NVPlays
13 reviews liked by NVPlays
Truly one of the greatest action RPGs ever made. They nailed the combat, the exploration, the story…all of it is incredible. Cannot recommend enough!
Enjoyable little story which had some interesting moments. Enemy variation was great and I liked the unique bosses. If anything, this was a perfect excuse to play around more with the combat.
Final Fantasy XVI
2023
I can’t believe I was almost convinced not to play this game. This was my first true taste of a full Final Fantasy game and it was incredible. Gameplay is the most important thing to me and thankfully the combat was fluid and extremely fun. The more eikon abilities provided, the better it got. Loved that we continued to get new abilities throughout the entire game. Bosses were a clear highlight and I looked forward to each and every one. These were a spectacle and each one felt unique and it was stunning watching them come to life. I don’t usually like time trials, but doing them for the trophy taught me new ways of utilizing the differing eikons. My only issue which is a personal one is the side quests. Despite many of them leading to bigger and better outcomes, getting through the early ones was a drag. The layouts were identical and the stories uninteresting. They did get better in the second half, but I do wish the early ones were better.
I’ve been excited for this game since the minute I put down my controller after finishing the remaster and somehow it was worth the wait. They blended the stories for Miles and Peter perfectly and I loved exploring the city as both of them. The gameplay is genuine perfection. It feels so smooth and every move/ability feels incredible. I enjoyed the entire ride and can’t wait to see what Insomniac does next.
God of War
2018
This game is really good! Although it never fully captured my attention, the story was good enough to have me continuously coming back to it. As of late I haven’t been too fond of story driven games so that means a lot. The combat is for sure the weakest part of the game but it’s decent enough to get you through the amazing journey/story this game tells. The presentation and graphics of GoW are unmatched. Looking forward to seeing how the sequel (hopefully) pushes the envelope further
Tremendous
This review contains spoilers
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is another masterpiece by the geniuses at Monolithsoft. Easily the most refined gameplay experience in the series to date, all the while still being extremely customizable and powerful.
The gameplay and exploration are top-notch, with little secrets and hidden areas everywhere. It's always satisfying to explore since you get experience for every location and landmark you find. One thing I wish they added was showing quest-related collectibles on the map, much like they added to Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition. Sometimes it can be a pain, but it's usually not too bad.
The story is where I think this game suffers a bit. Not to say it's a bad story, but it takes a while to get going and understand the motivations, and then it comes to an unsatisfying close. The main driver for the story, from what I gather, is to "change the future", not only for the main cast, but future generations as well (also breaking the cycle of rebirth). But for some reason the game comes so close, but falls short of...actually showing what it is that the main cast has been working towards. Why don't we actually get to see the future they have been working so hard to protect? Why do the main characters get separated at the end? The game basically leads you to believe that Noah and Mio will be together forever, only for them to be apart. Maybe it's something I missed, but it wasn't the satisfying conclusion I was expecting. Maybe all will be cleared in the story DLC.
Also, the characters. I like that we get all six main characters from the very beginning. They did a great job of showing how their relationships evolve over the course of the story. This comes to a head in Chapter 5, when all hope is seemingly lost and Mio was set to be killed. The emotion there is truly unmatched, and in my mind is one of the best scenes I've ever seen in a game.
Really can't wait to see what the story DLC will do to clean up some of the rougher edges of the story here. The ending of XC3 definitely eluded to a lot to come!
The gameplay and exploration are top-notch, with little secrets and hidden areas everywhere. It's always satisfying to explore since you get experience for every location and landmark you find. One thing I wish they added was showing quest-related collectibles on the map, much like they added to Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition. Sometimes it can be a pain, but it's usually not too bad.
The story is where I think this game suffers a bit. Not to say it's a bad story, but it takes a while to get going and understand the motivations, and then it comes to an unsatisfying close. The main driver for the story, from what I gather, is to "change the future", not only for the main cast, but future generations as well (also breaking the cycle of rebirth). But for some reason the game comes so close, but falls short of...actually showing what it is that the main cast has been working towards. Why don't we actually get to see the future they have been working so hard to protect? Why do the main characters get separated at the end? The game basically leads you to believe that Noah and Mio will be together forever, only for them to be apart. Maybe it's something I missed, but it wasn't the satisfying conclusion I was expecting. Maybe all will be cleared in the story DLC.
Also, the characters. I like that we get all six main characters from the very beginning. They did a great job of showing how their relationships evolve over the course of the story. This comes to a head in Chapter 5, when all hope is seemingly lost and Mio was set to be killed. The emotion there is truly unmatched, and in my mind is one of the best scenes I've ever seen in a game.
Really can't wait to see what the story DLC will do to clean up some of the rougher edges of the story here. The ending of XC3 definitely eluded to a lot to come!
Hi-Fi Rush
2023
What a game! Hi-Fi Rush is a short, linear action game, aka my type of video game. The cast, combat, music, platforming and level design is perfect. The cast interactions are so charming and the dialogue fits the pleasing to look at art style perfectly. The story feels like a cartoon which I love. The platforming is consistently great and constantly introduces new mechanics to keep itself fresh. The levels also stay fresh as every level has a different theme. The combat is the strength of this game. The rhythm aspect of the combat is mostly optional, but I don’t recommend ignoring the beat. My only issue with this game is the lack of a lot enemy variety but the game is so short it almost isn’t noticeable. Outside of that Hi-Fi Rush is masterful. Tango Gameworks shadow dropped an all timer 💯
Super Mario 3D World
2021
Hardest game of all time
Bayonetta 3
2022
Really enjoyed the combat, and experimenting with all of the new weapons and the combos they have. The visuals and performance are great for Switch, and the music is amazing as always. I have two issues with the game. First issue being the story, it was pretty bad. I know you don't play these games for the story but damn it's pretty bad. It's a very generic multiverse story, and it leaves a lot to be desired. Second issue is that the game is filled with a ton of extra things that get in the way of combat, like the side-scrolling Jeanne levels, or the giant battles, rhythm and shooter segments, it's just too much. I play these games for the satisfying action and learning combos, but all of the extra stuff gets in the way. Plus the story is pretty bad, so that didn't really motivate me to keep going. I mainly stayed for the interesting characters, amazing music, and the fun combat.