MicrosoftWord03
BACKER
2015
I had my first girlfriend back in 2015 when I was 21 years old. I was really excited. Finding love late in life had not been easy for me, yet there she was - able to love a person who believed that he was unlovable. I always dreamt of finding a gamer girl and I think that is what drew me to her at first. We clicked quickly and intensely and I wasn't going to let myself drown in an ocean of what ifs later in life. Things also happened really fast - See, aching for love for so long and finally finding it at such a late age does weird things to you. I moved into her place after dating for a couple of intense months. We were excited and young. We both had jobs, but we weren't incredibly well off. That didn't matter though. We were in love and together and that was all that mattered. She also had a PS4 that she let me borrow from time to time and now that we lived together it was all mine.
This is when I found the game that would change my life. See, I had known about souls-like games for a while, but I had never dared to try them. I was a very afraid young man. Afraid to take risks, but that was clearly changing. I remember thinking to myself. I had moved in with someone i met less than 6 months ago! That is what risk takers (or young, naive and in love people) do! I had understood that risks could pay off sometimes.
One day I was watching a game grumps let's play, like i usually did. I loved that shit. I was in the peak of my game grumps binge watching era and I remember loving their Bloodborne playthrough. It was a nasty game. It looked very difficult and it made me feel real uneasy. I always did have a fascination with the souls games however. Something of an admiration from afar... and so I did it. I asked my girlfriend if we could get it. I had made my own account on her PS4 and i got the game.
I was shitting my pants the whole time guys. I remember the intro scene so perfectly in my mind. Waking up to the little hat guys. Finding the werewolf in the first room and being weaponless! What game would be this cruel. Which eldritch god would doom and mentally torture a young soul like mine. I was swiftly wiped out by the beast. I was livid and I wanted my revenge and I was clueless in realizing that this was the game's way of installing its emotional machinery into my unconscious. This was From Software's way of implanting its tiny little machine bug in my belly button. This small and seemingly tiny little encounter etched the souls formula in my psyche. I started to hunger for revenge.
After finally getting my first weapon (the same one the main character has on the game art), I succinctly claimed my vengeance. I felt accomplishment and proud, yet I also felt empty. I felt hunger. I wanted more - and so I decided to venture deep into this Victorian nightmare. Everything seemed dangerous. Everything put me into fight or flight mode. Villagers jumping at my character from the boxes had me jumping in real life, but they made me feel strong since they would die in one or two hits. These games have such a sophisticated way of empowering you. They inflate your ego and make you believe you're the best - and then suddenly you find an abomination twice your height and 10 times your width wielding an 11 ton sword that kills you instantly. You quickly understood that this game was not messing around.
And so, I got addicted to this process. Game empowers you - you kill some monsters, you git good - game kills you, deflates your ego and humiliates you. You get depressed and annoyed You don't give up, you git gud and you manage to beat a boss. Rinse and repeat. I had never had a humbling experience like this one before. A game that was fearless in its ways of teaching you how to navigate it. I was both enthralled and appalled that I was never brave enough to subject myself to such a treat! It was like being able to lift weights without actually going to the gym! I had started to build up my souls-like muscles.
Day in and day out I abused my girlfriend's PS4. She was subjected to hearing weird Victorian English flavored dialogues and indescribable weird screams from unimaginable beasts all night long. She was happy I had found a game that I was really passionate about though. And I was glad. I was glad I was old enough to appreciate it. I was glad that my first time with a souls like was so eye opening. In that moment is where I understood the value in doing hard things. And I still hadn't even beaten a boss. I still hadn't tasted the intoxicating high that is utterly destroying something that had utterly destroyed you in the past. Something like bullying the bully that bullied you in high school years after graduating.
I kept advancing through the game and after having my ass kicked by villagers and werewolves for a while, I was met with the Cleric Beast. My first ever souls like boss. Keep in mind that back then I did not understand the tropes I do now. I didn't understand how to dodge, how to aggressively attack (in the case of bloodborne) and how to take advantage of the movement of bosses. I was just in awe. In awe of the magnificence I had prescenced so far. I was fully immersed in a Lovecraftian world getting my ass handed to me by the introductory boss at 3am in the morning. What a time to be alive.
In that moment is where I started to truly appreciate the dynamics of the game (and where I developed my love for the glass canon archetype). I was able to be quick, maybe even quicker than the beast. I just had to believe in my self. I just had to trust in my muscle memory and all that I had learned so far. I was a hunter god damnit. I was born to literally hunt beasts and take their blood - and that's what I did. It felt like divine intervention. I celebrated late in the night. I felt accomplished and like I was able to overcome a fear I had.
In the grand scheme of things it might not have been such a big of a deal to overcome an obstacle in a videogame. Maybe it's silly to even take it this seriously. But I truly believe that big feats are made up of smaller, more manageable feats. This was good. This was important.
I started to understand more of the innerworkings of the game. I learned how to heal my self and learned how to farm for blood phials. I started to uncover the meticulously hidden short cuts and appreciated their cleverness. I witnessed the tragic story of Father Gascoigne. I absolutely loved the way Bloodborne tells its stories and how it exposes the player to the lore. It did it in such a natural and non intrusive way. There was always little to no handholding and absolutely no exposition in it's story telling. Almost to a fault. I did enjoy uncovering things for myself though. Even if it meant I'd miss some content eventually.
My story had then continued like most others' stories. I ventured into a creepy forest and beat the worst 3v1 odds. I collected umbilical cords. I helped NPCs escape into the safety of a strange church. I experienced Yharnam in all its glory. The world changed and I faced eldritch horrors. I upgraded my character and died many times and well... I know no one needs me to tell them how the experience of a souls like goes. Nowadays I would argue that the experience is has grown close to the mainstream and it's probably no longer a niche thing, so I just thought I'd share how this first souls like experience felt to me. I believe it actually might have changed my life.
I even believe that most really good videogame experiences change your life. I can think of Disco Elysium, Outer Wilds, Final Fantasy VI, Fallout New Vegas, just to name a few. Something inside of you changes when you experience games like these. You're a comet in outer space travelling at 51.7 km/s and when you experience games like these, they veer you, even if it is slightly. You're exposed to stories and archetypes that enrich you in the best way. They nudge you and it changes your path. Like a comet that slightly changes its path, it ends up somewhere entirely different over time.
I believe Bloodborne changed my life. It changed my life because it helped me believe a little bit more in myself. It helped me understand that I might actually be able to overcome hurdles that I thought impossible. It taught me that I am probably a terrible estimator of what I am capable. Thank you Bloodborne (and first girlfriend), for teaching me that there is value in me beyond my understanding.
In any case, my rating for Bloodborne is:
5 eldritch horrors out of 5 👹👹👹👹👹
This is when I found the game that would change my life. See, I had known about souls-like games for a while, but I had never dared to try them. I was a very afraid young man. Afraid to take risks, but that was clearly changing. I remember thinking to myself. I had moved in with someone i met less than 6 months ago! That is what risk takers (or young, naive and in love people) do! I had understood that risks could pay off sometimes.
One day I was watching a game grumps let's play, like i usually did. I loved that shit. I was in the peak of my game grumps binge watching era and I remember loving their Bloodborne playthrough. It was a nasty game. It looked very difficult and it made me feel real uneasy. I always did have a fascination with the souls games however. Something of an admiration from afar... and so I did it. I asked my girlfriend if we could get it. I had made my own account on her PS4 and i got the game.
I was shitting my pants the whole time guys. I remember the intro scene so perfectly in my mind. Waking up to the little hat guys. Finding the werewolf in the first room and being weaponless! What game would be this cruel. Which eldritch god would doom and mentally torture a young soul like mine. I was swiftly wiped out by the beast. I was livid and I wanted my revenge and I was clueless in realizing that this was the game's way of installing its emotional machinery into my unconscious. This was From Software's way of implanting its tiny little machine bug in my belly button. This small and seemingly tiny little encounter etched the souls formula in my psyche. I started to hunger for revenge.
After finally getting my first weapon (the same one the main character has on the game art), I succinctly claimed my vengeance. I felt accomplishment and proud, yet I also felt empty. I felt hunger. I wanted more - and so I decided to venture deep into this Victorian nightmare. Everything seemed dangerous. Everything put me into fight or flight mode. Villagers jumping at my character from the boxes had me jumping in real life, but they made me feel strong since they would die in one or two hits. These games have such a sophisticated way of empowering you. They inflate your ego and make you believe you're the best - and then suddenly you find an abomination twice your height and 10 times your width wielding an 11 ton sword that kills you instantly. You quickly understood that this game was not messing around.
And so, I got addicted to this process. Game empowers you - you kill some monsters, you git good - game kills you, deflates your ego and humiliates you. You get depressed and annoyed You don't give up, you git gud and you manage to beat a boss. Rinse and repeat. I had never had a humbling experience like this one before. A game that was fearless in its ways of teaching you how to navigate it. I was both enthralled and appalled that I was never brave enough to subject myself to such a treat! It was like being able to lift weights without actually going to the gym! I had started to build up my souls-like muscles.
Day in and day out I abused my girlfriend's PS4. She was subjected to hearing weird Victorian English flavored dialogues and indescribable weird screams from unimaginable beasts all night long. She was happy I had found a game that I was really passionate about though. And I was glad. I was glad I was old enough to appreciate it. I was glad that my first time with a souls like was so eye opening. In that moment is where I understood the value in doing hard things. And I still hadn't even beaten a boss. I still hadn't tasted the intoxicating high that is utterly destroying something that had utterly destroyed you in the past. Something like bullying the bully that bullied you in high school years after graduating.
I kept advancing through the game and after having my ass kicked by villagers and werewolves for a while, I was met with the Cleric Beast. My first ever souls like boss. Keep in mind that back then I did not understand the tropes I do now. I didn't understand how to dodge, how to aggressively attack (in the case of bloodborne) and how to take advantage of the movement of bosses. I was just in awe. In awe of the magnificence I had prescenced so far. I was fully immersed in a Lovecraftian world getting my ass handed to me by the introductory boss at 3am in the morning. What a time to be alive.
In that moment is where I started to truly appreciate the dynamics of the game (and where I developed my love for the glass canon archetype). I was able to be quick, maybe even quicker than the beast. I just had to believe in my self. I just had to trust in my muscle memory and all that I had learned so far. I was a hunter god damnit. I was born to literally hunt beasts and take their blood - and that's what I did. It felt like divine intervention. I celebrated late in the night. I felt accomplished and like I was able to overcome a fear I had.
In the grand scheme of things it might not have been such a big of a deal to overcome an obstacle in a videogame. Maybe it's silly to even take it this seriously. But I truly believe that big feats are made up of smaller, more manageable feats. This was good. This was important.
I started to understand more of the innerworkings of the game. I learned how to heal my self and learned how to farm for blood phials. I started to uncover the meticulously hidden short cuts and appreciated their cleverness. I witnessed the tragic story of Father Gascoigne. I absolutely loved the way Bloodborne tells its stories and how it exposes the player to the lore. It did it in such a natural and non intrusive way. There was always little to no handholding and absolutely no exposition in it's story telling. Almost to a fault. I did enjoy uncovering things for myself though. Even if it meant I'd miss some content eventually.
My story had then continued like most others' stories. I ventured into a creepy forest and beat the worst 3v1 odds. I collected umbilical cords. I helped NPCs escape into the safety of a strange church. I experienced Yharnam in all its glory. The world changed and I faced eldritch horrors. I upgraded my character and died many times and well... I know no one needs me to tell them how the experience of a souls like goes. Nowadays I would argue that the experience is has grown close to the mainstream and it's probably no longer a niche thing, so I just thought I'd share how this first souls like experience felt to me. I believe it actually might have changed my life.
I even believe that most really good videogame experiences change your life. I can think of Disco Elysium, Outer Wilds, Final Fantasy VI, Fallout New Vegas, just to name a few. Something inside of you changes when you experience games like these. You're a comet in outer space travelling at 51.7 km/s and when you experience games like these, they veer you, even if it is slightly. You're exposed to stories and archetypes that enrich you in the best way. They nudge you and it changes your path. Like a comet that slightly changes its path, it ends up somewhere entirely different over time.
I believe Bloodborne changed my life. It changed my life because it helped me believe a little bit more in myself. It helped me understand that I might actually be able to overcome hurdles that I thought impossible. It taught me that I am probably a terrible estimator of what I am capable. Thank you Bloodborne (and first girlfriend), for teaching me that there is value in me beyond my understanding.
In any case, my rating for Bloodborne is:
5 eldritch horrors out of 5 👹👹👹👹👹
2014
It's honestly crazy that a game that looks and feels THIS good had to be discontinued - and It's hard to find modern racing games that look better than driveclub even today! I will never forget the feeling of speeding through Norwegian highways at night - or feeling nervous as I start to lose control going over 300km/h on a Chilean downhill track. I mean, this game had some great track variety. I had some great memories with this game <3
2021
I've been a big fan of car games for a long time. I remember playing Colin McCrae rally games with my uncle on my PS1 and having the time of my life. I remember going through the golden age of racing games when Forza Motorsport 3 and 4 were released or when I would spend hours upong hours playing and collecting cars in Gran Turismo 4. I remember when NFS really started to become mainstream after NFS Underground 2. Man those were the days huh? Why is MicrosoftWord03 focusing so much on nostalgia? You may be asking yourself. Well it's so that my point can hit even harder.
I don't think there is a gaming genre that has taken a bigger hit over the years like racing games have. As the videogame industry grows, studios and projects start getting pressured into creating bigger games that have more stuff and are more profitable above all. To me it's such a shame that soul and passion (the very motor of a successful game ironically) get pushed to the side in the name of profit. In the name of making your game as accessible and bland as possible. It's ok for your game to say something. It's ok that some people will not like it - and I know I am talking about an open world racing game, by nature it would seem like it doesn't have much to say by design - but I would disagree.
Sometimes the message is encoded within the encasing. Sometimes the aesthetics are the message. Sometimes player freedom is the message. you get what I mean? It's not necessary for a game to have a huge story line and one million rpg features for it to speak to players. Car appreciation speaks to millions of people around the world and it's truly heart breaking that Forza throws even that to the trash - all in the name of profit.
I know many games and game genres have fallen prey to these practices, but something as pure, free and simple as driving games (especially open world) have never felt so clinical and sterile like they do in Forza Horizon 5. There's not much else to say. This game is a politically correct, culturally neutered blob of corporate appropriation and i think that sucks. A husk of what a great racing series used to be.
In any case:
2.5 crashed and forgotten barn finds out of 5
🚗🚗
I don't think there is a gaming genre that has taken a bigger hit over the years like racing games have. As the videogame industry grows, studios and projects start getting pressured into creating bigger games that have more stuff and are more profitable above all. To me it's such a shame that soul and passion (the very motor of a successful game ironically) get pushed to the side in the name of profit. In the name of making your game as accessible and bland as possible. It's ok for your game to say something. It's ok that some people will not like it - and I know I am talking about an open world racing game, by nature it would seem like it doesn't have much to say by design - but I would disagree.
Sometimes the message is encoded within the encasing. Sometimes the aesthetics are the message. Sometimes player freedom is the message. you get what I mean? It's not necessary for a game to have a huge story line and one million rpg features for it to speak to players. Car appreciation speaks to millions of people around the world and it's truly heart breaking that Forza throws even that to the trash - all in the name of profit.
I know many games and game genres have fallen prey to these practices, but something as pure, free and simple as driving games (especially open world) have never felt so clinical and sterile like they do in Forza Horizon 5. There's not much else to say. This game is a politically correct, culturally neutered blob of corporate appropriation and i think that sucks. A husk of what a great racing series used to be.
In any case:
2.5 crashed and forgotten barn finds out of 5
🚗🚗
2022
I've been truly left without words for the last couple of hours. Few and far between are the times that I've considered a gaming moment to be truly legendary. Final Fantasy VI has gifted me that and oh I am so thankful. I will now give myself the titanic task of attempting to convey some of my feelings about this great adventure.
I say feelings because most of the time that is what videogames give me. Whether it's wonder, some flavor of boredom, rage or anything in between; I believe that they all can be cherishable moments that serve as a reflection of what the PIECE OF ART (in this case) is trying to say.
That's also the style of reviews I like to write - kind of. They are more like a reaction rather than an objective summary of what happens in the game etc.
One of the first things I noticed after booting the game for the first time is the amount of polish it has compared to its predecessors - and I mean polish everywhere. There are more and more fluid animations, sprites look beautiful, the bestiary is large and thicc and it even feels like it's the biggest and most varied OST of any FF so far - and oh man, the writing and dialogue.
As I've mentioned before i think, the thing that makes me dislike a game more is weak plot and writing. It's not that a game has to have a serious plot or serious grown up writing about real life things, after all, we are playing videogames. What I look for and what I like the most is when the words are inspiring. When they aren't lazy. I love when I see wit and personality. I like when writers are brave enough to make their characters imperfect and human-like. I love that they all have their quirks. I love how they all exist in a tragic world and have very tragic things happen to them that make them what they are - and it's all told in such a smart and tactful way.
I love how Edgar is always a hopeless romantic and how he's always saying cheesy one liners to women. I love how Sabin is this tunnel visioned knuckle head that lightly mocks Celes when she suggests he might have been hurt after the world ends. I love how one of the characters is a moogle that can communicate with humans. I love the most that these traits aren't their whole personality. It shocks me and it's almost eerie how they managed to create so many playable characters (14!) that feel this developed. I mean, I have seen movies and read novels that have characters that are way more one-dimensional than the FF6 cast. This game might have even given me the first instance where I actually do remember the names of some of the characters i spent almost 50 hours with.
There are so many memorable moments in the game - tragic, wholesome and funny. It honestly surprised me how it just kept going and going. There's a section where you fight the undead and suplex a train. There's another where you find an abandoned kid raised by wolves and you adopt him into your party (a salute to Gau). I did feel sometimes that events were sometimes not connected in the most fluid way. Sometimes it did feel kind of forced and most of the time I felt kind of lost in what the game wanted me to do.
That takes me to the plot. I felt it somewhat similar to FFII in that it's this epic story of the empire vs the resistance. The Gestahlian Empire vs the Returners in this case. Magic is gone from this world because the empire has taken all of it because of some mystical beings that possess it (or create it?) and they were friends with humans, but there was a huge battle eons ago that left their friendship in shambles and eh, you should definitely go play it to understand it better - but it's definitely convoluted and a slow burn at first. You're introduced to characters relatively slowly, but many things happen quickly and when your party eventually starts getting large you get split and you get tasked with scheming schemes and thinking of ways to mess up the empire's plans. It's always a classic underdog story and our main villain is one hateable asshole. Which is good! Because it really drives the story. There is a fully voiced (sung?) opera, river poisoning, samurai dreams, a mercenary that becomes your friend and a little brush stroke of incelhood - and of course in a very FF style, it ends with you taking out a good amount of gods and celestial beings. A great story in my opinion.
This is all such a silly and wonderful experience that I highly recommend. It celebrates absurdity and storytelling and the beauty that is to understand that we all suffer as humans in very similar ways. The games in the pixel remaster series have all so many quality of life upgrades that the grinding time for many of the games sections can be reduced to your liking, making this a very appealing experience to have nowadays.
Anyway:
5 double casted ultima spells out of 5 🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿 (with an entry to my personal hall of fame)
As some of you may know, this concludes my journey of going through the first 6 Final Fantasy entries. Thank you for the ones that have read my reviews so far. I'll be back for FF7 and beyond!
I say feelings because most of the time that is what videogames give me. Whether it's wonder, some flavor of boredom, rage or anything in between; I believe that they all can be cherishable moments that serve as a reflection of what the PIECE OF ART (in this case) is trying to say.
That's also the style of reviews I like to write - kind of. They are more like a reaction rather than an objective summary of what happens in the game etc.
One of the first things I noticed after booting the game for the first time is the amount of polish it has compared to its predecessors - and I mean polish everywhere. There are more and more fluid animations, sprites look beautiful, the bestiary is large and thicc and it even feels like it's the biggest and most varied OST of any FF so far - and oh man, the writing and dialogue.
As I've mentioned before i think, the thing that makes me dislike a game more is weak plot and writing. It's not that a game has to have a serious plot or serious grown up writing about real life things, after all, we are playing videogames. What I look for and what I like the most is when the words are inspiring. When they aren't lazy. I love when I see wit and personality. I like when writers are brave enough to make their characters imperfect and human-like. I love that they all have their quirks. I love how they all exist in a tragic world and have very tragic things happen to them that make them what they are - and it's all told in such a smart and tactful way.
I love how Edgar is always a hopeless romantic and how he's always saying cheesy one liners to women. I love how Sabin is this tunnel visioned knuckle head that lightly mocks Celes when she suggests he might have been hurt after the world ends. I love how one of the characters is a moogle that can communicate with humans. I love the most that these traits aren't their whole personality. It shocks me and it's almost eerie how they managed to create so many playable characters (14!) that feel this developed. I mean, I have seen movies and read novels that have characters that are way more one-dimensional than the FF6 cast. This game might have even given me the first instance where I actually do remember the names of some of the characters i spent almost 50 hours with.
There are so many memorable moments in the game - tragic, wholesome and funny. It honestly surprised me how it just kept going and going. There's a section where you fight the undead and suplex a train. There's another where you find an abandoned kid raised by wolves and you adopt him into your party (a salute to Gau). I did feel sometimes that events were sometimes not connected in the most fluid way. Sometimes it did feel kind of forced and most of the time I felt kind of lost in what the game wanted me to do.
That takes me to the plot. I felt it somewhat similar to FFII in that it's this epic story of the empire vs the resistance. The Gestahlian Empire vs the Returners in this case. Magic is gone from this world because the empire has taken all of it because of some mystical beings that possess it (or create it?) and they were friends with humans, but there was a huge battle eons ago that left their friendship in shambles and eh, you should definitely go play it to understand it better - but it's definitely convoluted and a slow burn at first. You're introduced to characters relatively slowly, but many things happen quickly and when your party eventually starts getting large you get split and you get tasked with scheming schemes and thinking of ways to mess up the empire's plans. It's always a classic underdog story and our main villain is one hateable asshole. Which is good! Because it really drives the story. There is a fully voiced (sung?) opera, river poisoning, samurai dreams, a mercenary that becomes your friend and a little brush stroke of incelhood - and of course in a very FF style, it ends with you taking out a good amount of gods and celestial beings. A great story in my opinion.
This is all such a silly and wonderful experience that I highly recommend. It celebrates absurdity and storytelling and the beauty that is to understand that we all suffer as humans in very similar ways. The games in the pixel remaster series have all so many quality of life upgrades that the grinding time for many of the games sections can be reduced to your liking, making this a very appealing experience to have nowadays.
Anyway:
5 double casted ultima spells out of 5 🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿 (with an entry to my personal hall of fame)
As some of you may know, this concludes my journey of going through the first 6 Final Fantasy entries. Thank you for the ones that have read my reviews so far. I'll be back for FF7 and beyond!
2022
Not really a big fan of multiplayer games in general, but this game kind of ignited and maintained my sense of camaraderie. I had a short time in my life where I was actually able to play with a small group of friends that enjoyed similar games and it was wonderful! Part of the reason i dislike multiplayer games is that i am definitely not a competitive person. I prefer to chill and enjoy a good story or communally build a base together. Things that Valheim helped me achieve.
I also have a super soft spot for games that don't do the hyper-realistic graphic aesthetic and cater to more of an artistic aesthetic. Valheim totally nails this sort of watercolor painting graphics and it's something that I think an art appreciator should experience. The feeling of ecstasy still linger from the first time i was able to build a boat and set sail in this game. Definitely a great feeling. Similar to the first time you set sail in Wind Waker (although fairly clunkier). Aside from the gorgeous graphics I remember feeling tons of fear the first time i ventured away from the green pastures of the starting area and meeting the giants. This game made me feel many things, and feelings are good in my book. Both good and bad.
4 resource gathering vikings out of 5 ⚒️⚒️⚒️⚒️
I also have a super soft spot for games that don't do the hyper-realistic graphic aesthetic and cater to more of an artistic aesthetic. Valheim totally nails this sort of watercolor painting graphics and it's something that I think an art appreciator should experience. The feeling of ecstasy still linger from the first time i was able to build a boat and set sail in this game. Definitely a great feeling. Similar to the first time you set sail in Wind Waker (although fairly clunkier). Aside from the gorgeous graphics I remember feeling tons of fear the first time i ventured away from the green pastures of the starting area and meeting the giants. This game made me feel many things, and feelings are good in my book. Both good and bad.
4 resource gathering vikings out of 5 ⚒️⚒️⚒️⚒️
Easily one of the best expansions in gaming ever. Whether you love what the Witcher did or not for gaming, the technicality of what a great expansion should be is achieved perfectly by Blood and Wine. I can safely bargain that this expansion completely dethrones Shivering Isles as the DLC that best builds on a game both as a separate experience and as an addition to the game's lore and characters.
What i love the most is that the whole personality of the game changes when entering the world of Blood and Wine. The color pallette changes, the characters are different (french now lol) and even the writing becomes even a bit more fantastical (there are vampires even gasp!)
I wish full games nowadays could have such soul and polish as this DLC has.
What i love the most is that the whole personality of the game changes when entering the world of Blood and Wine. The color pallette changes, the characters are different (french now lol) and even the writing becomes even a bit more fantastical (there are vampires even gasp!)
I wish full games nowadays could have such soul and polish as this DLC has.
How funny it feels to write about the Witcher in 2024. It feels like talking about one of Shakespear's works. It feels like it has been famous for the last 400 years.
The Witcher has become such a classic staple in gaming and a standard that other games compare themselves to. It's a new benchmark and I feel like most of us understand and appreciate what it brings to the table. There's not a ton I can say about this game since it has been almost 10 years since its release and I wager that it has become one of the most loved games of all time.
Geralt is a true hero living the hero's journey and I am just happy to have existed in a world where I can experience such a fine combination of character writing and story telling.
The Witcher has become such a classic staple in gaming and a standard that other games compare themselves to. It's a new benchmark and I feel like most of us understand and appreciate what it brings to the table. There's not a ton I can say about this game since it has been almost 10 years since its release and I wager that it has become one of the most loved games of all time.
Geralt is a true hero living the hero's journey and I am just happy to have existed in a world where I can experience such a fine combination of character writing and story telling.
2023
I remember this game showing up on a tik-tok indie game recommendation channel I follow and feeling completely enamored by it. Man i love fishing games and everything fishing. I love collecting the damn things and if the mini game of the action itself is good I find it difficult to not get utterly addicted.
I'm getting excited just thinking about writing this review. So the fishing aspect is really well made. Super smooth, super unique and there are TONS of fish types and some have to be caught in special ways. It's like the game was specifically made for me!
The best part is that the game builds in a very interesting way by having an entire restaurant sim portion after Dave... Dives... ahem
Similarly to the fishing gameplay, the restaurant management section is super carefully made and is really meticulous in the amount of dishes and fish combinations that are required to make them. There are so many recipes and you get to level them up which result in being able to charge more money which results in having better sales for the night which results in upgrading your restaurant faster. I am not entirely sure how to describe it, but it feels like the game scratches all my itches (there's also a fish breeding and farming mechanic an while they are a lot smaller in comparison to fishing and restauranting, they are still worth mentioning)
If the fishing and the restaurant portions were two separate games I think i would still love them dearly, but combined, along with having an actually engaging story (with an ending boss and everything) result in one of the most original and engaging games I've played in a while. I love you Dave.
Anyway, Dave the Diver is a solid:
5 upgradeable fishing hooks out of 5 🪝🪝🪝🪝🪝
I'm getting excited just thinking about writing this review. So the fishing aspect is really well made. Super smooth, super unique and there are TONS of fish types and some have to be caught in special ways. It's like the game was specifically made for me!
The best part is that the game builds in a very interesting way by having an entire restaurant sim portion after Dave... Dives... ahem
Similarly to the fishing gameplay, the restaurant management section is super carefully made and is really meticulous in the amount of dishes and fish combinations that are required to make them. There are so many recipes and you get to level them up which result in being able to charge more money which results in having better sales for the night which results in upgrading your restaurant faster. I am not entirely sure how to describe it, but it feels like the game scratches all my itches (there's also a fish breeding and farming mechanic an while they are a lot smaller in comparison to fishing and restauranting, they are still worth mentioning)
If the fishing and the restaurant portions were two separate games I think i would still love them dearly, but combined, along with having an actually engaging story (with an ending boss and everything) result in one of the most original and engaging games I've played in a while. I love you Dave.
Anyway, Dave the Diver is a solid:
5 upgradeable fishing hooks out of 5 🪝🪝🪝🪝🪝
2023
What a strange entry. I remember booting up this game and my jaw hitting the floor because of how incredible it looked. The fidelity of Hogwarts castle was impressive and the voice acting is very convincing. This is an amazingly immersive game that has tons of personality. I remember getting lost for HOURS just tinkering graphics setting and admiring how the reflections looked like on the floors of the castle (definitely a pc gamer thing lol), talking to every NPC and doing every sidequest. Going out of the castle and walking to Hogsmeade village had my inner child crying with joy.
The battle system was also quite fun and engaging. I really enjoyed learning so many spells from the movies. It really has a “git good” dark souls flavor that I love. It does kinda let you go to areas where you’re not ready to go to and be successful anyway. I was loving this game for hours on end.
The thing that kinda irked me in the end, which is almost always what irks me whenever I don’t like and RPG, is that the quests are kind of boring and repetitive. These guys built an enormous world around harry Potter lore and not alot to do in them. The merlin quests are a slog and the main story isn’t all that interesting. I wasn’t able to finish the game because I got too overpowered mid game and no enemy posed a threat anymore. I will def try it again in the future though.
Please disagree with me in the comments lol 🙏🙏🙏
The battle system was also quite fun and engaging. I really enjoyed learning so many spells from the movies. It really has a “git good” dark souls flavor that I love. It does kinda let you go to areas where you’re not ready to go to and be successful anyway. I was loving this game for hours on end.
The thing that kinda irked me in the end, which is almost always what irks me whenever I don’t like and RPG, is that the quests are kind of boring and repetitive. These guys built an enormous world around harry Potter lore and not alot to do in them. The merlin quests are a slog and the main story isn’t all that interesting. I wasn’t able to finish the game because I got too overpowered mid game and no enemy posed a threat anymore. I will def try it again in the future though.
Please disagree with me in the comments lol 🙏🙏🙏
2022
This might not be everyone’s cup of tea but what a treat of a game! I’ve always wanted to know what it would feel like to have a videogame in the Rick & Morty universe and I think this is the closest thing we’re ever gonna get to that. The humor in this game is top notch and at times it feels more like an interactive movie than a game (especially since there are a couple of full length movies you can watch in game while characters from the game give commentary) I love the silly premises, stupid and plentiful dialogue and the old school style adventure shooter mechanics. It’s an ironic breath of fresh air since it’s arguable that the level design and the way quests are designed could be described as archaic or very reminiscent of late 90s, early 2000’s adventure games. All in all, I will always have a soft spot for games that are labors of love and where you can feel passion seeping through its videogamey seams.
2006
I remember taking family trips to the beach when I was a kid and note being able to be apart from my PS2. I remember this specific trip where I knew there was going to be a TV on this small tropical beach we were visiting and I secretly took the PS2 with me. I remember playing Okami the whole week and starting to realize that games could actually be influenced by other games (I was quite mindblown as a kid by this) and I remember very excitedly pointing out all the similarities to previous Zelda games I had played over the years. A very wholesome and ultra artistic experience.
2016
What a vibe! A very original "create your own boxer" RPG kind of deal. I really appreciate labors of love like this that have a full storyline and interesting mechanics. What the game lacks in depth it definitely makes up for in style. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it does deserve some praise for the things it does right.
2018
I am definitely a sucker for pixel games that look and play this well, especially since I played it on iOS. Like many mention before it does start to get tedious after a while, but a fully fledged RPG with tons of collecting and resource gathering never hurt anyone.
2013
I definitely have a soft spot for fishing games. Sometimes in AAA titles, fishing tends to be some of my favorite parts when done correctly (looking at you Okami and FFXV). So It's really hard to objectively rate a game like this especially since it's so stylish and its mechanics are super well made. It definitely does not feel too much like a mobile game and yay for collecting stuff!
I played this game many years ago on my cel when I was going through a very rough patch in my life. I had no PC and no consoles, so a game that could keep my mind off of things while life kicked the crap out of me, was definitely something to be thankful for.
Bias aside, the game itself is actually quite nice! The difficulty can get to be quite overwhelming in later levels, but it has a very well paced progression system and upgrades. Would def play again.
Bias aside, the game itself is actually quite nice! The difficulty can get to be quite overwhelming in later levels, but it has a very well paced progression system and upgrades. Would def play again.