PureCinn
6 reviews liked by PureCinn
Fallout: New Vegas
2010
The most immersive game I have ever played.
"Player immersion" is a concept often at the forefront of AAA game development, whether that be creating extremely realistic graphics, telling a cinematic story or even the idea of using AI dialogue in NPCs to simulate a real life conversation- all of these ideas have one thing in common. They strive to create a truly immersive experience for the player. Fallout: New Vegas does not have any of these traits and yet is the most immersive experience I have ever had in any videogame.
For example, Red Dead Redemption II, another AAA open world game, boasts a beautiful world with compelling stories and character animations that resemble real life and yet, I never feel truly immersed in this world. Sure horse balls shrink in cold weather and Arthur Morgan will physically load a weapon with different ammo each and every time you want to switch ammo types and while yes this is realistic, the game as a whole is not immersive. You can shoot up entire towns and the story will still play out the same and NPCs outside of the story don’t really matter at all or have anything interesting to say outside of mentioning a small quest. This isn't to say that RDR2 is a bad game, far from it! But rather, that Fallout: New Vegas is able to build a truly immersive world solely with stellar writing and player choice.
Right from the get-go you’re given the main quest. You were shot in the head, go find who did it. Of course, the logical next step is to ask around town about the man who shot you but what if you just wanted to shoot up the whole town? Well you can! And if you do, the main quest marker is just GONE. You’ve killed the person who had information on the guy who shot you, so of course you’re gonna have no idea where else to go. Any other game would have had an NPC who cannot be killed forcibly tell you where to go to complete the main quest, but it doesn’t! And the game is FILLED with moments like these. NPCs will offhandedly mention places of interest and mark it on your map only if you choose the correct dialogue that would get them to do so. Or, you could find these places organically on your own and bring up to them that you’ve already been there before! Nothing is locked behind a quest or NPC. If you do decide to shoot up a town you are realistically vilified or idolized by different factions in the world. The NCR may be happy you took out a portion of Caesar’s Legion and organically bring that up during conversations, or you may not even be allowed near NCR outposts as you’ve killed too many of their members. The world feels like one cohesive experience where every decision and quest weaves perfectly into each other. Combined with the brilliant setting of the post-post apocalypse where as a player you believe anything can happen. Robots and giant hulking mutants coexist in a world where there’s a realistic power struggle for control of the Mojave wasteland. It’s so believable and immersive to the point that when I get tired of the 40’s and 50’s music present in the game I turn off the radio and listen to other 40’s and 50’s songs through Spotify just to keep myself in this world. I cannot stress enough how much I love Fallout: New Vegas, and I implore anyone to get immersed in this world as well.
"Player immersion" is a concept often at the forefront of AAA game development, whether that be creating extremely realistic graphics, telling a cinematic story or even the idea of using AI dialogue in NPCs to simulate a real life conversation- all of these ideas have one thing in common. They strive to create a truly immersive experience for the player. Fallout: New Vegas does not have any of these traits and yet is the most immersive experience I have ever had in any videogame.
For example, Red Dead Redemption II, another AAA open world game, boasts a beautiful world with compelling stories and character animations that resemble real life and yet, I never feel truly immersed in this world. Sure horse balls shrink in cold weather and Arthur Morgan will physically load a weapon with different ammo each and every time you want to switch ammo types and while yes this is realistic, the game as a whole is not immersive. You can shoot up entire towns and the story will still play out the same and NPCs outside of the story don’t really matter at all or have anything interesting to say outside of mentioning a small quest. This isn't to say that RDR2 is a bad game, far from it! But rather, that Fallout: New Vegas is able to build a truly immersive world solely with stellar writing and player choice.
Right from the get-go you’re given the main quest. You were shot in the head, go find who did it. Of course, the logical next step is to ask around town about the man who shot you but what if you just wanted to shoot up the whole town? Well you can! And if you do, the main quest marker is just GONE. You’ve killed the person who had information on the guy who shot you, so of course you’re gonna have no idea where else to go. Any other game would have had an NPC who cannot be killed forcibly tell you where to go to complete the main quest, but it doesn’t! And the game is FILLED with moments like these. NPCs will offhandedly mention places of interest and mark it on your map only if you choose the correct dialogue that would get them to do so. Or, you could find these places organically on your own and bring up to them that you’ve already been there before! Nothing is locked behind a quest or NPC. If you do decide to shoot up a town you are realistically vilified or idolized by different factions in the world. The NCR may be happy you took out a portion of Caesar’s Legion and organically bring that up during conversations, or you may not even be allowed near NCR outposts as you’ve killed too many of their members. The world feels like one cohesive experience where every decision and quest weaves perfectly into each other. Combined with the brilliant setting of the post-post apocalypse where as a player you believe anything can happen. Robots and giant hulking mutants coexist in a world where there’s a realistic power struggle for control of the Mojave wasteland. It’s so believable and immersive to the point that when I get tired of the 40’s and 50’s music present in the game I turn off the radio and listen to other 40’s and 50’s songs through Spotify just to keep myself in this world. I cannot stress enough how much I love Fallout: New Vegas, and I implore anyone to get immersed in this world as well.
SRB2Kart wasn't the best racing game ever. However, for a piece of free software made by fans that's basically running on the DOOM engine, it's safe to say it's more than impressive. At its core, SRB2Kart is essentially free Mario Kart for your PC, with some noticeable differences, of course. Anyone could pick it up, and while they may not understand it at first, it wouldn't take long before they start getting a good grip on the basics. Download a few funny mods, get some friends in a call, and you'll be playing as Peter Griffin on Coconut Mall in just a few minutes. In a way, the experience feels somewhat cobbled together, but it's so simple and fun, which makes for a chill experience with an amazing amount of replayability.
Dr. Robotnik's Ring Racers, in its current form, is a fantastic game that is otherwise hidden beneath a heap of questionable choices. In what seems like a quest to be a full-fledged, retail-quality game, Ring Racers starts with the base of SRB2Kart, bloats it exponentially, and locks away features that were available from the get-go. For most SRB2Kart fans, it's unfortunate, given how the actual vibe and presentation of the game is so expertly crafted, professional, and most of all: fun.
When you first boot it up, you're greeted with a lengthy, unskippable sequence as they let you adjust your game settings. Even though it's a little slow, I like this intro a lot; Tails' and Robotnik's friendship is cute, the sequence overall looks and sounds great, and it sets the tone to show how much more sophisticated the whole package is compared to its predecessor.
From there, you are sucker-punched into a nearly hour-long^ tutorial as the game slings a seemingly never-ending barrage of mechanics and dialog at you. An entire Ring economy, melee attacks, spin dashes, fast-falling, easy-braking, trick pads, trick directions, hill physics, and so much more; it involves a lot more thinking than the average kart racer. It's pretty overwhelming. After completing the tutorial (with no real understanding of what I went through), I jumped into a Grand Prix cup only to get my ass handed to me on a silver platter while on Easy Mode. After a few tries, I got brought to the Unlocks Screen after winning. Once again, I got sucker-punched when I made the realization that Online Mode is an unlockable; I have to convince my friends to traverse the same gauntlet I just endured if they want to play online with me. Of course, you can use cheats to bypass this, but I don't think this should be the default experience. They're really going to scare off more casual players with this sort of first impression.
Aside from the racing mechanics and tutorial, there's a lot of other unpleasant changes: The controls don't feel as tight, mods are unlocked after you complete 4 cups, alternate character colors have to be found on each track, Time Trials are locked behind collecting character colors, the CPUs seem to rubber-band like crazy even on Easy Mode, CPUs love using the melee attacks so it feels like you get battered around more than you do in Mario Kart, the "use weapon" button has 4 different functions, and the list goes on^.
I feel like a dick complaining about it considering this is a free game that had thousands of hours put into its development. I almost feel I’m being unfair to it. As a standalone entry, it has more than enough potential to be great. I can clearly see the vision: rather than making an experimental game that feels like a disjointed mod of a mod of a mod, they instead wanted to deliver a more robust and cohesive package – a game that truly feels like a "real game” you could pick from a store shelf. A finished game that is unmistakably unique. The spritework, the tracks, the menus, and the custom music are all gorgeous and you can tell so much passion and dedication went into it all of it. As someone who attempted to make content for the original game, I can assure you making nearly anything for this engine is not an easy process.
However, due to the fact it's a sequel, it unfortunately comes with a lot of preconceived notions, like not having to unlock Online Mode, character colors, or whatever. It's very difficult to divorce it from its predecessor: a game widely popularized for being both accessible and highly customizable from the start. As a result, it's hard to not feel a bit unsatisfied with how the gameplay and progression turned out. Many players' expectations were defied, and mostly not for the better. I think they severely underestimated the value of how easy it was to pick up and play SRB2Kart on a whim.
So far, I'm more comfortable labeling Ring Racers as an alternative way to play SRB2Kart (primarily for hardcore veterans) rather than a replacement or even an upgrade. With this in mind, I do find myself wanting to play more of it despite the many frustrations. I'm not won over by this game just yet, but there's definitely something interesting here. I think I would be okay with a good portion of the changes if the CPUs weren't so merciless, but there's still some heavy adjustments to be made beyond that.
I don't have a rating on this yet because I would like to see how this game shapes up over time from feedback.
^: As of v2.1, you can exit the tutorial once you reach a fairly early point. They've also made Online, Mods, and Time Attack unlock much earlier. I'm very glad they're responsive to some of the feedback already.
Also I suppose Time Attack was not actually hidden behind finding character colors? I can't find a concrete answer, so I apologize for perpetuating misinfo if this is the case.
Dr. Robotnik's Ring Racers, in its current form, is a fantastic game that is otherwise hidden beneath a heap of questionable choices. In what seems like a quest to be a full-fledged, retail-quality game, Ring Racers starts with the base of SRB2Kart, bloats it exponentially, and locks away features that were available from the get-go. For most SRB2Kart fans, it's unfortunate, given how the actual vibe and presentation of the game is so expertly crafted, professional, and most of all: fun.
When you first boot it up, you're greeted with a lengthy, unskippable sequence as they let you adjust your game settings. Even though it's a little slow, I like this intro a lot; Tails' and Robotnik's friendship is cute, the sequence overall looks and sounds great, and it sets the tone to show how much more sophisticated the whole package is compared to its predecessor.
From there, you are sucker-punched into a nearly hour-long^ tutorial as the game slings a seemingly never-ending barrage of mechanics and dialog at you. An entire Ring economy, melee attacks, spin dashes, fast-falling, easy-braking, trick pads, trick directions, hill physics, and so much more; it involves a lot more thinking than the average kart racer. It's pretty overwhelming. After completing the tutorial (with no real understanding of what I went through), I jumped into a Grand Prix cup only to get my ass handed to me on a silver platter while on Easy Mode. After a few tries, I got brought to the Unlocks Screen after winning. Once again, I got sucker-punched when I made the realization that Online Mode is an unlockable; I have to convince my friends to traverse the same gauntlet I just endured if they want to play online with me. Of course, you can use cheats to bypass this, but I don't think this should be the default experience. They're really going to scare off more casual players with this sort of first impression.
Aside from the racing mechanics and tutorial, there's a lot of other unpleasant changes: The controls don't feel as tight, mods are unlocked after you complete 4 cups, alternate character colors have to be found on each track, Time Trials are locked behind collecting character colors, the CPUs seem to rubber-band like crazy even on Easy Mode, CPUs love using the melee attacks so it feels like you get battered around more than you do in Mario Kart, the "use weapon" button has 4 different functions, and the list goes on^.
I feel like a dick complaining about it considering this is a free game that had thousands of hours put into its development. I almost feel I’m being unfair to it. As a standalone entry, it has more than enough potential to be great. I can clearly see the vision: rather than making an experimental game that feels like a disjointed mod of a mod of a mod, they instead wanted to deliver a more robust and cohesive package – a game that truly feels like a "real game” you could pick from a store shelf. A finished game that is unmistakably unique. The spritework, the tracks, the menus, and the custom music are all gorgeous and you can tell so much passion and dedication went into it all of it. As someone who attempted to make content for the original game, I can assure you making nearly anything for this engine is not an easy process.
However, due to the fact it's a sequel, it unfortunately comes with a lot of preconceived notions, like not having to unlock Online Mode, character colors, or whatever. It's very difficult to divorce it from its predecessor: a game widely popularized for being both accessible and highly customizable from the start. As a result, it's hard to not feel a bit unsatisfied with how the gameplay and progression turned out. Many players' expectations were defied, and mostly not for the better. I think they severely underestimated the value of how easy it was to pick up and play SRB2Kart on a whim.
So far, I'm more comfortable labeling Ring Racers as an alternative way to play SRB2Kart (primarily for hardcore veterans) rather than a replacement or even an upgrade. With this in mind, I do find myself wanting to play more of it despite the many frustrations. I'm not won over by this game just yet, but there's definitely something interesting here. I think I would be okay with a good portion of the changes if the CPUs weren't so merciless, but there's still some heavy adjustments to be made beyond that.
I don't have a rating on this yet because I would like to see how this game shapes up over time from feedback.
^: As of v2.1, you can exit the tutorial once you reach a fairly early point. They've also made Online, Mods, and Time Attack unlock much earlier. I'm very glad they're responsive to some of the feedback already.
Also I suppose Time Attack was not actually hidden behind finding character colors? I can't find a concrete answer, so I apologize for perpetuating misinfo if this is the case.
An incredible story that made me wish I was doing anything but playing it.
The Last of Us is often heralded as one of the greatest games of all time, so needless to say my expectations were quite high upon starting the game. And in some aspects, these expectations were met! The story in The Last of Us is brilliantly written with incredible themes not explored enough in AAA games. However, as beautiful and deep as the story and its underlying themes are everything else surrounding the game is about as shallow as a puddle.
For a game with such a mature and thought-provoking story the puzzles and stealth in The Last of Us boil down to "find a ladder that's five feet in front of you" or "you COULD sneak past these guys it's just incredibly annoying and way less fun plus we'll still shower you with enough ammo anyway". Moments like these frankly felt insulting considering how deep the characters of Joel and Ellie are written and yet I'm never challenged to think when playing as them. It got to the point where the actual game felt like a mindless chore just to get to the cutscenes that would actively challenge my perception, and when these cutscenes ended I would always end at the same conclusion- why am I wasting my time with this game when I could just be watching the TV show?
This game feels as if it's embarrassed to be a videogame with its puzzles that never actively challenge the player or combat that plays out more like a movie. This is such a shame considering it houses such an engrossing story, I just wish everything else surrounding it was treated with that same level of thought.
The Last of Us is often heralded as one of the greatest games of all time, so needless to say my expectations were quite high upon starting the game. And in some aspects, these expectations were met! The story in The Last of Us is brilliantly written with incredible themes not explored enough in AAA games. However, as beautiful and deep as the story and its underlying themes are everything else surrounding the game is about as shallow as a puddle.
For a game with such a mature and thought-provoking story the puzzles and stealth in The Last of Us boil down to "find a ladder that's five feet in front of you" or "you COULD sneak past these guys it's just incredibly annoying and way less fun plus we'll still shower you with enough ammo anyway". Moments like these frankly felt insulting considering how deep the characters of Joel and Ellie are written and yet I'm never challenged to think when playing as them. It got to the point where the actual game felt like a mindless chore just to get to the cutscenes that would actively challenge my perception, and when these cutscenes ended I would always end at the same conclusion- why am I wasting my time with this game when I could just be watching the TV show?
This game feels as if it's embarrassed to be a videogame with its puzzles that never actively challenge the player or combat that plays out more like a movie. This is such a shame considering it houses such an engrossing story, I just wish everything else surrounding it was treated with that same level of thought.
This is maybe the biggest “this would be great if it was good!” game I’ve ever played. I absolutely loved Billy Hatcher but it is just a kind of middling platformer that makes the wild choice of pushing its worst levels at you first, therefore only reaching its height of “kinda fun!” halfway through, before ending with a stupidly bad final boss.
I think I’m just one of the few people who really would get as much joy from this game as I did, as frustrating as that is for me to say. Its graphics and character design and GBA link cable support add up to something that is so incredibly up my alley I became kind of obsessed! But if you just aren’t that interested in seeing kinda cute GameCube graphics animals pop out of colorful eggs then there is absolutely nothing else in the game to hook you. And its biggest flaws wouldn’t even be that hard to fix, either! I think polishing up the final boss and removing the lives system would instantly make the game leaps and bounds better.
I think if you do have some sort of interest in playing this game, whatever the reason is, it is worth trying. If you play it on emulator and don’t mind abusing save states then doubly so. I really, really hope a remake comes out someday that is more easily recommendable to more people but as is it’s still a game I enjoyed a lot.
I think I’m just one of the few people who really would get as much joy from this game as I did, as frustrating as that is for me to say. Its graphics and character design and GBA link cable support add up to something that is so incredibly up my alley I became kind of obsessed! But if you just aren’t that interested in seeing kinda cute GameCube graphics animals pop out of colorful eggs then there is absolutely nothing else in the game to hook you. And its biggest flaws wouldn’t even be that hard to fix, either! I think polishing up the final boss and removing the lives system would instantly make the game leaps and bounds better.
I think if you do have some sort of interest in playing this game, whatever the reason is, it is worth trying. If you play it on emulator and don’t mind abusing save states then doubly so. I really, really hope a remake comes out someday that is more easily recommendable to more people but as is it’s still a game I enjoyed a lot.
Super Mario Galaxy 2
2010
Compared to its predecessor, Super Mario Galaxy 2 heavily lacks the atmosphere and grandiosity of the original but makes up for it with some incredibly tight-level design and ideas. At times, SMG1 feels like it doesn't truly know if it wants to be "course clear mario" or "sandbox mario" with levels like Beach Bowl Galaxy feeling like a bit of a slog to get through. This isn't the case for SMG2, where levels feel confident in what they want to be- short bursts of fun entirely focused on one idea.
A short but fun time! I’ve played like 3 games for the N64, none of which are platformers or Mario 64 which I’m pretty sure is what this is based around (i know i know, dont worry my coworkers already hold it above my head like a badge of shame lmao) so I can’t make a great comparison in that sense, but in spite of that I had fun with my short time with Celeste 64!
Camera was a bit hard to control and didn’t seem to work very well in the player’s favor, but I’m sure that’s what a lot of early 3D platformers had to deal with… or maybe not, I wouldn’t know! What I do know is this game was made in like 7 days, and with that as context, Celeste 64 is really impressive to see what the team was able to do in such short time! Madeline also looks so cute transferred to 3D, I love her little ears poking out hehe. Damn, it does make me realize that I need to get my ass on playing some retro 3D platformers!! Though with my scatter brain, I’ll probably end up playing that weird-ass bumblebee N64 game before I play Mario 64.
Check out Celeste 64 if you’re interested! I loved the original Celeste a lot, so I decided to check out Celeste 64. It’s short and free, so even if you end up not finding it to your taste, it’s not too much of a risk of losing time nor money.
3/5
Camera was a bit hard to control and didn’t seem to work very well in the player’s favor, but I’m sure that’s what a lot of early 3D platformers had to deal with… or maybe not, I wouldn’t know! What I do know is this game was made in like 7 days, and with that as context, Celeste 64 is really impressive to see what the team was able to do in such short time! Madeline also looks so cute transferred to 3D, I love her little ears poking out hehe. Damn, it does make me realize that I need to get my ass on playing some retro 3D platformers!! Though with my scatter brain, I’ll probably end up playing that weird-ass bumblebee N64 game before I play Mario 64.
Check out Celeste 64 if you’re interested! I loved the original Celeste a lot, so I decided to check out Celeste 64. It’s short and free, so even if you end up not finding it to your taste, it’s not too much of a risk of losing time nor money.
3/5
