2020
One of the most unique games I've played recently. Love the early 90's PC aesthetic to death as it's very underrepresented in retro throwbacks. As a fan of Junji Ito there's a lot to like here as well, lots of creative new ideas with plenty of references. I've had my fill for now but I will definitely check back in when it hits a 1.0 release.
2020
This is the most pure fun I've ever had with an FPS campaign. The moment to moment action combines the great shooter basics of Doom 2016 with the quick decision making and ability combos of a character action game. I also didn't expect for it to make me care so much about the Doom lore, but I came away wanting even more.
This game consumed my life for 2 weeks straight and I feel like I only scratched the surface. I'm not a huge fan of the drip fed content, but as this was my first AC game the missing content doesn't bother me too bad. Excited to dip back in when a few more updates come out.
2020
Another great game in Capcom's comeback tour. As someone who never touched the original I adored this game. Pure dumb action movie fun, I think it does turn into a bit of a slog in the middle but nothing overstays its welcome. I think that's demonstrated by the fact I played through it 6 times back to back for the platinum and still only clocked around 20 hours.
2020
Easily the best souls-like game to come out of a studio other than From Software. Runs like an absolute dream even on the base PS4, which goes a long way towards making it play smooth as butter. The combat draws inspiration from Souls as well as Team Ninja's character action background with Ninja Garden which combine into something very special. The switchglaive is one of the most fun weapons I've used in any game period and that's only 1 of the 10+ options. The only area it really lacks in is the story, which was pretty barebones and hard to follow as someone without a background in Japanese history.
I played this before playing the original game or any of the spinoffs. That was a very big mistake. I came away feeling very conflicted. On one hand I just played a game that looked gorgeous, had a stellar soundtrack, had a delightful cast, and one of my favorite action RPG combat systems period. However, on the other hand I couldn't tell what was brand new story material and what wasn't which culminated in having no clue what was going on during the final hours of the game.
I came away feeling like it was a mixed bag overall.
Then I decided to go back to play the original and read up on the extended universe. Now I think this game is phenomenal, it reimagines what it means to be a remake of a game in a way that only Final Fantasy VII can, and it does so with aplomb. Looking forward to whatever these crazy bastards have planed for part 2.
I came away feeling like it was a mixed bag overall.
Then I decided to go back to play the original and read up on the extended universe. Now I think this game is phenomenal, it reimagines what it means to be a remake of a game in a way that only Final Fantasy VII can, and it does so with aplomb. Looking forward to whatever these crazy bastards have planed for part 2.
2019
Persona 5 Royal does it's absolute best to iterate on and improve so many aspects of the original game that it's hard to list it all. This game manages to make the best turn based JRPG battle system of all time even better, which is an accomplishment that cannot be overstated. The new story content is also some of the best writing we've seen in a Persona game to date, and it stands above the writing in the original release. The only complaints I have are pretty minor and mostly apply to the writing in that original release, which P5R does it's best to smooth out, but it isn't 100% successful in that regard.
2020
The thing about this game that sticks out the most in my mind is the English dub, which is hilariously cheesy in a 90s anime way. I kind of love that stuff but it's definitely not for everyone. Other than that this is just a decent budget remake of a charming game that the west missed out on. The switch port doesn't run amazingly, and the combat design doesn't hold up compared to modern action RPGs, but it's worth a look if you're a fan of JRPGs.
This is one of the most barebones JRPGs I've ever played. The story is literally nothing, one of your allies is a weird neckbeard pedo, and it has a lot of padding in the back half. That said I think the battle system is very solid, there's some great music, and I do like a couple of the characters quite a bit.
First of all this is the coolest fucking setting ever, and I can 100% see another studio fumbling the ball. However, monolith soft is the best in the business when it comes to environment design and they knocked it out of the park here. The soundtrack fits this immensely well, the grand themes help to make traversing the huge world a joy. The combat, while not quite as in depth as XBC2, is still pretty unique and fun even if it gets a bit old. The writing is solid, I especially love all the dialogue from your party members, and where the story goes in the final few chapters. The only qualms I have are that the side quests are terrible even by MMO standards and the resolution makes the game look like it's coated in vaseline.
2000
Despite giving this a middling score, I think it's still absolutely worth playing if you have any interest in From Software's pre-Dark Souls output. The soundtrack is unlike anything you've ever heard and the atmosphere is fantastic. Really feels like a fever dream in the best way possible. The combat is beyond simplistic and the puzzles are uninspired, but it's worth looking at despite the gameplay.
2003
All the hallmarks of a Hideki Kamiya game are on full display here - great sense of style, ball busting difficulty, and a shoot em up level. Has a pretty interesting fusion of character action concepts mixed with a more traditional beat-em-up.
A successful iteration on the previous entry and the classic Castlevania formula as a whole. A great new cast of characters to play as that offers a ton of options for dealing with encounters.
First of all, TTYD is one of my absolute favorite games and I even replayed it in preparation for this. That being said I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to.
There's a ton of laugh out loud moments, it's absolutely gorgeous, it's fun to hunt for toads, and I love the flow of the boss battles. I'm not crazy about the regular battles, I'd prefer something more akin to TTYD, but they're fine. Character design is also a bit weak, ie the stationary bosses, but I do enjoy the origami redesigns of classic Mario enemies.
Overall, it's not exactly what I want out of the series, but if you're someone without an attachment to the old ones I'm sure you'll like it a lot.
There's a ton of laugh out loud moments, it's absolutely gorgeous, it's fun to hunt for toads, and I love the flow of the boss battles. I'm not crazy about the regular battles, I'd prefer something more akin to TTYD, but they're fine. Character design is also a bit weak, ie the stationary bosses, but I do enjoy the origami redesigns of classic Mario enemies.
Overall, it's not exactly what I want out of the series, but if you're someone without an attachment to the old ones I'm sure you'll like it a lot.
2020
When Carrion is trying to be a linear stealth puzzle game it can be pretty engrossing. Figuring out how to take out a huge group of enemies with the monster's unique suite of abilities can be a lot of fun.
What's less fun is wandering around the map aimlessly during segments where the metroidvania map structure comes into play. What's even less fun than that is segments where you have to play as a human slowly plodding along solving braindead puzzles.
Luckily those moments are fairly infrequent and the feeling of mindjacking an enemy and then making them pilot a mech to kill all their comrades makes up for it somewhat.
What's less fun is wandering around the map aimlessly during segments where the metroidvania map structure comes into play. What's even less fun than that is segments where you have to play as a human slowly plodding along solving braindead puzzles.
Luckily those moments are fairly infrequent and the feeling of mindjacking an enemy and then making them pilot a mech to kill all their comrades makes up for it somewhat.