Lemonstrade
2019
I've actually been dreading to write this review for a while now, since I feel like Catherine's overall reception is... not so good for the most part (from what I've read atleast). That didn't stop me from having a blast in my time with it though and here's why.
As for the gameplay, the puzzles are fun, controls are simple and responsive. Once you learn a bunch of techniques as you play through the game, you can really feel how your skills improve (like in a fighting game) and this knowledge will carry over to each of the puzzles you do. Getting the hang of the mechanics just feels very satisfying and being able to master dealing with certain blocks you once had problems with is great. Overall it's genuinely some of the most fun and unique gameplay I've experienced (...Final Boss aside, but more about that later).
Catherine doesn't only excel in the gameplay department, it also has a great art direction and a very fitting soundtrack. It's really cool when the main menu reflects the characters' personalities already without actively spelling it out to the player. Katherine is being shown sitting in the shadows with Vincent being chained to the wall by her side, while Catherine herself appears in the foreground in the menu and changes her position depending on your navigation through the menu, presenting her "freedom" and being able to do what she wants. Maybe I'm interpreting too much into this and it wasn't the intention of the developers at all, but the fact that a menu even allows me to make those theories is good enough to me. Main menu aside, the entire game has a gloomy mood overall that's conveyed really well. I don't know if it's the lighting in the bar, the soundtrack, or the characters Vincent meets along the way. It's hard to describe and yet it feels like everything's at the right place somehow.
The story itself is actually pretty simple, but it was also intriguing enough for me to always look forward to what would come next. As a semi-Megaten game, Catherine features a "morality meter", and it basically works just like the alignment system in the Shin Megami Tensei games in a way that your answers to the characters will affect Vincent's morality and the further course of the storyline. However, you shouldn't just worry about how Vincent's doing, because other familiar faces are having the same nightmares as him and if you're not willing to listen to their problems properly, they might meet a sudden end...
Everything I said has been quite positive so far, but I'd also like to address some aspects that bothered me and... could just have been left out entirely. Let's start with the boring complaint first - I didn't like the Final Boss. They were too RNG-based for my likings and the sudden random homing attacks and the move that pauses you mid-movement (really great when you're standing on a trap block!) got somewhat frustrating after a few tries. In defense of the game, I could have just used the provided checkpoints to make it a little easier for me, but I wanted to get the Gold Prize for the level, so I had to do it without any checkpoints at all. This resulted in the final stretch before the last goal being one of the most intense parts in gaming for me (the music really elevated that feeling). Skill issue? Maybe.
My second complaint is the use of absolutely unnescessary transphobia in two scenes. This is an issue many other people are also having with the game, so I think it's really important to address this problem. Erica, one of the characters in Catherine, is a trans woman who has been friends with Vincent's gang since high school and works as a waitress at the bar. I don't even want to go in detail about what exactly is said, since I feel that's rude, but basically one of the scenes in Katherine's True Ending (which is a good ending by the way) has a character suddenly deadname Erica and making a rude remark about her. Got me rolling my eyes and pretend the scene just never happened (since it bears no importance on the story anyways), so I could just blank it out and not let it affect my overall enjoyment of the game I love so much for all the other reasons I mentioned.
Anyways, I just picked up Full Body on an eShop sale yesterday and am really looking forward to experiencing this game again in a new coat of paint (and especially to see how Rin is integrated into the story). Persona 3 Reload is also coming along nicely, almost done with it now. Speaking of Persona, did you know Catherine was originally a tech demo for Persona 5? That would make it the best tech demo I've played since Portal. In any case, thanks for reading.
As for the gameplay, the puzzles are fun, controls are simple and responsive. Once you learn a bunch of techniques as you play through the game, you can really feel how your skills improve (like in a fighting game) and this knowledge will carry over to each of the puzzles you do. Getting the hang of the mechanics just feels very satisfying and being able to master dealing with certain blocks you once had problems with is great. Overall it's genuinely some of the most fun and unique gameplay I've experienced (...Final Boss aside, but more about that later).
Catherine doesn't only excel in the gameplay department, it also has a great art direction and a very fitting soundtrack. It's really cool when the main menu reflects the characters' personalities already without actively spelling it out to the player. Katherine is being shown sitting in the shadows with Vincent being chained to the wall by her side, while Catherine herself appears in the foreground in the menu and changes her position depending on your navigation through the menu, presenting her "freedom" and being able to do what she wants. Maybe I'm interpreting too much into this and it wasn't the intention of the developers at all, but the fact that a menu even allows me to make those theories is good enough to me. Main menu aside, the entire game has a gloomy mood overall that's conveyed really well. I don't know if it's the lighting in the bar, the soundtrack, or the characters Vincent meets along the way. It's hard to describe and yet it feels like everything's at the right place somehow.
The story itself is actually pretty simple, but it was also intriguing enough for me to always look forward to what would come next. As a semi-Megaten game, Catherine features a "morality meter", and it basically works just like the alignment system in the Shin Megami Tensei games in a way that your answers to the characters will affect Vincent's morality and the further course of the storyline. However, you shouldn't just worry about how Vincent's doing, because other familiar faces are having the same nightmares as him and if you're not willing to listen to their problems properly, they might meet a sudden end...
Everything I said has been quite positive so far, but I'd also like to address some aspects that bothered me and... could just have been left out entirely. Let's start with the boring complaint first - I didn't like the Final Boss. They were too RNG-based for my likings and the sudden random homing attacks and the move that pauses you mid-movement (really great when you're standing on a trap block!) got somewhat frustrating after a few tries. In defense of the game, I could have just used the provided checkpoints to make it a little easier for me, but I wanted to get the Gold Prize for the level, so I had to do it without any checkpoints at all. This resulted in the final stretch before the last goal being one of the most intense parts in gaming for me (the music really elevated that feeling). Skill issue? Maybe.
My second complaint is the use of absolutely unnescessary transphobia in two scenes. This is an issue many other people are also having with the game, so I think it's really important to address this problem. Erica, one of the characters in Catherine, is a trans woman who has been friends with Vincent's gang since high school and works as a waitress at the bar. I don't even want to go in detail about what exactly is said, since I feel that's rude, but basically one of the scenes in Katherine's True Ending (which is a good ending by the way) has a character suddenly deadname Erica and making a rude remark about her. Got me rolling my eyes and pretend the scene just never happened (since it bears no importance on the story anyways), so I could just blank it out and not let it affect my overall enjoyment of the game I love so much for all the other reasons I mentioned.
Anyways, I just picked up Full Body on an eShop sale yesterday and am really looking forward to experiencing this game again in a new coat of paint (and especially to see how Rin is integrated into the story). Persona 3 Reload is also coming along nicely, almost done with it now. Speaking of Persona, did you know Catherine was originally a tech demo for Persona 5? That would make it the best tech demo I've played since Portal. In any case, thanks for reading.
We sure do love Katamari.
Katamari Damacy Reroll already was already pretty awesome, but We Love Katamari Reroll + Royal Reverie goes the extra mile and sets out to be a "Best of Katamari". More levels, more variety, more random stuff to roll up, more story.
The entire plot of We Love Katamari revolves around Katamari Damacy being so universally acclaimed in-universe, that children, elders and even talking animals find enjoyment with the game and still want more, so they seek out the King and the Prince to get their wishes granted. Now the game doesn't advance by completing "main levels" anymore, like in Damacy; instead you can choose from a variety of levels available in each chapter. They're accessible by talking to the associated fans in the new hub world and the majority of fans have multiple levels of a reoccuring theme. Once a certain amount of levels are completed, the game will advance chapters and you'll get to see a cutscene of the King's backstory inbetween your rolling. This unlocks new fans on the plaza and the cycle continues.
Speaking of the King, Royal Reverie especially focuses on him by gradually unlocking special levels where you can play as him in the past. While this does sound very exciting at first, pretty much every of his levels is just a reskinned version of the normal levels. A bit disappointing, yet it's just meant as a nice bonus that was added in the Reroll version. His level in the school at night is awesome though, albeit quite difficult to complete if you want to complete it with all five instruments collected.
We Love Katamari Reroll is just a pleasant game to look at and to play. The colors are more vibrant, the remastered graphics have a certain polish to them, it runs in smooth 60 FPS (atleast in the PC version) and you can't get softlocked anymore. In terms of soundtrack, I actually found it to be pretty much on par with Damacy. To be honest, I was conflicted on it at first, since it's not as "quirky" as the direction in Damacy's OST, but it has grown on me! There's some good variety in there and you can customize the songs before each level. Sure, it doesn't have Lonely Rolling Star, but it has bangers like DISCO★PRINCE, Katamari on the Swing and Everlasting Love. Can't forget the new rendition of the King's theme either. The various environments across different levels like the ski resort, underwater sea and flower fields also feel really well crafted in terms of ambience and have a certain warmth to them. There's even a cool racing level, where each playable character has an individual little kart to match their own style! I love small details like that. With "each playable character", I'm talking about the 40 playable characters, which can be freely switched in the hub world after unlocking them in their respective levels. However, I need to say that unlocking all of them was surprisingly tedious at times, since you can only unlock one cousin at a time in levels where you can find multiple of them. Especially having to replay the 17 minute level four times just for rolling up a single character each time is not my definition of fun, so I'd really only recommend grinding out all the cousins if it's actually enjoyable to you, else just go for your favorites and pick up those you find along the way. Remember, this is all optional. Games are supposed to be fun, not grindy.
I'm glad to have discovered the Katamari games. Damacy Reroll still feels great in it's own way, even after completing the sequel. In a discussion, @Wollom brought up a comparison between Takahashi's Katamari duology and the Super Mario Galaxy duology and I found it to be quite fitting in some key aspects. The first entry of each has that unique vibe and atmosphere to it, while the second one has the better levels and polish, while also retaining the charm of the original game - even if it doesn't hit quite the same there. Of course you can't universally compare these two series, since they're not even the same genre. Apples and oranges. I still found it to be a nice observation, considering the Galaxy games are some of my favorite 3D platformers.
Now something unrelated to Katamari. There really have been a lot of five stars handed out by me lately, so I wanted state again that I don't just usually hand them out like candy - many of the games I played recently have just been quite enjoyable, that's all. There also was the case of Rexaura, but I don't want to dwell on my rating system too much here and needlessly justify myself. After all, I'm reviewing games for fun, not as a job. Thanks for reading.
Katamari Damacy Reroll already was already pretty awesome, but We Love Katamari Reroll + Royal Reverie goes the extra mile and sets out to be a "Best of Katamari". More levels, more variety, more random stuff to roll up, more story.
The entire plot of We Love Katamari revolves around Katamari Damacy being so universally acclaimed in-universe, that children, elders and even talking animals find enjoyment with the game and still want more, so they seek out the King and the Prince to get their wishes granted. Now the game doesn't advance by completing "main levels" anymore, like in Damacy; instead you can choose from a variety of levels available in each chapter. They're accessible by talking to the associated fans in the new hub world and the majority of fans have multiple levels of a reoccuring theme. Once a certain amount of levels are completed, the game will advance chapters and you'll get to see a cutscene of the King's backstory inbetween your rolling. This unlocks new fans on the plaza and the cycle continues.
Speaking of the King, Royal Reverie especially focuses on him by gradually unlocking special levels where you can play as him in the past. While this does sound very exciting at first, pretty much every of his levels is just a reskinned version of the normal levels. A bit disappointing, yet it's just meant as a nice bonus that was added in the Reroll version. His level in the school at night is awesome though, albeit quite difficult to complete if you want to complete it with all five instruments collected.
We Love Katamari Reroll is just a pleasant game to look at and to play. The colors are more vibrant, the remastered graphics have a certain polish to them, it runs in smooth 60 FPS (atleast in the PC version) and you can't get softlocked anymore. In terms of soundtrack, I actually found it to be pretty much on par with Damacy. To be honest, I was conflicted on it at first, since it's not as "quirky" as the direction in Damacy's OST, but it has grown on me! There's some good variety in there and you can customize the songs before each level. Sure, it doesn't have Lonely Rolling Star, but it has bangers like DISCO★PRINCE, Katamari on the Swing and Everlasting Love. Can't forget the new rendition of the King's theme either. The various environments across different levels like the ski resort, underwater sea and flower fields also feel really well crafted in terms of ambience and have a certain warmth to them. There's even a cool racing level, where each playable character has an individual little kart to match their own style! I love small details like that. With "each playable character", I'm talking about the 40 playable characters, which can be freely switched in the hub world after unlocking them in their respective levels. However, I need to say that unlocking all of them was surprisingly tedious at times, since you can only unlock one cousin at a time in levels where you can find multiple of them. Especially having to replay the 17 minute level four times just for rolling up a single character each time is not my definition of fun, so I'd really only recommend grinding out all the cousins if it's actually enjoyable to you, else just go for your favorites and pick up those you find along the way. Remember, this is all optional. Games are supposed to be fun, not grindy.
I'm glad to have discovered the Katamari games. Damacy Reroll still feels great in it's own way, even after completing the sequel. In a discussion, @Wollom brought up a comparison between Takahashi's Katamari duology and the Super Mario Galaxy duology and I found it to be quite fitting in some key aspects. The first entry of each has that unique vibe and atmosphere to it, while the second one has the better levels and polish, while also retaining the charm of the original game - even if it doesn't hit quite the same there. Of course you can't universally compare these two series, since they're not even the same genre. Apples and oranges. I still found it to be a nice observation, considering the Galaxy games are some of my favorite 3D platformers.
Now something unrelated to Katamari. There really have been a lot of five stars handed out by me lately, so I wanted state again that I don't just usually hand them out like candy - many of the games I played recently have just been quite enjoyable, that's all. There also was the case of Rexaura, but I don't want to dwell on my rating system too much here and needlessly justify myself. After all, I'm reviewing games for fun, not as a job. Thanks for reading.
2014
It took me 19 days to beat this 3-hour Portal mod.
Rexaura is a pretty well-known mod in the Portal community, so I decided to try it out after beating the other big mods like Portal Stories: Mel and Portal Revolution since I was still eager to play more of the same. Unlike the two mods listed above, Rexaura is a Portal 1 mod and focuses exclusively on the energy ball mechanic from that game and adds new elements like reactive gates to introduce new ways to utilise these energy balls. Now, as you could possibly guess, relying on the same mechanic for the entirety of your mod grows a little stale after a while. This is one of the main reasons why I felt so demotivated to finish Rexaura - I didn't have anything to look forward, since I'd just get more energy ball chambers. The puzzles themselves aren't even bad and I found them to be quite fun overall. That's where it stops though, the story is pretty underwhelming for a Portal game and the ending felt rushed. Especially the dialogue is nothing noteworthy and I couldn't even name you a line which especially stood out to me, which is also saddening since I'm a big fan of the passive commentary in other (fan)games of the Portal universe.
But as I said before, the puzzles in Rexaura are enjoyable enough to be worth your time, so check it out if you're still looking for more Portal. It wouldn't be my first choice because of the aforementioned criticisms, yet I had my fair share of fun and am satisfied with what it had to offer. Now that this game is finally out of the way, I can dedicate my time to games I actually want to play properly without Rexaura haunting my thoughts. Thanks for reading.
Rexaura is a pretty well-known mod in the Portal community, so I decided to try it out after beating the other big mods like Portal Stories: Mel and Portal Revolution since I was still eager to play more of the same. Unlike the two mods listed above, Rexaura is a Portal 1 mod and focuses exclusively on the energy ball mechanic from that game and adds new elements like reactive gates to introduce new ways to utilise these energy balls. Now, as you could possibly guess, relying on the same mechanic for the entirety of your mod grows a little stale after a while. This is one of the main reasons why I felt so demotivated to finish Rexaura - I didn't have anything to look forward, since I'd just get more energy ball chambers. The puzzles themselves aren't even bad and I found them to be quite fun overall. That's where it stops though, the story is pretty underwhelming for a Portal game and the ending felt rushed. Especially the dialogue is nothing noteworthy and I couldn't even name you a line which especially stood out to me, which is also saddening since I'm a big fan of the passive commentary in other (fan)games of the Portal universe.
But as I said before, the puzzles in Rexaura are enjoyable enough to be worth your time, so check it out if you're still looking for more Portal. It wouldn't be my first choice because of the aforementioned criticisms, yet I had my fair share of fun and am satisfied with what it had to offer. Now that this game is finally out of the way, I can dedicate my time to games I actually want to play properly without Rexaura haunting my thoughts. Thanks for reading.
2024
This is the one.
Back in December 2023, I decided that my gaming New Year's resolution for 2024 would be to get good enough at a fighting game to play at an advanced level. While I wouldn't say I meet those conditions just yet, I believe I'm steadily making progress towards this goal. As of writing the review, I have completed the story, the Arcade Quest mode and reached the orange ranks in Ranked.
Originally, I didn't even intend on playing Tekken 8 at all. My schedule from late January into February was reserved for the new Yakuza game and Persona 3 Reload. January eventually came and I had a great time with Infinite Wealth, but Tekken 8 launched at the same time, so naturally I saw many people on social media hyping it up and how great it is. This was the catalyst for me actually researching stuff about the game by myself and was looking at reviews, character trailers and all the cool customizations others made for their characters. This went on until early February, where I just decided to pause Reload for the time being and try out Tekken 8, since this could be the one fighting game to help me fulfill my gaming New Year's resolution. As you could read from my opening sentence, it is exactly that.
Tekken 8 has all the things to keep you hooked, including visually impressive graphics and stages, adrenaline-inducing soundtrack, fantastic animations and a huge roster in the base game. Out of the 32 available characters, I'm sure anyone can find atleast two or three characters to their liking. It's also a very newcomer friendly game, the replay system shows you how to improve your gameplay in certain situations and the Special Style control layout lets you perform special moves with simplified inputs (similar to the modern controls in Street Fighter 6). I wouldn't recommend using this control scheme in the long run, but it's a great way to test new characters or to get a hang of the fundamentals at the early stages.
The game feels polished, the UI is clean and the menus aren't cluttered at all. You can set shortcuts to your favorite modes in the main menu or change the soundtrack of a stage or literally every major song in the game to pretty much any song from any past Tekken game. So even if the new soundtrack doesn't land for you, just make a new one yourself from your favorites! Customization in general is a big part of the Tekken series, it's really fun to cosplay as many different game or anime characters. Options are a bit limited as of right now, especially in terms of eye colors and hairstyles. Many iconic legacy outfits are also still missing, but it's pretty cool how you can just use the Tekken 7 outfits as presets.
The main story is pretty enjoyable for a fighting game, definitely enjoyed this one a lot more than the singleplayer mode in SF6. Arcade Quest is a nice tutorial mode and actually really helpful for beginners. I would urge every newcomer to check it out in order to get a hang of the mechanics overall, since it's not particularly long and it's definitely more interactive than just watching a youtube video on the mechanics. However if you like learning with videos, I would recommend checking out this beginner guide from PhiDX, it covers most of the basics you should know and should be easy to follow.
Tekken 8 sure was a pleasant surprise and I'll gladly spend many more hours with it to reach higher ranks with a bunch of my favorite characters. It's not going to happen overnight, but learning new things in a fighting game and incorporating them into your playstyle is arguably one of the most satisfying things you can do in a video game. Despite all this, I didn't forget about Persona 3 Reload. I'll finish it soon, but as of now - thanks for reading.
Back in December 2023, I decided that my gaming New Year's resolution for 2024 would be to get good enough at a fighting game to play at an advanced level. While I wouldn't say I meet those conditions just yet, I believe I'm steadily making progress towards this goal. As of writing the review, I have completed the story, the Arcade Quest mode and reached the orange ranks in Ranked.
Originally, I didn't even intend on playing Tekken 8 at all. My schedule from late January into February was reserved for the new Yakuza game and Persona 3 Reload. January eventually came and I had a great time with Infinite Wealth, but Tekken 8 launched at the same time, so naturally I saw many people on social media hyping it up and how great it is. This was the catalyst for me actually researching stuff about the game by myself and was looking at reviews, character trailers and all the cool customizations others made for their characters. This went on until early February, where I just decided to pause Reload for the time being and try out Tekken 8, since this could be the one fighting game to help me fulfill my gaming New Year's resolution. As you could read from my opening sentence, it is exactly that.
Tekken 8 has all the things to keep you hooked, including visually impressive graphics and stages, adrenaline-inducing soundtrack, fantastic animations and a huge roster in the base game. Out of the 32 available characters, I'm sure anyone can find atleast two or three characters to their liking. It's also a very newcomer friendly game, the replay system shows you how to improve your gameplay in certain situations and the Special Style control layout lets you perform special moves with simplified inputs (similar to the modern controls in Street Fighter 6). I wouldn't recommend using this control scheme in the long run, but it's a great way to test new characters or to get a hang of the fundamentals at the early stages.
The game feels polished, the UI is clean and the menus aren't cluttered at all. You can set shortcuts to your favorite modes in the main menu or change the soundtrack of a stage or literally every major song in the game to pretty much any song from any past Tekken game. So even if the new soundtrack doesn't land for you, just make a new one yourself from your favorites! Customization in general is a big part of the Tekken series, it's really fun to cosplay as many different game or anime characters. Options are a bit limited as of right now, especially in terms of eye colors and hairstyles. Many iconic legacy outfits are also still missing, but it's pretty cool how you can just use the Tekken 7 outfits as presets.
The main story is pretty enjoyable for a fighting game, definitely enjoyed this one a lot more than the singleplayer mode in SF6. Arcade Quest is a nice tutorial mode and actually really helpful for beginners. I would urge every newcomer to check it out in order to get a hang of the mechanics overall, since it's not particularly long and it's definitely more interactive than just watching a youtube video on the mechanics. However if you like learning with videos, I would recommend checking out this beginner guide from PhiDX, it covers most of the basics you should know and should be easy to follow.
Tekken 8 sure was a pleasant surprise and I'll gladly spend many more hours with it to reach higher ranks with a bunch of my favorite characters. It's not going to happen overnight, but learning new things in a fighting game and incorporating them into your playstyle is arguably one of the most satisfying things you can do in a video game. Despite all this, I didn't forget about Persona 3 Reload. I'll finish it soon, but as of now - thanks for reading.
Katamari has always been on my "want to play this someday" radar, but I never actually delved further into it - all I've known for many years is that it was supposedly about rolling up stuff to roll up even more stuff. But when I saw it for 4€ on sale the other day, I decided to just give it a try.
Surprisingly, Damacy Reroll already managed to set a record within the first 5 minutes in gameplay, where I was ready for nominating the game for the "worst controls of all time" award without even having finished the tutorial levels. Thankfully the award didn't go to Damacy and it didn't take me long to get used to the controls and enjoy the game properly. The twin-stick controls are really unique and simply describable as "easy to learn, hard to master", there's an additional layer of precision when you get the hang of them and it's quite satisfying to see.
The core gameplay is as straightforward as it gets - in the main missions, the Katamari (the ball you're rolling) has to reach a certain size within a certain time limit. Everything you roll over gets glued to the Katamari, so you'll have to start with coins and fruit first and when things get rolling (I'm sorry), you can roll over increasingly bigger things to a point where it's comical. It's so ridiculous, but Damacy Reroll does a great job at creating a sense of scale in each individual level. The side missions are also fun little challenges in the way that their main goal isn't having the biggest Katamari possible, but rather collecting a certain amount of something or having to guess your Katamari's size.
In terms of soundtrack, the dreamy songs fit the fever-dreamish vibe of the game's direction really well and are easy on the ears. Do yourself a favor and listen to Lonely Rolling Star. I think it's rather silly that the music is so cheerful and pleasant when there's a weapon of mass destruction mowing down everything in sight, but that's definitely part of the charm for me.
There's... not much else I have to say, except that I'm looking forward to playing We Love Katamari! Currently pretty engaged with Tekken 8, so my progress in Persona 3 Reload has been paused for the moment, but I'll get back to it soon. As always, thanks for reading my reviews!
Surprisingly, Damacy Reroll already managed to set a record within the first 5 minutes in gameplay, where I was ready for nominating the game for the "worst controls of all time" award without even having finished the tutorial levels. Thankfully the award didn't go to Damacy and it didn't take me long to get used to the controls and enjoy the game properly. The twin-stick controls are really unique and simply describable as "easy to learn, hard to master", there's an additional layer of precision when you get the hang of them and it's quite satisfying to see.
The core gameplay is as straightforward as it gets - in the main missions, the Katamari (the ball you're rolling) has to reach a certain size within a certain time limit. Everything you roll over gets glued to the Katamari, so you'll have to start with coins and fruit first and when things get rolling (I'm sorry), you can roll over increasingly bigger things to a point where it's comical. It's so ridiculous, but Damacy Reroll does a great job at creating a sense of scale in each individual level. The side missions are also fun little challenges in the way that their main goal isn't having the biggest Katamari possible, but rather collecting a certain amount of something or having to guess your Katamari's size.
In terms of soundtrack, the dreamy songs fit the fever-dreamish vibe of the game's direction really well and are easy on the ears. Do yourself a favor and listen to Lonely Rolling Star. I think it's rather silly that the music is so cheerful and pleasant when there's a weapon of mass destruction mowing down everything in sight, but that's definitely part of the charm for me.
There's... not much else I have to say, except that I'm looking forward to playing We Love Katamari! Currently pretty engaged with Tekken 8, so my progress in Persona 3 Reload has been paused for the moment, but I'll get back to it soon. As always, thanks for reading my reviews!
Yakuza/Like a Dragon has been my favorite gaming series since a few years now and naturally I've been very hyped for Infinite Wealth. So much that I didn't watch any trailer past the first 10-minute reveal of the game and muted Yakuza related keywords on social media. I usually never do this for a game, but the urge to see Kiryu's fate by myself was strong, since that's a key selling point for this entry.
The new characters are great and became some of my favorites in the series, but it was also nice to see how Infinite Wealth expanded on the previously established characters from Yakuza: Like a Dragon in meaningful ways. This is especially noticeable with Ichiban himself, since he really gets to shine in many different aspects here - whether he is serious about the things that matter the most to him or if he is just goofing around with his friends, he just feels like a great guy to be around overall. There's something about him that just feels so human and real.
I always felt like the combat in Yakuza 7 was a bit janky, but I excused it since it was RGG's first attempt at creating a turn-based game. Fortunately, Infinite Wealth follows up on the foundation that's already there and adds some tactical elements like moving during turns, guaranteed crits when attacking from behind and combo attacks with party members. It really makes a big difference and makes the combat flow a whole lot better. Balancing is also just right for the most part and the DLC classes have good basegame integration this time around. No more solo-ing bosses with the comically overpowered Head Trauma move in the previous mainline game.
Story is enjoyable for the most part. There are some plotholes and other minor nitpicks that bother me, even so it's still an enjoyable ride overall with some good supporting characters and villains along the way. Pacing is a bit wonky in a way that there are some instances where you have to follow a very linear route across half the map to get to your destination while avoiding random encounters left and right. This makes sense with the narrative context in those situations, but it's rather dull from a gameplay perspective, considering you just have to beeline from A to B without being able to do anything else for that time (without prior warning). It's not a major flaw, since it only occurs a few time in the game, but what's really bugging me is that the narrative unfortunately has a lot of wasted potential, keeping it from being one of the best ones in the series. Some seemingly "major" characters are especially undercooked, which is a shame given their assigned roles in the story.
Now for some positivity again, one of the biggest highlights in Infinite Wealth for me is Kiryu's involvement. Having to come to terms with his own mortality, he decides to seek out friends and locations from the past one more time. It's really cool to see so many returning characters from the Kiryu games and what they're up to now; the little flashbacks to past Yakuza games you can see at various points scattered across the cities are also neat fanservice. While this aspect falls pretty flat for those who got into the series with Yakuza: Like a Dragon, it feels like a nice reward for all long-term fans and might even motivate some of the newer fans to go back to the Kiryu saga!
Overall, Infinite Wealth feels like a big step up from Like a Dragon into the right direction and is worth your time. It's not just a good game for Yakuza fans, but for JRPG fans in general with the amount of effort put into this game. Now onto Persona 3 Reload, another game I've been looking forward to a long time!
Thanks for reading.
The new characters are great and became some of my favorites in the series, but it was also nice to see how Infinite Wealth expanded on the previously established characters from Yakuza: Like a Dragon in meaningful ways. This is especially noticeable with Ichiban himself, since he really gets to shine in many different aspects here - whether he is serious about the things that matter the most to him or if he is just goofing around with his friends, he just feels like a great guy to be around overall. There's something about him that just feels so human and real.
I always felt like the combat in Yakuza 7 was a bit janky, but I excused it since it was RGG's first attempt at creating a turn-based game. Fortunately, Infinite Wealth follows up on the foundation that's already there and adds some tactical elements like moving during turns, guaranteed crits when attacking from behind and combo attacks with party members. It really makes a big difference and makes the combat flow a whole lot better. Balancing is also just right for the most part and the DLC classes have good basegame integration this time around. No more solo-ing bosses with the comically overpowered Head Trauma move in the previous mainline game.
Story is enjoyable for the most part. There are some plotholes and other minor nitpicks that bother me, even so it's still an enjoyable ride overall with some good supporting characters and villains along the way. Pacing is a bit wonky in a way that there are some instances where you have to follow a very linear route across half the map to get to your destination while avoiding random encounters left and right. This makes sense with the narrative context in those situations, but it's rather dull from a gameplay perspective, considering you just have to beeline from A to B without being able to do anything else for that time (without prior warning). It's not a major flaw, since it only occurs a few time in the game, but what's really bugging me is that the narrative unfortunately has a lot of wasted potential, keeping it from being one of the best ones in the series. Some seemingly "major" characters are especially undercooked, which is a shame given their assigned roles in the story.
Now for some positivity again, one of the biggest highlights in Infinite Wealth for me is Kiryu's involvement. Having to come to terms with his own mortality, he decides to seek out friends and locations from the past one more time. It's really cool to see so many returning characters from the Kiryu games and what they're up to now; the little flashbacks to past Yakuza games you can see at various points scattered across the cities are also neat fanservice. While this aspect falls pretty flat for those who got into the series with Yakuza: Like a Dragon, it feels like a nice reward for all long-term fans and might even motivate some of the newer fans to go back to the Kiryu saga!
Overall, Infinite Wealth feels like a big step up from Like a Dragon into the right direction and is worth your time. It's not just a good game for Yakuza fans, but for JRPG fans in general with the amount of effort put into this game. Now onto Persona 3 Reload, another game I've been looking forward to a long time!
Thanks for reading.
2015
Initially, I didn't enjoy my time with Portal Stories: Mel. The first hour was rough, there were tons of dialogue and a sense of directionlessness fairly early on already. At that point I didn't even reach a single puzzle, since the beginning is one of those notorious 'walking simulator' segments (in Portal terms). So while I was rather demotivated, I couldn't bring myself to drop the game just yet and continued playing. (I'm really glad I did!)
Narratively speaking, Portal Stories: Mel isn't exactly a masterpiece, but the plot is good enough to give a solid reason for the many different puzzles - which are quite fun and satisfying to solve! There are two different difficulty settings - Story Mode and Advanced Mode. Advanced Mode is the original difficulty of the mod, while Story Mode is a different take on the puzzles with less difficulty - like the name says, it's designed to experience the story. I played on Story Mode (since it's recommended by the devs) and found the experience to be just right overall, but I'll opt for an Advanced Mode run when I'm going to replay the game someday.
Virgil is a pretty neat companion - even if he's really talkative. Like I pointed out earlier, the dialogue isn't really this game's strong suit, but I still found him entertaining and unique enough. Coming back to the narrative in general, I'm glad this game has a proper ending (unlike another Portal fangame) and wraps up things nicely. Feels reminiscent of how Portal 2 ended.
Just like Portal: Revolution, Portal Stories: Mel is a good choice if you want more Portal content and great puzzles - it's not a fan favorite for no reason!
Narratively speaking, Portal Stories: Mel isn't exactly a masterpiece, but the plot is good enough to give a solid reason for the many different puzzles - which are quite fun and satisfying to solve! There are two different difficulty settings - Story Mode and Advanced Mode. Advanced Mode is the original difficulty of the mod, while Story Mode is a different take on the puzzles with less difficulty - like the name says, it's designed to experience the story. I played on Story Mode (since it's recommended by the devs) and found the experience to be just right overall, but I'll opt for an Advanced Mode run when I'm going to replay the game someday.
Virgil is a pretty neat companion - even if he's really talkative. Like I pointed out earlier, the dialogue isn't really this game's strong suit, but I still found him entertaining and unique enough. Coming back to the narrative in general, I'm glad this game has a proper ending (unlike another Portal fangame) and wraps up things nicely. Feels reminiscent of how Portal 2 ended.
Just like Portal: Revolution, Portal Stories: Mel is a good choice if you want more Portal content and great puzzles - it's not a fan favorite for no reason!
A great little collectathon you can beat in one sitting. The launch of Celeste 64 caught me entirely by surprise and the fact that this game was made in just a week is astonishing. Not much to say about it except that it's a lot of fun (despite the janky camera) and translates the gameplay elements of Celeste into 3D fairly well. Wish it was a bit longer, but I'm not really complaining since it was made in such a short time - maybe this concept will be fully realized one day if the reception is positive? Only time will tell.
Final stats (taken from the results screen):
🍓x25
💀x089
⏱47:55:455
Final stats (taken from the results screen):
🍓x25
💀x089
⏱47:55:455
2024
Great fangame! The puzzle quality is really good throughout the entire game and the environmental design is top notch. Revolution takes a lot of inspiration of Portal 2 and while it feels unoriginal in some regards (particularly in terms of story structure), the game still has its own charm. Voice acting was enjoyable too and Conly as a companion was a real highlight. The 'walking simulator' reviews on this game aren't too far-fetched either, considering a lot of time in Old Aperture is just walking a narrow path and shooting the occasional portal every now and then to continue. It really feels a little drawn out and there could have been a few more puzzles instead of 'exploration' parts. By the way, the final puzzle was pretty awesome! Ending was... alright.
If you're a fan of the Portal duology, Revolution is a strong recommendation on my end. Just don't go in expecting a mindblowing narrative and an exact replica of Portal humor though, all you need to remember is that it's free (and fun)!
If you're a fan of the Portal duology, Revolution is a strong recommendation on my end. Just don't go in expecting a mindblowing narrative and an exact replica of Portal humor though, all you need to remember is that it's free (and fun)!
Miracle Mask kicks off with a strong premise - a magician who is able to turn people into stone and horses threatens to take down this game's version of Las Vegas with the power of an ancient mask, causing an old childhood friend from Layton to request his help in this dire situation.
The change to 3D wasn't as rough as I've heard people make it out to be and it doesn't take long to get used to. Maybe it's because I've played Layton vs Wright first? Either way, the art direction isn't the only big change in Miracle Mask. Puzzles have also undergone a major overhaul, they're less logic-based now and many play like little minigames instead, but there's also a fair share of some usual puzzle formats (sliding puzzles, geometry puzzles). The puzzles in this entry are alright, nothing really stands out here in an especially good or bad light. Side activities were meh, I didn't really warm up to the robot minigame or the rabbit theater, but the shop sidegame was a fun pastime.
Most of my issues in Miracle Mask stem from the narrative. While I don't think it's a bad storyline per se, I found the twists (especially the villain's identity) to be really predictable. Emmy as a character is rather sidelined here, which is a shame, since I liked her role a lot in Last Specter. Also the game also has a lot of reveals that go... absolutely nowhere? There's an entire exposition segment fairly early into the game, where Layton whimsically deduces three of the villains' magic acts in their entirety. Not soon after, the magician performs another magic trick and Layton is able to come up with the solution to what just happened about 5 minutes after the events. I don't know, but to me it felt like the game was cheapening those moments by nearly immediately resolving them on a whim later. Why even bother listing them in the "Mysteries" section of the game if you're not even given time to think about these mysteries yourself?
What really dragged down this game for me however, was the entirety of Chapter 6. Minor gameplay spoilers ahead I guess? So, you've been solving puzzles and collecting hint coins for the past five chapters now. Great, right? How about the game turns into a mystery dungeon game?! Not going into the plot specifics here, but for a specific cause, Layton needs to navigate a cave with multiple floors. You would think it would be a short segment, since this sort of gameplay is experimental and has never been in any of the previous games before. NO! Enjoy your nine floors of rolling rocks and avoiding mummies. And just so you know, every floor consists of a handful of these rooms and an occasional puzzle - featuring a mandatory puzzle with forced gyro controls. I really hope Azran Legacy doesn't try this approach of gameplay again and just sticks to point-and-click navigation with a puzzle here and there throughout the entire game.
Now onto Azran Legacy to get to know all these characters Miracle Mask throws at you at the last possible moment (to get you hyped? I don't even know anymore). Thanks for reading and forgive me the ranting review for once.
The change to 3D wasn't as rough as I've heard people make it out to be and it doesn't take long to get used to. Maybe it's because I've played Layton vs Wright first? Either way, the art direction isn't the only big change in Miracle Mask. Puzzles have also undergone a major overhaul, they're less logic-based now and many play like little minigames instead, but there's also a fair share of some usual puzzle formats (sliding puzzles, geometry puzzles). The puzzles in this entry are alright, nothing really stands out here in an especially good or bad light. Side activities were meh, I didn't really warm up to the robot minigame or the rabbit theater, but the shop sidegame was a fun pastime.
Most of my issues in Miracle Mask stem from the narrative. While I don't think it's a bad storyline per se, I found the twists (especially the villain's identity) to be really predictable. Emmy as a character is rather sidelined here, which is a shame, since I liked her role a lot in Last Specter. Also the game also has a lot of reveals that go... absolutely nowhere? There's an entire exposition segment fairly early into the game, where Layton whimsically deduces three of the villains' magic acts in their entirety. Not soon after, the magician performs another magic trick and Layton is able to come up with the solution to what just happened about 5 minutes after the events. I don't know, but to me it felt like the game was cheapening those moments by nearly immediately resolving them on a whim later. Why even bother listing them in the "Mysteries" section of the game if you're not even given time to think about these mysteries yourself?
What really dragged down this game for me however, was the entirety of Chapter 6. Minor gameplay spoilers ahead I guess? So, you've been solving puzzles and collecting hint coins for the past five chapters now. Great, right? How about the game turns into a mystery dungeon game?! Not going into the plot specifics here, but for a specific cause, Layton needs to navigate a cave with multiple floors. You would think it would be a short segment, since this sort of gameplay is experimental and has never been in any of the previous games before. NO! Enjoy your nine floors of rolling rocks and avoiding mummies. And just so you know, every floor consists of a handful of these rooms and an occasional puzzle - featuring a mandatory puzzle with forced gyro controls. I really hope Azran Legacy doesn't try this approach of gameplay again and just sticks to point-and-click navigation with a puzzle here and there throughout the entire game.
Now onto Azran Legacy to get to know all these characters Miracle Mask throws at you at the last possible moment (to get you hyped? I don't even know anymore). Thanks for reading and forgive me the ranting review for once.
2020
"Just focus on tying up all your loose ends - then you and I are leaving this city once and for all." ~ Judy Álvarez
For many, Cyberpunk 2077 will always be remembered as the game with arguably the worst launch next to No Man's Sky. It was a bugfest and the console experience was so bad that refunds were provided from the developers themselves. But I'm not here to talk about the launch - instead I would like to share my personal experience after ~100 hours of playing and getting all available endings, entirely in patch 2.1 and right off the bat with Phantom Liberty (which I reviewed already).
Cyberpunk really shines in terms of presentation. The vibes are incredible, Night City nails the feeling of a dystopian and futuristic metropolis perfectly. You know, flashy neon lights and advertisements are plastered all over the city and the streets are always busy. Another thing that really helps the immersion here is the lighting. An often overlooked aspect, but it's probably the best ambient lighting I've ever seen in a game alongside Red Dead Redemption 2. Do yourself a favor and cruise through Night City on a rainy night, you'll see what I'm talking about. By the way, this is without Raytracing. RTX enabled is a whole different beast, but I didn't keep it on for long, because it was taking a serious toll on my frames and I'm a person who likes to enjoy games with a smooth framerate over graphical fidelity all day.
The main story is solid, albeit not very long. You could probably finish it under 20 hours in total if you're beelining the main quests and ignore the side content. Despite the short runtime, you'll find yourself in a lot of cool setpieces and get acquainted to many great characters, each with their own individual questline. I would definitely recommend playing those quests, since they're a lot more personal than the overarching narrative and really help understanding the struggles and personalities of V's friends better. Speaking of those friends, I think the fluff text messages you get every now and then are a great feature. Makes the world feel more alive and it's always nice to see characters being relevant outside of their own contained substories. Romance is also a neat little mechanic - I really like how CDPR provides extra text messages for your partner, so they ask about V's life every now and then. There's an unique quest where you can also hang out with them at your apartment and talk about stuff, this is repeatable, but unfortunately the dialogue repeats after the first time. Just use your imagination here and you're golden.
Cyberpunk's side content is mainly divided into two different mission types - gigs and side jobs. Gigs are one-time missions where you do a quick job for a fixer of choice, like breaking into an apartment to retrieve some data for a client. How you handle those missions is entirely up to you (unless there's an optional objective you'd like to complete), so you could opt for a stealthy approach or just shoot your way through the enemies. Combat in general is very diverse, you can have Mantis Blade implants inside your arms or blind enemies with hacks - there are so many possible builds. I went with a Netrunner/Gunslinger build, since not many games offer you the opportunity to weaken your opponents by just hacking them! And pistols just feel like the most comfy ranged option to me - a silenced one for stealth and another unsilenced one for loud combat. If you're still unsure on a build, I'd recommend testing some of the iconic weapons (basically the "legendary" weapons of this game), since they come with unique perks. There's a lot of them, so I'm sure some of them will appeal to you. Now, I didn't go in detail about the side jobs, but that's because they're more narrative-driven quests. Some of them feel like the Stranger quests in RDR2, while others have more complex tales to tell. So basically they are a great pastime if you're looking for more worldbuilding in Night City.
If you found yourself asking the whole time "But what about the bugs?", while reading this, then I'll gladly answer that for you. In my 97 hours of playtime I only had a single crash happen (right before writing this review ironically), but since the game autosaves often enough, it was a loss of like 3 minutes only. I haven't encountered a single game-breaking bug, just some small immersion-breakers every now and then, alongside two "real" bugs. This includes various items clipping into the hands of NPCs when they were supposed to put them away and NPCs in general teleporting on rooftops where they aren't supposed to be. The "real" bugs were my V glitching through a wall after a character crashed my car into that wall in a scripted cutscene (had to reload my save) and I've also had enemies walk through a closed garage door once - but that one was rather funny, despite being unfair. There's another problem I'd like to address, but I'm not entirely sure if it's a bug, so I'm not going to label it as one. It's related to quests starting through calls of certain characters. The game explicitly tells you "Wait a day until this character calls you back." and then sometime they just don't call at all, despite 24 hours having passed in-game. Worst offender was when I tried to start the follow-up mission to the companion mission "Off the Leash", the quest giver was supposed to call after one in-game day but it took me two real-time hours (after several virtual days passed already) for that character to call. For your own sanity I recommend doing other gigs or side jobs inbetween, because I'm very sure the calls will come on time if you don't just try to exploit the waiting feature to skip to those quests instantly. Try to let it play out naturally.
Are you a fan of the Edgerunners anime? Well, good news for you! The world of Cyberpunk 2077 also includes small nods to the series, like the graves of the deceased characters at the cemetery. There's also a side job where you can get David's iconic jacket and you can find Rebecca's famous shotgun out in the world too (if you remember the spot she left it in the anime).
The final point I'd like to address in this review is the soundtrack. (Yeah, there are other songs besides I Really Want To Stay At Your House.) While the OST in The Witcher 3 had a calmer, more comforting vibe, Cyberpunk's music fits the high octane combat accordingly, but some of the best tracks come from the sad and serious moments in the game. For car rides, the different radio stations allow you to listen to your music genre of choice. Speaking of the cars, I find it a lot more satisfying to drive to quest locations than to just quick travel there (which I regrettably did a lot in like the first 20 hours of my playthrough). It's just a lot more immersive and driving feels great if you have a car you like. (My personal favorite ride is the Outlaw, great speed and handles well.)
I have talked a lot about this game now. That's because I love it. So if you would ask me if Cyberpunk is worth it, I would definitely recommend you to pick up the base game on sale sometime and go for Phantom Liberty if you want to spend more time in this fantastic world. It's pretty much in a fixed state now and if what I described in this review seems interesting to you, why not give it a go? There were very few moments where I was actually bored, even the beginning is great and brings you pretty fast into the action (unlike a certain cowboy game I have named several times in this review already).
That's all I wanted to share - thanks for reading.
For many, Cyberpunk 2077 will always be remembered as the game with arguably the worst launch next to No Man's Sky. It was a bugfest and the console experience was so bad that refunds were provided from the developers themselves. But I'm not here to talk about the launch - instead I would like to share my personal experience after ~100 hours of playing and getting all available endings, entirely in patch 2.1 and right off the bat with Phantom Liberty (which I reviewed already).
Cyberpunk really shines in terms of presentation. The vibes are incredible, Night City nails the feeling of a dystopian and futuristic metropolis perfectly. You know, flashy neon lights and advertisements are plastered all over the city and the streets are always busy. Another thing that really helps the immersion here is the lighting. An often overlooked aspect, but it's probably the best ambient lighting I've ever seen in a game alongside Red Dead Redemption 2. Do yourself a favor and cruise through Night City on a rainy night, you'll see what I'm talking about. By the way, this is without Raytracing. RTX enabled is a whole different beast, but I didn't keep it on for long, because it was taking a serious toll on my frames and I'm a person who likes to enjoy games with a smooth framerate over graphical fidelity all day.
The main story is solid, albeit not very long. You could probably finish it under 20 hours in total if you're beelining the main quests and ignore the side content. Despite the short runtime, you'll find yourself in a lot of cool setpieces and get acquainted to many great characters, each with their own individual questline. I would definitely recommend playing those quests, since they're a lot more personal than the overarching narrative and really help understanding the struggles and personalities of V's friends better. Speaking of those friends, I think the fluff text messages you get every now and then are a great feature. Makes the world feel more alive and it's always nice to see characters being relevant outside of their own contained substories. Romance is also a neat little mechanic - I really like how CDPR provides extra text messages for your partner, so they ask about V's life every now and then. There's an unique quest where you can also hang out with them at your apartment and talk about stuff, this is repeatable, but unfortunately the dialogue repeats after the first time. Just use your imagination here and you're golden.
Cyberpunk's side content is mainly divided into two different mission types - gigs and side jobs. Gigs are one-time missions where you do a quick job for a fixer of choice, like breaking into an apartment to retrieve some data for a client. How you handle those missions is entirely up to you (unless there's an optional objective you'd like to complete), so you could opt for a stealthy approach or just shoot your way through the enemies. Combat in general is very diverse, you can have Mantis Blade implants inside your arms or blind enemies with hacks - there are so many possible builds. I went with a Netrunner/Gunslinger build, since not many games offer you the opportunity to weaken your opponents by just hacking them! And pistols just feel like the most comfy ranged option to me - a silenced one for stealth and another unsilenced one for loud combat. If you're still unsure on a build, I'd recommend testing some of the iconic weapons (basically the "legendary" weapons of this game), since they come with unique perks. There's a lot of them, so I'm sure some of them will appeal to you. Now, I didn't go in detail about the side jobs, but that's because they're more narrative-driven quests. Some of them feel like the Stranger quests in RDR2, while others have more complex tales to tell. So basically they are a great pastime if you're looking for more worldbuilding in Night City.
If you found yourself asking the whole time "But what about the bugs?", while reading this, then I'll gladly answer that for you. In my 97 hours of playtime I only had a single crash happen (right before writing this review ironically), but since the game autosaves often enough, it was a loss of like 3 minutes only. I haven't encountered a single game-breaking bug, just some small immersion-breakers every now and then, alongside two "real" bugs. This includes various items clipping into the hands of NPCs when they were supposed to put them away and NPCs in general teleporting on rooftops where they aren't supposed to be. The "real" bugs were my V glitching through a wall after a character crashed my car into that wall in a scripted cutscene (had to reload my save) and I've also had enemies walk through a closed garage door once - but that one was rather funny, despite being unfair. There's another problem I'd like to address, but I'm not entirely sure if it's a bug, so I'm not going to label it as one. It's related to quests starting through calls of certain characters. The game explicitly tells you "Wait a day until this character calls you back." and then sometime they just don't call at all, despite 24 hours having passed in-game. Worst offender was when I tried to start the follow-up mission to the companion mission "Off the Leash", the quest giver was supposed to call after one in-game day but it took me two real-time hours (after several virtual days passed already) for that character to call. For your own sanity I recommend doing other gigs or side jobs inbetween, because I'm very sure the calls will come on time if you don't just try to exploit the waiting feature to skip to those quests instantly. Try to let it play out naturally.
Are you a fan of the Edgerunners anime? Well, good news for you! The world of Cyberpunk 2077 also includes small nods to the series, like the graves of the deceased characters at the cemetery. There's also a side job where you can get David's iconic jacket and you can find Rebecca's famous shotgun out in the world too (if you remember the spot she left it in the anime).
The final point I'd like to address in this review is the soundtrack. (Yeah, there are other songs besides I Really Want To Stay At Your House.) While the OST in The Witcher 3 had a calmer, more comforting vibe, Cyberpunk's music fits the high octane combat accordingly, but some of the best tracks come from the sad and serious moments in the game. For car rides, the different radio stations allow you to listen to your music genre of choice. Speaking of the cars, I find it a lot more satisfying to drive to quest locations than to just quick travel there (which I regrettably did a lot in like the first 20 hours of my playthrough). It's just a lot more immersive and driving feels great if you have a car you like. (My personal favorite ride is the Outlaw, great speed and handles well.)
I have talked a lot about this game now. That's because I love it. So if you would ask me if Cyberpunk is worth it, I would definitely recommend you to pick up the base game on sale sometime and go for Phantom Liberty if you want to spend more time in this fantastic world. It's pretty much in a fixed state now and if what I described in this review seems interesting to you, why not give it a go? There were very few moments where I was actually bored, even the beginning is great and brings you pretty fast into the action (unlike a certain cowboy game I have named several times in this review already).
That's all I wanted to share - thanks for reading.
I'll keep the introduction short this time and get straight to the point. Phantom Liberty is the best DLC I've ever played.
Dogtown being a closed-off and compact district makes it feel more personal and memorable than a lot of Night City. It being a run-down, bleak area definitely makes it stand out among the rest of the world - characters and lore tidbits always describe it as this hopeless, brutal place and I believe the overall design is quite fitting for that description.
Now, the supporting cast is more grounded and morally grey here than the companions in the base game, which I personally think is great, because it fits the moody vibe of the narrative and makes them more interesting. Each character has their own intentions and it's up to the player to decide who to trust and who to avoid - Phantom Liberty's narrative alone has four endings, depending on your choices throughout the expansion. Don't overthink this aspect too much, since the points where your choices change the storyline are very clear and not your run-of-the-mill dialogue options. If you're a completionist and want to see all endings in a single playthrough, just make a backup save file right before those choices and you're good to go. Speaking of those endings, they're really impressive and you'll definitely think about them for a while.
Aside from the narrative, Phantom Liberty also adds meaningful side content to Cyberpunk 2077. There are ten new gigs, like a dozen new side quests and an entirely new skill tree. I really liked those gigs, because they weren't just "get to this PC" or "kill/spare this person" like in the base game, but all felt like little side quests on their own. The skill tree is not as expansive as the standard ones, but it adds some nice perks for melee combat and an alternative to headshots with the weak point gauge.
You see, I almost entirely forgot to mention the setpieces in the DLC. My bad! Everyone likes a good setpiece and the spy movie setting is definitely on point here - you infiltrate a casino, a triangular-shaped club and a bunch of unique spoilery sceneries where I wouldn't like to ruin the surprise. Make sure to look for the several character cameos in the casino mission!
If you're looking to spend more time in Night City, Phantom Liberty is a must-buy. In my opinion it's everything I wanted from a final arc in Cyberpunk 2077 and I really just enjoy how thought-provoking it was overall. Fantastic DLC.
Here's my review for the base game!
Dogtown being a closed-off and compact district makes it feel more personal and memorable than a lot of Night City. It being a run-down, bleak area definitely makes it stand out among the rest of the world - characters and lore tidbits always describe it as this hopeless, brutal place and I believe the overall design is quite fitting for that description.
Now, the supporting cast is more grounded and morally grey here than the companions in the base game, which I personally think is great, because it fits the moody vibe of the narrative and makes them more interesting. Each character has their own intentions and it's up to the player to decide who to trust and who to avoid - Phantom Liberty's narrative alone has four endings, depending on your choices throughout the expansion. Don't overthink this aspect too much, since the points where your choices change the storyline are very clear and not your run-of-the-mill dialogue options. If you're a completionist and want to see all endings in a single playthrough, just make a backup save file right before those choices and you're good to go. Speaking of those endings, they're really impressive and you'll definitely think about them for a while.
Aside from the narrative, Phantom Liberty also adds meaningful side content to Cyberpunk 2077. There are ten new gigs, like a dozen new side quests and an entirely new skill tree. I really liked those gigs, because they weren't just "get to this PC" or "kill/spare this person" like in the base game, but all felt like little side quests on their own. The skill tree is not as expansive as the standard ones, but it adds some nice perks for melee combat and an alternative to headshots with the weak point gauge.
You see, I almost entirely forgot to mention the setpieces in the DLC. My bad! Everyone likes a good setpiece and the spy movie setting is definitely on point here - you infiltrate a casino, a triangular-shaped club and a bunch of unique spoilery sceneries where I wouldn't like to ruin the surprise. Make sure to look for the several character cameos in the casino mission!
If you're looking to spend more time in Night City, Phantom Liberty is a must-buy. In my opinion it's everything I wanted from a final arc in Cyberpunk 2077 and I really just enjoy how thought-provoking it was overall. Fantastic DLC.
Here's my review for the base game!
It's been about two years now since I last played a Layton game. A friend of mine has been asking me to play the prequel trilogy for quite some time now and eventually I just felt like playing it. I'll start by saying that it was a good idea to have let some time pass between playing Unwound Future and this entry.
Last Specter is chronologically the first adventure of Hershel Layton and takes him to the foggy hometown of an old friend, where he's supposed to investigate the rampage of a supernatural being. Together with his new assistant and the mayor's son, the team encounters eccentric figures like the mysterious hooded Black Raven and a girl who's suspected to be a witch, dooming everyone who comes close to her.
As in the other Layton games, the gameplay consists of point-and-click investigations and puzzle-solving. The puzzle quality in this entry is solid and the difficulty is fine. In case you can't find a solution, Last Specter practically showers you with hint coins. I had about 130 left at the end of the game, so don't feel bad about using them! I'm pretty sure the original trilogy didn't hand out such an abundance, but I might be misremembering here. Either way, why is everyone so obsessed with puzzles in this town in the first place?
The narrative itself is intriguing, although rather compact. Game has a lot of "this is a prequel" moments, where you can find a reference to some characters from the original trilogy and even some direct cameos. However, Last Specter doesn't really go much in depth with those and shifts the focus to new characters instead - like Emmy, the professor's assistant. In my opinion she's a welcome addition to the main cast and I'm looking forward to seeing more of her in the next games. Now, the twists are usually a big part of what I'm looking forward to in Layton games. They're usually a big shocker that's near unpredictable and totally alters your way of perceiving those games, but I can't say I had a moment like this in Last Specter. Without giving anything away, after a certain point in the story it's really easy to find out the twist by yourself, so at the part where the game explicitly tells you, it's not much of a surprise anymore. The reveal itself was alright, I just expected more out of a Layton game, especially after seeing what Level-5 did with Unwound Future.
Despite this, Last Specter is another well-rounded entry in the Layton series and now I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the prequel trilogy.
Last Specter is chronologically the first adventure of Hershel Layton and takes him to the foggy hometown of an old friend, where he's supposed to investigate the rampage of a supernatural being. Together with his new assistant and the mayor's son, the team encounters eccentric figures like the mysterious hooded Black Raven and a girl who's suspected to be a witch, dooming everyone who comes close to her.
As in the other Layton games, the gameplay consists of point-and-click investigations and puzzle-solving. The puzzle quality in this entry is solid and the difficulty is fine. In case you can't find a solution, Last Specter practically showers you with hint coins. I had about 130 left at the end of the game, so don't feel bad about using them! I'm pretty sure the original trilogy didn't hand out such an abundance, but I might be misremembering here. Either way, why is everyone so obsessed with puzzles in this town in the first place?
The narrative itself is intriguing, although rather compact. Game has a lot of "this is a prequel" moments, where you can find a reference to some characters from the original trilogy and even some direct cameos. However, Last Specter doesn't really go much in depth with those and shifts the focus to new characters instead - like Emmy, the professor's assistant. In my opinion she's a welcome addition to the main cast and I'm looking forward to seeing more of her in the next games. Now, the twists are usually a big part of what I'm looking forward to in Layton games. They're usually a big shocker that's near unpredictable and totally alters your way of perceiving those games, but I can't say I had a moment like this in Last Specter. Without giving anything away, after a certain point in the story it's really easy to find out the twist by yourself, so at the part where the game explicitly tells you, it's not much of a surprise anymore. The reveal itself was alright, I just expected more out of a Layton game, especially after seeing what Level-5 did with Unwound Future.
Despite this, Last Specter is another well-rounded entry in the Layton series and now I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the prequel trilogy.
2011
Portal 2 feels like the fully realized version of the original Portal. At it's core it feels the same, but the sequel just has so much more going for it, more personality.
In this game, Chell is no longer bound to the test chambers of Aperture Science like in the first Portal. After an incident in the story, she decides to take a little stroll through an abandoned salt mine and the backstage parts within the facility while she's at it. All of this while she is accompanied by three unique companions throughout the game. Speaking of the companions, the dialogue in Portal 2 is a big improvement over the one in Portal. In the first game, GLaDOS' comments happened every now and then, but here you pretty much have a narrator by your side all the time. This alone makes for quite the tonal shift in atmosphere to Portal, which had a pretty isolated and empty feeling to it - I can see how people prefer that, but personally I really enjoyed the extra dialogue and characters, since GLaDOS' remarks in the first game were one of the best parts for me. Back to the atmosphere in general, I think Valve did a really good job with setting an unique vibe for each individual area. My personal favorite is the salt mine, the vintage setting really landed for me!
As for gameplay, Portal 2 introduces a variety of mechanics to make the puzzles more enjoyable than the first game. Energy balls are completely gone this time and are replaced with light bridges, gravity beams, new cube variants and three different sorts of paint. Sounds like overkill at first, but those mechanics don't really overstay their welcome and they are really fun to play around with.
The narrative weaves those puzzles together in a logical way, while also delving into the background story of Chell and Aperture Science; there's some really good worldbuilding in there. The companions aren't one-note personalities and each one adds to the story with a different purpose, which makes them distinctive and memorable in their own ways.
Overall it's an amazing puzzle game, absolutely deserves the praise it's been getting. Had a good time with the main story, but the community maps are a nice treat if you're still in the mood for some more Portal action.
In this game, Chell is no longer bound to the test chambers of Aperture Science like in the first Portal. After an incident in the story, she decides to take a little stroll through an abandoned salt mine and the backstage parts within the facility while she's at it. All of this while she is accompanied by three unique companions throughout the game. Speaking of the companions, the dialogue in Portal 2 is a big improvement over the one in Portal. In the first game, GLaDOS' comments happened every now and then, but here you pretty much have a narrator by your side all the time. This alone makes for quite the tonal shift in atmosphere to Portal, which had a pretty isolated and empty feeling to it - I can see how people prefer that, but personally I really enjoyed the extra dialogue and characters, since GLaDOS' remarks in the first game were one of the best parts for me. Back to the atmosphere in general, I think Valve did a really good job with setting an unique vibe for each individual area. My personal favorite is the salt mine, the vintage setting really landed for me!
As for gameplay, Portal 2 introduces a variety of mechanics to make the puzzles more enjoyable than the first game. Energy balls are completely gone this time and are replaced with light bridges, gravity beams, new cube variants and three different sorts of paint. Sounds like overkill at first, but those mechanics don't really overstay their welcome and they are really fun to play around with.
The narrative weaves those puzzles together in a logical way, while also delving into the background story of Chell and Aperture Science; there's some really good worldbuilding in there. The companions aren't one-note personalities and each one adds to the story with a different purpose, which makes them distinctive and memorable in their own ways.
Overall it's an amazing puzzle game, absolutely deserves the praise it's been getting. Had a good time with the main story, but the community maps are a nice treat if you're still in the mood for some more Portal action.
2007
I have never actually finished Portal before, but this game has plagued my Steam library for years, so eventually I gave in this evening to see for myself why it's so universally loved. And now I can see the appeal!
It's a very straightforward puzzle game with the origin of one of the most iconic gimmicks in gaming - the Portal Gun. It's like the coolest thing you can have in a game besides grappling hook mechanics; sometimes I'd just shoot portals and walk through them continuously for fun or freefall for a bit. Portal also wastes no time with cutscenes, it's basically uninterrupted gameplay from start to finish (loading screens obviously excluded). In general, the puzzles are pretty clever and often require you to think out of the box (well, literally). A personal highlight for me were the snarky comments of GLaDOS - an AI assistant that accompanies you throughout the facility. I found the weakest part of the game to be like halfway through, where you have seen a bunch of mechanics a couple time already, but the game does little new to innovate them - before the ending segment, that is. The entire final sequence was a blast to play and felt fresh again after the tedium of some previous puzzles. That's the innovation I like to see.
If you're a puzzle fan or just need something you can beat in one sitting (if you're dedicated), Portal is a great time and I would very definitely recommend it for the low price you can get it on various Steam Sales. Really looking forward to playing Portal 2 soon!
It's a very straightforward puzzle game with the origin of one of the most iconic gimmicks in gaming - the Portal Gun. It's like the coolest thing you can have in a game besides grappling hook mechanics; sometimes I'd just shoot portals and walk through them continuously for fun or freefall for a bit. Portal also wastes no time with cutscenes, it's basically uninterrupted gameplay from start to finish (loading screens obviously excluded). In general, the puzzles are pretty clever and often require you to think out of the box (well, literally). A personal highlight for me were the snarky comments of GLaDOS - an AI assistant that accompanies you throughout the facility. I found the weakest part of the game to be like halfway through, where you have seen a bunch of mechanics a couple time already, but the game does little new to innovate them - before the ending segment, that is. The entire final sequence was a blast to play and felt fresh again after the tedium of some previous puzzles. That's the innovation I like to see.
If you're a puzzle fan or just need something you can beat in one sitting (if you're dedicated), Portal is a great time and I would very definitely recommend it for the low price you can get it on various Steam Sales. Really looking forward to playing Portal 2 soon!