Every time I give a mixed rating. My heart feels heavy. Since I like to highlight what works well, and what doesn't, critique, offer suggestions, and move on. Wartales(WT) is passable for me. After struggling to play for two months since the launch in April of this year. But, I wanted to see as much as I could. Because I love supporting indies and especially if they have role-playing elements. After over forty-five hours I decided it was time to review WT before my feelings soured further.

A medieval low fantasy tactical RPG with sandbox gameplay. As someone who loves medieval and low fantasy settings, this was a no-brainer to watch out for. And I’ve been watching the developers work closely ever since. Avidly reading patch notes, whooping in delight when roadmaps appear and progress is made. Waiting until the final day when the official release arrives.

First let's start on what WT is about, then move on to the critique or what I call my mixed feelings. There is no central story from which your company of mercenaries must follow throughout your journey. Instead, you complete scenarios in each region of which there are six to explore, fight, trade, and even play detective. Upon finishing, some are related to a scenario, the progress bar in the top left corner will fill up until you reach a hundred where you can partake in the final province mission before you move on to another place. Times will vary to accomplish your goals. In my experience, they can range from eight to twelve hours to thoroughly comb one sector with a majority of sidequests done. And I had already progressed past four of them. Was one-third of the way done on my fifth before I couldn’t take it anymore.

The main meat here holding up a chunk of your time is the combat portion. Turn-based emerges when you encounter a hostile in the overworld. Honestly reminds me of Divinity: Original Sin(D: OS) a lot since you can maneuver your party members in any direction. Not a grid or hex-based. Use abilities as long as you have valor points. Points you can earn every time you rest. These don’t recharge every fight, so be careful utilizing them. However, there are skills you can attain to increase temporary valor points to mitigate the loss. One of the cool things you can do is switch any weapon/shield that can grant you new toys to play around with. I could switch from a greatsword that allows me to hit multiple enemies in a 160-degree radius in front of me. Then switch to a different sword allowing my character to charge forth through multiple bandits caught unaware. Swap my shield to inflict a debuff causing a cannibal to be more susceptible to damage and more. I appreciate this since it makes equipment management useful in combat(You need to unlock the skill later, you cannot switch weapons early on). Entrusting the player to carefully manage new powerful weapons containing lackluster effects. Old weapons with cool spell sets that do a bit less damage. And while you cannot use the environment to your advantage akin to D: OS. The underhandedness of Wartales comes into play here. Regarding debuffs. Can’t wreck through a baddie's health or armor? Use poison to whittle down their health(HP). Stack that up for more damage. Still not enough? Here’s bleeding taking off “X” percent of their maximum HP. Burn them too. And watch how the effect can spread to nearby guards in close range and yourself if you’re close enough. And if that’s not enough there is even corrosion and disarming foes too! I haven’t gone through the whole list because each class has its skill tree unique to them.

An acceptable amount of class variety here. In spears, swords, hammers, axe, bows, arrows, daggers, and animals, suffice it to say there is a varied amount of choices you can pick and specialize your companions. I had fun recruiting new troops and setting them up with new equipment I had on hand after defeating an annoying private army. A nice way to build up your mercenary crew. Interestingly enough, I don’t believe there is a limit. I've read other reviews noting bigger sizes. I was able to manage over twenty units. Twelve are battle-ready, while the rest such as my ponies and prisoners cannot fight. So overwhelming odds against a lone soul or two to four is well immensely satisfying to decimate. Didn’t have any issues paying wages and feeding them either. I suspect a larger group could be a hassle.

You mainly find your busy work to do upon entering a tavern and talking to an emissary near a bounty board. From there you can accept contracts to eliminate a troublesome group, destroy a rat infestation, and even find tombs(these are underground dungeons). These contracts, if you can excuse the radiant missions(Basically filler and repeat again and again) are decent in that some of them you come across as you traverse the big overworld. See a merchant under attack, help a family solve a murder, find the missing person, hunt down a group who terrorized a village, etc. Side content, for the most part, is all right, since they're just a bit below the quality of the main quests for a scenario.

Nonetheless, let’s move on to my critique. Not a positive or a negative. But for the sake of transparency, I’m noting them down. Suggestions in the end parts.

Experience(EXP) contribution and how that is earned needs a major overhaul. Early on, leveling up your troops is not a big issue. It starts to become a bigger problem as you head to the middle portion and then final parts. If I could sum it up in one word. Grindy. The max, as far as I know, is twelve. I was only able to reach level eight for a small portion of my crew while the rest were in the six to seven range. And facing off hostiles in the eighth to ninth resulted in battles being time-consuming averaging out to 15-30 min engagements, each time I encountered a sizable group against my party. Why does it take a while man? Do you not have the best equipment? Trust me, when I say my crew is built comparable to a tank capable of withstanding the hardest of blows. And strong enough to deal devastating damage, eliminating them swiftly with one guy. Hell, I've even used my min-maxing skills to maximize every centimeter of damage at my company’s disposal to inch my way to victory so I would say I was very prepared. I was not prepared to struggle on the grind. I had to download a half-EXP mod on the Nexus to circumvent the horrible grind I saw every time. Only used it after the 3rd region. For reference. The amount to go from six to seven is 2600. And from eight to nine you require 4200. You can imagine the rest as you climb to twelve. Having to start from zero and reach the next tier starting from seven to eight. 3500. Let’s do the math. Winning rewards 50 -/+ EXP. During endgame 50~. Still has the same payout. Hold on, WHAT THE F$#%. Do you expect me to grind to the seventh!? For each of my companions?! Do you know how many engagements that will take? 70! Now multiply that number by the average it takes to complete one. 15-30 min. 1050 minutes to 2100 minutes which if converted to hours comes out to 17.5 - 35! You can forget about me grinding past the ninth! These numbers are an average based on how many times I batted heads versus evil people in every region. They should not be inferred as everyone’s experience of WT. They could vary. I also changed the difficulty to the lowest so I'm not bothered with deep engagements. Facing off a group for an extended period of time runs the risk of potentially losing a valuable unit you trained up until now. Lose one? Recruit another fella starting from the lowest tier level. If your party is at eight but a majority are at six then hello newbie six. There is no rewind mechanic if your unit dies. They died? Ya gotta bury them. Or eat them for one food.

Oddly enough, I’m reminded of my time playing Xenosaga Episode 2. Due to similar lengthy fights. The image is one of the longer battles. Do you want to know the average there? Five to fifteen minutes for an average brawl past the midportion. And boss skirmishes can easily double or bloom more...Sighs

Personally dislike using mods since I prefer to expose myself to what vanilla content there is to offer. I had to break my rule to see if it can help lessen my frustration. Providing my troops a better chance. Ultimately the mod is a bandaid to the underlying problem of how EXP is earned. I think offering up more substantial rewards for side/main content and during your professions(I'll touch on this later) would help lessen the grind as well as provide a better outlet than the default method.

I feel auto-battle should be available to ease turn-based encounters. And not as a requirement to face each mob. At least an option to auto-complete for randoms you face in the overworld. Thereby lessening the tedium of entering a clash with some schmuck who somehow concludes they can face my hardcore mercenary company? An optional toggle in the settings you can check off or on depending on your preference. Hostile mobs? Auto-battle is activated. Turn-based for the side/main stuff. This way you don’t have to spend a lot of time battling and can do whatever you want such as fishing. Yes, there is fishing here and a host of other activities you can do for example lockpicking. There are more than eight professions to mold your members. Of course, they start at a newbie tier before they can become masters. So if you want to construct one of your companions as a thief you can do that. Cook? Essential. Woodcutter? Yup! Bard sure! Miner, yes, please! Necessary for my blacksmithing job. No problem. Alchemist too? Wow, what is this Witcher? Sign me up!

The user interface especially when hitting a button on your keyboard(Alt) highlighted items of interest & humans. Forming a barely noticeable outline. Alternatively, an option to include a more player-friendly outline should exist to prevent players from having to squint too hard. Therefore, allowing players to find anything else in the environment. Finding any secrets out in the overworld or inside corridors. I had to spend the majority of my time swiping my mouse left and right and up and down to double-check that I didn’t miss anything.

For some reason, I had stutter issues in combat and outside. Didn’t impact me in a major capacity. Occurred uncommonly in my playthrough as well as in random instances during traversal in the overworld. More time in the oven to be optimized some more to spawn smoother playthroughs. And I tested this with lower settings on my computer as well to see if that made a difference. Nope, still the same. So beware of that. Thankfully no bugs or glitches are here.

Last but not least, a more central story would be appreciated to hook players more into worldbuilding. Could be better and more cohesive. Despite the murders, cannibalism, private army vs. government, politics, factions and backstabbing. A harsh gritty adventure awaits. If only the developers linked me closer to the stories told by the people living in this harsh gritty world. Generate heavier incentives, so players care more for the alchemist nearby whose family member was kidnapped. Oh, the barkeeper is friends with the one who was kidnapped. Time to save them! Oh, you helped the mayor in the 1st region? Nice! They’re a good friend of mine. Why back in my day, we were young whipper snappers… And so forth to link the main/side stuff combined. Further meaningful content alongside memorable and fleshed-out characters. NPCs and missions are scattered, offering up little cultural significance both in the history of the world and the characters living in it. And while I was satisfied for my first fifteen hours, the majority and rest of my time left me in a state that leaves me befuddled.

I am left sighing at the end of the day due to a multitude of factors. A combat system that seems fine in the beginning except marred by troubled enemy encounters that can reach long engagements. Fatiguing the player and forcing them to grind a lot to stand a better chance versus the mid to endgame elites. An unoptimized product prone to stutters, you may come across and a user interface has to be refined to outline interesting objects/people. In need of a central plot to connect all scenarios and link to flesh out the worldbuilding and parties' efforts more. Thereby, producing a difficult item to recommend. Looking back on the patch notes I think they developed each region as a checklist. Focusing on adding new regions, connecting them superficially, and presenting a foggy vision that isn't as clear as it remains as a list of tasks to do and finish at your leisure. Full of systems and mechanics focusing on breadth instead of depth on gameplay and not on the finer details of what I mentioned earlier to hold everything in an interconnected manner. Creating a sort of mix of fulfilling and unfulfilling content to explore beyond the surface level. A mile wide, an inch deep example.

There is potential here. I can see it. Shiro Games could improve with patches. However, I cannot recommend Wartales in good conscience. I can only offer a grimace and a read/watch more label to ensure your purchase is solid. To those who enjoyed WT, I salute your dedication to playing through everything. Sadly I can’t bring myself to say I enjoyed it to a degree. I find myself shaking my head rather than nodding since I had plenty of big flaws rather than full of praise.

6/10

Edit: Removed, added, clarified some text to explain my thoughts better and made it a bit less negative. 99% of review still intact.

To me, Katamari Damacy is the margherita pizza of video games. It's one of the simplest yet most innately fulfilling concepts in the medium: roll up things with your ball to become big to roll up more things. While this description is accurate however, it doesn't do justice towards the game's underlying complexity. Committal tank controls combined with the seemingly strewn about yet carefully placed objects of varying sizes means that Katamari forces players to consider both the micro and macro design which the game effortlessly excels at. The player must weave in and out of clusters of increasingly large objects, building up their sphere while also mapping out the optimal paths (snagging relevant objects while factoring in how their shapes, once collected, will alter the roll) and keeping in mind how larger objects must be avoided at first and later consumed in the growing mass as the world appears to shrinks around you. For this reason, I think it's not just a simple power fantasy, and instead more closely resembles pure obstacle escalation. Katamari Damacy really drills in the sense of player progression from how the world unfolds from sense of scale (which is why it gets away with only three distinct stages) and even seemingly inverts its own concepts with side stages that force you to avoid smaller themed objects just to get your katamari to the perfect size for the ultimate outcome: the reward is made that much more gratifying with just a bit of restraint.

This all works seamlessly because Katamari is the king of player feedback. It can certainly feel frustrating at first, getting tossed around like fireworks by these moving objects that dwarf you, but the game knows exactly how to communicate your inherent progress. As your ball exponentially swells, these moving objects go from sending you flying, to lacking any significant impact upon contact, to eventually spotting the player and running away from the growing catastrophe. There's nothing more viscerally satisfying than coming back to mobile obstacles that were pushing you around and flattening them, hearing their cry as they too become stuck in the jumbled mess of rolling flotsam while the King of the Cosmos quips in the background. Simply put, the concept never outstays its welcome.

Going back to the opening metaphor, it requires much finesse to make all these different concepts sing together with little friction in a video game, this fusion of audio-visual presentation and player input. That said, to successfully disguise its intricate design and depth beneath its far-reaching artistic vision and simple yet realized gameplay mechanics takes a master's touch. Katamari Damacy does not try to explain why it works or how it succeeds, because it simply is, and it just does. Perhaps I've moved onto greater and grander things since that have built off of this, but I have to admit that sometimes, you just can't beat the basics in life. It's always worth going back for a slice or two every now and then, just to remind yourself that this is why video games exist in the first place: because underneath all this talk of focus and cohesion, video games are just goddamn fun.

Also, it's fantastic hangover food for you and your buddies after a long night, when they come calling you for content and suddenly it's 3 AM in a packed Discord call where everyone is wailing "YOU'REEEEE LONNEEELLLY ROLLING STARRRR" as this growing, screaming ball of flailing limbs bounces helplessly about for yet another awry creation. Let the good times roll.

While a sturdy experience that only just overstays its welcome, Unpacking lost a bit of wind in its sails for me when I read that it was a puzzle game only after downloading it - I really think that confining the general amount of space in each apartment as much as the devs do but still requiring as strict a placement guide for 'solving' each of the levels (which is what each of these snippets of environmental storytelling are once we establish that they're puzzles - they can't just be apartments with this requirement) keeps the game from really telling an interesting emergent narrative about how well our PC is adapting to the frequent resituations she is forced through; is there a harmony with each displacement or do things slowly fall apart? That is the question I wanted explored. Instead, getting a neat mechanical narrative backed by a lackadaisical pace was a worthwhile break from Elden Ring but ultimately a bit too teflon to really compel in any way that felt as though inhabiting each space was a legitimate participation.

Also just let me stack the tampons a bit higher under the counter! You're telling me that they only go, at most, two boxes high? Ridiculous.

A return to form for Rain Games. While World to the West stretched its exploration to the limits of tedium, with tons of tiring backtracking inbetween and a lack of a satisfying finish to tie things up, Teslagrad 2 feels much more like the true successor to the original metroidvania puzzle platformer thanks to its snugly contained world and understated narrative. This time however, there's a lot more depth to the package thanks to the emphasis on movement mechanics. The game does a great job wordlessly demonstrating all the different uses of each unlockable ability through classic obstacle escalation (starting with simple polarized magnets, then introducing polarity tunnels, ziplines, throwable magnetic blocks, and much more), throwing the player into a variety of different situations that facilitate the usage of these different tools. As a result, it feels less like trial and error and more like a constant stream of progression. Furthermore, it's great at keying you in on the multifaceted nature of your unlocks, such as being able to use the magnetized throwing axe as both a door destructor and as a pivot that you can launch yourself off of to reach new heights. The highlight here is the slide tackle, which once unlocked, allows you to quickly traverse boost rails and loops/valleys to quickly shoot yourself into the air or across vast expanses. It's not afraid to lean into this momentum-focused exploration either, with some optional time trials that unlock even more hidden abilities like directional blink and double jump that certainly aren't necessary to clear the base game, but become super useful if you're just looking to fly through the environment and find every hidden battery.

There's only a few minor complaints this time around. Firstly, there's no fast travel, so backtracking upwards after falling a bit can take a bit more time due to less of an emphasis regarding vertical movement potential. This is at least mitigated thanks to all the secret tunnels, waterfalls (allowing quick blinking through water), and ziplines that can be activated to quickly backtrack this seemingly expansive world while stumbling upon secrets along the way. Secondly, boss fights have been mostly improved with the addition of shield generations before each fight, allowing you to take a second hit (so there's a bit more leeway, giving you more time to adapt to boss strategies on the fly), though the fights are still mostly quite static (dodge a wave of attacks and strike back, rinse and repeat) and require a lot more waiting than anything else. Finally, the slide tackle and the ground-pound are mapped to the same key, which can make momentum conservation a little more tricky when you're trying to retain your sliding state but suddenly grind to a halt and shoot downwards once there's enough height between you and the ground. I did eventually get used to this, but it would have been nice if there were any ability to separate the two actions from the same input and allow for separate rebinds.

Regardless, this definitely feels like a step forward from the original Teslagrad, which felt somewhat unassuming and at times felt a bit awkward and sluggish given the emphasis on magnetic puzzle solving over platforming in a fairly linear environment. The richly detailed backgrounds and the heavy environmental storytelling via the collectible batteries and various heirlooms in the backdrops further compliment the game's confidence; it's fairly comfortable leaving the player to their own devices and letting them explore the playground at their own pace, with tons of toys to mess around with. It definitely helps that the time trials come with fantastic bonus incentives, and that completing all the trials also unlocks a secret map for scrounging those last pesky batteries, as is the hidden boss that serves as its own reward once you've experienced all that the world has to offer. The price tag may seem steep to some, given that it only took me 6 and a half hours to 100%, but the joy of zipping around the world is more than enough incentive for me to consider a future replay. It's a more than worthy send-off for Lumina's journey that will remain as one of my favorite surprises of 2023, and definitely one of the better metroidvanias I've ever played.

"Trust me"

Been a long time since I played a great first-person shooter(FPS). And to my delight, Titanfall 2 exceeded my expectations beyond ‘great’. To the point, it has solidified into one of my favorite FPS games. Trust me, It’s a titanic achievement and one I feel deserves a review. So here it is.

You play as Jack Cooper. A run-of-the-mill rifleman in the distant future. Where humanity somehow has colonized other worlds and where titans, big hulking mechs you can pilot dominate the battlefield. He has been assigned to learn under a mentor who pilots a titan. However, after training, events spiral out of control and he must now stop a corporation called Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation(IMC) from launching a super weapon that threatens a militia planet called Harmony.

Outgunned, outmatched, and without any nearby allies it’s up to him to turn the tide. And boy does the game detail his journey throughout and whether or not he will succeed. Jack doesn’t start with much, but soon enough he can pilot a titan. A titan with personality and artificial intelligence. And one who can converse with Jack. This is an interesting mix to the FPS formula where usually I’m alone in combating many baddies with some occasional support from my allies. Here we see the bond between Jack and his titan called BT-7274(or BT for short) emerge and man it is one of the strongest points the game has to offer. Jack is young, inexperienced, and most of all doesn’t know how to pilot a Titan. And yet BT has no problem showing him the ropes. Awesome to see and integrated, not half-baked either since there are plenty of moments where BT will mentor and guide Jack as they go up against the IMC. Providing a fascinating buddy companion who can think for themselves while allowing you to pilot them and work together to eliminate hostiles.

Super thumbs up on the gameplay. Providing a mirror's edge-esque ability to wall run and jump innately. Keeping the momentum fresh and not awkward. It feels good to go between walls again and again while evading enemy fire. And the checkpoint system here is very balanced, so you don’t lose a lot of progress going from one area to the next upon death. Level-wise it's linear, With areas to explore. Not always corridors either. There’s plenty of open space to explore here. And even better when the game will throw a puzzle here and there to keep the pace ongoing. I can hide using an innate stealth camo. And kill any enemies from behind. Jump into my titan and mow down enemies and seamlessly jump out and fight baddies without my Titan. Level design is very varied and I didn’t see much copy-paste design. Interesting biomes to see, fight and traverse, and enough to tinker your brain with puzzle segments and more. It doesn’t bedazzle us with explosions and more explosions without context. There is motive and purpose here as you progress through the plot to stopping the IMC.

Frenetic, yet balanced. This is how I’d describe the gameplay formula as you blaze your way through new areas. There are plenty of weapons scattered throughout the levels and I feel the game structures the weapon placement pretty well. There’s enough to be varied and quite a lot of grenades to choose from as well. So I didn’t have trouble picking new weaponry or looting ammo. If anything, the weapon diversity is included when you pilot a titan. With their own unique abilities equipped. Some can project a shield to reflect enemy fire. Launch multiple rockets. Place mines on a grid, launch a fire salvo or lay pound the ground and set the ground on fire in a vertical direction to burn soldiers. Each time you pick up a new weapon for BT, you can choose from more than five different weapon load-outs. Each with their own abilities attached and unique ultimate abilities too. Of course, you don’t unlock them all early on. You have to progress through the game to earn it.

I constantly used different titan weaponry load-outs as I fought baddies. You’ll use them extensively since you can’t just mow down enemies inside a titan all day. And its incredibly boring using the same old weapon again and again. So I really love the fact you can switch to different load-outs you have available. There are fights with other larger enemies… So I made good use of which weapon and abilities I needed to combat them. I found those battles to be cool and enjoyed them thoroughly since each one offers a different combat advantage from the other enemies. Not going to say any more on that though. Best to experience it blind in my opinion. One last thing before I delve into my critique.

There is an aspect introduced part way, which elevated the game further in my eyes. It’s done in a way that feels natural and became one of my favorite moments. I want to gush about it more, but I don’t want to keep this review longer than intended.

Now, my mixed feelings.

I kind of wish the campaign was longer. I clocked in at just a little over five hours and every moment was savored throughout the game. I feel just a bit more length could’ve propelled the stronger points to greater heights and explored a deeper sense of world-building in the sense of who and what kind of military are we siding with at the beginning of the game and throughout. Titans history. How they function, how they came to be, their combat effectiveness, and any historical significance regarding major/minor battles in history. Jack Cooper’s background and more. We don’t learn much about him really in his past, his relationships with anyone he knows from familial to friends he made in the past. There are audio logs throughout the game, and I did listen to them. They provide extra detail in the world and characters which I appreciate, but still not enough. I think a codex would be a nice addition to learning more about the world and characters here.

While I did appreciate the short campaign nature. The additional missions could've helped let the game breathe so to speak. Granted there are moments, where the pace will let you slow down and breathe, but these moments are few and far in between to truly grasp the world here and the main plot. I feel Titanfall 2 fails in this aspect to immerse me further. I would've included cutscenes, to flesh out the main character and BT more. Along with the villains and side-cast as well. Moreover, briefings could be longer to let the player ask questions and delve more into the tactical, and strategic side of things. Thereby, allowing Jack and BT to have more moments to shine throughout the game and show more moments where it's not just fighting.

Additionally, this may be a hot take, but I would like a health bar to see when I'm fighting on foot. I died more on foot than my time piloting a titan. Since I could adjust and know when to retreat. Here the health bar is when the screen would darken with blood on all corners of my screen and would become larger the more Jack is hit. I feel this isn’t a good way to implement a health system. And while I appreciate the immersiveness of it, I think players would be better off with a visible health bar so they can know when to retreat and recover health naturally.

It's weird having these mixed feelings since there were plenty of moments that stood out to me. In areas where it does have strengths and lows where it needs improvement to go from excellent to truly masterful. There is potential here. And I am here for it. If the developers at Respawn Entertainment ever come back to making another Titanfall campaign.

And that’s it! I don't play a lot of FPS. But this one exceeded my expectations a lot. It doesn't boast the sheer scale of Halo. Nor does it reach the banter I love from the Bad Company games. Doesn't even touch the powerful abilities like Crysis. Nor delving deep into psychological themes like Spec Ops: The Line. Instead, Titanfall 2 shines in the sheer mobility of run and gun here. Interesting level design and transitions kept my interest afloat and I haven’t personally seen it done in other FPS games. Even going above and beyond by introducing an aspect I love and the developers deciding “Let’s go wack” only adds to the sheer balls of them to do so. And it just works. Fluidly and organically without throwing my suspense of disbelief and destroying it with a meteor strike. The fact you can pilot a mech and they can talk to you adds so much to the gameplay and level structure. Great bonding moments between man and machine. Easily a must-play for any FPS fan and even those curious to try an first person shooter for the first time.

8/10

I spent a lot of time editing this review with Pangburn and discussing the game's various aspects thoroughly with him. Thanks again for all the help!

I’ll get my major gripes out of the way first: many of them are due to potential areas of improvement in Yakuza 0’s combat. I admit that I’m not a huge fan of the Style System, which felt underwhelming to me because it usually results in spreading myself too thin while locking the best abilities until the very late game. Money is a bit harder to come by in the early game (unless you can consistently win against the roaming enemy Mr Shakedown, who can just as easily bankrupt you upon defeat if you aren’t prepared with the adequate combat upgrades), and each combat style is tuned to adapt for specific situations (i.e. Rush Style is agile and allows Kiryu to quickly slip behind single enemies and bog them down with attacks, while Beast Style is often better at handling multiple foes by picking up large objects and swinging them for effective crowd control). However, a lot of the valuable defining traits for specific styles (i.e. Iron Gut on Beast Style to guard against knife/gun attacks, or Quickstep Blow on Rush Style for quick evasion into powerful attacks) cost significantly more than previous steps (2 million yen for Rank 2 abilities to 30 million yen for the above Rank 3 abilities), so I felt incentivized to invest equally into the different styles instead of trying to specialize. As a result, my characters felt somewhat lacking through most of the game’s runtime, since I had to split my investments equally between the different styles to accommodate for different situations (and thus often lacking crucial abilities). Eventually, the three-style system becomes effectively superseded once your protagonists finish their main side-quest lines and unlock a “true” 4th style reminiscent of prior entries in the series that combines traits of the previous styles, which to me seems to only further highlight how insignificant progress within the style system can feel.

Enemy variety is also rather bland in the Yakuza games (most likely due to the beat-em-up structure), which in turn further homogenizes combat. Most enemies are simple grunts around your size that will charge at you with standard close range attacks. Some will try and stagger you with knives and swords, a few have tasers on hand, and near the late game, a couple of enemies will have guns. While tasers and guns can stunlock you and force you to mash to stand back up, you can just pay for the corresponding expensive upgrade in each style to nullify stuns altogether. As such, I ended up fighting every enemy as if they were functionally the same, and once I purchased the necessary unlocks, tearing through them like paper became a simple task. The only time I had to accommodate for a different enemy type occurred during specific story missions, where sometimes larger grunts with superarmor appear that actively require baiting and punishing. Otherwise, most non-boss combat starts to all blend together, and it never quite hits that sweet spot between mindlessly mashing to take out scores of enemies or getting tossed around like a salad by guns and tasers.

There’s also a weapons system involved in all this, but it feels rather extraneous. There’s never any real need for weapons given the functional homogeneity of most of the enemies. Moreover, many of the combat scenes in the game are placed in locations with plenty of breakable loose objects lying astray that often serve that exact purpose as is. Additionally, weapons have a durability counter, and to repair weapons, you either have to use Repair Kits (which are obtained randomly from Dream Machines) or trek to the local Dragon & Tiger. The actual fees involved are a trifle considering how much money you’ll end up earning, but having to waste tons of time farming Repair Kits from Dream Machines to fix your weapon in the middle of combat or spend time outside of combat walking back and forth from the Dragon & Tiger is a pain in the ass. As such, I basically never bothered with weapons in-game, save for the one quest with Simon where you have to purchase and farm weapons & materials/recipes from Dragon and Tiger (and that is a whole different time-consuming RNG endeavor altogether, though again, it never felt crucial due to how little I used weapons).

If there’s one silver lining to all this, it’s that the combat never truly felt like a significant barrier to me due to its simplicity. It becomes pretty straightforward to cheese and simplify combat once you figure out the easiest strategies for each protagonist. Majima’s Breaker style was fantastic at stunlocking enemies due to how many hitboxes got thrown out in each cycle, and later on, Slugger became my go-to because the extended X-X-X-Y-Y cartwheel combo broke every enemy’s stance and was actually positive on hit in every story fight I encountered on Normal difficulty. Meanwhile, Kiryu’s Beast style quickly became my mainstay; picking up large objects and batting away foes was a bit too overpowered most of the time. As mentioned previously, the quick crowd control options, alongside better defensive tools such as superarmor, provided Beast Style with most of the utility necessary to clear the majority of the game’s standard fights. Thus, even if combat was uninteresting most of the time, it was at least over quickly enough to where I could proceed with little stress, especially when utilizing stamina drink stockpiles for powering through damage.

I’ll give Yakuza 0 some credit though, as a few of the boss fights were engaging enough to leave a mark on me. The Kuze fights are a huge highlight here, considering that his first fight resulted in my first game-over, and it was extremely satisfying performing visibly better with each consecutive fight, especially since a few of these fights are no-frills 1v1 fights that forced me to rely upon more of my toolkit. In particular, I found Kuze and other bosses to be far more aggressive and willing to combo me for larger damage margins and chipping away at my health while I was knocked down. Defensively, they were more up to par too, with much more emphasis placed upon quick dodges and guards to nullify my lighter attacks. The final boss fight for Kiryu takes the cake for my favorite boss encounter overall given how the different phases mirror Kiryu’s own abilities, and it put a smile on my face when I realized that they were willing to pull the exact same stunts that I had also been abusing in combat. In particular, I couldn’t stop smirking during the second phase of the final boss, when my opponent began picking up tables and chairs to slam and hurl at me. It’s a very visceral yet humanizing way to top off the game, and I do wish that more of the other fights had enemies that were willing to resort to similar underhanded tactics to highlight just how dirty the crime world can get.

That said, you’re not really here for the mostly inoffensive combat: the real bulk of the game is everything else, more specifically the various interactions between every other system in the game including the different connecting narratives and side/substories. Perhaps that is the true strength behind the franchise: no one system stands out above the others, and as a result it becomes something much more than the sum of its parts. It may sound like a weakness, and it is a major weakness of many games that try to do everything at once, yet Yakuza 0 escapes this pitfall because everything is seamlessly and inexorably linked.

A lot of this is in part due to the centralization of progression systems within the game. Everything is linked to exorbitant amounts of money, which is not only thematically appropriate but also results in all grinding leading to the same collected pool. Money can be earned through fights, certain sidegames, and most importantly, Kiryu’s real estate and Majima’s cabaret club. In turn, money is used to upgrade your characters (and weapons) for fights, pay for entering certain sidegames as well as upgrading necessary materials for better performance, and paying for properties and staff in your respective side gigs. I was afraid at first that the existence of all these different activities would result in a million different systems that I’d have to memorize and optimize for different purposes, but since they all feed back into the same resource, everything you do ultimately results in some form of progress towards the same end goal, resulting in a much more focused experience than what I had first assumed on a surface level.

To expand upon the two main side stories, Kiryu and Majima must essentially fight rival head honchos of each section of Kamurocho/Sotenbori through the collection of landshare/influence. Kiryu can purchase certain properties in each area to later invest and gain dividends, while Majima can partner with properties to increase Club Sunshine’s fanbase and gain more notoriety during cabaret club nights. As the player gains more control over each sector, more of the background behind the opposing head honchos is revealed until inevitable confrontation occurs, usually in the form of a minigame/street fight for Kiryu and a “club battle” for Majima where Club Sunshine must outcompete its opposition while enduring enemy abilities. These side stories feed right into the overall progression system, since they provide a reliable source of income as well as an incentive to engage in outside activities and explore the two hub areas for staff and valuable resources. As mentioned previously, the definitive and more overpowered 4th fighting style unlocked from completion is a great cherry on top of this whole endeavor.

Aiding all of this are the numerous substories scattered throughout the two main hubs. No side quests are marked immediately on the map with markers when you first start new chapters; instead, you have to unlock them by stumbling into the correct section of Kamurocho/Sotenbori or by engaging in certain activities long enough. Once you do unlock these side quests, actually fulfilling them is simple enough, since blue question box markers will appear on the map showing you where to head next to progress. The result is that exploration in the overworld opens up fairly organically; the player is incentivized to wander about naturally without any pressure to eliminate all the lit up checkpoints on the map from the start. Additionally, side quests often are completed in spurts, and players often have to travel outside of a given quest’s area to activate its next section on the map, meaning that they have a choice of whether or not they want to continue seeing the quest through at that very moment or spend time elsewhere and return to that sidequest later. Finally, completing sidequests can lead to unlocking other related side quests as well as gaining aforementioned helpful staff, properties, and useful items (such as an encounter finder, to track down street fights more easily). Yet, there’s no single substory that feels so important in terms of personal or monetary gain that players have to go out of their way to fulfill all necessary conditions for it. By doing this, Yakuza 0 never imposes and merely suggests; players can complete and explore as much as they wish with little negative externalities if they choose not to go all the way.

To add on the above, the actual activities themselves are designed in a way where there’s just enough depth to allow for significant improvement if players choose to dedicate more time to their favorite pastimes, but again, not too much depth to where it takes an eternity and a half to master certain activities. For instance, consider the bowling minigame. It’s quite simple to pick up: you can adjust your ball’s weight, starting position, trajectory, and power, with the obvious caveat that heavier balls are tougher to aim but better at retaining momentum. You don’t necessarily need to keep close track of every option to succeed and best your buddies in three-frame sets, but there are nice little side rewards in the form of completion points (CP) (which can be used at shrines to unlock unnecessary yet helpful little abilities such as longer dashing times and more Nouveau Riche encounters to fight for more cash) for bowling ten strikes. Further plays also increase friendship with the attendant there, which will result in a sidequest that allows you to recruit a chicken as staff for your real estate firm once you bowl a turkey. There’s also a separate side mode called Split Game where you have to more carefully aim your ball across special split pin arrangements that allows you to earn more cash and a potential CP. Again, there’s plenty of optional rewards that are great for upgrading your character and systems if you choose to invest a bit of time here and there, but even then, more grindy minigames are optional to the point where they become unobtrusive; as such, you can switch between a multitude of different activities with little consequence whenever your current focus starts to wear you down.

The story can also be thought of as another of the game’s smaller systems, thanks to how it never feels particularly intrusive. After clearing the first chain of events in Chapter 1 as well as the associated tutorials, the main introductions take a step back and you can begin messing around with the aforementioned sidequests and minigames. The game is very good at telegraphing exactly when the player needs to be committed to the story and when they are free to meander about; at no point does the game ever feel like it is forcing you to put down what you are doing at that exact moment in time to return to the main storyline. At the same time, progressing through the story events is greatly streamlined whenever the player needs to do so. Therefore, despite the main storyline’s linearity, the game manages to retain a visage of non-linearity; the wide variety of activities available at any given time allow you to swap between the story and optional content effortlessly at your heart’s content.

Just as there’s a balance between story progression and player-driven exploration, there’s a certain balance struck in the game’s tone that’s present throughout each narrative thread weaving into one another that exemplifies an undercurrent of sincerity. The central plotline jumps back and forth between Kiryu’s struggles escaping the Dojima family after being framed for murder, and Majima’s struggles serving as a blackmailed affiliate of his old yakuza family while seeking release from his gilded cage. Both are constantly caught in increasingly absurd scenarios by old friends and random strangers alike, and play fantastic straight men juxtaposed to the sticky situations that they must resolve. Alongside this, RGG Studio balances frenzied street brawls between topless yakuza members with dramatic scenes of characters pouring their hearts out. Even the substories carefully walk this tightrope between cheesiness and earnestness: one of my personal favorites has to be Stadium Jumper Strut, where you have to escort a guy whose dream is to walk across Iwao Bridge. He begs for Majima’s assistance, for every time he tries, he is beaten up by thugs because he refuses to take off his stajun jacket that’s riling them up. It’s an absolutely ridiculous premise, yet even I had to admit that sealing the deal with the life lesson of “pursuing dreams regardless of what others think” put a smile on my face. Camp meets candor time and time again, and as a result, Yakuza 0 never feels too sarcastic or too overbearing; it’s a cozy and compelling mix that kept me hooked during every story beat throughout.

There’s so much more I could say regarding Yakuza’s imperfections thanks to its many ambitions. There’s a forced stealth section that feels a bit clumsy since you have to guide and protect an escort at the same time. To do so, you must hide amongst crowds to avoid detection by patrolling foes, and this becomes a bit awkward since enemies can spot you from far away and enter/leaving crowds has a noticeably long animation with a forced delay between entering and leaving, so staying out of these optional fights is much more tricky in practice. Majima’s cabaret management progression feels not quite as well-integrated, since it’s actually possible to keep gaining fans by playing the club minigame over and over without purchasing properties, and the final stretch requires a bit more grinding as preparation to avoid your hostesses losing all their HP from the opposing club’s special ability. Finally, special moves can be taught by mentors through their respective side missions, and while Majima’s mentor missions are fantastic (Fei Hu’s lessons are a thrill, having to adapt against his quick Kali Sticks and Nunchakus), Kiryu’s mentor missions feel a bit squandered and too by-the-books. My favorite mentor missions there would have to be Miss Tatsu’s training, which involves puzzles where you have to destroy crates for money while eliminating mannequins with guns. It’s a bit more clunky than expected, since you often don’t have enough time to react and throw/dodge when picking up boxes to attack these targets, but it’s definitely an interesting thought exercise of what could have been and it helps that it’s accompanied by a track that quite frankly puts the main Beast Style theme to shame.

Yet at the end of the day, I have to wonder how much these nitpicks matter in the overall scheme of things. I came into Yakuza 0 wanting to fight Kuze and experience a change in pace, and I left feeling quite emotionally invested and fulfilled considering how much time I wasted cheering to x3 Shine and flaunting my new disco moves to Let’s Dance I Wanna Take You Home. While I have to admit that I can’t see myself 100%ing the game anytime soon, and I’m not quite ready to dive into the rest of the series lest the experience begins to outstay its welcome, I’m more than content leaving everything as it stands. It’s obviously doing something right if I’ve managed to spend over 70 hours messing around with everything that even mildly interested me without any single aspect feeling too disjointed or particularly irritating. My fears that Yakuza 0’s wide appeal was an indicator of numerous hours of padding and shallow interaction between systems appear to have been unfounded, and needless to say, I can wholeheartedly recommend Yakuza 0 despite the rough patches. I’m looking forward to the inevitable YaKuze spinoff where we get to play as the old man in the profession where men tend to die young.

Other than for the previously reviewed crowdfunded Point'n'clicks Gibbous and Thimbleweed Park I'm actually happy I didn't back the Broken Age Kickstarter, because it would probably have distracted me from the beauty of this adventure.

Though Ron Gilbert later stated he was only at Double Fine to finish The Cave, the promotion clip suggested his involvement in my opinion and I have a hunch Broken Age grew out of the initial pitch with the money that got thrown at them. I'm not even sure though the disappointed had been old adventure aficionados like me, or if it was a newer generation hardly in touch with Grim Fandango and rather entitled to be edgy about not receiving another Brütal Legend.

The Broken Age Kickstarter became a milestone for independent funding in the gaming industry and it might be mandatory for an actual business to have that kind of backing to produce a Point'n'click adventure after Tim Schafer himself expanded his creative freedom at Lucas Arts to a point hundreds of thousands sold copies of Grim Fandango weren't enough to not call it a flop. You'd either need enthusiasts willing to trash away their lifetime 24/7 at almost no guaranteed pay or you've got to keep your business running and I understand that, appreciating every ambitious work in the genre.

For the only $300k initially asked to create the Double Fine Adventure, it might have been even possible to have a representative majority take part in deciding over the game's direction, but with the millions from 87000 backers within a month, what might have become a simpler Point'n'click more likely to be catering to the fans took on a life of its own. Opinions are like arse holes, everybody's got one. And so creating a game everyone would love seems almost impossible to me.

Even though Tim Schafer says in the documentary (now available free on YouTube) having the money takes away the pressure from him, it turns out to be a feeling of responsibility towards future crowdfunding in the industry. With worldwide media attention due to the surprise success they had on Kickstarter with over 70% of newly registered accounts to participate, Broken Age became a singular chance to show the world adventures are relevant.

With the backing, there was also a chance to address a new generation of gamers with a product good enough to convince them and with broad success pave the way for more genre titles to come. I myself probably wouldn't have seen this or that Tim Schafer actually progressed since the Monkey Island games. I might have wished for him to turn back to the good old times before Grim Fandango that I didn't even notice on release and shied away from ever since I hated the controls of Monkey Island 4 that used the same engine.

To be fair, with Deck 13, Wadget Eye and Daedelic for instance there have been other publishers keeping the genre alive, at least as a european phenomenon. Being featured in popular Let's plays by streamers like Gronkh might have helped acquiring fresh blood, too, but none of that was enough to determine if majors turn down Point'n'clicks for a reason. So much so that even I, as a fan in Germany, thought they just had ceased existence until a few years ago.

What some critics also seem to forget is Double Fine didn't just collect the millions and were able to use them on the project. As far as I know Kickstarter gets a cut and money flowing into a company usually has to be taxed sooner or later. They also had to ship a bunch of pledge rewards. Then just running a place with employees to enable the creative process eats away another part of the cake. So they might have gotten away with a simpler product on that budget, but ended up looking for more funds and released Broken Age in two parts to roughly keep a schedule at all.

It will always be a bumpy graph for announcement, hype, disappointment and finally the reasonable level of appreciation and I think Broken Age deserves more than the rushed bashing it received so often. I must add here, that I played the German dub, that doesn't drop as prominent names such as Elijah Wood, Jack Black or Wil Wheaton, who later even invited Tim Schafer to his TableTop format on YouTube. It's also said the translation had to be cut in places due to length of the animation. I can't tell if it was for the good, but I very much enjoyed the results.

And here it's about the actual game, finally, but it's going to be hard to not give away too much before you've played Broken Age and you really should. I will try my best to review it without spoilers and if I'll drop information, it is meant to create an image in your head, but not to reveal crucial twists.

I don't compare this coming of age story to Maniac Mansion specifically, but with the two parallel stories of a boy and a girl, I imagine this could have a similar adventurous effect on the kids of today like it had on us, when we played the Lucas Arts adventure without ever really finishing it at that time. It was fun enough to roam that old house with characters older than us to be someone we would like to impersonate, but not too old to be too absurd. It was about exploring the environment in a way reality wouldn't allow safely.

At first sight, I found the art of Broken Age gorgeous and repulsive at the same time, because I'm that age when you acknowledge the character style as a thing, but especially girls with matchstick thin extremities like in Miraculous and those big eyes aren't really my idea of aesthetic. The fact Schafer's daughter actually decided which "princess" they used might explain the choice and knowing my niece, out of any adventure games I have, Broken Age would be the one I'd introduce her to the genre with.

We could stop here and say this isn't a product for us, but is it? Broken Age didn't feel like being in the wrong place like Pokemon does sometimes for instance. Growing old on not growing up I'd like to say I prefer to consume stuff aimed at kids that transports the comforting feeling from my own childhood over newer productions I don't have any nostalgia for. But I appreciate an included metaphorical level you might not actively acknowledge as a youngster.

I liked very much how Schafer makes it appear as if you pick one of the two protagonists, but then both sides are essential to the story and you can click on the icon to either play teenage girl Vella in some random badlands or the teenage boy Shay on a spaceship. Whilst Vella grows up destined to become the ritual sacrifice at a maiden's feast, Shay seems stuck on groundhog days of playing the hero for his wool puppets and is beginning to look for his purpose in life, just as Vella is putting the ritual in question and would like to defeat the monster.

Double Fine tried to avoid many flaws of previous Point'n'click adventures and so hitboxes for hotspots are quite generous. The number of items to pick up and combine is rather small, so you will not end up hunting pixels. In fact, I even had the impression Broken Age was designed with tablets in mind, especially because you can pick between the way you drag and drop.

What couldn't be avoided is having to go back and forth on the screens and practically the only times I felt stuck was, when what I wanted to do wasn't wrong per se, but the game expected me to go somewhere else first and maybe finish a dialogue to be able to proceed.

I would describe the puzzles as increasingly challenging, because Broken Age welcomes the players very warmly to then require more clues between the stories and it is mandatory to keep track of them. This incline also occurs due to feedback chapter one was too easy.

I did not find any impossibilities though. The game always allows to somehow unveil required information again, so you can't mess up by trying. It's recommended to keep track of information though and I ended up taking photos and short videos with my phone, when back in the day I would have used a pencil. You might not have played older adventures, but Broken Age is actually designed quite well if you expect more than an interactive storybook.

I know, today better Point'n'clicks often have a log to keep track of these things, but that just proves the point that genre games evolved even in the last ten years. If you don't want to get involved into playing at all, then maybe you're better off watching along with a YouTube video, like some people discovered for them to be representative for a game and I don't mind if you're doing so. It's just like when we gathered as viewers at a friend's place back then. But it's not the same feeling of actually finishing the game yourself.

What I understand might have bothered players back then is the cliffhanger. With the luxury of the complete edition I was able to transition seamlessly into the second chapter, which to me only carried on after an expected paradigm shift, that basically applies Plato's cave allegory to adolescence. And it's actually bizarre how protective parents keep their children from recognizing consequences of their behavior, when they simultaneously follow a belief that heavily affects the future of the kids they're trying to keep safe.

Children are born to point out our mistakes and so Broken Age tells a story way beyond the teenager protagonist's Initiation. It might also reveal other layers intertwined with each and everything and will be interpreted and explained with a narrative. It's like the concept of god lies and lives or dies within us. The community of believers will decide for instance if a catastrophe was a sign of a vengeful being, wiping sinners off the earth, or if it was the merciful, showing his kindness by saving the pure.

Not having followed the entire development of Broken Age I can't judge on false promises Tim Schafer might have made. I understand at least, that quite a few backers had a different image in mind of what product they could expect. It's possible this ambivalent conflict even influenced the writing of this adventurous story, which is encapsulated accordingly.

After ten years though, maybe it's time to forget about a possible grudge. Let's focus on the good parts and the possibly good intentions behind a decision that, like stated above, could never have met everybody's expectations anyway. So here's a captivating tale you could pass on your love to the genre with to a new generation.

Broken Age can be a great game for adults and kids alike and though it hints what might happen after by still sketches during the credits inspired by My Neighbor Totoro, there's still enough space to discuss the plot and form an adequate conclusion that may be applied as wishes for the personal future as well.

I must admit I haven't played Grim Fandango to this day, but now I regret not having bought the remaster again, when it was on sale. I should really give it a shot, at least to see if my reservations had been justified. Opening up as parochial I've acted all those years means something, doesn't it?

Maybe it won't become my uttermost personal favorite, but Broken Age is a brilliant story driven Sci-fi/Fantasy adventure nonetheless. It was a fresh take on the genre, juvenile but grim and it pioneered financing for more fantastic games we wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

To begin this review, I would like to specify that I will be referring to the Gameboy Advance version of The Sims Bustin’ Out. This game has versions available for five different consoles, and each one offers a completely different gaming experience.

The Sims Bustin’ Out was developed to have an almost RPG-like feel, despite the lack of battles. It differs from other games in the franchise and offers some really great features, in my opinion.

In Bustin’ Out, you can create and decorate homes and control the lives of your characters, just like in the classic version of The Sims. However, there are some notable differences.

The story in Bustin’ Out has a definitive end and you control only the main caracther, and players must complete various missions to beat the game. In contrast, regular The Sims games have no end, allowing players to control a family through multiple generations without any set objectives.

The addition of a story mode adds an extra layer of gameplay depth that is absent from other The Sims games. However, one downside is that players may find themselves neglecting their home's decorating and personalization in favor of completing missions.

The story of The Sims Bustin’ Out is enjoyable, entertaining and completely crazy, but not particularly memorable. It's not the kind of story that will stick with you long after you've finished playing the game. However, it's still fun to interact with other characters in the game.

Visually, the game is quite good, especially considering it was released for the Gameboy Advance. Its isometric perspective is similar to most GBA games, and it has a certain charm. Overall, The Sims Bustin' Out is a beautiful game that still holds up today, and it's another testament to the capabilities of the Gameboy Advance.

The Sims Bustin' Out holds a special place in my heart as a beloved game from my childhood. I recently revisited the game and was able to complete it after spending countless hours trying to do so as a kid.

If you enjoy GBA games, The Sims Bustin' Out could be a hidden gem that provides a different type of gaming experience. If you're a fan of The Sims franchise, it's worth playing Bustin' Out to see how it differs from other games in the series.

In conclusion, I recommend giving The Sims Bustin' Out a try if you're a fan of The Sims or enjoy unique GBA games.