A game directed by Hideaki Itsuno, I should really like it, but I don't.

I'm honestly baffled as to all the praise this game gets, especially regarding its combat. I found it very clunky, unresponsive and not really complex. I've played a number of Action RPGs, and you can't tell me this is one of the better examples of combat in the genre. It's especially disappointing coming from the director of Devil May Cry 3 and 4, which have some of the best combat in any game ever.

One of the main gimmicks of this game is climbing onto huge monsters, which is apparently a feature first introduced in Shadow of the Colossus. Now, I've not played Shadow of the Colossus, but I have seen this feature in another game - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. I didn't like it there, and I don't like it here. I don't really see why people find it exciting to turn a boss fight into a slow and tedious platforming section. It's awkward and frustrating, as the camera keeps shifting and altering your directional controls, and the monster keeps throwing you off before you manage to reach the head. In addition, if you play as a mage (which is the mistake I made on my first attempt), this feature is completely lost on you, because you're a ranged and vulnerable class that should stay away from the enemies and can shoot them in the head from a distance.

I mean, that's kinda a half-truth, because you can't really aim with your regular attack as a mage. Only with your skills, which it takes forever to cast. That is if your button presses register, which they might not, because the controls and animations are so ass. You have to hold down Ctrl or Alt and then click one of the mouse buttons (and hold it? Sometimes? I'm not sure tbh), and the skill ends up being cast when you release Ctrl or Alt, not when you release the mouse button. This is incredibly counter-intuitive. And because the animations are so long and can't be cancelled, sometimes you press Ctrl/Alt right after you released it but before the animation is done, and your character just ends up standing there. And you're just waiting for like a second for him to do something, because you can't tell whether the button press wasn't registered or it's just the animation taking up so long, or perhaps he ran out of stamina again, which he does constantly.

I hated stamina in Diablo 2, like most people, and could never understand its point in action-RPGs. I suppose here it functions as a sort of mana substitute. Except, the problem is, it's wasted on sprinting and blocking as well. What this essentially means is that ever action, aside from your standard attack, requires mana. And, I might be wrong about this, but I didn't see any way to tie potions to hotkeys. I have to go into the [extremely inconvenient] inventory in the midst of a battle, because my character needs a rest after every action, like he's 80 years old. Especially after blocking an enemy attack, leaving you vulnerable to a second attack.

But out of the three classes, it seems only the warrior can block enemy attacks, which is detrimental to the flow of combat. Every hit stuns you for a moment, making you unable to retaliate or break the enemy's attack-chain, and some hits knock you down, which will take you another couple of seconds to get up, during which your character doesn't respond to any button presses. If you're a magician, it's even worse, because your own attacks leave you immovable as well. You're a ranged class that can neither aim nor move while shooting. Which means you get hit and knocked down even more, which makes the whole gameplay extremely frustrating.

Kinda had more fun as a scout, who is more nimble and can actually aim and move when shooting arrows. Replayed the same portion of the game and a little more, and was surprised to run into all the exact same enemies. I kinda thought I had this many fights because I strayed away from the road (which the game warns you not to stray from), but no, you're still ambushed by enemies like every 30 seconds. And these are mostly the same types of enemies: bandits and wolves, and they're fought in the same way every time.

So after 3 boss battles and a shit ton of random encounters, you'd think there'd be some downtime for RPGing and stuff, but nope, an escort mission. I tried to force myself to play through it and died by accidentally falling off a cliff, and that's when I finally gave up. And while this death was totally on me, the level geometry in this game is pretty bizarre in general. There was a moment earlier where I slid down from a tiny hill, and then couldn't climb back up. It was about a 50 degree angle, only about a meter long, even a child could've climbed it, but not my character.

I can't really comment much on the RPG aspects of this game, but in my short time with it I barely encountered any. I leveled up a bunch of times and purchased one skill, but that is all. The game never offered me to manage stats or created a necessity to manage loot. Perhaps I missed something because I was skipping the majority of the tutorial pop-ups, but they were so goddamn annoying. 90% of the time the things they tell you are either obvious or something you had already figured out just by circumstances. Can't really say I cared about the story either. There was a bunch of generic fantasy exposition dumped on me, but I did not notice anything interesting.

I found the graphics ugly too, despite the fact they're using the same engine as Devil May Cry 4, which is a gorgeous game.

There were exactly 2 things I liked about this game: the customization and the music. That's it. Nothing else.

maturity is realizing that persona 3 isnt the "most depressing" but actually the most hopeful persona game in the franchise.

what an absolutely beautiful game. of course it has its issues... like, PLENTY of issues, but none of them stop this game from delivering one of the most impactful and meaningful stories of any game ive played in a LONG long while.

just to list some of my biggest issues with the game really quick before i wrap up; the new music is 50/50, lotus juice is very obviously older now and it comes though. still commend him for coming back though.
the new cutscenes are mostly all inferior by quite a bit, especially the in engine ones.
the game is just TOO easy imo, i only had a bad time once or twice on bullshit bosses (the damn love hotel ugh).
some of the social links are w/e, not bad just mostly forgettable.
and speaking of writing, some of the conflict between characters in this game can feel a little arbitrary at times, junpei especially.
the game can look kinda ugly at times. the models are fantastic but the environments can be pretty comparable to the ps2 original at times lol.
just straight up, the pc port is pretty garbage. had WAY too many crashes and a weird flickering across my screen till i reset. also super weird fps issues but only sometimes? the menus were laggy as hell its very strange.


SPOILER, but to wrap up...
i feel like knowing how the game ended almost made my experience better, especially the last day. making all those empty promises him and i both knew could never be fulfilled.

A experiência da escalada é prazerosa, mas com o tempo entedia, apesar dos vários documentos com lore espalhados pelo caminho.

Eu gosto dos famosos "files" nos jogos, mas achei esses grandes demais e mais frequentes do que eu gostaria. Eles quebram o ritmo do jogo e com o tempo, eu só quis parar de ler, o que contribuiu pra eu desistir de continuar o jogo.

Aí você tira o elemento "lore" da jogada e só sobra a parte da subida (e uns "coletáveis", que achei tao bestinhas que nem considero), e fazer a mesma coisa por muito tempo desanima bastante.

Eu reconheço que a minha opinião é impopular, mas às vezes o jogo só não clica com a gente, né? Acontece, e já aconteceu antes com jogos de gênero similar a esse.

Hey gamers


Mass Effect is a good video game. As a narratively-focused game, it's pretty solid; as an open world-ish game, it's alright; but Mass Effect stands firm on its unique world and strong characters.


This is one of the best video game universes I've experienced, or at least an original universe. It feels well thought-out, and I can't imagine how long it must've taken to flesh out the ideas into a cohesive world. You can feel the pressure put onto your character to represent humanity's capabilities, and you feel like you're changing the course of history through your actions.


The dialogue and characters were another highlight of this game. Oddly enough, the best moments of this game for me were speaking to my crew members and squad mates after completing a mission; gaining insights to their culture and backgrounds, gathering their thoughts on how the prior mission went, and hearing them out on their concerns for the future. It was a similar experience as Horizon Forbidden West - The quests were fun, but I loved returning to the base, checking in on my allies, who are all of different backgrounds and have different perspectives on the events unfolding around them, and seeing what they've been up to during my time away.


Sadly, however, I found that this game feels outdated in a few aspects, despite the remaster. The animation is stiff, the progression systems don't feel fully realized, and there are a lot of developmental oversights. My least favourite part of the game would have to be the combat. It feels stagnant, imprecise, and unreliable. I felt a sense of annoyance and dread every time I came across a pack of enemies. If anything, this game made me more appreciative of The Division 2's combat. I could sit here and compare them all day, and I know it's not fair to do so with two games that released over a decade apart, but two particular examples I want to talk about are your weapons and abilities:


What's interesting is that both Mass Effect and The Division 2 allow you to carry 4 firearms on your character. What really bugs me about Mass Effect's weaponry is how unbalanced it feels. I pretty much just stuck with the assault rifle and sniper rifle. I never touched the pistol and only pulled out the shotgun on a handful of occasions because they were so weak in comparison, especially considering the size of the environments that most combat encounters take place. Now, granted, there are more weapon varieties in The Division 2, but I always find a use for each of the 4 weapons that my agent can carry, even my pistol. Plus, in Mass Effect, you have to pause the game to swap weapons using a weapon wheel, which just destroys the flow of combat. In The Division 2, which, again, has the same amount of firearms that your character can carry, one button controls your weapon selection. Yes, one single button (in general, tap for secondary, double tap for sidearm, hold for specialization weapon [grenade launcher, flamethrower, etc.]). This keeps the momentum of combat in motion and improves ease of use if, heaven forbid, you would like to change your gun.


The other thing was the weak abilities. In The Division 2, your abilities, or skills, can change the flow of combat. They can suppress enemies, force them out of cover, draw their fire, prevent flanking, provide meaningful support to you and your squad, and apply significant debuffs/status effects to your enemies. When used at the right time, a well-placed skill could be, and often is, the difference between life and death. However in Mass Effect, your abilities, which, again, are controlled by a selection wheel that pauses the game, are just lame. They either provide you with a momentary buff or net you a free kill. There's no strategy in using them at all. I mean, you can recharge your shield when it's depleted, but that's as strategic as your abilities get. Like, in The Division 2, I can't tell you the amount of times that a turret nestled in an elevated position, a quick scan pulse when I lost track of a few enemies, a stinger hive placed in a chokepoint, or deploying my ballistic shield when overwhelmed saved me from dying, and I never got anything close to that in Mass Effect.


There are also a ton of minor issues that were easy to ignore individually, but, when piled up and prolonged throughout the entire game, they really got on my nerves by the end of my playthrough: terrible autosave system, recycled environments, repetitive and cryptic mission design that forced me to use a quest guide, annoying trophy grind, driving the Mako up the sides of cliffs, tedious interplanetary travel, and the list goes on.


All in all, the foundation of this game is undeniably strong; possibly the strongest of any series-starter I've played, but I'd be lying if I didn't feel a little relieved when it was over. If I ever play Mass Effect again, I'll probably just engage in conversations and streamline the main missions while avoiding the side assignments as much as possible.


I'm looking forward to seeing what the second and third games have to offer, and I hope that they improve on this game's shortcomings.


(I'm sorry this review turned into a novella.)