A vampire game heavy on 2000’s grit and atmosphere, fantastic soundtrack, gameplay that manages to sell you on the fantasy of being a vampire and some of the best writing out there make this title a must play. The characters were all so unique and each had their own distinct mannerisms which I thought was incredible and made them all distinct from one another as opposed to being flat cardboard npc’s that feel like they only exist cause the protagonist does. Not only that but their quests were so refreshing and compelling as-well. Although I think the end-game was fumbled in terms of gameplay, whereas most of the game had intriguing side quests, well designed levels, feasible enemies and generally something else to do rather than fight most of the time, the end-game is the complete opposite, it’s mostly combat with barely any breaks which means you’ll eventually get tired of it, and the level design is quite poor at that, the nosferatu sewers and the hallowed apartments being the highlights. Then the game decides to throw enemies with busted ranged weapons at you (the fucking SMG’s) and its just hell to get through, though I will say that this did not really impact my view on the game much because of how fucking amazing it overall is, especially once you know what went down with it’s development.

I wish I could earnestly say I liked going through this but the gameplay is just far too clunky and underdeveloped, you want me to deal with the cryptic progression? Wonderful. I have no problem with this. I appreciate the challenge and find it quite unique. But dealing with that AND having to go through sections where I don’t have combat options and depend entirely on the lackluster stealth or sections where I do have the option of fighting back but still lack the option to explore because every enemy is like the ghosts from SH4 and never die, all of this coupled in with the looming threat of dying = all I just did being reset only makes for a very frustrating experience. I want to like this, I really do. And maybe even somehow someday I will. But today is not that day.

You’re part of Raven’s Nest, a ruthless mercenary group that will do anyone’s bidding so long as they’re willing to pay up, which tends to mostly be doing the dirty work for ever-sprawling soulless corporations that happen to rule over everyone else, the workers are unionizing due to shitty conditions? Send a Raven to squash their heads. A rival corporation is working on brand new technology? Send a Raven to infiltrate their base using any means necessary and destroy it or retrieve information regarding it. Citizens are protesting your area redevelopments by squatting? Send a Raven to kill them all. This is how the cold world of Armored Core operates, there is no right or wrong, there’s only people with money or people to stomp over in your never-ending quest for capital. And all of this lore serves the game perfectly. Thanks to the player being part of a mercenary group, the game ends up having a great deal of mission variety, you’ll hardly ever find yourself getting tired on that front, from missions where you ride flying airships to protect them, or race against corrosive gas that chips away at your AC’a health, to many more missions I won’t spoil. They were all a joy to go through and helped emphasize using different builds for different missions, especially since your sell rate is at 100% so you lose nothing by buying and selling the same parts. And the customizability itself is quite good too as there are multiple builds for multiple play-styles so you’re not boxed into anything specific. The gameplay Itself revolves a bit around management, you have to manage your energy bar, ammo for both weapons, damage received (because fixing your AC takes from your pay) but don’t worry because it’s ultimately not very difficult or tasking to deal with. It’s also worth to note that the game possesses decent enemy variety, from mecha bugs to weak worker MT’s to the other stronger enemies, they do their job well. And last but not least the game is so aesthetically pleasing thanks to the incredible art direction, I was engrossed In all the levels and appreciated how well some of It’s levels captured the sheer lack of soul found In corporate architecture.

I'd say this is one of the more fair adventure games of it's era, given that you actually bother exploring and picking up items to increase your health instead of beelining to the end of the level, it also showers you with healing items save for the last few levels, the 2 before the final one were fine but the last one was ass due to how vague it was with where you needed to go. And don't think I didn't notice that Rondo of Blood rip-off final boss you cheeky wanker devs. Other than that the game has a lot of charm thanks in part to it's fantastic sound which helps give the game that much more personality, your character emotes a lot through voice which I found amusing, and the OST itself is a good listen. Visuals are great too, good old SNES pixel art. Fun, whimsical experience all around.

I think there’s something to be said about how this game handles It’s open world, while your typical “open world” game consists of a large, barren map that’s there for you to walk from A to B on and occasionally be met with a fetch quest, cancerous collectibles or a “pick your poison” deal from towers and etc, and It’s all there to bloat up the game’s length (see Dying Light’s 2 500 hour ad) meanwhile side activities In SA are widely varied and exist to service the game’s world and help Immerse you Into It, ranging from pimping, Lowrider bouncing, racing, burglary, to gambling, pool, dancing, basketball, shitty arcade games, and gang territory. It’s really fun and helps give a sense of realness to the game’s world. The game also reacts to what you wear although It’s mainly In regards to other gangs or regular NPC’s praising/making fun of you, and you can respond either negatively or positively.

All this aside another thing I am fond of Is the mission variety In this game, for a game with a 100 missions It’s hard to say It ever gets mundane with missions going from drive-by’s to bombing planes from the inside or stealing advanced technology from a military base, my only qualm Is Rockstar’s typical aversion to non-linear ways of solving missions, you either follow their Instructions to a T or you risk quickly failing a mission, shit’s lame. As for the story, the main plot Is okay, where the writing really shines Is the characters, as they’re all unique and hysterical like Woozie, Truth, Toreno and more, even characters with 30 second screen-time end up memorable like Tony the Parrot.

A unique, experimental approach to the genre that serves to severely limit the player and their capabilities In order to push a different method of play, gone are the often superhuman capabilities of your average Survival Horror protagonist that juxtaposes what the genre wants to be, you can’t QTE suplex zombos to their death, hold Immense amounts of resources, or even sprint for long. Your character Is a run-down, alcoholic detective who can (Initially) only hold 10 bullets at once, sprint for 4 seconds and has messed up aim. So obviously you can’t shoot everything to death and have to think up of alternative methods of dealing with enemies to progress, though sadly the game Isn’t that In-depth so you always rely on the same approaches, It’s either the crossbow mines or burning up multiple enemies together with matches, trap’s don’t make much of an appearance for enemy encounters outside the first couple of chapters and that’s because Instead of doing more tight, tense big playground levels where you’re allowed a lot of approaches like the village, the game opts for more generic RE style enemy rushes and the level design accommodates them too. I found them decent to play but It’s a shame that the game doesn’t stick to what works best for It because Mikami has the RE blues.

Visually the game Is nothing short of exhilarating, It Is easily up there as one of the best looking 7th gen games and I was fond of how It transitions you from one level to the next without any explanation whatsoever, like being rushed by a sea of blood then waking up In another place, I found that enhances the mystery and makes It so the game Is free to do whatever It wants visually and the result Is quite captivating.

—Recently replayed all 4 campaigns on Professional—

This Is home to perhaps the tightest, most well thought-out combat system for a third person shooter ever to be conceived, this game’s level of creativity and approach to game design Is not so different from something like TEW1, whereas that game builds It’s Identity off beating and kicking the shit out of you through limiting a lot of what you can do and forcing you to play around that, RE6 Injects your veins with superhuman serum and tells you to literally kick and beat the shit out of the enemies with godlike movement and a system that’s focused on stuns and CQC. You’re not supposed to treat It as a generic shooter, much less a fucking cover shooter like I’ve seen people here claim, and go gung-ho mode wasting all your resources every encounter because not only Is It a lame as shit way of confronting the game’s challenges, It’s also a piss-poor one at that and will only have you string yourself dry out of resources. Instead you have to rely on and use Its deliberate stun to CQC system, that’s why the game even has a move to quick stun enemies at the cost of a single stamina block, that’s why you’re given extensive, slick movement and dodging options, this game Isn’t “RE4/5 but without tank controls”, It’s an expansion and Improvement on the controls RE4 had while employing that game’s same design philosophy. The same way 4 Is designed around limited tank control movement, 6 too Is designed around It’s more free modern controls and provides you with a new set of adrenaline Inducing challenges Instead of the same shit again.

The campaigns have some of the best set-pieces In the entire series’s history, shit like fighting a boss Inside a church full of people and having the boss transform them Into zombies to attack you, crashing down Into a severe snow storm, any of the multiple times the campaigns Intertwine, It’s genuinely so cool and exhilarating, there’s never a time where levels get lame or repetitive thanks to the game’s globe-trotting narrative. Speaking of that, It’s well written and fun, I don’t get what people are complaining about there at all, each story Is largely It’s own thing with one big connecting narrative that you slowly fill In the pieces of the more you play, for example there’s an Instance where a fucking chainsaw enemy gets flung right at a signpost and Is a boss for you to fight, you find out In one of the other campaigns that one of the characters Is responsible for that happening, It’s nothing confusing, unless you have the media literacy of a 4th grader.

It’s about time people hopped off Internet bandwagons and gave this game the fair shake It rightfully deserves.

One of, if not the worst shooter I’ve ever played. The game Is a bullet sponge fest with no player feedback, as In enemies don’t react to your damage at all, you might as well be shooting a wall that happens to have a health bar. The bosses are especially egregious because they’re like RPG superbosses and have 4+ health bars that you’re gonna be endlessly shooting at. The game does that shit where they don’t allow the protagonist to talk because they previously didn’t have a VA so Aya walks around grunting to everything while people talk to her like a regular person that’s supposed to respond back, she’s not even a mute protagonist cause she talks in text boxes??? So why Is the game like this????

Only good things about the game are the visuals and music but thats been a consistent staple regarding Square Enix games anyways. Oh and I found the battle damage cool, seeing your character get more bruised up and their clothes torn up over time Is something I wish more games did. Dogshit game.

A short and fun experience where the gameplay Is all about the power fantasy of being an Incredibly busted being, It has so many movement options and even more combat abilities and both leave the door open for an exhilarating combat system that makes It so you can approach the same situation In 10 different ways, which leaves me surprised to see so many people resort to playing It like Generic Third Person Shooter ™️ , Ace Combat or Battle City for the NES. And It’s a great Venom wish fulfillment game.

Venom
Adrenaline momentum
And I'm not knowin' when I'm
Ever gonna slow up and I'm
Ready to snap any moment, I'm
Thinkin' it's time to go get 'em
They ain't gonna know what hit 'em
(W-w-when they get bit with the)
Venom
(I got that) adrenaline momentum
And I'm not knowin' when I'm
Ever gonna slow up and I'm
Ready to snap any moment, I'm
Thinkin' it's time to go get 'em
They ain't gonna know what hit 'em
(W-w-when they get bit with the)