SmAshMk01
2024
Played like 5 hours of this and found it to be incredibly boring. Don't know what people see in this series.
2023
Lots of invisible walls which I hate but love the artstyle and the vibes. Cool way to spend a few hours.
Sekiro is one of the most engaging action games of all time. It also has some of the most compelling boss-fights ever made. With every re-play I find myself desperately wanting From Soft to revisit this formula once again.
Unlike a lot of other action games, Sekiro doesn't allow for substantial player expression. Actually, there's little to no creativity in the combat at all, but I believe, this is what makes it so special. The combat is based entirely on parrying. This singular hyper-focus on 1 mechanic is what draws me in.
If the complexity in the combat doesn't come from the player, how is this game so engaging to play? The answer lies in the enemy design. Every single move, every single animation used by the enemies is so precise and well thought out. The windups and combos are expertly crafted and unlike souls games, there's no grinding. The only way to level up is to get better. This is portrayed beautifully in the game by the utilization of Genichiro. You fight Genichiro 3 times in the game. The first is at the very start. This is when your skills are at the lowest. You have no chance of beating him and you feel weak and helpless. The second time is at the midway point in the game. If the game hasn't clicked for you up until this point, it will once you beat this boss. You finally GET Sekiro. The third and final time you meet Genichiro is at the very end. He is the first of the 4 phases of the final boss but at this point, you've become so good that this phase is essentially trivial. As the game has progressed, so has your skills and this is what makes Genichiro such a compelling recurring boss.
Masterpiece.
Unlike a lot of other action games, Sekiro doesn't allow for substantial player expression. Actually, there's little to no creativity in the combat at all, but I believe, this is what makes it so special. The combat is based entirely on parrying. This singular hyper-focus on 1 mechanic is what draws me in.
If the complexity in the combat doesn't come from the player, how is this game so engaging to play? The answer lies in the enemy design. Every single move, every single animation used by the enemies is so precise and well thought out. The windups and combos are expertly crafted and unlike souls games, there's no grinding. The only way to level up is to get better. This is portrayed beautifully in the game by the utilization of Genichiro. You fight Genichiro 3 times in the game. The first is at the very start. This is when your skills are at the lowest. You have no chance of beating him and you feel weak and helpless. The second time is at the midway point in the game. If the game hasn't clicked for you up until this point, it will once you beat this boss. You finally GET Sekiro. The third and final time you meet Genichiro is at the very end. He is the first of the 4 phases of the final boss but at this point, you've become so good that this phase is essentially trivial. As the game has progressed, so has your skills and this is what makes Genichiro such a compelling recurring boss.
Masterpiece.
The game started with a bang but even with the amazing traversal system and the decent combat, the game is just tiring. Repetitive open world activity after repetitive open world activity. Beneath the fresh coat of paint, there's an aggressively mediocre experience.
Love the feeling you get when you look back and not recognize an area you've been to many times because you're so massive to the point of trampling everything. One of the best soundtracks of all time as well. This game is just oozing style.
Peak cinema
2015
I've started this game up 3 times now but can't get past the 2 hour mark. It's utterly boring to me.
2007
Gameplay has aged quite poorly. Although the atmosphere still holds up, the visuals don't. I lost my patience after chapter 3 and looked up a youtube summary instead. Onto Witcher 2.
2023
This little interactive experience may not be as engaging to a western audience that has limited perspective on Indian culture but to me, this is much more than just a cute game. I'm not going to critique the gameplay or the mechanics because those are entirely irrelevant to what Venba is.
Venba is a short story about what it's like to be an outsider, the struggle to assimilate, the hardships of staying true to your roots and much more. I don't relate as much to the broader story, but I heavily relate to the tiny details like Kavin sleeping in the same room as his parents and Paavalam eating with his hands while his son does so with a spoon. This game made me appreciate my parents even more than I already do and taught me a lot about embracing where I'm from and that's more than I can say about 95% of all video games.
4.5/5
Venba is a short story about what it's like to be an outsider, the struggle to assimilate, the hardships of staying true to your roots and much more. I don't relate as much to the broader story, but I heavily relate to the tiny details like Kavin sleeping in the same room as his parents and Paavalam eating with his hands while his son does so with a spoon. This game made me appreciate my parents even more than I already do and taught me a lot about embracing where I'm from and that's more than I can say about 95% of all video games.
4.5/5
2023
Honestly, not that bad of a game. It runs super well and there's enough gameplay variety in the different exosuits to have a good time kicking dinosaur ass. The core loop is fun but it needs a few more game-modes and maps. I definitely don't think this is worth 60 dollars, so try it on gamepass if you can.
Really makes you FEEL like batman. This is not a joke, it does do that.
2012
I genuinely do not understand the appeal of Dragon's Dogma. I've started and dropped this game 3 times at this point. Usually with these "cult classics", even if I don't enjoy them, I can see what makes it fun for other people. The only thing mildly good about DD is the combat, but that can only take you so far. I also like the graphics just because of the nostalgia I have for PS3 era games.
It has a poorly written story and an excessively slow pacing. I don't even know what was happening most of the time, but unlike say Dark Souls, the world isn't interesting enough to carry it's mediocre narrative setup. The only dialogue bits that I remember from this game is the mind-numbing chatter by the pawns. Also, this is a petty complaint but please DD, stop using the word "aught" so much. It's super annoying.
The gameplay design is aggressively boring. It has a vast open world filled with monsters just standing around doing nothing. There's barely any reward for exploring. There's a stamina bar that depletes when you run so you're constantly walking around empty plains very slowly. The quests feel like AI written radiant quests from Fallout 4. The level design consists of very long corridors after very long corridors. It's just plain bad. It almost feels like an MMO that somehow forgot to add the multiplayer.
2/5
It has a poorly written story and an excessively slow pacing. I don't even know what was happening most of the time, but unlike say Dark Souls, the world isn't interesting enough to carry it's mediocre narrative setup. The only dialogue bits that I remember from this game is the mind-numbing chatter by the pawns. Also, this is a petty complaint but please DD, stop using the word "aught" so much. It's super annoying.
The gameplay design is aggressively boring. It has a vast open world filled with monsters just standing around doing nothing. There's barely any reward for exploring. There's a stamina bar that depletes when you run so you're constantly walking around empty plains very slowly. The quests feel like AI written radiant quests from Fallout 4. The level design consists of very long corridors after very long corridors. It's just plain bad. It almost feels like an MMO that somehow forgot to add the multiplayer.
2/5
Recently got into Warhammer and this was the first game recommended to me. Can't praise this enough. I don't play a lot of RTS games but this was a lot of fun. The campaign introduces the mechanics in an easy and organic manner. The most surprising thing to me was the story. Even with the terrible RTS animations, this game manages to tell a very compelling tale in the Warhammer universe. Extra points for the amazing voice acting.
2014
This is just a mediocre game. Plain and simple. Nothing here works for me. I love horror games that require exploration of elaborately designed levels, but here, it's just straight corridors with levels strung together. The combat is boring, the artstyle is so painfully 2010s that it hurts my eyes. A lot of people say the sequel is much better but after playing this, I don't even want to try that.
2022
Enjoyed this one a LOT. Although you can clearly see that this game takes a lot of inspiration from silent hill and resident evil, it feels very original. I found it to be a bit too easy but I finished it in around 8 hours which is a perfect length for this type of game. One of my favorite aspects of Signalis is the presentation. The whole game is just dripping with atmosphere and the world seems to have a rich history. The soundtrack complements this with a variety of beautifully crafted ambient tracks.
Highly recommended for horror fans. Left me ruminating for hours after the ending.
Highly recommended for horror fans. Left me ruminating for hours after the ending.