SsjSora
Breaking news, angry ball woman slurps the Mountain Dew Voltage and swings like monke. Story at eleven.
2023
shame Akechi fell off as hard as he did. At least Futaba's doing well for herself
#toystory3fornintendodssweep
I wonder how many people never saw Terrible Fate before this.
It fascinates me to think about the people that wandered into this blinder than a bat on a GDQ blindfold speedrun, maybe having seen the PS5 showcase presentation trailer first. I wonder how surprised they were to find such an emotionally packed ride of Zelda zen waiting for them. And yes, there's issues. Yes, the voice direction is... lacking, for a story like this. Yes, the N64/GCN-era Zelda titles it draws inspiration from are certainly better. But nothing can take away from these highs of combat, of discovery's satisfaction, of quiet storytelling. Play this. Buy this. Show the world that this is where we're headed.
It fascinates me to think about the people that wandered into this blinder than a bat on a GDQ blindfold speedrun, maybe having seen the PS5 showcase presentation trailer first. I wonder how surprised they were to find such an emotionally packed ride of Zelda zen waiting for them. And yes, there's issues. Yes, the voice direction is... lacking, for a story like this. Yes, the N64/GCN-era Zelda titles it draws inspiration from are certainly better. But nothing can take away from these highs of combat, of discovery's satisfaction, of quiet storytelling. Play this. Buy this. Show the world that this is where we're headed.
*EDIT/DISCLAIMER: The original version of this review stated I did not get every trophy due to the game not giving me the trophies "Fully Stacked" and "Return Policy." Since "Fully Stacked" has the requirement of buying every gun in the game, what you need to do is start a New Game+ in the form of Challenge Mode after completing the game, upon starting which you can buy the last two weapons immediately- assuming you had all the weapons you could get on a first playthrough, of course. So don't worry if you think you should have it, just start Challenge Mode and all shall be well. As for "Return Policy," my best advice would be to get the Void Repulsor to level 5 without spending ANY RARITANIUM ON IMPROVING THE RANGE OR SPREAD OF THE BLAST ATTACK. That helps a lot. Otherwise, should be a safe and stellar ride to the platinum trophy.
Oh. My. Goodness.
WHAT a game to start a PS5 journey with. Every second of explosions made by, decision-making in the stead of, boosting through landscapes with, maneuvering, laughing with, and feeling for these characters was one I'm so glad I took. Not everything was to my taste, and some frustrations were had, but this is one I'm not soon forgetting.
To begin on the technical side from which the game was marketed, it's easy to see the PS5 wiping the dust off of its shoulder with a casual grin as the SSD works its magic. Loading times practically don't exist, especially important considering the dimensional rifts the whole story is based upon. Frequently during a boss fight or scripted sequence, your Lombax will be picked up by a rift in space-time and flung to another planet out of nowhere, effortlessly loading in an entire planet level in no time. Traveling by ship leads to the same results, with cutscenes often transitioning from planet to planet not with the gaming-staple "fade to black and wait ten seconds for the next place to load" as we're all familiar with, but rather an instantaneous screen wipe effect- likely a Star Wars homage in execution. Beyond the loading speeds, every character is rendered and textured like never before. Ratchet's face and especially his cheeks have never been so fuzzy, and every enemy, building, rock, tree, and everything in between is built from a ludicrous excess of polygons- but an excess that never once affected the rock-solid 1080p 60fps action because I don't own a 4K display. What makes the texture work pop more than anything, however, is the lighting. The fabled ray-trace reflections on Clank indeed look gorgeous. The environmental lighting effects varied from a mild feeling of being impressed for most of the game (the afternoon sun of Sargasso strikes a very pretty picture, but one likely possible on last generation), to being genuinely very impressed with the detailed refractions of the Lombaxes' flashlights on dark areas, to the absolutely breathtaking experience of reaching Blizar-Prime. That's a moment I will not soon forget.
But Blizar-Prime brings up a point far more important than the technology behind Rift Apart, something correlated that I'd argue is far more significant: art direction and presentation. Rift Apart is an absolute marvel of a cinematic experience in the top one percent of video games, period; Insomniac Games has proven their capacity for cutscene craftsmanship far beyond the industry. Every animation is crafted with the squashiest, stretchiest, bounciest love of weight and character. Every gun, returning and new, sports a design indicative of a studio that never lost touch with creating the zaniest and most badass armaments in the galaxy; they all handle with a heft and power unmatched in gaming weaponry. The SSD's loading prowess proves itself as a storytelling tool as well, allowing for more unique and cinematic cutscene direction- such as Rivet being very sharply lit up by a searchlight in Nefarious City, only to match-cut to Ratchet instantly on an entirely different planet; that the game opens on this note sets an excellent tone. The cutscenes are storyboarded and blocked spectacularly as well, creating some striking images that heighten the story's most dramatic moments- moments I dare not spoil.
On the topic of the story, I do like to keep my reviews spoiler-free, but it must be said: this is a story with weight, stakes, consequences, humor, emotion, and everything in between. A story worthy of following up A Crack In Time, for sure. I just wish the ending didn't sequel bait us so hard with no guarantee of the next game being anytime soon, ESPECIALLY with how many things cooking in Insomniac's oven right now.
(I couldn't fit it reasonably anywhere else, but the music! It's not as good as the original Ratchet scores on PS2, but Mark Mothersbaugh brought a positively sizzling synth-orchestral fusion heat to this intergalactic barbecue of Nefarious ne'er-do-wells. The leitmotifs are recognizable and potent, the synthetic edge brings a bit of the surreal nature of both space-faring and the dimension-shattering concept to the forefront audibly, and it's wonderful in the moment to pump up the tension and adrenaline. Wonderful stuff.)
As for the game... well. This is Ratchet, all right. Hot diggity dang, is it ever. The DualSense sensibly sensitizes this sensitive soul's sensitive soft spot for sensitive triggers in the smack center of sizable shoot-em-ups.
Also known as "haptics make monkey brain go shoot shoot happy happy Enforcer go brrrrrrr"
It cannot be overstated, and I dare not understate, how much the DualSense's haptic feedback affects gunplay. Every trigger pull of the Burst Pistol reverberates through your entire being as your finger clings to R2 for dear life like a bull rider. The Enforcer's double barrels of death kick back like a horse, blowing you back as much as it does enemy corpses. The Headhunter actually made me like using a sniping weapon; slowing down, zooming in, and popping heads was nearly as satisfying as a real bolt action semi-auto. And though it isn't a weapon, pumping the Hoverboots to maximum speed in every single spot I definitely was not allowed to did wonders for my tiny speed-obsessed ape brain. It makes for one of the most satisfying gameplay experiences I've had in a long time.
The weapon balancing supports this as well. Unlike a game like RaC 2016, every weapon has a purpose- to an extent, anyway. After a while certain categories of weapons, such as rapid-fire, shotgun blast, support, and so on, became apparent in my mind. Each "type"- which the game never specifies on its own, this is purely in my observations of the weapons- is useful and diverse from the last, but within each type the weapons are interchangeable. The difference in practicality between the Buzz Blades and the Lightning Rod, for example, only comes down to how upgraded each one is and therefore which one will get you bigger numbers. Make no mistake, however- I love every one of them.
Of course, my minor grievances do little to hamper the experience overall, but I'd be remiss not to mention them: it's too difficult to get enough bolts and Raritanium to max everything out without RPG levels of grinding at Zurkie's before a NG+ playthrough, and I like doing everything before the final boss; there's a lack of polish and prevalence of bugs that, while incredibly infrequent, just makes them stick out a little bit more; it feels like we don't get enough playtime with Ratchet himself, especially considering how he can't be taken into the arena battles; the side quests and map design, true to Ratchet history, turn me around something fierce (I never want to hear the word Zurpstone again in my life); and Ratchet's hesitations that he grows from throughout the game were rather disappointing for me. When he first hesitates at the beginning of the game, I misjudged the reasoning behind said hesitation and came to the wrong conclusion. Once we got to the real conclusion, I found myself rather disappointed given how much I preferred my idea. I understand that it's purely a me thing, but it's still rather irksome to me. ^^"
But I'm just a stick in the mud. If you've got a spare soul to sell to Satan, get yourself a PS5 and play Rift Apart. It showed me so many new dimensions of gaming excellence I won't soon forget.
Oh. My. Goodness.
WHAT a game to start a PS5 journey with. Every second of explosions made by, decision-making in the stead of, boosting through landscapes with, maneuvering, laughing with, and feeling for these characters was one I'm so glad I took. Not everything was to my taste, and some frustrations were had, but this is one I'm not soon forgetting.
To begin on the technical side from which the game was marketed, it's easy to see the PS5 wiping the dust off of its shoulder with a casual grin as the SSD works its magic. Loading times practically don't exist, especially important considering the dimensional rifts the whole story is based upon. Frequently during a boss fight or scripted sequence, your Lombax will be picked up by a rift in space-time and flung to another planet out of nowhere, effortlessly loading in an entire planet level in no time. Traveling by ship leads to the same results, with cutscenes often transitioning from planet to planet not with the gaming-staple "fade to black and wait ten seconds for the next place to load" as we're all familiar with, but rather an instantaneous screen wipe effect- likely a Star Wars homage in execution. Beyond the loading speeds, every character is rendered and textured like never before. Ratchet's face and especially his cheeks have never been so fuzzy, and every enemy, building, rock, tree, and everything in between is built from a ludicrous excess of polygons- but an excess that never once affected the rock-solid 1080p 60fps action because I don't own a 4K display. What makes the texture work pop more than anything, however, is the lighting. The fabled ray-trace reflections on Clank indeed look gorgeous. The environmental lighting effects varied from a mild feeling of being impressed for most of the game (the afternoon sun of Sargasso strikes a very pretty picture, but one likely possible on last generation), to being genuinely very impressed with the detailed refractions of the Lombaxes' flashlights on dark areas, to the absolutely breathtaking experience of reaching Blizar-Prime. That's a moment I will not soon forget.
But Blizar-Prime brings up a point far more important than the technology behind Rift Apart, something correlated that I'd argue is far more significant: art direction and presentation. Rift Apart is an absolute marvel of a cinematic experience in the top one percent of video games, period; Insomniac Games has proven their capacity for cutscene craftsmanship far beyond the industry. Every animation is crafted with the squashiest, stretchiest, bounciest love of weight and character. Every gun, returning and new, sports a design indicative of a studio that never lost touch with creating the zaniest and most badass armaments in the galaxy; they all handle with a heft and power unmatched in gaming weaponry. The SSD's loading prowess proves itself as a storytelling tool as well, allowing for more unique and cinematic cutscene direction- such as Rivet being very sharply lit up by a searchlight in Nefarious City, only to match-cut to Ratchet instantly on an entirely different planet; that the game opens on this note sets an excellent tone. The cutscenes are storyboarded and blocked spectacularly as well, creating some striking images that heighten the story's most dramatic moments- moments I dare not spoil.
On the topic of the story, I do like to keep my reviews spoiler-free, but it must be said: this is a story with weight, stakes, consequences, humor, emotion, and everything in between. A story worthy of following up A Crack In Time, for sure. I just wish the ending didn't sequel bait us so hard with no guarantee of the next game being anytime soon, ESPECIALLY with how many things cooking in Insomniac's oven right now.
(I couldn't fit it reasonably anywhere else, but the music! It's not as good as the original Ratchet scores on PS2, but Mark Mothersbaugh brought a positively sizzling synth-orchestral fusion heat to this intergalactic barbecue of Nefarious ne'er-do-wells. The leitmotifs are recognizable and potent, the synthetic edge brings a bit of the surreal nature of both space-faring and the dimension-shattering concept to the forefront audibly, and it's wonderful in the moment to pump up the tension and adrenaline. Wonderful stuff.)
As for the game... well. This is Ratchet, all right. Hot diggity dang, is it ever. The DualSense sensibly sensitizes this sensitive soul's sensitive soft spot for sensitive triggers in the smack center of sizable shoot-em-ups.
Also known as "haptics make monkey brain go shoot shoot happy happy Enforcer go brrrrrrr"
It cannot be overstated, and I dare not understate, how much the DualSense's haptic feedback affects gunplay. Every trigger pull of the Burst Pistol reverberates through your entire being as your finger clings to R2 for dear life like a bull rider. The Enforcer's double barrels of death kick back like a horse, blowing you back as much as it does enemy corpses. The Headhunter actually made me like using a sniping weapon; slowing down, zooming in, and popping heads was nearly as satisfying as a real bolt action semi-auto. And though it isn't a weapon, pumping the Hoverboots to maximum speed in every single spot I definitely was not allowed to did wonders for my tiny speed-obsessed ape brain. It makes for one of the most satisfying gameplay experiences I've had in a long time.
The weapon balancing supports this as well. Unlike a game like RaC 2016, every weapon has a purpose- to an extent, anyway. After a while certain categories of weapons, such as rapid-fire, shotgun blast, support, and so on, became apparent in my mind. Each "type"- which the game never specifies on its own, this is purely in my observations of the weapons- is useful and diverse from the last, but within each type the weapons are interchangeable. The difference in practicality between the Buzz Blades and the Lightning Rod, for example, only comes down to how upgraded each one is and therefore which one will get you bigger numbers. Make no mistake, however- I love every one of them.
Of course, my minor grievances do little to hamper the experience overall, but I'd be remiss not to mention them: it's too difficult to get enough bolts and Raritanium to max everything out without RPG levels of grinding at Zurkie's before a NG+ playthrough, and I like doing everything before the final boss; there's a lack of polish and prevalence of bugs that, while incredibly infrequent, just makes them stick out a little bit more; it feels like we don't get enough playtime with Ratchet himself, especially considering how he can't be taken into the arena battles; the side quests and map design, true to Ratchet history, turn me around something fierce (I never want to hear the word Zurpstone again in my life); and Ratchet's hesitations that he grows from throughout the game were rather disappointing for me. When he first hesitates at the beginning of the game, I misjudged the reasoning behind said hesitation and came to the wrong conclusion. Once we got to the real conclusion, I found myself rather disappointed given how much I preferred my idea. I understand that it's purely a me thing, but it's still rather irksome to me. ^^"
But I'm just a stick in the mud. If you've got a spare soul to sell to Satan, get yourself a PS5 and play Rift Apart. It showed me so many new dimensions of gaming excellence I won't soon forget.
TL;DR Everything except playing the game is phenomenal, but playing the game has too many unpredictable random elements that seem horribly unbalanced. Still a recommended experience overall, just prepare yourself.
This game is... extremely complicated. In so many ways.
I will first say that I've played only Definitive Edition, and prefer its soundtrack- except for You Will Know Our Names and the final boss track. Don't know what quite happened there.
It seems fitting, for a game of such pedigree, to start with the other elements that I "don't know what quite happened there." Best to get them out of the way, so that I may give the truly incredible feats this game accomplishes the room for praise they deserve. Xenoblade Chronicles, as a game, is a dense cluster of STUFF that takes an unhealthy amount of time to unpack. Now, this is actually fine to me. Slowly coming to understand every last nuance of its mechanics, both through the tutorial screens in the menus that rather humorously use the characters themselves to explain what they can do and through experimentation, is incredibly rewarding, and makes for a very personal connection. However, so many of these systems are linked together through the most tedious elements of the game. Completing the Collectopaedia, while fun for the first 60 to 70% of an area, becomes a frustrating slog of running through blue orbs for hours on end and talking to every last character to trade for that one last item you need. Oh! But don't add it to the Collectopaedia just yet to get the actually-valuable gem rewards, you'll need this item for a quest later that also gives you a reward of value, forcing you to run through more blue orbs! To get good gems and equipment- the heart of Xenoblade's progression, I feel- the most tedious fetch quests and running through massive environments to discover crystal deposits with scarce landmarks nearby must happen. This progression actively halts the progression of the story for worrying amounts of time, exhausting me to my core.
This is but one of my three major issues with Xenoblade, sadly. I feel like I MUST exhaust myself to my core finding crystal deposits and completing the tedious quests in order to stand a chance, for two reasons; these two reasons are the other of the two issues. Firstly, the game punishes experimentation after a point. With every one of the seven party members being so unique, each bringing such a fascinating and niche role to combat, the number of ways you can set up your team is staggering. Add on that the specialization options of ether gems, and the possibilities jump even higher still. But each combination always leaves massive holes. Balanced composition is tough to fully achieve. Some teams are focused heavily on ether, and some on physical strength. Some teams can survive anything but have trouble dealing with lots of variety, and others can do anything but nothing well. And this system would work beautifully... were the game not so punishing for having the wrong setup for any situation. For example, say there is a scenario where ether-based offense is practically required for a good composition, but this vulnerability is placed on an enemy with great physical offense. This hypothetical scenario presents two major problems: one, that the ether-based characters either deal poor offense like Sharla or have low survivability like Melia, and two, that the game gives you zero indication that this is what is required for this scenario nor a way to let you fix your mistakes without dying and regrouping. This type of scenario, unfortunately, is rather common. Even dying and retrying might take multiple attempts before you truly figure it out. Not to mention, having Shulk in the party as a safeguard against any difficult gimmicks the enemy might throw at you (Mechon defenses, spike auras, and powerful Arts that require Monado Speed/Shield to change the future) practically forces you to not only play as him to avoid the AI wasting every unique ability he has, but it percludes you from including Melia in the party at the same time for a similar reason- the AI controlling her has little regard for her mechanics and her role as a support-focused black mage and simply attacks. The AI's approximation of Melia is only a quarter of what a Melia truly should be.
And sadly, this does lead into my final point: the AI and balancing. As mentioned, the AI of more complicated party members such as Shulk and Melia result in restricted party compositions. Were we able to expend a block of Party Gauge at any time to get someone to act, not just with a vision, potentially some issues would be alleviated. However, that is far from the only problem. The difficulty rubberbanding (meaning it keeps fluctuating at random due to factors out of your control) is so severe that there are points when the game becomes borderline unplayable. Even at the recommended level, a single misplaced Art (which, if you'll recall, is hard to see coming when preparing party composition) from a standard enemy has the capacity to party-wipe. This becomes especially egregious in the second half of the game. During one infamous boss fight, the one in which you "pay for your insolence," I had a party of Melia, Riki (who had max health), and Seven. I died within ninety seconds despite being one level ahead of the boss because they came out swinging with dangerous Arts. I tried again, no differences in my inherent strategies, and I beat the boss in ninety seconds. The AI and damage levels on enemy Arts are terribly unbalanced, and forced me to finish the game on Casual Mode to just be done with it all. I am grateful that Casual Mode is an option, but relying on it to have a comfortable experience through the end is a major problem.
Of course, having had that whole experience, troubling experiences included, it was so absolutely worth it. From my perspective, that of a creative writer and creator of fiction myself, here was a story worth every moment along the way. A story that prides and flaunts on misdirection, half-truths, and the complexities and tragedies of the bitter nature of the cycle of vengeance and how it spills between the large and the small, the older generation to the younger generation. If for no other reason than this, play. This. Game.
This game is... extremely complicated. In so many ways.
I will first say that I've played only Definitive Edition, and prefer its soundtrack- except for You Will Know Our Names and the final boss track. Don't know what quite happened there.
It seems fitting, for a game of such pedigree, to start with the other elements that I "don't know what quite happened there." Best to get them out of the way, so that I may give the truly incredible feats this game accomplishes the room for praise they deserve. Xenoblade Chronicles, as a game, is a dense cluster of STUFF that takes an unhealthy amount of time to unpack. Now, this is actually fine to me. Slowly coming to understand every last nuance of its mechanics, both through the tutorial screens in the menus that rather humorously use the characters themselves to explain what they can do and through experimentation, is incredibly rewarding, and makes for a very personal connection. However, so many of these systems are linked together through the most tedious elements of the game. Completing the Collectopaedia, while fun for the first 60 to 70% of an area, becomes a frustrating slog of running through blue orbs for hours on end and talking to every last character to trade for that one last item you need. Oh! But don't add it to the Collectopaedia just yet to get the actually-valuable gem rewards, you'll need this item for a quest later that also gives you a reward of value, forcing you to run through more blue orbs! To get good gems and equipment- the heart of Xenoblade's progression, I feel- the most tedious fetch quests and running through massive environments to discover crystal deposits with scarce landmarks nearby must happen. This progression actively halts the progression of the story for worrying amounts of time, exhausting me to my core.
This is but one of my three major issues with Xenoblade, sadly. I feel like I MUST exhaust myself to my core finding crystal deposits and completing the tedious quests in order to stand a chance, for two reasons; these two reasons are the other of the two issues. Firstly, the game punishes experimentation after a point. With every one of the seven party members being so unique, each bringing such a fascinating and niche role to combat, the number of ways you can set up your team is staggering. Add on that the specialization options of ether gems, and the possibilities jump even higher still. But each combination always leaves massive holes. Balanced composition is tough to fully achieve. Some teams are focused heavily on ether, and some on physical strength. Some teams can survive anything but have trouble dealing with lots of variety, and others can do anything but nothing well. And this system would work beautifully... were the game not so punishing for having the wrong setup for any situation. For example, say there is a scenario where ether-based offense is practically required for a good composition, but this vulnerability is placed on an enemy with great physical offense. This hypothetical scenario presents two major problems: one, that the ether-based characters either deal poor offense like Sharla or have low survivability like Melia, and two, that the game gives you zero indication that this is what is required for this scenario nor a way to let you fix your mistakes without dying and regrouping. This type of scenario, unfortunately, is rather common. Even dying and retrying might take multiple attempts before you truly figure it out. Not to mention, having Shulk in the party as a safeguard against any difficult gimmicks the enemy might throw at you (Mechon defenses, spike auras, and powerful Arts that require Monado Speed/Shield to change the future) practically forces you to not only play as him to avoid the AI wasting every unique ability he has, but it percludes you from including Melia in the party at the same time for a similar reason- the AI controlling her has little regard for her mechanics and her role as a support-focused black mage and simply attacks. The AI's approximation of Melia is only a quarter of what a Melia truly should be.
And sadly, this does lead into my final point: the AI and balancing. As mentioned, the AI of more complicated party members such as Shulk and Melia result in restricted party compositions. Were we able to expend a block of Party Gauge at any time to get someone to act, not just with a vision, potentially some issues would be alleviated. However, that is far from the only problem. The difficulty rubberbanding (meaning it keeps fluctuating at random due to factors out of your control) is so severe that there are points when the game becomes borderline unplayable. Even at the recommended level, a single misplaced Art (which, if you'll recall, is hard to see coming when preparing party composition) from a standard enemy has the capacity to party-wipe. This becomes especially egregious in the second half of the game. During one infamous boss fight, the one in which you "pay for your insolence," I had a party of Melia, Riki (who had max health), and Seven. I died within ninety seconds despite being one level ahead of the boss because they came out swinging with dangerous Arts. I tried again, no differences in my inherent strategies, and I beat the boss in ninety seconds. The AI and damage levels on enemy Arts are terribly unbalanced, and forced me to finish the game on Casual Mode to just be done with it all. I am grateful that Casual Mode is an option, but relying on it to have a comfortable experience through the end is a major problem.
Of course, having had that whole experience, troubling experiences included, it was so absolutely worth it. From my perspective, that of a creative writer and creator of fiction myself, here was a story worth every moment along the way. A story that prides and flaunts on misdirection, half-truths, and the complexities and tragedies of the bitter nature of the cycle of vengeance and how it spills between the large and the small, the older generation to the younger generation. If for no other reason than this, play. This. Game.
Well.
Hm.
That was... a sequel to Ori & The Blind Forest, all right.
Okay look, the game's not BAD, and there are plenty of things it does great! It's just... too generic to me. Everything unique and snappy about Blind Forest feels either watered down, stuck into a map that's too big to feel like it has impact, or not here at all. And in its place, it just feels like it wants to be Hollow Knight. And despite my personal feelings on Hollow Knight, I know everyone loves it, that's not a bad thing to be. But it also saps away identity.
The fact that it's still walking away with an 8/10 proves just how stellar everything else was, given this.
Hm.
That was... a sequel to Ori & The Blind Forest, all right.
Okay look, the game's not BAD, and there are plenty of things it does great! It's just... too generic to me. Everything unique and snappy about Blind Forest feels either watered down, stuck into a map that's too big to feel like it has impact, or not here at all. And in its place, it just feels like it wants to be Hollow Knight. And despite my personal feelings on Hollow Knight, I know everyone loves it, that's not a bad thing to be. But it also saps away identity.
The fact that it's still walking away with an 8/10 proves just how stellar everything else was, given this.