Got the game via a friend’s recommendation. I put off playing it for a while as I generally had games I was more interested in that I wanted to get to, but seeing as how he finished a game I recommended, it was only natural I would return the favor.
This is my first experience with a Remedy entertainment title. Right off the bat what caught me off guard was the world building. I started out kinda uninvested with what was going on (though not outright bored or anything), but the more I delved into the world, my surroundings, the pieces and bits of written and visual material, the more I started to get sucked in. It’s very much like SCP in that way, which funny enough this game takes HEAVY inspiration from. The game in general has a very eerie and unnerving atmosphere; sterile corporate office spaces splattered in blood and filled with floating bodies hovering above you, with the ambience consisting of loud chanting of bizarre incoherent phrases; don’t even get me started on those freaking Threshold Kids video tapes. I do understand that at the end of the day, it is trying to be more of an action game above all else, but personally I think it would be really cool if they leaned even harder into the horror aspect of this game (what can I say, I like me a spooky atmosphere). Despite this I also love when the game goes off the walls surreal and isn’t afraid to have a lot of fun with itself; whether it’s the Dr Darling music video, the optional movie camera mission in one of the DLC expansions, and ESPECIALLY the Ashtray maze.
And in terms of being an action game, it’s incredibly solid. 3rd person gunplay mixed with Psychokinetic abilities. These powers are all shared on the same energy bar so it requires some consideration of resource management to use effectively. Honestly in hindsight it makes something Silver’s gameplay in Sonic 2006 look even more sad than it already is. Despite how incredibly strong the psychic powers are (especially when you upgrade them), the game never felt repetitive for me despite how much I typically relied on them. This is helped in good part to the enemy variety (there are a lot of enemies that avoid the objects you throw at them) and the different amount of powers you have at your disposal, like the ability to mind control weakened enemies which ended up being a lifesaver in many hectic circumstances, especially when I nabbed the upgrade that allowed you to take control of heavy hitting big boy enemies. There’s also a lot of subtle yet conscious design decisions in how the environments are constructed and how you can maneuver around them freely as a makeshift combat arena. I also appreciate how every part of the environment is destructible which is not only technically very impressive, but also helps with your psychokinesis powers, as even with no objects around to pick up you can still yoink a chunk off the nearest concrete wall or staircase and use it just as well.
Exploration sadly isn’t anywhere near as satisfying. There are a lot of hidden chests to find around the bureau but they all contain the same exact things: crafting materials and mods. You equip mods to either yourself to boost your abilities via random perks, or to your different gun forms to basically do the same thing. I’m just gonna outright say it: the randomized loot system was a mistake. I don’t feel anything when I find a chest hidden off in the corner because my reward is the same “-20% energy reduction on using dash” fluff; it just doesn’t feel gratifying to obtain. Half of the mods I had in my inventory are just cluttered incremental upgrades to aspects I didn’t even care to be improved much. It would’ve been much more satisfying to just ditch the mod system and make it a simple upgrade chart like what they do with your abilities. I feel a better sense of satisfaction coming across a lore document or video tape or something I can read up on instead of the same generic RPG stat boosting mods with different forms of rarities on them that I’ve seen in every single other 3rd person action game to date. The boss fights in this game aren’t the most graceful (at least, the little you manage to fight anyway there’s so few of them) and some (particularly in the DLCs) are just outright terrible. The ending also feels pretty anticlimactic and abrupt, not even a final boss or anything. Just a final enemy gauntlet and all of a sudden the game just kinda ends.
Still though, it says a lot that after the game ended I went out of my way to see so much more of what the game had to offer. I wasn’t initially invested when I started playing, but after the credits rolled, I can go as far to say that I’m stoked for the upcoming sequel and what they can do with this concept.
(Also if we can get these guys to create a standalone Silver the Hedgehog game that would be great 😊 👍)
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So some personal thoughts here: this one review took a while to get out. And subsequently it also took a lot out of me. Idk, I feel like I’m starting to get burnout on making Backloggd reviews. It happened to a friend of mine a while back and I don’t think my level of burn out is on quite the same level as his was per say, my ADHD is making it extremely hard to get anything going. The worst part about this is that I LOVE putting my thoughts on a game in a detailed format like this, but I’m so behind on so many different games and I just don’t have the drive to do these as often. Maybe school has something to do with it, maybe not. I don’t really know anymore. I don’t really want to take a break as that essentially feels like what I’ve BEEN doing all this time, but I wish I could push on and keep making more as easily as I used to and I hope others that feel or have felt the same way can relate to my situation.
This is my first experience with a Remedy entertainment title. Right off the bat what caught me off guard was the world building. I started out kinda uninvested with what was going on (though not outright bored or anything), but the more I delved into the world, my surroundings, the pieces and bits of written and visual material, the more I started to get sucked in. It’s very much like SCP in that way, which funny enough this game takes HEAVY inspiration from. The game in general has a very eerie and unnerving atmosphere; sterile corporate office spaces splattered in blood and filled with floating bodies hovering above you, with the ambience consisting of loud chanting of bizarre incoherent phrases; don’t even get me started on those freaking Threshold Kids video tapes. I do understand that at the end of the day, it is trying to be more of an action game above all else, but personally I think it would be really cool if they leaned even harder into the horror aspect of this game (what can I say, I like me a spooky atmosphere). Despite this I also love when the game goes off the walls surreal and isn’t afraid to have a lot of fun with itself; whether it’s the Dr Darling music video, the optional movie camera mission in one of the DLC expansions, and ESPECIALLY the Ashtray maze.
And in terms of being an action game, it’s incredibly solid. 3rd person gunplay mixed with Psychokinetic abilities. These powers are all shared on the same energy bar so it requires some consideration of resource management to use effectively. Honestly in hindsight it makes something Silver’s gameplay in Sonic 2006 look even more sad than it already is. Despite how incredibly strong the psychic powers are (especially when you upgrade them), the game never felt repetitive for me despite how much I typically relied on them. This is helped in good part to the enemy variety (there are a lot of enemies that avoid the objects you throw at them) and the different amount of powers you have at your disposal, like the ability to mind control weakened enemies which ended up being a lifesaver in many hectic circumstances, especially when I nabbed the upgrade that allowed you to take control of heavy hitting big boy enemies. There’s also a lot of subtle yet conscious design decisions in how the environments are constructed and how you can maneuver around them freely as a makeshift combat arena. I also appreciate how every part of the environment is destructible which is not only technically very impressive, but also helps with your psychokinesis powers, as even with no objects around to pick up you can still yoink a chunk off the nearest concrete wall or staircase and use it just as well.
Exploration sadly isn’t anywhere near as satisfying. There are a lot of hidden chests to find around the bureau but they all contain the same exact things: crafting materials and mods. You equip mods to either yourself to boost your abilities via random perks, or to your different gun forms to basically do the same thing. I’m just gonna outright say it: the randomized loot system was a mistake. I don’t feel anything when I find a chest hidden off in the corner because my reward is the same “-20% energy reduction on using dash” fluff; it just doesn’t feel gratifying to obtain. Half of the mods I had in my inventory are just cluttered incremental upgrades to aspects I didn’t even care to be improved much. It would’ve been much more satisfying to just ditch the mod system and make it a simple upgrade chart like what they do with your abilities. I feel a better sense of satisfaction coming across a lore document or video tape or something I can read up on instead of the same generic RPG stat boosting mods with different forms of rarities on them that I’ve seen in every single other 3rd person action game to date. The boss fights in this game aren’t the most graceful (at least, the little you manage to fight anyway there’s so few of them) and some (particularly in the DLCs) are just outright terrible. The ending also feels pretty anticlimactic and abrupt, not even a final boss or anything. Just a final enemy gauntlet and all of a sudden the game just kinda ends.
Still though, it says a lot that after the game ended I went out of my way to see so much more of what the game had to offer. I wasn’t initially invested when I started playing, but after the credits rolled, I can go as far to say that I’m stoked for the upcoming sequel and what they can do with this concept.
(Also if we can get these guys to create a standalone Silver the Hedgehog game that would be great 😊 👍)
————————————
So some personal thoughts here: this one review took a while to get out. And subsequently it also took a lot out of me. Idk, I feel like I’m starting to get burnout on making Backloggd reviews. It happened to a friend of mine a while back and I don’t think my level of burn out is on quite the same level as his was per say, my ADHD is making it extremely hard to get anything going. The worst part about this is that I LOVE putting my thoughts on a game in a detailed format like this, but I’m so behind on so many different games and I just don’t have the drive to do these as often. Maybe school has something to do with it, maybe not. I don’t really know anymore. I don’t really want to take a break as that essentially feels like what I’ve BEEN doing all this time, but I wish I could push on and keep making more as easily as I used to and I hope others that feel or have felt the same way can relate to my situation.