2023
An entry that will truly divide its Fanbase
There is no denying that this entry into the Final Fantasy world has been highly controversial due to its tone shift. Truly changing the typical FF formula with a more mature rated story fans have been divided about this game since its demo. It is really interesting seeing both sides because I have yet to see a middle with this game. People have either truly loved the game or truly despise the game raving how this isn't an FF game at all. In the end however, this game worked for me VERY well as I absolutely adore this game even with its flaws.
Story
Our first stop takes us to the story of FF16 which of course I won't be getting to deep into for spoiler sakes. The lore is DEEP and rich in FF16 and will give fans a lot to talk and speculate about as time goes on. Furthermore given the controversy surrounding the game it is no surprise that yes this is a very dark and grim story. For example I can't really remember laughing much throughout the game besides a few chuckles every now and then when specific characters interacted. This can be an issue for some people as an overly serious story could be draining but by the end I found it to be amazing even given its constant serious tone. In the end I was absolutely floored by the story from the start all the way to its amazing ending even with the few hiccups along the way. Watching Clive grow more with the story was just beautiful to watch, his character was amazing to follow. One aspect I was taken away by was how deep the side stories get to the point where I almost say its a must to do side quests. You learn so much about the characters and very important details about the game through these side quests breathing new life into every main character you come across. Lastly the active time lore should NOT be overlooked and quite honestly is amazing and should be a standard for RPG stories moving forward. If you ever feel lost or don't remember what happened at anytime you can pull up a screen that will give you details on what is currently going on and the important characters during that part. I can't stress how amazing this feature is as it can get you up to speed on story in the matter of a few buttons.
Characters
Well it only makes sense to get into the characters now.... right?. Simply put, the cast in the game is phenomenal and insanely loveable from main characters to even side ones like goetz. You will really grow attached to everyone by the end of the story and even more so if you play the side quests for everyone. However, this brings me into my first issue with this game which is how certain characters are handled. It is no surprise that with a game as deep and rich lore wise there are bound to be some characters who were handled poorly and luckily I only found 2 cases. That being said there are an insane amount of standout characters such as Dion, Gav, Mid and of course Clive.
Gameplay
Oh boy are you in for a damn good time with the combat of FF16. To begin with, Yeah this is very much not a typical FF turn based game this is an action game. Furthermore the game has a deep level of combat if you want to take it to that level but can be played very casual if you choose to do so. In the beginning of the game the combat is pretty limited skill wise but as you progress the gameplay opens up to insane levels. Being able to swap between 3 elemental skill sets during battle, the amount of mixing and comboing you can do is insanely high and will keep you engaged all the way through. A truly amazing combat was cooked up with FF16 SE really outdid themselves with this entry. If you like DMC you will love this game.
Difficulty
This can be a tricky one as I believe difficulty to really be a by the person thing. You might consider this game hard , you might consider this game easy it really depends on the player itself. As for me I found the game to be way to easy making me wish the hardest difficulty was unlocked from the start. Some bosses can give you a challenge but for the vast majority of the game issues were never an occurring thing for me.
RPG elements
Given the fact this is an action game I was still bummed that the RPG elements were pretty bland. To start there are NO elemental buffs, debuff, Special skills. As an example this game has tiered weapons in the form of colors starting from green and going all the way up to Yellow. This is quite simply a useless system and weapons do not feel any different from one another apart from looking different and having higher attack. It makes for a unexciting process of acquiring new weapons , armor as you will never feel the difference, its all numbers. I really wish they implemented higher tier armor , weapons to get special stat bonuses or maybe make you resistance to specific elements. Finally there are Accessories as well ranging from typical "potions heal more" to ones that will give you attack bonuses on specific skills that you may like to use. Overall I wasn't to pleased with this aspect of the game it really left a lot to be desired BUT it doesn't ruin the game in anyway for me. One last thing, GIL felt insanely useless in this game as I only ever used GIL to buy music or potions to heal.
OST and bosses
Decided to combine both of these since they go hand to hand. What I mean by this is yes the OST is amazing but my lord the boss OSTs are AMAZING. Never once did a song disappoint me I was always jamming or getting insanely hype during boss fights. On the subject of boss fights they are all amazingly well done and fun to fight not much else to talk about bosses.
Graphics
Final Fantasy 16 looks beautiful and will consistently keep your eyes glued looking at the world. It's amazing how the game can transfer from gameplay to cutscene and still manage to look the same. In addition the characters look great apart from some random NPCs which I was not a fan of design wise.
Welp time to ramble about other parts of the game
In addition to everything stated above I will use this part to talk about the smaller details that don't really need a whole section. To begin, the performance honestly wasn't the greatest sometimes seeing dips into the mid 50s. It's crazy to think about how the PS5 software is already being pushed to this degree. In this case I didn't mind it to much it didn't plague the experience that much but it will for sure be noticeable when FPS drops happen. Furthermore on the more nitpicky side I didn't like how the main stages had no mini map. This isn't the biggest issue but my OCD grew not being able to pull up a mini map even if the stages are a linear path LOL. Of course for the big open exploring maps you will have a map to look at. In addition why does QTEs exist in the game? yes they are only for big bosses but why? its pointless and takes away from moments. I would rather sit and watch the epic part happens versus spamming square or pressing R1 I just don't like it.
For now I think I am going to leave it at this and maybe add more as I do my 2nd playthrough on the hardest difficulty. In the end FF16 is a fantastic game despite its few flaws which really don't ruin the game a whole lot. From the gameplay to its story , characters , world and graphics this game has it all and will keep you busy for awhile if you 100% games.
Highly recommend it !
There is no denying that this entry into the Final Fantasy world has been highly controversial due to its tone shift. Truly changing the typical FF formula with a more mature rated story fans have been divided about this game since its demo. It is really interesting seeing both sides because I have yet to see a middle with this game. People have either truly loved the game or truly despise the game raving how this isn't an FF game at all. In the end however, this game worked for me VERY well as I absolutely adore this game even with its flaws.
Story
Our first stop takes us to the story of FF16 which of course I won't be getting to deep into for spoiler sakes. The lore is DEEP and rich in FF16 and will give fans a lot to talk and speculate about as time goes on. Furthermore given the controversy surrounding the game it is no surprise that yes this is a very dark and grim story. For example I can't really remember laughing much throughout the game besides a few chuckles every now and then when specific characters interacted. This can be an issue for some people as an overly serious story could be draining but by the end I found it to be amazing even given its constant serious tone. In the end I was absolutely floored by the story from the start all the way to its amazing ending even with the few hiccups along the way. Watching Clive grow more with the story was just beautiful to watch, his character was amazing to follow. One aspect I was taken away by was how deep the side stories get to the point where I almost say its a must to do side quests. You learn so much about the characters and very important details about the game through these side quests breathing new life into every main character you come across. Lastly the active time lore should NOT be overlooked and quite honestly is amazing and should be a standard for RPG stories moving forward. If you ever feel lost or don't remember what happened at anytime you can pull up a screen that will give you details on what is currently going on and the important characters during that part. I can't stress how amazing this feature is as it can get you up to speed on story in the matter of a few buttons.
Characters
Well it only makes sense to get into the characters now.... right?. Simply put, the cast in the game is phenomenal and insanely loveable from main characters to even side ones like goetz. You will really grow attached to everyone by the end of the story and even more so if you play the side quests for everyone. However, this brings me into my first issue with this game which is how certain characters are handled. It is no surprise that with a game as deep and rich lore wise there are bound to be some characters who were handled poorly and luckily I only found 2 cases. That being said there are an insane amount of standout characters such as Dion, Gav, Mid and of course Clive.
Gameplay
Oh boy are you in for a damn good time with the combat of FF16. To begin with, Yeah this is very much not a typical FF turn based game this is an action game. Furthermore the game has a deep level of combat if you want to take it to that level but can be played very casual if you choose to do so. In the beginning of the game the combat is pretty limited skill wise but as you progress the gameplay opens up to insane levels. Being able to swap between 3 elemental skill sets during battle, the amount of mixing and comboing you can do is insanely high and will keep you engaged all the way through. A truly amazing combat was cooked up with FF16 SE really outdid themselves with this entry. If you like DMC you will love this game.
Difficulty
This can be a tricky one as I believe difficulty to really be a by the person thing. You might consider this game hard , you might consider this game easy it really depends on the player itself. As for me I found the game to be way to easy making me wish the hardest difficulty was unlocked from the start. Some bosses can give you a challenge but for the vast majority of the game issues were never an occurring thing for me.
RPG elements
Given the fact this is an action game I was still bummed that the RPG elements were pretty bland. To start there are NO elemental buffs, debuff, Special skills. As an example this game has tiered weapons in the form of colors starting from green and going all the way up to Yellow. This is quite simply a useless system and weapons do not feel any different from one another apart from looking different and having higher attack. It makes for a unexciting process of acquiring new weapons , armor as you will never feel the difference, its all numbers. I really wish they implemented higher tier armor , weapons to get special stat bonuses or maybe make you resistance to specific elements. Finally there are Accessories as well ranging from typical "potions heal more" to ones that will give you attack bonuses on specific skills that you may like to use. Overall I wasn't to pleased with this aspect of the game it really left a lot to be desired BUT it doesn't ruin the game in anyway for me. One last thing, GIL felt insanely useless in this game as I only ever used GIL to buy music or potions to heal.
OST and bosses
Decided to combine both of these since they go hand to hand. What I mean by this is yes the OST is amazing but my lord the boss OSTs are AMAZING. Never once did a song disappoint me I was always jamming or getting insanely hype during boss fights. On the subject of boss fights they are all amazingly well done and fun to fight not much else to talk about bosses.
Graphics
Final Fantasy 16 looks beautiful and will consistently keep your eyes glued looking at the world. It's amazing how the game can transfer from gameplay to cutscene and still manage to look the same. In addition the characters look great apart from some random NPCs which I was not a fan of design wise.
Welp time to ramble about other parts of the game
In addition to everything stated above I will use this part to talk about the smaller details that don't really need a whole section. To begin, the performance honestly wasn't the greatest sometimes seeing dips into the mid 50s. It's crazy to think about how the PS5 software is already being pushed to this degree. In this case I didn't mind it to much it didn't plague the experience that much but it will for sure be noticeable when FPS drops happen. Furthermore on the more nitpicky side I didn't like how the main stages had no mini map. This isn't the biggest issue but my OCD grew not being able to pull up a mini map even if the stages are a linear path LOL. Of course for the big open exploring maps you will have a map to look at. In addition why does QTEs exist in the game? yes they are only for big bosses but why? its pointless and takes away from moments. I would rather sit and watch the epic part happens versus spamming square or pressing R1 I just don't like it.
For now I think I am going to leave it at this and maybe add more as I do my 2nd playthrough on the hardest difficulty. In the end FF16 is a fantastic game despite its few flaws which really don't ruin the game a whole lot. From the gameplay to its story , characters , world and graphics this game has it all and will keep you busy for awhile if you 100% games.
Highly recommend it !
They have outdone themselves
Rebirth makes the original remake look like a demo LOL. I am simply blown away with this game by every aspect of it and crave to continue to play more even after finishing the story to clear up side stuff I missed. It is hard for me to comprehend how anyone can play this title and dislike it even if you are not a fan of certain story changes.
STORY
THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS ABOUT ANYTHING.
This is where most fans divide with rebirth. To explain I will not talk about anything within the story but I will simply state my opinion quickly before moving on. To put it simply, when the story is the original it's as amazing as you remembered but when the story is rebirth’s you may or may not like it. Personally I love what is being done here with the expansion of characters and the world but I can also understand why hardcore fans of the original may not be a fan of it. Just enjoy it for what it is and come to your conclusion when we get the final game as everything will most likely be answered with that game. For me it's silly to blindly hate when we do not have the completed story in our hands. All in all I loved the story and certain changes that were done.
Graphics
The games world is simply breathtaking and honestly hosts some of the best town visuals I have seen period in gaming. You can move to literally any spot , look out in the distance and have art worthy of a picture. One thing that blew me away was how NOTHING would load in as if you were on a highpoint of an area you can literally look out to the distance to places you were just at or areas you may not have been to that you want to go to. Its things like this that take the immersion to a whole new level with this game that makes you cherish every moment you move around the world. However, there are some short fallings as some ground textures looked horrendous and a few textures that didn’t seem correct but overall the game is gorgeous. I played in performance mode to get that 60FPS boost so I did lose some visual performance but the game still looked amazing.
Characters
You love them all like I love them all.... Unless if you are Chadley.
Gameplay
Besides the sheer hugenous of the game what also caught me off guard was the amount of content thrown at you that was good. To explain, with open world titles side content can feel like a drag as it sometimes doesn’t offer enough to really keep you entertained enough to want to do it. With FF7 rebirth you will WANT to do everything as the side content is insanely addicting. Side quests can be hit or miss but mostly were a hit and all the mini games were very well done and fun to play. Each time you hit a new area of the game you most likely will want to do everything the map has to offer before continuing the story and I would highly recommend it as its very fun content and will give you lots of items to use for the next story portion. Furthermore, combat is just as fun with many synergies , spells and unlocks to mess around with making you want to change things up constantly. The biggest surprise for me was Queen’s blood as I fell in love with the mini game. It's a very simple card game that turns pretty complex with specific deck builds as you progress the story for it but Queens blood is insanely addicting and makes me really want an online mode for it. Finally, the combat simulation is back as just as challenging as the original remake but very fun to fight against summons. They really knocked it out of the park with its content and gameplay that almost makes you think this game isn’t real.
My only real complaint
Chadley is in the game.
In the end
FF7 Rebirth IMO is a masterpiece that should be played by all FF fans. While some story elements may not sit well with you there is no denying the masterfully crafted game they have created here. FF7 rebirth is an almost dream-like game that doesn’t happen often. I can only hope you all enjoy it as much as I did. There is a lot I didn’t get into as I really didn’t want to get into ANYTHING specific since for me seeing all the new content the game was throwing my way not knowing what it was going to be was such a blast so I wanted to refrain from talking about WHAT mini games and side stuff were here besides queens blood which you most likely have heard of by now.
THIS IS A MUST BUY AND 200% WORTH THE ASKING PRICE.
Rebirth makes the original remake look like a demo LOL. I am simply blown away with this game by every aspect of it and crave to continue to play more even after finishing the story to clear up side stuff I missed. It is hard for me to comprehend how anyone can play this title and dislike it even if you are not a fan of certain story changes.
STORY
THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS ABOUT ANYTHING.
This is where most fans divide with rebirth. To explain I will not talk about anything within the story but I will simply state my opinion quickly before moving on. To put it simply, when the story is the original it's as amazing as you remembered but when the story is rebirth’s you may or may not like it. Personally I love what is being done here with the expansion of characters and the world but I can also understand why hardcore fans of the original may not be a fan of it. Just enjoy it for what it is and come to your conclusion when we get the final game as everything will most likely be answered with that game. For me it's silly to blindly hate when we do not have the completed story in our hands. All in all I loved the story and certain changes that were done.
Graphics
The games world is simply breathtaking and honestly hosts some of the best town visuals I have seen period in gaming. You can move to literally any spot , look out in the distance and have art worthy of a picture. One thing that blew me away was how NOTHING would load in as if you were on a highpoint of an area you can literally look out to the distance to places you were just at or areas you may not have been to that you want to go to. Its things like this that take the immersion to a whole new level with this game that makes you cherish every moment you move around the world. However, there are some short fallings as some ground textures looked horrendous and a few textures that didn’t seem correct but overall the game is gorgeous. I played in performance mode to get that 60FPS boost so I did lose some visual performance but the game still looked amazing.
Characters
You love them all like I love them all.... Unless if you are Chadley.
Gameplay
Besides the sheer hugenous of the game what also caught me off guard was the amount of content thrown at you that was good. To explain, with open world titles side content can feel like a drag as it sometimes doesn’t offer enough to really keep you entertained enough to want to do it. With FF7 rebirth you will WANT to do everything as the side content is insanely addicting. Side quests can be hit or miss but mostly were a hit and all the mini games were very well done and fun to play. Each time you hit a new area of the game you most likely will want to do everything the map has to offer before continuing the story and I would highly recommend it as its very fun content and will give you lots of items to use for the next story portion. Furthermore, combat is just as fun with many synergies , spells and unlocks to mess around with making you want to change things up constantly. The biggest surprise for me was Queen’s blood as I fell in love with the mini game. It's a very simple card game that turns pretty complex with specific deck builds as you progress the story for it but Queens blood is insanely addicting and makes me really want an online mode for it. Finally, the combat simulation is back as just as challenging as the original remake but very fun to fight against summons. They really knocked it out of the park with its content and gameplay that almost makes you think this game isn’t real.
My only real complaint
Chadley is in the game.
In the end
FF7 Rebirth IMO is a masterpiece that should be played by all FF fans. While some story elements may not sit well with you there is no denying the masterfully crafted game they have created here. FF7 rebirth is an almost dream-like game that doesn’t happen often. I can only hope you all enjoy it as much as I did. There is a lot I didn’t get into as I really didn’t want to get into ANYTHING specific since for me seeing all the new content the game was throwing my way not knowing what it was going to be was such a blast so I wanted to refrain from talking about WHAT mini games and side stuff were here besides queens blood which you most likely have heard of by now.
THIS IS A MUST BUY AND 200% WORTH THE ASKING PRICE.
2022
I cannot explain the feelings I felt playing Signalis. this game is a simply a masterpiece to me. The moment my eyes witnessed the trailer for this game I instantly knew this game was going to become something special to me and something special it became. Everything from the graphics, character designs, story , gameplay and world surrounding this game there is not a single thing I dislike about this game past a few nitpicks.
This plays like a true old school survival horror game so if you are into the genre this is a MUST play if you are into stuff like RE1R. The puzzles were honestly very easy and I didn't find myself stuck on any past a few but you will be fine as long as you explore everything and read all the files you find there will be no issues with the puzzles this game has.
Now I won't get into the story for spoilers sakes and just for the simple fact this game is very enriched and deep in its lore and I simply have not really gathered a grasp on its plot and lore but I have a base idea but am continuing to do more research on what it all meant it really has been fun reading other peoples theories and guesses. But to give a very quick run down you play as Elster who wakes up from a long sleep and is now in search of her partner and her dreams where you will explore a government facility set in a dystopian future to find the answers you seek and answers you will find (well you will probably be very confused like me)
This game is oozing with love and care and you can tell how much went into making this masterpiece. This game has risen to my top 3 indie games of all time if not my fav indie game of all time now.
I will play anything Rose-engine has to offer and I cannot wait for their next title you have earned yourself a new huge fan !!
I will end the review with this.
THIS GAME IS A MASTERPIECE
This plays like a true old school survival horror game so if you are into the genre this is a MUST play if you are into stuff like RE1R. The puzzles were honestly very easy and I didn't find myself stuck on any past a few but you will be fine as long as you explore everything and read all the files you find there will be no issues with the puzzles this game has.
Now I won't get into the story for spoilers sakes and just for the simple fact this game is very enriched and deep in its lore and I simply have not really gathered a grasp on its plot and lore but I have a base idea but am continuing to do more research on what it all meant it really has been fun reading other peoples theories and guesses. But to give a very quick run down you play as Elster who wakes up from a long sleep and is now in search of her partner and her dreams where you will explore a government facility set in a dystopian future to find the answers you seek and answers you will find (well you will probably be very confused like me)
This game is oozing with love and care and you can tell how much went into making this masterpiece. This game has risen to my top 3 indie games of all time if not my fav indie game of all time now.
I will play anything Rose-engine has to offer and I cannot wait for their next title you have earned yourself a new huge fan !!
I will end the review with this.
THIS GAME IS A MASTERPIECE
2006
Look. Yes the combat SUCKS. It sucks A LOT but my lord the world and story is just so masterfully crafted. its a simple story told in a very complex way that will keep you guessing and wanting to find out more and more and more. I was floored throughout the whole experience and the terrible combat wasn't bad enough to ruin the story that was being told to me.
Masterpiece and it sucks so much controversy surrounded this game because I truly feel this is a story most people should experience if you can by pass the combat parts of the game.
Masterpiece and it sucks so much controversy surrounded this game because I truly feel this is a story most people should experience if you can by pass the combat parts of the game.
2023
A modern masterpiece
Just finished the game about 30 minutes ago and I am just left speechless by everything I had just experienced. Never in my many years of waiting for Alan Wake 2 did I ever think this would be the sequel we receive. Everything about Alan wake 2 is handled to perfection which is why I believe this game will go down in history as one of the best ever in its genre. Not only is it an achievement for its genre it is now my GOTY.
A mind boggling story
This game is a trip from start to finish , every second oozing with aesthetic and brilliant storytelling. I would like to go into details on what makes this journey so brilliant but this is very much best played without knowing anything. Moving on , the cast is great from Alan , Saga to Casey with even some surprise characters showing up. I will take this quick moment to really recommend fans to play through Control if you would like to understand even more of the lore. Beyond that , I also recommend a replay through of Alan wake 1 as it would really make things a lot more coherent with 2. I will just leave the story part at that because you simply need to experience this game with as little information as you can but just know its an amazing story that will surely be diagnosed for years to come.
I will not be getting into ANY of the story bits in this review as I never do for games that are best played blind. Just experience this jaw dropping, mind twisting and mind blowing journey for yourself and you will understand why this story was masterfully crafted.
A beautiful looking adventure
Furthermore, the graphics are beautiful, the game just looks amazing on the PS5 so I can only imagine how it must have looked maxed out with 4K on PC. Many times throughout my playthrough I just saw myself looking at the scenery during the daytime and it was always magical.
Scary
This game nails the atmosphere, really giving itself a perfect creepy vibe. One aspect I wasn’t too much of a fan of was the constant jumpscares you will experience in specific sections. It can be scary but most of the time it just serves as a way to annoy me. Besides the jumpscares I genuinely found the game unsettling and creepy which is very rare for a game to accomplish for me nowadays. There were many times I would be creeped out traversing certain sections since the game always made you wonder about what could be down that hallway. It's simple tactics like that that will really give you the creeps as you make your way through the game. The story itself is just as unsettling and creepy in which once again I won’t get into so I just really hope you play it.
This game is true horror.
Gameplay
One of the more interesting aspects of Alan Wake 2 is its gameplay. Why? It's simple because there are many segments of the game where you won’t be doing much combat. I honestly really like this as it aids in really panning out its story more. Furthermore, it makes the moments you do engage in combat even more impactful and fun but this can be argued so just be aware you won’t always be in combat. The combat itself is very akin to Alan wake 1’s combat which is a good thing because I found it very fun. The big changes in the combat is through movement which is a lot more akin to RE4Rs movement. Dodging is fine but it can be a bit wonky against certain enemies but for the most part it was passable. The enemy variety is pretty basic sadly but I really liked the designs on them but be aware there isn’t a big pool of enemy types there are only a few types you will be battling against. Playing on hard difficulty the game provided a fair enough challenge but honestly wasn’t too tough if you are good about managing the resources you get. One of the more welcome editions this game has is how open and exploration centric the game is. It will not hold your hand and give you markers on the map telling you where you need to go. You will simply just look at your objective then look at the map to see where the spot you need to go is and on the way find collectibles. Speaking of collectibles there are multiple to look for in this game from Puzzles, lunch boxes to supply stashes. It is highly recommended to be on the lookout as all 3 collectible types will give you very useful resources. If you plan on 100% the game I HIGHLY recommend making save points near the end of the game so you have a save file to go back to. This can come back and bite you in the ass because once you hit a certain point you will not be able to explore the sections freely forcing you to replay the whole game again if you want to collect everything. The gameplay feels second to the story and I was 100% fine with that because the story of Alan wake 2 is phenomenal but the gameplay we do get here is very fun and combat that I hope is explored more in its DLCs this game will be receiving.
Some Issues sadly
I hate to have to bring up some issues I have with this game because I do think it's a perfect game….. But it has some issues. Luckily the issues I have with this game do NOT have anything to do with the core game, it's only with its performance. Playing on the PS5 version I experienced many frame drops and bugs and glitches throughout the game's run time. Glitches ranging from characters model glitching out all the way to soft locking the game forcing a game restart its moments like these that will set you back a bit. Picking up items can sometimes freeze your whole screen for a few moments making you wonder if the game crashed or not lol. Hell I even got audio bugs that would quite frankly bug all sound effects only leaving environment sounds to be heard. It is frustrating because the glitches happen more than they should have and I can only hope they iron out these bugs and issues with patches.
in the end
Usually I would have knocked this down half a score for all the bugs but Alan Wake 2 is truly a masterpiece. This game is an achievement in every aspect that should be played by ALL horror fans. Easily my GOTY currently and I really don’t see that changing now for this year. I would gladly wait 13 years for sequels of games if this the quality we will get over getting the garbage we usually get now.
100% recommend at full price.
Just finished the game about 30 minutes ago and I am just left speechless by everything I had just experienced. Never in my many years of waiting for Alan Wake 2 did I ever think this would be the sequel we receive. Everything about Alan wake 2 is handled to perfection which is why I believe this game will go down in history as one of the best ever in its genre. Not only is it an achievement for its genre it is now my GOTY.
A mind boggling story
This game is a trip from start to finish , every second oozing with aesthetic and brilliant storytelling. I would like to go into details on what makes this journey so brilliant but this is very much best played without knowing anything. Moving on , the cast is great from Alan , Saga to Casey with even some surprise characters showing up. I will take this quick moment to really recommend fans to play through Control if you would like to understand even more of the lore. Beyond that , I also recommend a replay through of Alan wake 1 as it would really make things a lot more coherent with 2. I will just leave the story part at that because you simply need to experience this game with as little information as you can but just know its an amazing story that will surely be diagnosed for years to come.
I will not be getting into ANY of the story bits in this review as I never do for games that are best played blind. Just experience this jaw dropping, mind twisting and mind blowing journey for yourself and you will understand why this story was masterfully crafted.
A beautiful looking adventure
Furthermore, the graphics are beautiful, the game just looks amazing on the PS5 so I can only imagine how it must have looked maxed out with 4K on PC. Many times throughout my playthrough I just saw myself looking at the scenery during the daytime and it was always magical.
Scary
This game nails the atmosphere, really giving itself a perfect creepy vibe. One aspect I wasn’t too much of a fan of was the constant jumpscares you will experience in specific sections. It can be scary but most of the time it just serves as a way to annoy me. Besides the jumpscares I genuinely found the game unsettling and creepy which is very rare for a game to accomplish for me nowadays. There were many times I would be creeped out traversing certain sections since the game always made you wonder about what could be down that hallway. It's simple tactics like that that will really give you the creeps as you make your way through the game. The story itself is just as unsettling and creepy in which once again I won’t get into so I just really hope you play it.
This game is true horror.
Gameplay
One of the more interesting aspects of Alan Wake 2 is its gameplay. Why? It's simple because there are many segments of the game where you won’t be doing much combat. I honestly really like this as it aids in really panning out its story more. Furthermore, it makes the moments you do engage in combat even more impactful and fun but this can be argued so just be aware you won’t always be in combat. The combat itself is very akin to Alan wake 1’s combat which is a good thing because I found it very fun. The big changes in the combat is through movement which is a lot more akin to RE4Rs movement. Dodging is fine but it can be a bit wonky against certain enemies but for the most part it was passable. The enemy variety is pretty basic sadly but I really liked the designs on them but be aware there isn’t a big pool of enemy types there are only a few types you will be battling against. Playing on hard difficulty the game provided a fair enough challenge but honestly wasn’t too tough if you are good about managing the resources you get. One of the more welcome editions this game has is how open and exploration centric the game is. It will not hold your hand and give you markers on the map telling you where you need to go. You will simply just look at your objective then look at the map to see where the spot you need to go is and on the way find collectibles. Speaking of collectibles there are multiple to look for in this game from Puzzles, lunch boxes to supply stashes. It is highly recommended to be on the lookout as all 3 collectible types will give you very useful resources. If you plan on 100% the game I HIGHLY recommend making save points near the end of the game so you have a save file to go back to. This can come back and bite you in the ass because once you hit a certain point you will not be able to explore the sections freely forcing you to replay the whole game again if you want to collect everything. The gameplay feels second to the story and I was 100% fine with that because the story of Alan wake 2 is phenomenal but the gameplay we do get here is very fun and combat that I hope is explored more in its DLCs this game will be receiving.
Some Issues sadly
I hate to have to bring up some issues I have with this game because I do think it's a perfect game….. But it has some issues. Luckily the issues I have with this game do NOT have anything to do with the core game, it's only with its performance. Playing on the PS5 version I experienced many frame drops and bugs and glitches throughout the game's run time. Glitches ranging from characters model glitching out all the way to soft locking the game forcing a game restart its moments like these that will set you back a bit. Picking up items can sometimes freeze your whole screen for a few moments making you wonder if the game crashed or not lol. Hell I even got audio bugs that would quite frankly bug all sound effects only leaving environment sounds to be heard. It is frustrating because the glitches happen more than they should have and I can only hope they iron out these bugs and issues with patches.
in the end
Usually I would have knocked this down half a score for all the bugs but Alan Wake 2 is truly a masterpiece. This game is an achievement in every aspect that should be played by ALL horror fans. Easily my GOTY currently and I really don’t see that changing now for this year. I would gladly wait 13 years for sequels of games if this the quality we will get over getting the garbage we usually get now.
100% recommend at full price.
2002
When nostalgia hits you like a truck…. For the wrong reasons.
There will always be games you remember from your childhood that you never got to play. Maybe because of a trailer you saw or because the cover art is so ingrained in your head for whatever reason. Dead to rights was always that game for me even though I don’t really find the cover art that crazy for some reason always popped up in my head every once in a while. A while back I bought 1-2 and they were just sitting on the shelf so I thought it was finally time to throw down with these games that I never grew up with. Sadly that is where the fun memories end because this game does not hold up well.
Fun but flawed
I want to start off by saying I played the Xbox version which on paper shouldn’t really mean much HOWEVER idk how true this is but I heard this version was way more difficult then the others. Obviously I haven’t played the PS2, Gamecube versions so I can’t fully say but I will say I can believe due to how frustrating this game got at certain points. To begin, this is a max payne clone through and through and that doesn’t have to mean anything bad because in general the formula for Max Payne is immensely fun so I wouldn’t mind more clones. Dead to rights gets this aspect right enough to make a fun enough experience but lord does it get frustrating. To explain, I like the gunplay honestly but whoever thought of the melee aspects should never touch a game again. Not only is the Melee in this game horrible but they had the bright idea of making a WHOLE LEVEL BASED AROUND IT on top of MULTIPLE BOSS FIGHTS THAT ARE MELEE only. The hand to hand combat makes ZERO sense and will make you want to throw your controller across the room. It seems simple on paper with punch , kick , grab and block and yet they somehow make it the most mundane thing ever. When you fight enemies sometimes they will power through your punches , will block and instantly punish you in which you can do NOTHING about it. The grabbing is somehow even more annoying because you can break out of a grab but if you do not press the button within .5 seconds you will get thrown and SO MUCH of your HP will be gone. Honestly I wouldn’t ramble about Melee if it wasn’t shoved in your face as much as it was in this game because it was really that annoying. Luckily the gun sections which do take up most of the game's runtime are fun and will keep you entertained enough. You have a decent amount of gun selection in the game in which you pick up from the enemies once you defeat them. And how can we forget about the best boi Shadow who is not only a good doggo but also VERY helpful during annoying segments. During the game Shadow can be used to instantly kill an enemy if you are within range in which he will grab their weapon to give to you. Using Shadow is insanely important as he will lower the enemy count on top of giving you weapons / ammo from them.
Why?
Oh boy oh boy here we get to the fun part of this review in which I will complain about everything. To begin, the damage counter makes zero sense with weapons because some pistols do piss poor damage while others do a lot. Snipers in particular do literally NO damage and it got to the point where I thought I was doing something wrong. In which game do you know a sniper to be the weakest weapon? Using a sniper should make you feel powerful when you land shots but in Dead to rights you mine as well be using a nerf gun if you pick up a sniper. This only escalates even more annoyingly since enemies from what I can tell have the most OP versions of these guns and will mow you down with the same exact gun you pick up and shoot green pea bullets with. Furthermore , the lock on system gets insanely annoying with it flinging to everyone around you but the one person you want to aim at making you slowly cycle through them until you aim at the one you wanted to aim at. When you dive into slow down the lock on system will sometimes just straight up not work even though you literally are right next to enemies. You can actually free aim in this game but why in the world you will freely use it I will never know because it's terrible lol. Furthermore , this game's difficulty only brought out the more terrible aspects of this game to me. There were certain segments where the game clearly wants you to try stealth killing some enemies but the issue is enemies will almost instantly catch you. On top of spotting you instantly everyone in this game apparently is a trained gold medalist for disc shooting because EVERYONE will laser aim at you and sometimes will even shoot you through the tiniest hole in a wall. I understand shooters from this era usually had laser aim enemies but when you mix it with the BS difficulty this game has it will not make you feel good. In addition , the bosses were all underwhelming and the final boss was insanely annoying until you figured out what you had to do. Cover mechanics are present in the game but I almost found them pointless since the moment you pop out the enemies will instantly beam in your direction thus having you struggle to get out of cover. Weirdly enough this game isn’t super long but I still felt like the ending portions of the game dragged out making me believe they could have cut 30 mins to an hour of the game out. Story is very basic but it will get the job done for the most part. LAST BUT NOT LEAST as it's been brought up throughout this review let's get into the difficulty. To put it simply it is outrageous imo since there isn’t even any difficulty option so you are just stuck with one option which will put you through pain. Certain level segments are set up to have you instantly get showered with bullets and if you have no armor your HP will instantly DRAIN. It gets so bad to the point you almost can softlock yourself during a level if you load into a segment with little HP where enemies instantly shoot at you from every direction. This actually almost happened to me when I got to a part where you walk up some stairs and are greeted by 3 snipers + a buttload of enemies with NO armor to pick up. I am not sure why the xbox version is so much more difficult than the other console versions and it made me want to actually try the versions just to see how much of a difference it is.
In the end
Honestly this game isn’t the worst thing ever, it just simply doesn’t hold up well and maybe the other console versions are a bit better. This game runs for cheap so honestly I still say give it a spin and see for yourself since it won’t break the wallet and may provide you some fun. I do recommend staying away from the Xbox version and going for the PS2, gamecube version but I would not expect anything out of this game for the most part. I wonder how the sequels will be!
I just realized even in what should have been the positive section that I was rambling about the bad more LOOOL
There will always be games you remember from your childhood that you never got to play. Maybe because of a trailer you saw or because the cover art is so ingrained in your head for whatever reason. Dead to rights was always that game for me even though I don’t really find the cover art that crazy for some reason always popped up in my head every once in a while. A while back I bought 1-2 and they were just sitting on the shelf so I thought it was finally time to throw down with these games that I never grew up with. Sadly that is where the fun memories end because this game does not hold up well.
Fun but flawed
I want to start off by saying I played the Xbox version which on paper shouldn’t really mean much HOWEVER idk how true this is but I heard this version was way more difficult then the others. Obviously I haven’t played the PS2, Gamecube versions so I can’t fully say but I will say I can believe due to how frustrating this game got at certain points. To begin, this is a max payne clone through and through and that doesn’t have to mean anything bad because in general the formula for Max Payne is immensely fun so I wouldn’t mind more clones. Dead to rights gets this aspect right enough to make a fun enough experience but lord does it get frustrating. To explain, I like the gunplay honestly but whoever thought of the melee aspects should never touch a game again. Not only is the Melee in this game horrible but they had the bright idea of making a WHOLE LEVEL BASED AROUND IT on top of MULTIPLE BOSS FIGHTS THAT ARE MELEE only. The hand to hand combat makes ZERO sense and will make you want to throw your controller across the room. It seems simple on paper with punch , kick , grab and block and yet they somehow make it the most mundane thing ever. When you fight enemies sometimes they will power through your punches , will block and instantly punish you in which you can do NOTHING about it. The grabbing is somehow even more annoying because you can break out of a grab but if you do not press the button within .5 seconds you will get thrown and SO MUCH of your HP will be gone. Honestly I wouldn’t ramble about Melee if it wasn’t shoved in your face as much as it was in this game because it was really that annoying. Luckily the gun sections which do take up most of the game's runtime are fun and will keep you entertained enough. You have a decent amount of gun selection in the game in which you pick up from the enemies once you defeat them. And how can we forget about the best boi Shadow who is not only a good doggo but also VERY helpful during annoying segments. During the game Shadow can be used to instantly kill an enemy if you are within range in which he will grab their weapon to give to you. Using Shadow is insanely important as he will lower the enemy count on top of giving you weapons / ammo from them.
Why?
Oh boy oh boy here we get to the fun part of this review in which I will complain about everything. To begin, the damage counter makes zero sense with weapons because some pistols do piss poor damage while others do a lot. Snipers in particular do literally NO damage and it got to the point where I thought I was doing something wrong. In which game do you know a sniper to be the weakest weapon? Using a sniper should make you feel powerful when you land shots but in Dead to rights you mine as well be using a nerf gun if you pick up a sniper. This only escalates even more annoyingly since enemies from what I can tell have the most OP versions of these guns and will mow you down with the same exact gun you pick up and shoot green pea bullets with. Furthermore , the lock on system gets insanely annoying with it flinging to everyone around you but the one person you want to aim at making you slowly cycle through them until you aim at the one you wanted to aim at. When you dive into slow down the lock on system will sometimes just straight up not work even though you literally are right next to enemies. You can actually free aim in this game but why in the world you will freely use it I will never know because it's terrible lol. Furthermore , this game's difficulty only brought out the more terrible aspects of this game to me. There were certain segments where the game clearly wants you to try stealth killing some enemies but the issue is enemies will almost instantly catch you. On top of spotting you instantly everyone in this game apparently is a trained gold medalist for disc shooting because EVERYONE will laser aim at you and sometimes will even shoot you through the tiniest hole in a wall. I understand shooters from this era usually had laser aim enemies but when you mix it with the BS difficulty this game has it will not make you feel good. In addition , the bosses were all underwhelming and the final boss was insanely annoying until you figured out what you had to do. Cover mechanics are present in the game but I almost found them pointless since the moment you pop out the enemies will instantly beam in your direction thus having you struggle to get out of cover. Weirdly enough this game isn’t super long but I still felt like the ending portions of the game dragged out making me believe they could have cut 30 mins to an hour of the game out. Story is very basic but it will get the job done for the most part. LAST BUT NOT LEAST as it's been brought up throughout this review let's get into the difficulty. To put it simply it is outrageous imo since there isn’t even any difficulty option so you are just stuck with one option which will put you through pain. Certain level segments are set up to have you instantly get showered with bullets and if you have no armor your HP will instantly DRAIN. It gets so bad to the point you almost can softlock yourself during a level if you load into a segment with little HP where enemies instantly shoot at you from every direction. This actually almost happened to me when I got to a part where you walk up some stairs and are greeted by 3 snipers + a buttload of enemies with NO armor to pick up. I am not sure why the xbox version is so much more difficult than the other console versions and it made me want to actually try the versions just to see how much of a difference it is.
In the end
Honestly this game isn’t the worst thing ever, it just simply doesn’t hold up well and maybe the other console versions are a bit better. This game runs for cheap so honestly I still say give it a spin and see for yourself since it won’t break the wallet and may provide you some fun. I do recommend staying away from the Xbox version and going for the PS2, gamecube version but I would not expect anything out of this game for the most part. I wonder how the sequels will be!
I just realized even in what should have been the positive section that I was rambling about the bad more LOOOL
2023
You know I won't really go to in depth with this one since you have most likely already heard about this one.
Going in with low expectations I still somehow ended up being disappointed even further which I was not expecting. Buggy unoptimized PC port and I have a pretty good rig and still was dipping below 60 FPS A LOT in the open world. Horrendous mission design making for a boring gameplay loop that never once changes up its formula with its main and side missions. Laughable bosses that pose no challenge whatsoever making you wonder why this game even has bosses LOL.
Gameplay is unaspiring and insanely easy as you can mostly one tap human enemies and UV Ray mostly every type of vampire and just smack them once or shotgun them once when they get stoned. You really never have to think about anything during the game you just run and gun and I played solo and still had zero issues with any segment of the game on high difficulty. And the story was there but I did not care a single inch about the story. The game was also pretty short? I was doing every side quest I was coming across and I only clocked in at around 11ish hours by the end which surprised me idk if I was just missing stuff but I unlocked everything on both maps and was doing every side quest I was coming across.
Its just sad because I LOVE Arkane studio I ADORE Dishonored and prey a lot so a game like this coming from them is a punch in the gut.
Thank god it was on gamepass allowing me to questionably play through this atrocity hahaha.
Don't even give this game a try through gamepass lol.
RIP to anyone who bought this at full price.
Going in with low expectations I still somehow ended up being disappointed even further which I was not expecting. Buggy unoptimized PC port and I have a pretty good rig and still was dipping below 60 FPS A LOT in the open world. Horrendous mission design making for a boring gameplay loop that never once changes up its formula with its main and side missions. Laughable bosses that pose no challenge whatsoever making you wonder why this game even has bosses LOL.
Gameplay is unaspiring and insanely easy as you can mostly one tap human enemies and UV Ray mostly every type of vampire and just smack them once or shotgun them once when they get stoned. You really never have to think about anything during the game you just run and gun and I played solo and still had zero issues with any segment of the game on high difficulty. And the story was there but I did not care a single inch about the story. The game was also pretty short? I was doing every side quest I was coming across and I only clocked in at around 11ish hours by the end which surprised me idk if I was just missing stuff but I unlocked everything on both maps and was doing every side quest I was coming across.
Its just sad because I LOVE Arkane studio I ADORE Dishonored and prey a lot so a game like this coming from them is a punch in the gut.
Thank god it was on gamepass allowing me to questionably play through this atrocity hahaha.
Don't even give this game a try through gamepass lol.
RIP to anyone who bought this at full price.
Truly an interetsing game. I went ahead and got the full 1000G for this game so I did indeed 100% it and honestly while I feel like there is so much charm there with its characters and combat so much about the game felt lack luster.
The side quests are TERRIBLE literally every side quest in this game is a fetch quest and it does nothing to break that formula up and try new things NOPE it is a fetch quest for every single damn quest. For me this game shines in its combat , art and story. I love the graphic style of this game and feel it is brimming with love and I love that. The combat while not being the best thing ever is fun enough to keep you engaged to at least finish the main story. And the story is a nice and sweet little simple story with nice twist that did get me invested enough in the characters.
But still even with those positives it isn't enough for me to say go out and play it right this second and the core questing and combat can get VERY repetitive (mostly the questing ). But either way this game is on Xbox game pass so if you have game pass I would give it a go its worth at least a try!
The side quests are TERRIBLE literally every side quest in this game is a fetch quest and it does nothing to break that formula up and try new things NOPE it is a fetch quest for every single damn quest. For me this game shines in its combat , art and story. I love the graphic style of this game and feel it is brimming with love and I love that. The combat while not being the best thing ever is fun enough to keep you engaged to at least finish the main story. And the story is a nice and sweet little simple story with nice twist that did get me invested enough in the characters.
But still even with those positives it isn't enough for me to say go out and play it right this second and the core questing and combat can get VERY repetitive (mostly the questing ). But either way this game is on Xbox game pass so if you have game pass I would give it a go its worth at least a try!
2022
Simply one of the best RPGs I have ever played. I went into Expecting to enjoy it as I have heard many good things about it but what I did not expect was to be FLOORED and being completely inlove with everything about this game by the end of this beautiful journey.
This game is the game I will recommend people when they ask me what is a great first RPG to play. This game respects your time and will not force you to grind hours upon hours for an item or to level. I really wish more RPGs would follow this formula as it would make me play them more knowing I wouldn't have to dump 60+ hours into the game with 50% of it being grinding.
The game sets you on multiple journeys with 7 characters each with their own storyline. For the most part each characters story is about 2 hours long with the exception of the fighter being only about 40 mins long. Speaking of the fighter he by far has the weakest storyline and I was bummed out because I was pretty excited for his story. My fav stories in the game were the Shifu, both Future stories and the western story.
I will not talk about anything else as honestly going into this game as blind as possible really elevated the experience for me. As this game is now on most platforms this is a MUST BUY for any RPG fan or fans who want to get into the genre.
Its an experience you won't get often and one that should be experienced by everyone.
Phenomenal game.
This game is the game I will recommend people when they ask me what is a great first RPG to play. This game respects your time and will not force you to grind hours upon hours for an item or to level. I really wish more RPGs would follow this formula as it would make me play them more knowing I wouldn't have to dump 60+ hours into the game with 50% of it being grinding.
The game sets you on multiple journeys with 7 characters each with their own storyline. For the most part each characters story is about 2 hours long with the exception of the fighter being only about 40 mins long. Speaking of the fighter he by far has the weakest storyline and I was bummed out because I was pretty excited for his story. My fav stories in the game were the Shifu, both Future stories and the western story.
I will not talk about anything else as honestly going into this game as blind as possible really elevated the experience for me. As this game is now on most platforms this is a MUST BUY for any RPG fan or fans who want to get into the genre.
Its an experience you won't get often and one that should be experienced by everyone.
Phenomenal game.
2020
A cozy feeling
I have always eyed this VN as I am a fan of coffee….. And cafes so this is very much my ally. As time went on however I just forgot about the game but seeing its sequel make its way to gamepass made me remember. Finally with my memory I could buy the first game on sale and sit down and read this wonderful story.
Short and simple
I will be keeping this review short and simple as there really isn’t a lot to talk about gameplay wise since this is a visual novel. Coffee talk is a Visual Novel that sees you play as a barista who runs a cafe that is only open during the night. The game revolves around the many characters that show up and the stories that follow them. The only gameplay element attached to this game is that you prepare drinks for the customers by combining ingredients to make Coffees , Tea, Green tea, chocolate and milk based drinks. Right off the bat the OST and graphics really put you at ease as the setting is just so peaceful to look at. Combine this with a great cast of characters and very well throughout and thoughtful stories this game is a very good time. I was taken back by some of the dialogue as some of the characters' issues presented are VERY real and the way they go about them are honestly good enough to the point that you can apply what these characters say to real life situations. I really appreciate how deep they get with specific topics that made me nod my head many times in agreement to what characters would say. Weirdly enough however, the only character I wasn’t really fond of is the main recurring character Freya. To explain , I found her dialogue sometimes to be annoying and honestly just found her character to be overall annoying multiple times during certain areas. Maybe her character will grow on me with the sequel so we shall see.
In the end
If you are a Visual novel fan and want to read a well written, thoughtful story with a great OST and great setting AND great characters then I highly recommend this game!. I am looking forward to reading the sequel !!!
I have always eyed this VN as I am a fan of coffee….. And cafes so this is very much my ally. As time went on however I just forgot about the game but seeing its sequel make its way to gamepass made me remember. Finally with my memory I could buy the first game on sale and sit down and read this wonderful story.
Short and simple
I will be keeping this review short and simple as there really isn’t a lot to talk about gameplay wise since this is a visual novel. Coffee talk is a Visual Novel that sees you play as a barista who runs a cafe that is only open during the night. The game revolves around the many characters that show up and the stories that follow them. The only gameplay element attached to this game is that you prepare drinks for the customers by combining ingredients to make Coffees , Tea, Green tea, chocolate and milk based drinks. Right off the bat the OST and graphics really put you at ease as the setting is just so peaceful to look at. Combine this with a great cast of characters and very well throughout and thoughtful stories this game is a very good time. I was taken back by some of the dialogue as some of the characters' issues presented are VERY real and the way they go about them are honestly good enough to the point that you can apply what these characters say to real life situations. I really appreciate how deep they get with specific topics that made me nod my head many times in agreement to what characters would say. Weirdly enough however, the only character I wasn’t really fond of is the main recurring character Freya. To explain , I found her dialogue sometimes to be annoying and honestly just found her character to be overall annoying multiple times during certain areas. Maybe her character will grow on me with the sequel so we shall see.
In the end
If you are a Visual novel fan and want to read a well written, thoughtful story with a great OST and great setting AND great characters then I highly recommend this game!. I am looking forward to reading the sequel !!!
2005
Randomly got the urge to play COD games on Veteran
After bringing back the MP servers for multiple cod games I randomly got the urge to play through the campaigns on veteran difficulty. I beat all the COD campaigns up until ghost BUT never finished one on veteran so I thought it would be fun and thus COD 2 has been FINISHED.
Was it as good as I remembered?
I was never the biggest fan of COD 2 but I could respect what it did for the genre and I do LOVE some of the moments the game has. In addition it just feels good to play an older style COD game really making me miss the simpler times in gaming where you just booted up a game and have the full experience right in front of your eyes versus dealing with all these DLC , MICROTRANSACTION and becoming Nikki Minaj in warzone. However, while I still think it's a good game, COD 2 does have some issues in terms of how it's aged after all this game. That isn’t to say it's a bad game because noooooo that is far from it , the game is still a solid time if you want to play through a good campaign.
What were my issues?
To get this right out of the bag having no sprint feels insanely terrible and makes the game feel so much slower. I can’t tell you the amount of times I wish I had sprint throughout playing the game again after so long and after playing so many CODs since then. Furthermore, some of the later levels were insanely difficult on veteran, really making for a quite simply frustrating experience as I slowly made my way through each level. I know veteran is supposed to be very challenging but when you have moments where you literally are stuck in one spot and will get one shotted the moment you peak from 6 different angles is not fun lol. I bring this very specific situation up because there is a specific level ( if you played this on veteran you most likely know what I am talking about) where you have about 5-6 objectives on the screen at once where you need to take over all these buildings. Imagining running around an open field sometimes or just running from building to building having constant streams of bullets showered at you the moment you try anything. Oh you cleared the streets? Well tough luck you got hit from a window , oh you cleared the house? You better hope there isn’t one last guy upstairs aiming straight at you the moment you walk up. I could go on for a long time about this mission but the layout made for one the worst levels I have played in awhile lol. Furthermore, I also had some bugs and glitches where the game would give me checkpoints , I would randomly die by a nade that wasn’t even marked on my screen and even a weird glitch where my character FLEW backwards very fast which was funny lol. In addition, I really don’t like the weapon pool the game gives you. To explain , most of the time you will be picking up MP40s or Kar98s off enemy bodies since you will run out of ammo from the weapons you start with. This makes for a very depressing pool of weapons since you almost can never refill ammo on the guns you start with unless your AI teammates die.
The AI???
This needs to get its own little section because if there was one thing that this game really made me appreciate was good AI teammates. My lord when I say playing around your AI teammates is VITAL to winning I really mean it because the AI in COD 2 is honestly very good in the sense that your teammates will actually KILL THE ENEMIES….. Crazy I know right? It really makes you think WHY they made the AI worse as time went on lol.
Overall
Even though I have issues with the level design of some levels making for some very frustrating moments I overall still enjoyed my replay of the game. I was amazed by some of the moments the game had really given me a newfound respect for what they were able to accomplish cinematically during this era of gaming. I am not sure how fast I will tackle the other CODs because playing on veteran is truly a mental crushing experience that should probably not be done back to back lol. If you for some reason have not played COD 2 by now I do recommend giving it a playthrough. It's a solid game !
After bringing back the MP servers for multiple cod games I randomly got the urge to play through the campaigns on veteran difficulty. I beat all the COD campaigns up until ghost BUT never finished one on veteran so I thought it would be fun and thus COD 2 has been FINISHED.
Was it as good as I remembered?
I was never the biggest fan of COD 2 but I could respect what it did for the genre and I do LOVE some of the moments the game has. In addition it just feels good to play an older style COD game really making me miss the simpler times in gaming where you just booted up a game and have the full experience right in front of your eyes versus dealing with all these DLC , MICROTRANSACTION and becoming Nikki Minaj in warzone. However, while I still think it's a good game, COD 2 does have some issues in terms of how it's aged after all this game. That isn’t to say it's a bad game because noooooo that is far from it , the game is still a solid time if you want to play through a good campaign.
What were my issues?
To get this right out of the bag having no sprint feels insanely terrible and makes the game feel so much slower. I can’t tell you the amount of times I wish I had sprint throughout playing the game again after so long and after playing so many CODs since then. Furthermore, some of the later levels were insanely difficult on veteran, really making for a quite simply frustrating experience as I slowly made my way through each level. I know veteran is supposed to be very challenging but when you have moments where you literally are stuck in one spot and will get one shotted the moment you peak from 6 different angles is not fun lol. I bring this very specific situation up because there is a specific level ( if you played this on veteran you most likely know what I am talking about) where you have about 5-6 objectives on the screen at once where you need to take over all these buildings. Imagining running around an open field sometimes or just running from building to building having constant streams of bullets showered at you the moment you try anything. Oh you cleared the streets? Well tough luck you got hit from a window , oh you cleared the house? You better hope there isn’t one last guy upstairs aiming straight at you the moment you walk up. I could go on for a long time about this mission but the layout made for one the worst levels I have played in awhile lol. Furthermore, I also had some bugs and glitches where the game would give me checkpoints , I would randomly die by a nade that wasn’t even marked on my screen and even a weird glitch where my character FLEW backwards very fast which was funny lol. In addition, I really don’t like the weapon pool the game gives you. To explain , most of the time you will be picking up MP40s or Kar98s off enemy bodies since you will run out of ammo from the weapons you start with. This makes for a very depressing pool of weapons since you almost can never refill ammo on the guns you start with unless your AI teammates die.
The AI???
This needs to get its own little section because if there was one thing that this game really made me appreciate was good AI teammates. My lord when I say playing around your AI teammates is VITAL to winning I really mean it because the AI in COD 2 is honestly very good in the sense that your teammates will actually KILL THE ENEMIES….. Crazy I know right? It really makes you think WHY they made the AI worse as time went on lol.
Overall
Even though I have issues with the level design of some levels making for some very frustrating moments I overall still enjoyed my replay of the game. I was amazed by some of the moments the game had really given me a newfound respect for what they were able to accomplish cinematically during this era of gaming. I am not sure how fast I will tackle the other CODs because playing on veteran is truly a mental crushing experience that should probably not be done back to back lol. If you for some reason have not played COD 2 by now I do recommend giving it a playthrough. It's a solid game !
A great sequel!
After a very good first title I was very much looking forward to spiderman 2 so it makes me happy to see Insomniac games have yet to lose their touch.
We will keep this short
Honestly you probably are already playing this title and or have looked into it so I will keep this review short. Spiderman 2 just builds upon the first game and adds more to the formula. To explain , the biggest upgrade imo is web swinging around the map. It feels insanely fluent , fun and fast which makes moving around the huge area of New York very fun. In addition Miles now joins the main crew for the first time ( apart from his spinoff title ) and makes a great addition to the game. His combat is very fun and his story is also very nice. I enjoyed my time with him as a character. Speaking of combat , what is there to say? It's extremely fun mixing punches with your gadgets and web shots. The combat stays consistently engaging and fun throughout the whole game, never once leaving me bored. The bosses for the most part are fine but once you learn how to really combo you will mostly demolish most bosses in the game. Furthermore , the story was honestly very good. I really was entertained throughout it all and I am not the biggest Spiderman fan. I enjoyed the early films but I have never dived deep into the world but these games have seriously gotten me more interested in the many worlds of spiderman. Many great moments in the game I honestly think the story was leaps better in this game over the first title. In addition , the graphics look nice , the map still looks great and the overall vibe of the game is just very free and wonderful. I would like to commend the side quests because while the gameplay loop for them is FINE at best I did really enjoy the sidequest stories in this game.
Some issues
With that being said this game surprised me in the bug department because I ran into quite a few. To explain , there were moments where audio would just completely die out during a scene leaving me to miss whole dialogue sections as the only thing I would hear are sound effects. Graphical glitches happened more than I would have liked with character models completely glitching out. To elaborate, there was a scene where Miles jumps into the frame but he literally had no body , only his floating head. Another cutscene a character's neck was completely stretched out. And to top it all off the game literally spawned me in as a white cube which you have probably seen clips of by this time. It's a bummer because I don’t remember this many issues with the first title and while it didn’t ruin the overall experience It for sure hindered it a bit. Moving on , while improved on a bit I am still not a fan of the MJ sequences AT ALL they are boring and easily exploited making for some very boring “stealth”. However , I do think they play out better cutscene and story wise over the first title but I still do not enjoy these parts. Speaking of stealth even on the spiderman side of things the stealth just isn’t that great and once again very exploitable making it very easy at times to just wipe out a whole section of enemies. Finding my way through the map to 100% it I did enjoy it mostly but I am still not impressed with the gameplay loop the Sidequest have to offer. While the stories for them are solid - Great I think it becomes repetitive at points really never changing up the core gameplay rotation enough.
In the end
This is a great sequel that should have spent a little more time in the oven to iron out some issues but overall they knocked it out of the park again. Insomniac has really mastered these types of games but I really hope that wolverine will serve as a gateway for them to truly evolve spiderman even further. I genuinely believe Insomniac can create a Spiderman 3 that can blow the game to a new level of greatness if they truly innovate even more and get even more risky with the third title. If you enjoyed the first game it's a no brainer that I highly recommend this title. If you didn’t enjoy the first game I would either skip this one as it probably won’t change your mind or wait for a nice sale to give it a shot.
After a very good first title I was very much looking forward to spiderman 2 so it makes me happy to see Insomniac games have yet to lose their touch.
We will keep this short
Honestly you probably are already playing this title and or have looked into it so I will keep this review short. Spiderman 2 just builds upon the first game and adds more to the formula. To explain , the biggest upgrade imo is web swinging around the map. It feels insanely fluent , fun and fast which makes moving around the huge area of New York very fun. In addition Miles now joins the main crew for the first time ( apart from his spinoff title ) and makes a great addition to the game. His combat is very fun and his story is also very nice. I enjoyed my time with him as a character. Speaking of combat , what is there to say? It's extremely fun mixing punches with your gadgets and web shots. The combat stays consistently engaging and fun throughout the whole game, never once leaving me bored. The bosses for the most part are fine but once you learn how to really combo you will mostly demolish most bosses in the game. Furthermore , the story was honestly very good. I really was entertained throughout it all and I am not the biggest Spiderman fan. I enjoyed the early films but I have never dived deep into the world but these games have seriously gotten me more interested in the many worlds of spiderman. Many great moments in the game I honestly think the story was leaps better in this game over the first title. In addition , the graphics look nice , the map still looks great and the overall vibe of the game is just very free and wonderful. I would like to commend the side quests because while the gameplay loop for them is FINE at best I did really enjoy the sidequest stories in this game.
Some issues
With that being said this game surprised me in the bug department because I ran into quite a few. To explain , there were moments where audio would just completely die out during a scene leaving me to miss whole dialogue sections as the only thing I would hear are sound effects. Graphical glitches happened more than I would have liked with character models completely glitching out. To elaborate, there was a scene where Miles jumps into the frame but he literally had no body , only his floating head. Another cutscene a character's neck was completely stretched out. And to top it all off the game literally spawned me in as a white cube which you have probably seen clips of by this time. It's a bummer because I don’t remember this many issues with the first title and while it didn’t ruin the overall experience It for sure hindered it a bit. Moving on , while improved on a bit I am still not a fan of the MJ sequences AT ALL they are boring and easily exploited making for some very boring “stealth”. However , I do think they play out better cutscene and story wise over the first title but I still do not enjoy these parts. Speaking of stealth even on the spiderman side of things the stealth just isn’t that great and once again very exploitable making it very easy at times to just wipe out a whole section of enemies. Finding my way through the map to 100% it I did enjoy it mostly but I am still not impressed with the gameplay loop the Sidequest have to offer. While the stories for them are solid - Great I think it becomes repetitive at points really never changing up the core gameplay rotation enough.
In the end
This is a great sequel that should have spent a little more time in the oven to iron out some issues but overall they knocked it out of the park again. Insomniac has really mastered these types of games but I really hope that wolverine will serve as a gateway for them to truly evolve spiderman even further. I genuinely believe Insomniac can create a Spiderman 3 that can blow the game to a new level of greatness if they truly innovate even more and get even more risky with the third title. If you enjoyed the first game it's a no brainer that I highly recommend this title. If you didn’t enjoy the first game I would either skip this one as it probably won’t change your mind or wait for a nice sale to give it a shot.
An underrated Horror Classic
Condemned is truly a classic game in my eyes that doesn’t get nearly enough praise. Having played this game around its release I was a lot younger and had pretty much no patience when it came to gaming so I never finished it. However, getting the urge recently I decided to boot up the game and finally play through it all. In the end I have to say this game was very good which really makes me wonder why it doesn’t get talked about enough.
What made this so good?
Monolith are simply masterminds when it comes to environments and knowing how to make a game creepy. To elaborate, the levels are very dark, grotesque and claustrophobic, sometimes really making for a creepy experience through and through. Each level is eerily silent making you feel on edge throughout it as you never know when an enemy will pop out to attack you. It really made for a very high on edge experience as you are constantly looking everywhere as you traverse each level. The game wears its creepiness on its sleeves and it's amazing how it's more creepy then so many modern horror games today. Furthermore, the game has a solid cast of characters, story and okay enough combat to really make for an overall pleasant experience.
Story
Honestly I won’t really get too deep into it as I thought it was interesting but best played for yourself. You play as Ethan who is a detective investigating a crime scene which quickly turns south putting you in a very tricky situation. I will leave it at that as it does have some interesting twists, good moments and an overall Se7en vibe that I enjoyed. However, there are a few things that occur that really don’t get elaborate on more which is a bummer and quite honestly confusing as some of the enemies really made me scratch my head in terms of “how” they exist lol. All in all the story gets the job done and will keep you entertained until the end.
Gameplay
As a first person melee focused horror game condemned was insanely cool for its time. The AI will block , counter attack , run away , hide and sneak attack you and it's honestly really cool even in today's standard even though the AI can act weird at times. The combat is very simple, having you pick up Melee weapons to swing and block with and sometimes giving you guns to use WHICH you can as well use as a Melee weapon when you run out of ammo. Combat overall got the job done and can be pretty engaging as taking hits on medium difficulty or higher can be deadly but some portions of the game were very annoying. Nothing special in the end but it's fun enough and for its time honestly really cool.
some issues I had
While I overall enjoyed the game a lot I did have a few issues with the game which was a bummer. To elaborate, there are quite a few glitches ranging from meh to literally game breaking. To explain, sometimes the enemies will literally do nothing and run in circles trying to hide from you which makes certain sections frustrating. Furthermore, there were times where hits would simply just not connect making for very weird interactions during combat as you would clearly be smack face to face with the enemy and still somehow miss a hit with certain weapons. There were times where the game would checkpoint right before a death, literally putting you in an infinite kill loop forcing you to lose a little bit of progress. To top it off bug wise, there were a couple times where I would load into a segment completely losing my weapon and not being able to pick up anything once again soft locking the game. The investigation scenes were cool but really don’t add much to me in the overall gameplay loop but I could just be overthinking this point. Lastly, the story as mentioned has some twists and turns that simply do not get elaborated on further really making certain parts hard to take seriously which I won’t get into for spoiler sakes.
In the end
This was an awesome horror game that more of you should play and enjoy its creepiness in its full glory. While there is a steam version that from what I understand is pretty buggy and even when modded still isn’t good to play. If you have an xbox series s,x or 360 I highly recommend just seeking this game on those consoles as it will overall not give you any issues past the ones I just named. Overall, I have no doubts if this game got remastered or even better remade that it has high potential to be a masterpiece in my eyes if they flushed out the issues I had with the game. Condemned is an underrated gem and we should really change that !
Condemned is truly a classic game in my eyes that doesn’t get nearly enough praise. Having played this game around its release I was a lot younger and had pretty much no patience when it came to gaming so I never finished it. However, getting the urge recently I decided to boot up the game and finally play through it all. In the end I have to say this game was very good which really makes me wonder why it doesn’t get talked about enough.
What made this so good?
Monolith are simply masterminds when it comes to environments and knowing how to make a game creepy. To elaborate, the levels are very dark, grotesque and claustrophobic, sometimes really making for a creepy experience through and through. Each level is eerily silent making you feel on edge throughout it as you never know when an enemy will pop out to attack you. It really made for a very high on edge experience as you are constantly looking everywhere as you traverse each level. The game wears its creepiness on its sleeves and it's amazing how it's more creepy then so many modern horror games today. Furthermore, the game has a solid cast of characters, story and okay enough combat to really make for an overall pleasant experience.
Story
Honestly I won’t really get too deep into it as I thought it was interesting but best played for yourself. You play as Ethan who is a detective investigating a crime scene which quickly turns south putting you in a very tricky situation. I will leave it at that as it does have some interesting twists, good moments and an overall Se7en vibe that I enjoyed. However, there are a few things that occur that really don’t get elaborate on more which is a bummer and quite honestly confusing as some of the enemies really made me scratch my head in terms of “how” they exist lol. All in all the story gets the job done and will keep you entertained until the end.
Gameplay
As a first person melee focused horror game condemned was insanely cool for its time. The AI will block , counter attack , run away , hide and sneak attack you and it's honestly really cool even in today's standard even though the AI can act weird at times. The combat is very simple, having you pick up Melee weapons to swing and block with and sometimes giving you guns to use WHICH you can as well use as a Melee weapon when you run out of ammo. Combat overall got the job done and can be pretty engaging as taking hits on medium difficulty or higher can be deadly but some portions of the game were very annoying. Nothing special in the end but it's fun enough and for its time honestly really cool.
some issues I had
While I overall enjoyed the game a lot I did have a few issues with the game which was a bummer. To elaborate, there are quite a few glitches ranging from meh to literally game breaking. To explain, sometimes the enemies will literally do nothing and run in circles trying to hide from you which makes certain sections frustrating. Furthermore, there were times where hits would simply just not connect making for very weird interactions during combat as you would clearly be smack face to face with the enemy and still somehow miss a hit with certain weapons. There were times where the game would checkpoint right before a death, literally putting you in an infinite kill loop forcing you to lose a little bit of progress. To top it off bug wise, there were a couple times where I would load into a segment completely losing my weapon and not being able to pick up anything once again soft locking the game. The investigation scenes were cool but really don’t add much to me in the overall gameplay loop but I could just be overthinking this point. Lastly, the story as mentioned has some twists and turns that simply do not get elaborated on further really making certain parts hard to take seriously which I won’t get into for spoiler sakes.
In the end
This was an awesome horror game that more of you should play and enjoy its creepiness in its full glory. While there is a steam version that from what I understand is pretty buggy and even when modded still isn’t good to play. If you have an xbox series s,x or 360 I highly recommend just seeking this game on those consoles as it will overall not give you any issues past the ones I just named. Overall, I have no doubts if this game got remastered or even better remade that it has high potential to be a masterpiece in my eyes if they flushed out the issues I had with the game. Condemned is an underrated gem and we should really change that !
2023
You know I knew exactly what I was getting into with this game and yet somehow I still left disappointed lol. While this game has a lot of charm and fun combat ( can be clunky at times ) there is still so much wrong with this game.
Lets get this out of the way first of all this game is on purpose trying to replicate the era of 6th gen consoles which is fine! I LOVE that era to death which is why I bought into this game right away. Issue is they are selling this game at a full $60 which quite frankly is a huge ripoff. I didn't mind myself because I had coupons for my store so I saved a good amount so I didn't buy the game full price I instead bought it at the price that is should have costed day 1 which was $20 lol ( $40 at MOST). You are paying $60 for a older type of action game with insane amount of issues ( at least on PS5) that will take about 6-8 hours to beat just let that sink through your head lol.
The story was there but uninteresting and boring you will find yourself really not caring lol. As I stated there are bugs and issues with this game ranging from poor performance in some levels , AI issues , Hard crashes , Save loses ( didn't happen on my end but I have seen it happen) , Annoying difficulty spikes later on, Trash bosses etc etc the list can go on for awhile honestly lol.
The last 2 levels are some of the worst designed levels I have played in a long time where the game just throws tanky enemies by the pack at you back TO BACK TO BACK TO BACK. While this may not seem like an issue the checkpoint system is utter trash and if you die anywhere in these segments you are starting from the START and this issue really shines in its final 2 levels that are simply atrocious.
There are some mini games in here and some are fun and some are not. there is a Shump game that was pretty cool , crane games which were fine and 2 Music Rhythm games that were terrible with strict timing on when you have to hit buttons and the screen layout making everything seemed cluttered making you get confused a lot and losing your combo.
Voice acting is cheesy and bad imo but honestly its a part of the charm and I did not mind it honestly but the comedy bits sucked.
I really wanted to like this game more and to be frank I did enjoy this game in its early levels. The combat can be very fun hitting combos and parrying into combos its all around very fun and they had something going for this game. There is so much charm in this game and I cannot knock it for that because it did nail the era so well but man by the end the issues just started being more prevalent to the point of unenjoyment which sucks.
I recommend this game on a deep sale at like $30 or below.
Lets get this out of the way first of all this game is on purpose trying to replicate the era of 6th gen consoles which is fine! I LOVE that era to death which is why I bought into this game right away. Issue is they are selling this game at a full $60 which quite frankly is a huge ripoff. I didn't mind myself because I had coupons for my store so I saved a good amount so I didn't buy the game full price I instead bought it at the price that is should have costed day 1 which was $20 lol ( $40 at MOST). You are paying $60 for a older type of action game with insane amount of issues ( at least on PS5) that will take about 6-8 hours to beat just let that sink through your head lol.
The story was there but uninteresting and boring you will find yourself really not caring lol. As I stated there are bugs and issues with this game ranging from poor performance in some levels , AI issues , Hard crashes , Save loses ( didn't happen on my end but I have seen it happen) , Annoying difficulty spikes later on, Trash bosses etc etc the list can go on for awhile honestly lol.
The last 2 levels are some of the worst designed levels I have played in a long time where the game just throws tanky enemies by the pack at you back TO BACK TO BACK TO BACK. While this may not seem like an issue the checkpoint system is utter trash and if you die anywhere in these segments you are starting from the START and this issue really shines in its final 2 levels that are simply atrocious.
There are some mini games in here and some are fun and some are not. there is a Shump game that was pretty cool , crane games which were fine and 2 Music Rhythm games that were terrible with strict timing on when you have to hit buttons and the screen layout making everything seemed cluttered making you get confused a lot and losing your combo.
Voice acting is cheesy and bad imo but honestly its a part of the charm and I did not mind it honestly but the comedy bits sucked.
I really wanted to like this game more and to be frank I did enjoy this game in its early levels. The combat can be very fun hitting combos and parrying into combos its all around very fun and they had something going for this game. There is so much charm in this game and I cannot knock it for that because it did nail the era so well but man by the end the issues just started being more prevalent to the point of unenjoyment which sucks.
I recommend this game on a deep sale at like $30 or below.
First time playing through both games and I have to say I really really enjoyed my time with both!!
It’s hard to say for me which game I liked more because I really liked the levels in both games but for me the story of Klonoa 1 and the ending of Klonoa 1 was just simply unbeatable. But none the less both games were great and I thought the remastering of the games looked awesome and I ran into 0 issues with these games on the PC version. Really charming games with a lot to love about them if you are into the genre and my lord the OSTs for the games are amazing imo.
I am a sucker for platformers so it has always bugged me that I never got to play these games so I am very grateful for the remaster and I really hope more can be done with the world of Klonoa because the story can become so much more if given a chance!
It’s hard to say for me which game I liked more because I really liked the levels in both games but for me the story of Klonoa 1 and the ending of Klonoa 1 was just simply unbeatable. But none the less both games were great and I thought the remastering of the games looked awesome and I ran into 0 issues with these games on the PC version. Really charming games with a lot to love about them if you are into the genre and my lord the OSTs for the games are amazing imo.
I am a sucker for platformers so it has always bugged me that I never got to play these games so I am very grateful for the remaster and I really hope more can be done with the world of Klonoa because the story can become so much more if given a chance!