Jov
2021
The first app to effectively gamify language learning.
Highly recommend this for anyone taking their first steps towards learning the Japanese language: I was able to memorise the kana within a month of daily use. The pleasant UI and Zen soundtrack are bonuses on top of the efficient spaced repetition techniques.
Includes a JLPT challenge mode in a recent patch, introducing a limited set of vocab which is useful for teaching basic words by utilising the kana taught in the base modes.
Looking forward to a "You Can Kanji" in the future!
Highly recommend this for anyone taking their first steps towards learning the Japanese language: I was able to memorise the kana within a month of daily use. The pleasant UI and Zen soundtrack are bonuses on top of the efficient spaced repetition techniques.
Includes a JLPT challenge mode in a recent patch, introducing a limited set of vocab which is useful for teaching basic words by utilising the kana taught in the base modes.
Looking forward to a "You Can Kanji" in the future!
2022
Sting Ray is gone. 10/10.
2020
Yeah, this game kind of sucks. As an action game it's totally serviceable—at times I'd even agree it's pretty enjoyable—but as a Resident Evil game it completely falls short of the franchise's core themes and values: There is no complexity to puzzle solving; No ambiguity to objectives; No backtracking to uncover new secrets; No discretion to the plot; No player choice; No time to stop and let the story breathe; No replay value and, honestly, you can breeze through this in 2-3 hours on your first playthrough. The whole thing is a beautiful, underwhelming roller coaster ride from start to finish. It's an enormous regression from the previous remake.
Resident Evil 3 is an explosive theme park adaptation of its source material. Much like the original trilogy, it's my least favourite of the remakes so far.
"You want STARS? I'll give you [two] STARS!"
Resident Evil 3 is an explosive theme park adaptation of its source material. Much like the original trilogy, it's my least favourite of the remakes so far.
"You want STARS? I'll give you [two] STARS!"
2019
Mr. X wants to be Xenomorph from Alien: Isolation—except his AI is so poorly executed that every encounter with him feels tedious: He makes no attempts to disguise his omniscience and unfairly cuts the player off from where they need to go on a predictable basis. Since combat and stealth is not an option versus the Tyrant, the player is forced to run a loop around the map, or circle objects until his AI gets bored and momentarily leaves to reset the encounter. This is not fun nor clever game design.
Normally I could overlook a flaw like this, but the persistent and irritating exposure to Mr. X throughout the game neuters his overall thrill-factor, actively harming the game in my opinion; Those tense moments when he crashes through the wall in front of the player are ultimately made less impactful. The wasted potential in Mr. X's underdeveloped behavioral AI is unfortunately a blemish on an otherwise outstanding remake. Every other element is a masterclass in modern survival horror.
Normally I could overlook a flaw like this, but the persistent and irritating exposure to Mr. X throughout the game neuters his overall thrill-factor, actively harming the game in my opinion; Those tense moments when he crashes through the wall in front of the player are ultimately made less impactful. The wasted potential in Mr. X's underdeveloped behavioral AI is unfortunately a blemish on an otherwise outstanding remake. Every other element is a masterclass in modern survival horror.
2012
Equal parts thrilling, touching and frustrating. Long stretches of excellent, impactful storytelling are tarnished by panicked bursts of nonsensical plot devices, crafted to write the player out of narrative dead ends that don't exist. It feels like the writers were insecure about the integrity of their plot when, in fact, it holds itself together more than competently. Hopefully they hit their stride in subsequent seasons.
2012
Junes is, as a plot point, a very busy hot spot for Inaba's local economy. And yet nobody is ever there to notice the heavily armed children who enter, disappear for like 4 hours at a time, and then leave all broken and battered. Regularly.
I love this game dearly.
I love this game dearly.
If you're looking for an accessible way to play this game online and in English, you can do so at https://laingame.net/
This review was written before the game released
Not sure I understand the hate this is announcement is getting. Yes, this game has already been remastered. This is a remake. Allow me to be the dumbass with expectations for a minute.
They are rebuilding this game from the ground up, in the vastly superior engine of the second game. We can expect improvements across the board—from the refined feel of movement, combat and stealth, to the enhanced fidelity of characters, environments and weather effects. As well as the inclusion of industry-leading accessibility options, present in the sequel, that will make this an experience enjoyable by all. Not to mention the remake is also releasing on an entirely new platform (PC), where a large amount of players will be experiencing this masterpiece for the first time. These upgrades more than justify this re-release imo.
I understand this release reflects a growing industry trend of remakes and re-releases of perfectly playable games from the last decade. I get it. But this is no trivial 'GTA V Expanded & Enhanced'. Nor a botched 'Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition'. This is as substantial a remake as is possible for a linear, story driven game like this—embellishing all aspects surrounding the story to allow it to shine to its fullest potential. Give it a chance.
If you have already double dipped, this remake probably isn't for you. Those who were hoping for something new can play the standalone TLoU II expansion, which was announced alongside this remake. Perhaps I'm just a Druckmann shill, but I love this series and have full faith in Naughty Dog realising their original ambitions with this remake. I hope others can view things more positively as more is revealed about the game.
They are rebuilding this game from the ground up, in the vastly superior engine of the second game. We can expect improvements across the board—from the refined feel of movement, combat and stealth, to the enhanced fidelity of characters, environments and weather effects. As well as the inclusion of industry-leading accessibility options, present in the sequel, that will make this an experience enjoyable by all. Not to mention the remake is also releasing on an entirely new platform (PC), where a large amount of players will be experiencing this masterpiece for the first time. These upgrades more than justify this re-release imo.
I understand this release reflects a growing industry trend of remakes and re-releases of perfectly playable games from the last decade. I get it. But this is no trivial 'GTA V Expanded & Enhanced'. Nor a botched 'Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition'. This is as substantial a remake as is possible for a linear, story driven game like this—embellishing all aspects surrounding the story to allow it to shine to its fullest potential. Give it a chance.
If you have already double dipped, this remake probably isn't for you. Those who were hoping for something new can play the standalone TLoU II expansion, which was announced alongside this remake. Perhaps I'm just a Druckmann shill, but I love this series and have full faith in Naughty Dog realising their original ambitions with this remake. I hope others can view things more positively as more is revealed about the game.
2011
At one point I would have considered Minecraft a flawless game. It is defined by its creativity-inspiring minimalism and so, by their nature, annual additions to the game have only served to obfuscate this ideal. It is not the same game I once cherished.
2016
I hate that I love this game. It is absolutely flawed. Yet I can't help myself from queuing up for one more match.
The developers are out of touch:
Bugs and glitches infest the very foundations of this game's spaghetti code. Quality of life features take years to arrive after they were initially promised. Some never arrive at all. Most recently, there has been a notable increase in the presence of cheaters. Using various readily-available exploits, they are able to ruin the experience for others and even hold them hostage by indefinitely prolonging the match duration. This forces players to eat a disconnect penalty, proving especially problematic for large streamers who constantly have targets on their backs. Little effort has been made to address this, and instead the game was given away for free on the Epic Games Store—an open invitation for cheaters to run rampant without consequence. They will happily sell you more cosmetics, though! And how about that dating sim? In the words of Game Director Mathieu Cote, "Go play Civilization instead."
The community is toxic and self-destructive:
Entitled players, who main either Killer or Survivor roles, engage in perpetual shouting matches on Twitter and the official forums. Meanwhile, the developers stick their heads in the sand and make tone-deaf balance decisions that ultimately appease nobody. It is also not uncommon to experience harassment in the post-game chat, simply because the other role didn't approve of your play style; The unsatisfactory balance of the game has driven both roles to play in cruel and boring ways. Attempting to run a fun or unique perk build will rarely work out in your favor. Debates on the topic are often circular and rarely lead to meaningful conclusions. The Dead by Daylight community is home to some of the most close-minded individuals you can encounter online.
The progression system is unnecessarily grindy:
There are over 55 playable Killers/Survivors in Dead by Daylight. Each character comes with three unique perks. Players must spend copious amounts of currency to unlock all three tiers of a perk before it is worth using and available to be unlocked on other characters. With each new chapter, the grind for character perks increases exponentially. Naturally, this is the most common complaint amongst the community, but the boilerplate response from the developers has always been, "We're working on it." For years, players have been spoon-fed in-game currency through log-in rewards and promo codes as short-term, band-aid solutions to a chasmic issue. This is the single greatest barrier new players face when attempting to pick up the game, as they do not have sufficient tools to compete against long-time players who have access to a cut-throat arsenal of powerful meta perks.
The matchmaking is broken and confusing:
The developers spent years working on a flawed skill-based matchmaking system that has ruined the experience for new and veteran players alike. MMR, used to determine matchmaking, is an invisible value hidden from player view. Instead, a misleading grade emblem is displayed, which represents a linear reward system that resets each month. This is not a useful skill indicator for players looking to earnestly work towards improving their gameplay; Grades are simply a representation of a player's time commitment in any given month. Furthermore, said MMR system is utterly ineffective at accurately filling a lobby with balanced skill levels. Brand-new players being pitted against players with thousands of hours is a frequent sight. The developers have delivered contradictory answers in response to questions about the MMR system's dubious functionality, revealing that they themselves are unsure of how to classify a "win" for both roles and are naïvely confident in their own system. The stubbornness showcased by the developers when it comes to admitting and correcting their own mistakes is astounding.
Having said all of this, I would still recommend Dead by Daylight.
It may sound completely contradictory, but no other game has incited such giddy cat-and-mouse excitement as Dead by Daylight and its addictive gameplay loop. Having dedicated 2000 hours to the game myself, I can admit it is really a lot of fun when everything works as intended. It's hard to find a feeling more thrilling than just barely managing to free yourself from the killer's grasp and escape, or catch that one stealthy survivor who has evaded you all game and perform a mori finisher to close out the match. The roster of original and licensed characters continues to grow each year, with many more ambitious crossovers to come—it is irrefutably the Smash Bros. of the horror genre. No other game allows you to play as Ash Williams, surviving alongside the likes of Cheryl Mason, Steve Harrington, and Leon Kennedy, as you attempt to escape from the fences of Badham Preschool while the legendary Michael Myers hunts you down. The presence of so many horror icons in a single piece of media is nothing short of impressive and truly a sight to behold.
Beneath the tremendous grind, the egregious imbalances, and the petty infighting, I believe there is undoubtedly some enjoyment to be found in Dead by Daylight. Grab a few friends, spend an evening playing custom matches, and share some laughs, some shouts, and some scares.
The developers are out of touch:
Bugs and glitches infest the very foundations of this game's spaghetti code. Quality of life features take years to arrive after they were initially promised. Some never arrive at all. Most recently, there has been a notable increase in the presence of cheaters. Using various readily-available exploits, they are able to ruin the experience for others and even hold them hostage by indefinitely prolonging the match duration. This forces players to eat a disconnect penalty, proving especially problematic for large streamers who constantly have targets on their backs. Little effort has been made to address this, and instead the game was given away for free on the Epic Games Store—an open invitation for cheaters to run rampant without consequence. They will happily sell you more cosmetics, though! And how about that dating sim? In the words of Game Director Mathieu Cote, "Go play Civilization instead."
The community is toxic and self-destructive:
Entitled players, who main either Killer or Survivor roles, engage in perpetual shouting matches on Twitter and the official forums. Meanwhile, the developers stick their heads in the sand and make tone-deaf balance decisions that ultimately appease nobody. It is also not uncommon to experience harassment in the post-game chat, simply because the other role didn't approve of your play style; The unsatisfactory balance of the game has driven both roles to play in cruel and boring ways. Attempting to run a fun or unique perk build will rarely work out in your favor. Debates on the topic are often circular and rarely lead to meaningful conclusions. The Dead by Daylight community is home to some of the most close-minded individuals you can encounter online.
The progression system is unnecessarily grindy:
There are over 55 playable Killers/Survivors in Dead by Daylight. Each character comes with three unique perks. Players must spend copious amounts of currency to unlock all three tiers of a perk before it is worth using and available to be unlocked on other characters. With each new chapter, the grind for character perks increases exponentially. Naturally, this is the most common complaint amongst the community, but the boilerplate response from the developers has always been, "We're working on it." For years, players have been spoon-fed in-game currency through log-in rewards and promo codes as short-term, band-aid solutions to a chasmic issue. This is the single greatest barrier new players face when attempting to pick up the game, as they do not have sufficient tools to compete against long-time players who have access to a cut-throat arsenal of powerful meta perks.
The matchmaking is broken and confusing:
The developers spent years working on a flawed skill-based matchmaking system that has ruined the experience for new and veteran players alike. MMR, used to determine matchmaking, is an invisible value hidden from player view. Instead, a misleading grade emblem is displayed, which represents a linear reward system that resets each month. This is not a useful skill indicator for players looking to earnestly work towards improving their gameplay; Grades are simply a representation of a player's time commitment in any given month. Furthermore, said MMR system is utterly ineffective at accurately filling a lobby with balanced skill levels. Brand-new players being pitted against players with thousands of hours is a frequent sight. The developers have delivered contradictory answers in response to questions about the MMR system's dubious functionality, revealing that they themselves are unsure of how to classify a "win" for both roles and are naïvely confident in their own system. The stubbornness showcased by the developers when it comes to admitting and correcting their own mistakes is astounding.
Having said all of this, I would still recommend Dead by Daylight.
It may sound completely contradictory, but no other game has incited such giddy cat-and-mouse excitement as Dead by Daylight and its addictive gameplay loop. Having dedicated 2000 hours to the game myself, I can admit it is really a lot of fun when everything works as intended. It's hard to find a feeling more thrilling than just barely managing to free yourself from the killer's grasp and escape, or catch that one stealthy survivor who has evaded you all game and perform a mori finisher to close out the match. The roster of original and licensed characters continues to grow each year, with many more ambitious crossovers to come—it is irrefutably the Smash Bros. of the horror genre. No other game allows you to play as Ash Williams, surviving alongside the likes of Cheryl Mason, Steve Harrington, and Leon Kennedy, as you attempt to escape from the fences of Badham Preschool while the legendary Michael Myers hunts you down. The presence of so many horror icons in a single piece of media is nothing short of impressive and truly a sight to behold.
Beneath the tremendous grind, the egregious imbalances, and the petty infighting, I believe there is undoubtedly some enjoyment to be found in Dead by Daylight. Grab a few friends, spend an evening playing custom matches, and share some laughs, some shouts, and some scares.
2007
A flawless execution of the class-based shooter genre.
Each class in Team Fortress 2 has a uniquely defined skillset that is fun to play. There is a wide selection of equippable weapons for each class that can drastically change their playstyle; The loadout system makes it easy to switch between them when the balance of a match calls for it. While granting as many player freedoms as it does - and despite a chronic lack of gameplay updates - the meta has remained relatively balanced throughout TF2's life; Every class feels viable and rewarding once you master their skillset.
As the game's title would imply, classes are played most effectively when coordinating with teammates. An unorganised team with an imbalance of classes will find themselves quickly dominated by a team that is even somewhat strategising. That being said, TF2's casual tone and playerbase makes it easy to forget about the shortcomings of any given match and lose yourself in a good time.
TF2 has shown immense resilience as a live service, outliving every other class-based shooter gunning to steal its throne. This is largely thanks to the hilarious and iconic cast of characters with their distinctive personalities, as well as the ever-creative community of Source Filmmaker artists and animators who maintain the game's relevance in internet culture. All of this is despite a glaring neglect from Valve, who frustratingly refuses to throw the community a bone and wishes for this immortal giant to die a quiet death.
Team Fortress 2 is the best multiplayer shooter out there, and is a game that I will return to forever.
Each class in Team Fortress 2 has a uniquely defined skillset that is fun to play. There is a wide selection of equippable weapons for each class that can drastically change their playstyle; The loadout system makes it easy to switch between them when the balance of a match calls for it. While granting as many player freedoms as it does - and despite a chronic lack of gameplay updates - the meta has remained relatively balanced throughout TF2's life; Every class feels viable and rewarding once you master their skillset.
As the game's title would imply, classes are played most effectively when coordinating with teammates. An unorganised team with an imbalance of classes will find themselves quickly dominated by a team that is even somewhat strategising. That being said, TF2's casual tone and playerbase makes it easy to forget about the shortcomings of any given match and lose yourself in a good time.
TF2 has shown immense resilience as a live service, outliving every other class-based shooter gunning to steal its throne. This is largely thanks to the hilarious and iconic cast of characters with their distinctive personalities, as well as the ever-creative community of Source Filmmaker artists and animators who maintain the game's relevance in internet culture. All of this is despite a glaring neglect from Valve, who frustratingly refuses to throw the community a bone and wishes for this immortal giant to die a quiet death.
Team Fortress 2 is the best multiplayer shooter out there, and is a game that I will return to forever.
2004
A culturally significant realisation of the Source engine's boundless potential. Its presence in internet culture refuses to subside almost two decades after its release, serving as a testament to Garry's Mod's endless creative opportunity.
On a personal level, Garry's Mod was the first game I ever purchased on Steam. It introduced me to many of Valve's incredible IPs, all of which I consider to be amongst the most innovative releases in gaming. Thanks for the memories, Garry.
On a personal level, Garry's Mod was the first game I ever purchased on Steam. It introduced me to many of Valve's incredible IPs, all of which I consider to be amongst the most innovative releases in gaming. Thanks for the memories, Garry.
Despite being the most on-rails experience from Rockstar Games to date, Red Dead Redemption 2's astonishing scope and immersive world-building makes it one of the greatest cinematic story games of all time.