1992
For the longest time I was really put off by 2D beat em ups. Even after I had beat SOR4 that didn't change, but it was replaying God Hand and trying out this game that changed that.
First of all, of course, this game's aesthetic is on point. The music is fucking great and very memorable, and the background art is gorgeous, fits the music perfectly. I still don't understand the Alien level ???? but the music there is good too at least.
I think the old 2D bmup combat clicked because the game is a lot simpler than SOR4 and not way fucking hard like Final Fight. The enemies are pretty well defined in what they do, although I do wish some of them did it more (Donovan types often don't antiair in this, feels like they do it 100% of the time in 4). There's a lot of cool encounters in this game, even though the later parts do get pretty fucked up for me.
First of all, of course, this game's aesthetic is on point. The music is fucking great and very memorable, and the background art is gorgeous, fits the music perfectly. I still don't understand the Alien level ???? but the music there is good too at least.
I think the old 2D bmup combat clicked because the game is a lot simpler than SOR4 and not way fucking hard like Final Fight. The enemies are pretty well defined in what they do, although I do wish some of them did it more (Donovan types often don't antiair in this, feels like they do it 100% of the time in 4). There's a lot of cool encounters in this game, even though the later parts do get pretty fucked up for me.
2003
I think this really solidifies that i absolutely do not like anything about how Kamiya directs his games.
Its Sekiro in Star Wars.
It also runs like complete shit, which is very bad in a game about precisely timing parries.
I really liked having the bars to show exactly what is being changed in difficulty selection, but it seemed SO OBVIOUS to have a custom setting, and there isnt one. Which actually fucking sucks cause I want the parry timing and enemy aggression of Grandmaster but want the enemy damage of Master. Dying in one hit is just shit, but Master is definitely more boring. Would be easy if it wasnt also constantly stuttering.
It overall feels very amateurish in gameplay and storywise the characters are wholly uncharismatic and very boring. The usual jedi story going on.
It also runs like complete shit, which is very bad in a game about precisely timing parries.
I really liked having the bars to show exactly what is being changed in difficulty selection, but it seemed SO OBVIOUS to have a custom setting, and there isnt one. Which actually fucking sucks cause I want the parry timing and enemy aggression of Grandmaster but want the enemy damage of Master. Dying in one hit is just shit, but Master is definitely more boring. Would be easy if it wasnt also constantly stuttering.
It overall feels very amateurish in gameplay and storywise the characters are wholly uncharismatic and very boring. The usual jedi story going on.
2020
Ultrakill succeeds in evoking the same feeling of pure adrenaline rush that I also get with Doom Eternal, but fails to make the enemies or weapons unique and interesting to use.
For example, the shotgun can basically only shoot to heal or make an explosion for cc and dmg. But there's like 3 different ways to do that and they dont feel at all meaningfully different. Then you also get the red railgun which is that again but on a big cd. It just feels like there's 50 different ways to do 3 things.
For example, the shotgun can basically only shoot to heal or make an explosion for cc and dmg. But there's like 3 different ways to do that and they dont feel at all meaningfully different. Then you also get the red railgun which is that again but on a big cd. It just feels like there's 50 different ways to do 3 things.
2011
Would be nice as a simple comfy strategy game, but the enemy ai in battles is dead simple and the game feels like it barely functions half the time
Dark Souls has strokes of brilliance, Ornstein and Smough is now one of my favourite boss fights ever, remembering how to navigate the world is a fun puzzle in a would-be-otherwise mindless game, and Undead Burg is a great starting area.
Dark Souls also spends many hours being absolutely terrible, having no respect for its player's time, and feeling wholly unplaytested.
The start of the game is definitely its strongest run, Undead Burg is a treat to move through and learn the way around, and I was having a good time up until Capra Demon. The combination of a boss that can easily kill you in the first few seconds until you have spent the time and runs to learn how to deal with the dogs, along with an either long or tedious run back is a horrible experience. Which highlights why I don't think the runs back to bosses after losing to them works. Most runs back consist of either taking some elevator or running a long distance without much conflict, or running past a whole load of enemies as you scootch your way through the fog door with their attacks swinging through you. I don't see how either is engaging gameplay. In the case of the Capra Demon fight, it only served to make the experience more tedious, drawn out, and frustrating. I did not feel like my time was being valued at any point running back to a fog door in this game. I understand the concept behind having to run back to the boss, but at least for anyone who can make it through the basic enemies and levels but has yet to learn the boss, I think its a complete failure and only serves to waste your time.
One of the reasons why Undead Burg works well for me is how long you stay in it, and have to keep moving through it in different ways to go to other places. This, I feel, is not really a factor for most areas in the game. Areas like Blighttown, Depths, and The Catacombs feel more like highways that you move through once or twice to get to the new area, especially after the Lordvessel makes their endpoints accessible. I wasn't really able to get any idea of Blightowns layout since I just made one easy descend, killed the boss, and then made one easier ascend. To go through Blightown again would be the same experience as my first time through, even though I had only seen it for the first time like two days ago. I wish these areas had reasons to go back to them. Darkroot Garden is seems like it would be a similar sort of area, but since I had to go there three separate times I've actually connected with it.
I can only really say that I like maybe three bosses in this game. Most everything dies too quickly and has nothing scary about their moveset to ever really give that much of a challenge. I cant say that most fights are more engaging than Asylum Demon (hell they literally copy this boss twice !,) and some feel like they flat out don't work and were never playtested. I can see Qualaag's slashes whiffing when you're close just another tutorial for staying close to the enemy being good, but why the hell does literally every attack of Sif miss? I can't imagine From testing this boss, getting in range to hit him, having every attack of his miss, and then feeling complete in their work. Far too much of this game is complete jank bullshit for me to really engage with it (like getting grabbed by Gaping Dragon without him ever playing any sort of attack animation).
There are simply not enough redeeming factors for this game to make the slog that it was worthwhile beyond zeitgeist.
Dark Souls also spends many hours being absolutely terrible, having no respect for its player's time, and feeling wholly unplaytested.
The start of the game is definitely its strongest run, Undead Burg is a treat to move through and learn the way around, and I was having a good time up until Capra Demon. The combination of a boss that can easily kill you in the first few seconds until you have spent the time and runs to learn how to deal with the dogs, along with an either long or tedious run back is a horrible experience. Which highlights why I don't think the runs back to bosses after losing to them works. Most runs back consist of either taking some elevator or running a long distance without much conflict, or running past a whole load of enemies as you scootch your way through the fog door with their attacks swinging through you. I don't see how either is engaging gameplay. In the case of the Capra Demon fight, it only served to make the experience more tedious, drawn out, and frustrating. I did not feel like my time was being valued at any point running back to a fog door in this game. I understand the concept behind having to run back to the boss, but at least for anyone who can make it through the basic enemies and levels but has yet to learn the boss, I think its a complete failure and only serves to waste your time.
One of the reasons why Undead Burg works well for me is how long you stay in it, and have to keep moving through it in different ways to go to other places. This, I feel, is not really a factor for most areas in the game. Areas like Blighttown, Depths, and The Catacombs feel more like highways that you move through once or twice to get to the new area, especially after the Lordvessel makes their endpoints accessible. I wasn't really able to get any idea of Blightowns layout since I just made one easy descend, killed the boss, and then made one easier ascend. To go through Blightown again would be the same experience as my first time through, even though I had only seen it for the first time like two days ago. I wish these areas had reasons to go back to them. Darkroot Garden is seems like it would be a similar sort of area, but since I had to go there three separate times I've actually connected with it.
I can only really say that I like maybe three bosses in this game. Most everything dies too quickly and has nothing scary about their moveset to ever really give that much of a challenge. I cant say that most fights are more engaging than Asylum Demon (hell they literally copy this boss twice !,) and some feel like they flat out don't work and were never playtested. I can see Qualaag's slashes whiffing when you're close just another tutorial for staying close to the enemy being good, but why the hell does literally every attack of Sif miss? I can't imagine From testing this boss, getting in range to hit him, having every attack of his miss, and then feeling complete in their work. Far too much of this game is complete jank bullshit for me to really engage with it (like getting grabbed by Gaping Dragon without him ever playing any sort of attack animation).
There are simply not enough redeeming factors for this game to make the slog that it was worthwhile beyond zeitgeist.
I wish i had bad enough taste to fuel a contrarian love for this game
Probably the most potent power fantasy ive played. I love you Mobius 8
1998
thats a nice start but fuck this gets infuriating.
2016
suda owes me 50k
chico's tapes
shooting and reloading to the beat feels good, but theres no real staying power to this game, and as soon as you get the ability to fly its already won for you, even on hard. dumb fun for a few hours at least. have killed most bosses in the game too quickly to even know what their attacks are. the roguelike elements are obviously taken mostly from isaac.
worth like 5 bucks id say
worth like 5 bucks id say
1998
The presentation in this game is phenominal; the intro, the menus, the music, its all amazing. The driving on the other hand is nothing special and kinda boring, and theres only about 4-5 stages to play on. Worth trying for seeing how stylish it is but not something I'm too hype to try and beat.
Assassin's Creed Unity offers the best stealth in the series, one of the best settings, very pretty visuals, and a parkour system that feels better for those that havent gotten into the tech of the earlier games. Its also a broken mess still, and the story is not well regarded. Co-op stealth is something really special, and makes it possible to work through all the many bugs and glitches that bring the game down. If there were not these setbacks, I'd put this closer to an 8/10, but when you throw a smoke bomb and run in, only for the smoke to have just disappeared from existence and not actually throw, you dont have as good a time as you wish.
I'd say this game is worth trying out, especially if you have a friend to run the co-op missions with.
I'd say this game is worth trying out, especially if you have a friend to run the co-op missions with.
I really wasn't expecting to dislike this game as much as I do, I thought I'd really like it in fact. But the best I can say about this game is that its got good music, there are some funny memes, and the combat is ok if you completely turn your brain off. Now for the bad.
The combat is boring and has zero depth to it. You hit light and heavy in the random order that feels good to you in that second and just mash the analog stick in the direction of the enemy whenever you do a light so you can parry them. The only thing that changes this is when you need to do the zandatsu or when the enemy does a yellow grab. The problem is, there are like 2 whole basic enemies in the game that do the yellow grab and theyre never placed well with other enemies to actually force that attack on you when youre focusing on parrying fodder. In a 1v1 with them its far too easy to react to and poses a threat only while you dont understand exactly how the dodge attack works. Ultimately every enemy in the game is boring and not different enough from eachother to make how you deal with them any different. You just mash and parry or mash and dodge. The zandatsu is just a flashy slash thing that has nothing to it except requiring you to slash a little more precisely during some boss fights, enemy spines are easy enough to get that they aren't actually a factor. Speaking of bosses, they range from ok (Blade Wolf) to godawful annoyances (Monsoon). Sam's boss fight was an incredible letdown and anticlimax, its the easiest fight in the game and its over in 2 seconds. I can understand there being thematic reasoning for it but its still a shame. The final boss Senator Armstrong has good stuff surrounding him but the fight itself is not fun. The cutscenes associated with him are fun and memorable, but fighting him was not particularly fun.
I honestly just don't see what the game has going for it unless you can completely ignore how boring the combat is and just wanna see the robot man say meme. Perhaps someone who's played MGS2 can find the story interesting enough to justify it.
The combat is boring and has zero depth to it. You hit light and heavy in the random order that feels good to you in that second and just mash the analog stick in the direction of the enemy whenever you do a light so you can parry them. The only thing that changes this is when you need to do the zandatsu or when the enemy does a yellow grab. The problem is, there are like 2 whole basic enemies in the game that do the yellow grab and theyre never placed well with other enemies to actually force that attack on you when youre focusing on parrying fodder. In a 1v1 with them its far too easy to react to and poses a threat only while you dont understand exactly how the dodge attack works. Ultimately every enemy in the game is boring and not different enough from eachother to make how you deal with them any different. You just mash and parry or mash and dodge. The zandatsu is just a flashy slash thing that has nothing to it except requiring you to slash a little more precisely during some boss fights, enemy spines are easy enough to get that they aren't actually a factor. Speaking of bosses, they range from ok (Blade Wolf) to godawful annoyances (Monsoon). Sam's boss fight was an incredible letdown and anticlimax, its the easiest fight in the game and its over in 2 seconds. I can understand there being thematic reasoning for it but its still a shame. The final boss Senator Armstrong has good stuff surrounding him but the fight itself is not fun. The cutscenes associated with him are fun and memorable, but fighting him was not particularly fun.
I honestly just don't see what the game has going for it unless you can completely ignore how boring the combat is and just wanna see the robot man say meme. Perhaps someone who's played MGS2 can find the story interesting enough to justify it.