2015
Probably like my 4th attempt at trying to beat this game. Went into it committed to finally beating it and hoping that everything would click with the experience, and that mostly happened. I still think that having to grind for healing material is stupid, I think the Chalice Dungeons are just awful, and I honestly think that a huge chunk of the bosses were not particularly interesting or fun to fight. Regardless, much of the classic stuff that From does really well is still great here, coupled with a fairly unmatched narrative and world aesthetic in the gaming sphere. Also, the DLC is fantastic, although that IS to be expected with Fromsoft games lol
Didn't really feel like a huge step up from Spyro 2 tbh. Wasn't a huge fan of the sections where you don't play as Spyro either so that's just a huge chunk of the game that wasn't super enjoyable. Still very fun tho! Thought all the little references to other games were super cute as well.
Basically just Spyro 1 again (<- compliment). The addition of Orb objectives was quite good, since it made each level feel fairly unique. Level and boss design felt like a notable step up from Spyro 1, except for the final boss which was incredibly frustrating (almost certainly because I went for the flawless run skill point). I also really enjoyed the hub worlds for this game, felt like the secrets were actually challenging to find and rewarding. The post-game theme park area was also super cute. Just a fun game!
2018
a good, if a little overly simplistic, platformer that looks and sounds great. 120%’d the game in about 5 hours and besides a few frustrating moments it was a solid time for pretty much the whole experience.
From did it again boys, this game fuckin’ slaps.
Not going to drag on and on about what I liked about this, but rather I am going to highlight what I think is a negative nitpick that I have; this game really wants to be Dark Souls 1, for some reason. There are so many instances throughout DS3 where the devs basically soyjak point at something and say “Whoa! Look! It’s like Dark Souls 1” and I really feel like the reliance on iconography from that game slightly cheapens the experience for this one. I understand WHY they did it (negative feedback from the weird changes made in DS2) but when DS3 attempts to have its own identity outside of being a DS sequel, it’s really great! Also, the use of areas from previous games does somewhat cheapen it when previous areas are used much more subtly in the Ringed City DLC. I feel like having a room from Anor Londo or the Izalith Ruins in the DLC would’ve been appropriate than throwing it in the base game, but whatever.
That’s just a really minor nitpicky thing though, because I thought this game was really fuckin sick overall!
BOSS TIER LIST ⬇️ https://x.com/lightemk/status/1763059938669080684?s=46&t=rPIkBz7FPiUWd4_3f_q36Q
Not going to drag on and on about what I liked about this, but rather I am going to highlight what I think is a negative nitpick that I have; this game really wants to be Dark Souls 1, for some reason. There are so many instances throughout DS3 where the devs basically soyjak point at something and say “Whoa! Look! It’s like Dark Souls 1” and I really feel like the reliance on iconography from that game slightly cheapens the experience for this one. I understand WHY they did it (negative feedback from the weird changes made in DS2) but when DS3 attempts to have its own identity outside of being a DS sequel, it’s really great! Also, the use of areas from previous games does somewhat cheapen it when previous areas are used much more subtly in the Ringed City DLC. I feel like having a room from Anor Londo or the Izalith Ruins in the DLC would’ve been appropriate than throwing it in the base game, but whatever.
That’s just a really minor nitpicky thing though, because I thought this game was really fuckin sick overall!
BOSS TIER LIST ⬇️ https://x.com/lightemk/status/1763059938669080684?s=46&t=rPIkBz7FPiUWd4_3f_q36Q
Time played is an estimate because the Switch UI is really bad for some reason.
To formally begin the review: I, uh. Wow.
This experienced baffled me, at every point and stage along the way. I will start by saying that I genuinely believe that making this game into a physics-based "construction" game was a truly awful decision. Nearly every puzzle in the game is either awful or rendered completely and utterly irrelevant; somehow even more so than in BOTW, which ALREADY had that issue! The mechanics in this game absolutely ruin any sense of coherent shrine or temple design that would've otherwise been possible, resulting in the worst dungeons in the series (seriously, what even are those fire and water temples).
Many people, even those who enjoyed the game, called the cutscenes snoozefests, and they're right! The voice acting is barely above passable and the writing is so bland and boring that you wonder why anyone would suffer through the cutscenes if it wasn't Zelda. I thought this game actually did some solid things with the actual character of Zelda, but not only were they made so much more boring by the memories (which I didn't even know were in the game until I beat it) and the ending completely undoing any sort of stakes or consequences the story had set up! Wow!
The combat is essentially the exact same thing as BOTW, with the bonus of the 'fuse' feature to add some extra spice, but it's all pretty much useless because the same strategies work every time. Flurry Rush or hold the attack button with large weapons. What fun.
The Depths sucked, the sky islands were boring and copy-pasted across the whole map, and the main overworld had its entire sense of exploration hampered by the fact that you can just fly over everything, either with a paraglider or a flying machine permanently!
All of my issues are piled on top of the game's pretty lackluster performance, as it feels like in many of the most important moments (including the final boss!) the game would drop to as low as 10 FPS! They've been working in this engine for like a decade and it's still not optimized like what lmfao
I did enjoy some stuff about the game, like I thought many of the dungeon bosses were good or at least interesting. I thought the score was good (if a little too minimalist at times) and art style was still nice. Character design was also a high point, especially the new Ganon design, which was MILES better as an antagonist compared to Calamity Ganon.
idk this was very scatterbrained but I played this game for a while and I had many mixed thoughts but I was very let down overall. I still had fun, but honestly the best thing about this game is that now the team that works on Zelda is (hopefully) down with BOTW style games!
To formally begin the review: I, uh. Wow.
This experienced baffled me, at every point and stage along the way. I will start by saying that I genuinely believe that making this game into a physics-based "construction" game was a truly awful decision. Nearly every puzzle in the game is either awful or rendered completely and utterly irrelevant; somehow even more so than in BOTW, which ALREADY had that issue! The mechanics in this game absolutely ruin any sense of coherent shrine or temple design that would've otherwise been possible, resulting in the worst dungeons in the series (seriously, what even are those fire and water temples).
Many people, even those who enjoyed the game, called the cutscenes snoozefests, and they're right! The voice acting is barely above passable and the writing is so bland and boring that you wonder why anyone would suffer through the cutscenes if it wasn't Zelda. I thought this game actually did some solid things with the actual character of Zelda, but not only were they made so much more boring by the memories (which I didn't even know were in the game until I beat it) and the ending completely undoing any sort of stakes or consequences the story had set up! Wow!
The combat is essentially the exact same thing as BOTW, with the bonus of the 'fuse' feature to add some extra spice, but it's all pretty much useless because the same strategies work every time. Flurry Rush or hold the attack button with large weapons. What fun.
The Depths sucked, the sky islands were boring and copy-pasted across the whole map, and the main overworld had its entire sense of exploration hampered by the fact that you can just fly over everything, either with a paraglider or a flying machine permanently!
All of my issues are piled on top of the game's pretty lackluster performance, as it feels like in many of the most important moments (including the final boss!) the game would drop to as low as 10 FPS! They've been working in this engine for like a decade and it's still not optimized like what lmfao
I did enjoy some stuff about the game, like I thought many of the dungeon bosses were good or at least interesting. I thought the score was good (if a little too minimalist at times) and art style was still nice. Character design was also a high point, especially the new Ganon design, which was MILES better as an antagonist compared to Calamity Ganon.
idk this was very scatterbrained but I played this game for a while and I had many mixed thoughts but I was very let down overall. I still had fun, but honestly the best thing about this game is that now the team that works on Zelda is (hopefully) down with BOTW style games!
1991
perhaps the most CBT level design I have ever played in a video game. Redeemed slightly by the nice sprite work and excellent soundtrack.
2019
It's always funny whenever you can tell devs just add things from other games without really taking the time to consider why those things work in the games they took from. This game has many, many invisible walls which are (afaik) literally impossible to tell apart from normal walls, similar to both the 2D Metroids and Dark Souls, both of which are a clear inspiration on this game. However, those games have VERY clear ways of making the invisible walls clear, either by the scanning feature in Metroid or the multiplayer message feature in various Fromsoft games. This game has neither, and so a vast majority of side-content is simply hidden away unless you enjoy the task of hitting every wall in the entire game!
The game is incredibly unclear in many other spots, such as the "true" ending, which is dumb. Ultimately, these aspects of the game were more disappointing than anything, as this game fuckin kicks ass!!! An absolutely gorgeous game that doesn't skimp on difficulty, with challenging sections in both platforming and combat. The story is pretty much impossible to follow, but akin to Fromsoft titles, it doesn't really matter since its the players desire to see more that pushes the experience further.
Overall, I am nervously excited for the sequel. Rating might go up on a second playthrough when I just have a wiki open the whole time lmfao
The game is incredibly unclear in many other spots, such as the "true" ending, which is dumb. Ultimately, these aspects of the game were more disappointing than anything, as this game fuckin kicks ass!!! An absolutely gorgeous game that doesn't skimp on difficulty, with challenging sections in both platforming and combat. The story is pretty much impossible to follow, but akin to Fromsoft titles, it doesn't really matter since its the players desire to see more that pushes the experience further.
Overall, I am nervously excited for the sequel. Rating might go up on a second playthrough when I just have a wiki open the whole time lmfao
2021
If the game hadn't rapidly improved around the end of the 4th episode, both in gameplay and story, I might've ended up giving this game like, 2 stars. Even as it stands I feel like giving this game a 3/5 is generous, but I think it earns it for how it succeeds in many other places besides the general gameplay loop. Probably won't replay this anytime soon, but I am excited to play the sequel!
2022
"Where's the cheese?"
2022
This review contains spoilers
No joke, I cried. Nearly twice.
Pentiment has an unreal sense of style, with some of the most stunning visual styles I have ever seen in a game, with a fantastic score to boot. But where this game really shines is the writing department. Every character feels so unbelievably real, and the moments you get to talk to them or observe them are just packed full of human moments and quirks that makes the whole world feel so alive & adds genuine emotional stakes to the story and your decisions. I've heard people say the Third Act starts a bit slow, but I didn't really feel it. Maybe I will on a 2nd playthrough, but honestly considering the drastically different interactions and outcomes you can have I would be surprised if I did.
I think the biggest things I loved about this game was how it handled time and consequences. The sense of time in this game is incredible, and you get to see the change and evolution of the world as they react to local and events in the larger region around them. Despite how grand the game feels though, and how many decisions it gives you, it will always have the same outcome in Act 3, and I actually adore that decision. That may seem strange, but I think the focus of this game was to be on the little choices you made, and how they affected the lives of the people you meet across a large breadth of their lives. Having the ending almost always play out the same way is a great way of focusing on that, especially with the huge family tree of the town at the very end. Overall, a fantastic game.
Pentiment has an unreal sense of style, with some of the most stunning visual styles I have ever seen in a game, with a fantastic score to boot. But where this game really shines is the writing department. Every character feels so unbelievably real, and the moments you get to talk to them or observe them are just packed full of human moments and quirks that makes the whole world feel so alive & adds genuine emotional stakes to the story and your decisions. I've heard people say the Third Act starts a bit slow, but I didn't really feel it. Maybe I will on a 2nd playthrough, but honestly considering the drastically different interactions and outcomes you can have I would be surprised if I did.
I think the biggest things I loved about this game was how it handled time and consequences. The sense of time in this game is incredible, and you get to see the change and evolution of the world as they react to local and events in the larger region around them. Despite how grand the game feels though, and how many decisions it gives you, it will always have the same outcome in Act 3, and I actually adore that decision. That may seem strange, but I think the focus of this game was to be on the little choices you made, and how they affected the lives of the people you meet across a large breadth of their lives. Having the ending almost always play out the same way is a great way of focusing on that, especially with the huge family tree of the town at the very end. Overall, a fantastic game.
Been thinking about what I wanted to say about this for a while, but really like, what is there to say? It's more Spider-Man. It's good. Really good, even. It's held back in a few places, notably the MJ missions which they just put in for fun? I guess? They are the most nothing sections of the game ever, and its insane that they even thought it was worthy including instead of just, another few minutes of playing as Spider-Man with incredibly satisfying movement and combat mechanics. But nope! I'm a girl with a stun-gun. Yippee!
Besides that I did just feel a bit underwhelmed by this game in respects? Miles was like, the co-lead of the game but he was barely even a presence in the main conflict of the story. Pretty much everything interesting narrative-wise, including side missions, was all Peter stuff, which was a let down. The only exception I can even think of for that is like, the Mysteriums, but even those were a bit eh. Overall, I loved this game, but mostly because I loved the first Spider-Man, and this was kinda just another Spider-Man, not really too innovative and inventive, just another batch of content on a fantastic foundation.
Besides that I did just feel a bit underwhelmed by this game in respects? Miles was like, the co-lead of the game but he was barely even a presence in the main conflict of the story. Pretty much everything interesting narrative-wise, including side missions, was all Peter stuff, which was a let down. The only exception I can even think of for that is like, the Mysteriums, but even those were a bit eh. Overall, I loved this game, but mostly because I loved the first Spider-Man, and this was kinda just another Spider-Man, not really too innovative and inventive, just another batch of content on a fantastic foundation.
2021
Wow!
This game is insane in every sense of the word. Great visual style, fantastic soundtrack, and a straight (imo) unrivaled sense of character progression. The narrative of the game also feeling rather strong was not something I expected going into the game, but honestly I'm glad they put the effort in, because the final boss, as well as the stories in the DLC, felt super rewarding. Unbelievably fun game that pretty much just felt like a gambling dopamine rush for 50 straight hours, would recommend.
This game is insane in every sense of the word. Great visual style, fantastic soundtrack, and a straight (imo) unrivaled sense of character progression. The narrative of the game also feeling rather strong was not something I expected going into the game, but honestly I'm glad they put the effort in, because the final boss, as well as the stories in the DLC, felt super rewarding. Unbelievably fun game that pretty much just felt like a gambling dopamine rush for 50 straight hours, would recommend.
2023
I beat this game over a month ago so... only seems appropriate to review this now.
This game was a pretty solid disappoint, mostly because I think its antithetical to the things that worked about previous Bethesda titles. There are little things that are missing or changed for the worse from games like Fallout 4, like the awful new research system that makes any minor upgrade to your gear a massive chore or just the lack of really any interesting companions. But what really gets me is the awful decision to have procedurally generated planets with repeated Points of Interest. In a game with like, 1,000 planets, every one feels the same because you're fundamentally going to be doing the same things on them. In every area where it feels like a person designed it be unique, the game is fantastic, to the point where I would consider this to Bethesda's strongest world they've created yet, but its undeniable that this game feels too big. Starfield is also probably Bethesda's best narrative performance, as a lot of the side quest chains were very well done, with the main quest standing out as being really, really good. It's held back a little by the fact that the huge emotional moments of the main story not only relied on having attachments to the relatively flat companions, but also that they were where I encountered the few visual bugs that were in my playthrough. Can't help but wish for more considering that this was the first singleplayer Bethesda experience in like, 8 years. God only knows when Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5 will release, and now an incredibly mediocre title will be their poster child until then.
This game was a pretty solid disappoint, mostly because I think its antithetical to the things that worked about previous Bethesda titles. There are little things that are missing or changed for the worse from games like Fallout 4, like the awful new research system that makes any minor upgrade to your gear a massive chore or just the lack of really any interesting companions. But what really gets me is the awful decision to have procedurally generated planets with repeated Points of Interest. In a game with like, 1,000 planets, every one feels the same because you're fundamentally going to be doing the same things on them. In every area where it feels like a person designed it be unique, the game is fantastic, to the point where I would consider this to Bethesda's strongest world they've created yet, but its undeniable that this game feels too big. Starfield is also probably Bethesda's best narrative performance, as a lot of the side quest chains were very well done, with the main quest standing out as being really, really good. It's held back a little by the fact that the huge emotional moments of the main story not only relied on having attachments to the relatively flat companions, but also that they were where I encountered the few visual bugs that were in my playthrough. Can't help but wish for more considering that this was the first singleplayer Bethesda experience in like, 8 years. God only knows when Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5 will release, and now an incredibly mediocre title will be their poster child until then.
probably one of the best lego games