Pantz
Pretty great conclusion to the series. A lot of story stuff was feeling kinda okay but there are some story twists that occur that really make that stuff feel way weightier. My biggest issue with Uncharted 4 is how weirdly sloppy the gunplay feels in comparison to 2 where it was at it's peak. It definitely feels more natural as a result but it's a little hard to re-wrap my head around playing. I was going for collectibles the whole way through and feel like that contributed to losing focus to the main path, so a replay where I'm locked in on the main story only might bump this up to a 5. Great game
A very well made game but the jump from 2 to 3 doesn’t feel as noticeable as the jump from 1 to 2. There are some aspects where the gameplay feels worse and things like melee combat have unnecessary fluff added (like the grab mechanic) that manage to negatively interact with other systems (grabbing an enemy when you actually meant to roll)
The story is pretty messy, with characters improperly setup and phasing in and out of existence when their immediate usefulness is seen through, and the locations you visit don’t really have a natural flow like 2 did. Nate literally washes ashore on a beach for a place he needs to be and says “that’s convenient”. The writers literally know they’re hacks!!! Also there’s a lot of forced drama going on, in between hallucinations where you’re shooting your friends in the head, or everyone asking Nate why he’s going through with finding some epic treasure (spoiler alert it’s because he’s a FUCKING TREASURE HUNTER!!! A profession you have been familiar with for two WHOLE GAMES!!!).
In comparison to 2 this game really just doesn’t have the same key ingredients that helped it succeed. Things happen because the writers thought they’d be cool to witness, not because they make sense. The gameplay has additions that don’t add much to the total experience. This game frustrated me back in 2011 on release and it has done the same to me this week in 2023. Some things never change!
Some of the puzzles were pretty cool
The story is pretty messy, with characters improperly setup and phasing in and out of existence when their immediate usefulness is seen through, and the locations you visit don’t really have a natural flow like 2 did. Nate literally washes ashore on a beach for a place he needs to be and says “that’s convenient”. The writers literally know they’re hacks!!! Also there’s a lot of forced drama going on, in between hallucinations where you’re shooting your friends in the head, or everyone asking Nate why he’s going through with finding some epic treasure (spoiler alert it’s because he’s a FUCKING TREASURE HUNTER!!! A profession you have been familiar with for two WHOLE GAMES!!!).
In comparison to 2 this game really just doesn’t have the same key ingredients that helped it succeed. Things happen because the writers thought they’d be cool to witness, not because they make sense. The gameplay has additions that don’t add much to the total experience. This game frustrated me back in 2011 on release and it has done the same to me this week in 2023. Some things never change!
Some of the puzzles were pretty cool
Not many games just capture my desire to beat them as fast as possible like this. The story is simple but a treat to experience, the use of color and it's graphical fidelity really hold up even on the PS3, and the gameplay completely corrects basically every problem of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. An all-time favorite!
2010
I’m never going to be done playing this one. An all time favorite. The soundtrack is a little too focused on having solid songs as opposed to songs that are fun to play though, which Rock Band 2 balanced way way better. The keyboard mode has my brain and fingers feeling awful. I would not wish a pianists talent on my worst enemy. Anyway, time to get back to the expert tutorials!
Gets pretty strong in the last couple of missions, but the groundwork has a bit too many kinks for me to be sold on it. I love the characters though, regardless of how typical they feel
2003
Super straightforward racing-focused snowboarding game. Carving lines optimally is a joy to master, and the unlockable weirdo characters and boards kept me interested in it enought to 100% the whole thing. In the world of loading ROMs and emulating, you ought to give this a try for the low price of entry
1996
As a wistful nostalgia tripper for The Second Story, I decided to give the OG a go. This game has super fascinating lore and the plot is insane for like the first two hours. The skill system is also very interesting on paper and fun to try and compliment character's latent traits with the proper skills to maximize efficiency. Also, pretty damn good voice acting and sound quality for an SNES game!
Okay the negatives. The game's plot loses all steam and does multiple ass pulls with super undeveloped villains and such, the skill system isn't exactly necessary to dive into when the game is so damn easy, and the combat has the illusion of depth, but is never necessary to take control off of the protagonist just mashing the confirm button besides the rare occasion he gets downed. Plus, enemy and party AI can be downright remedial in how willing they'll be to not attack at all. Even though I'm not exactly the JRPG playing type, even I can recognize that for a game like this, taking a turn based, menu approach might actually improve the gameplay dynamic. Cool game, but there's a part of me that understands why Tri-Ace totally remade this for the PSP
Okay the negatives. The game's plot loses all steam and does multiple ass pulls with super undeveloped villains and such, the skill system isn't exactly necessary to dive into when the game is so damn easy, and the combat has the illusion of depth, but is never necessary to take control off of the protagonist just mashing the confirm button besides the rare occasion he gets downed. Plus, enemy and party AI can be downright remedial in how willing they'll be to not attack at all. Even though I'm not exactly the JRPG playing type, even I can recognize that for a game like this, taking a turn based, menu approach might actually improve the gameplay dynamic. Cool game, but there's a part of me that understands why Tri-Ace totally remade this for the PSP
2009
Super arcade-y fun time. All 8 of the characters are pretty neat and the way zombies fall apart is sick, especially when pipe-bombs get involved. Very grimy and fun music to boot. You can't go wrong, but there's definitely a lack of true substance in the base experience. Also, depending on people can be hit or miss... heh...
2022
Look cool. The lightballs moving are a real treat to look at, and the ambient lights from some of the decor elements are fun to see shift as your view shifts
2011
The game really shines in its co-op maps, where it feels like they had a lot more room to actually design self contained puzzles. JK Simmons’s work as Cave Johnson is still some of my favorite voice acting in any video game, he really overwhelms Merchant and McLain by comparison. Much like Portal 1 though, if you have an ability to remember the solutions after a first time playthrough, you’re gonna enjoy the game less and less as time goes on, as the solutions and setups never change. Fortunately the workshop support can counteract that!
2007
Dope game. Too short
A lot of fun story contextualization, Magnusson is a great addition to the cast for his short appearance, and the ending sequence with the Striders feels really involved gameplay wise. Still a little too fleeting for my tastes but a great addition that pwns Episode 1
The good, Alyx is there the whole time! The bad, there's not many ideas expanded from Half-Life 2. Stalkers and rollermines are really only things towards the beginning of the game, the last half of Episode 1 just kinda feels like more of HL2 while forgetting the unique elements of the start of Episode 1
2004
Played with MMod, do NOT use improved Combine accuracy, makes a survival segment where you have to defend Alyx unnecessarily hard.
Game rules
Game rules
Pretty cool, and a lot of effort obviously went into this. Having a squad roll with you, new enemy types to shoot at and new guns to shoot at them with in the trusty Half-Life gameplay makes for a grand time. The final boss manages to be more lame than base Half-Life's, but that's a small blemish on an otherwise great game. Now how the fuck did Blue Shift come out 3 years later with like, 10% of the effort of Opposing Force...!