Controls are fantastic, the soundtrack is excellent, and the level design is an absolute standout in the genre. Some of the puzzles are a little obtuse, and it can be a little too easy to get lost, but the game is a pretty incredible experience from start to finish.
2019
Better than Gears 4 with more memorable moments, but still feels like they can't decide what the series wants to be post-Gears 3. Most of the story is spent trying to course-correct from the last one. The open-world segments are okay but feel a little shallow.
2023
It has an astonishing amount of content but the overall construction is a mess. Exploring is no fun as you're basically tapping through menus and loading screens, and there are a lot of frustrating or pointless mechanics that don't work well together. Most of the characters irritated me and I really struggled to care about any of the decisions I had to make.
It's okay, but the story feels weirdly inconsequential, and the returning characters all feel a little off. Fun if you just want more Uncharted I guess.
2016
Plays great and looks gorgeous ( especially with 60fps on PS5 ) but the story's an absolute dog's dinner. It's obvious they had to work around the terrible animated movie and it drags the whole thing down. Half because they have to cut the game to bits to have it make sense, and half because the movie has some really awful character choices. Ratchet is this bland doe-eyed Disney protagonist, and Clank has absolutely nothing to do. The original is one of my favourites and this left a bad taste in my mouth.