SudoShadow19
18 reviews liked by SudoShadow19
Doom
2016
I actually ended up playing this for free with the 7 day PS Now trial, in preparation for Doom Eternal. It was much better than I was expecting.
Pros:
+The action is so fast paced and explosive. It's some of the most fun single player FPS I've ever played.
+Menu shows total amount of collectables in the area so you can know if you’ve missed anything
+Constant upgrades left a great feeling of progression, speaking of which:
+The difficulty curve was perfect. I always felt I had the same level of "just right" challenge. This is partly due to the upgrades mentioned above, and also the introduction or more and more enemy types.
+The weapons for the most part don't suffer power creep. Thanks to the upgrade system, even the starter shotgun was useful to me well into the end of the game.
+Multiplayer is fun, even if it doesn't do much to stand out from every other FPS multiplayer.
Cons:
-The map is absolutely horrible. If you're using it to try and find out where the collectables are, you're going to struggle through the lack of any indication of where walls are, making the different rooms and floor levels impossible to tell where you can get to room A from room B. You also can't zoom or pan much further than where your icon is, so if you're trying to look for where that one collectable you missed is, you're out of luck.
-Some levels have arbitrary point of no returns, which goes against the entire of exploring every nook and cranny for secrets and upgrades. It wouldn't be so bad, but thanks to the huge open-nature of the stages, and the horrible-to-read map, it can be hard to know exactly which parts you can get to at the current moment, and which parts will be locked out if you go through this door and it locks behind you.
Mixed/Not important enough to be a pro/con:
~I ended up with a glitched trophy that didn't pop, preventing me from getting the Plat without playing the entire game again. While a glitch is a clear con, the fact it only affects the trophy system, which isn't technically part of the game, means I can't give the game a con for it.
Pros:
+The action is so fast paced and explosive. It's some of the most fun single player FPS I've ever played.
+Menu shows total amount of collectables in the area so you can know if you’ve missed anything
+Constant upgrades left a great feeling of progression, speaking of which:
+The difficulty curve was perfect. I always felt I had the same level of "just right" challenge. This is partly due to the upgrades mentioned above, and also the introduction or more and more enemy types.
+The weapons for the most part don't suffer power creep. Thanks to the upgrade system, even the starter shotgun was useful to me well into the end of the game.
+Multiplayer is fun, even if it doesn't do much to stand out from every other FPS multiplayer.
Cons:
-The map is absolutely horrible. If you're using it to try and find out where the collectables are, you're going to struggle through the lack of any indication of where walls are, making the different rooms and floor levels impossible to tell where you can get to room A from room B. You also can't zoom or pan much further than where your icon is, so if you're trying to look for where that one collectable you missed is, you're out of luck.
-Some levels have arbitrary point of no returns, which goes against the entire of exploring every nook and cranny for secrets and upgrades. It wouldn't be so bad, but thanks to the huge open-nature of the stages, and the horrible-to-read map, it can be hard to know exactly which parts you can get to at the current moment, and which parts will be locked out if you go through this door and it locks behind you.
Mixed/Not important enough to be a pro/con:
~I ended up with a glitched trophy that didn't pop, preventing me from getting the Plat without playing the entire game again. While a glitch is a clear con, the fact it only affects the trophy system, which isn't technically part of the game, means I can't give the game a con for it.
A Hat in Time
2017
This review contains spoilers
3D collectathon platformers are one of my favourite genres, and A Hat in Time is a really fun one. It definitely goes for quality over quantity, as there's only 4 worlds, but each of them tries something different instead of generic grass/ice/fire/sand world. Well, kinda. The last and 5th "world" for the last boss is just a Bowser's Castle rip off, even the soundtrack sounds like it came from Bowser's own OST.
But each world also benefits from the amount of life thrown into them. Between their own colourful citizens, to how missions play out (e.g in one world you're working for 2 different movie directors, and in another you're filling contracts for a Satan expy in order to get your soul back). These worlds aren't just an excuse to do the same things in a new coat of paint, each one really felt like it had its own identity.
And while there's only 1/3rd of the collectable mcguffins compared to Mario's adventures, they don't put in a ton of filler ones like collect 100 coins on every star, or collect 300 blue coins, or fight the same boss again but harder this time. Each mission is its own little adventure.
Movement is also really fun. Nothing super innovative, but it controls well and is a joy to leap around. The only thing I ever had a problem with here was the leaping homing attack. It felt very unresponsive at times.
The badges and hats were a little underutilised. Only a couple of badges ever got used, and only one or two hats felt like they actually played into the platforming, as opposed to just being an excuse to lock things behind a progress wall (such as all the ice hat squares). Obviously I'm talking about the rift hat, which in the late game makes up about 80% of the platforming challenges. The time stop hat is used maybe twice for actual mandatory challenges as opposed to just using it for the sake of an easier challenge. Weirdly the potion/brew hat, despite being one of the first you unlock, I don't think was used at all for actual mandatory progress until one part of the last world, other than that it seemed to exist just to get some extra orbs and maybe a secret or two.
But it's a charming, cute game and definitely feels like it was made by people who know and love the genre.
But each world also benefits from the amount of life thrown into them. Between their own colourful citizens, to how missions play out (e.g in one world you're working for 2 different movie directors, and in another you're filling contracts for a Satan expy in order to get your soul back). These worlds aren't just an excuse to do the same things in a new coat of paint, each one really felt like it had its own identity.
And while there's only 1/3rd of the collectable mcguffins compared to Mario's adventures, they don't put in a ton of filler ones like collect 100 coins on every star, or collect 300 blue coins, or fight the same boss again but harder this time. Each mission is its own little adventure.
Movement is also really fun. Nothing super innovative, but it controls well and is a joy to leap around. The only thing I ever had a problem with here was the leaping homing attack. It felt very unresponsive at times.
The badges and hats were a little underutilised. Only a couple of badges ever got used, and only one or two hats felt like they actually played into the platforming, as opposed to just being an excuse to lock things behind a progress wall (such as all the ice hat squares). Obviously I'm talking about the rift hat, which in the late game makes up about 80% of the platforming challenges. The time stop hat is used maybe twice for actual mandatory challenges as opposed to just using it for the sake of an easier challenge. Weirdly the potion/brew hat, despite being one of the first you unlock, I don't think was used at all for actual mandatory progress until one part of the last world, other than that it seemed to exist just to get some extra orbs and maybe a secret or two.
But it's a charming, cute game and definitely feels like it was made by people who know and love the genre.
Pokémon Unite
2021
very addicting very addicting very addicting very addicting very addicting very addicting very addicting very addicting very addicting very addicting very addicting very addicting very addicting very addicting very addicting very addicting very addicting very addicting very addicting very addicting
Persona 5 Royal
2019
Persona 5 is one of my favourite games of all time. This is a better version of Persona 5. This is one of my favourite games of all time.
Pokémon Unite
2021
This game would be pretty shit if it wasn't Pokémon.
the physics are just so weird, but the new items were fun. tripping is hilarious. i miss this game's story mode. it's so ridiculously emphasized as "epic" that i can't help but love the cheesy nature of it all.
Banjo-Tooie
2000
While trying to add as many things as possible into the game they forgot to actually make it fun. I really like the first Banjo-Kazooie and I would consider it one of (if not) my favorite 3D platformer of all time, this one however, feels like the complete opposite of the first game. In the original, you could play the levels at your own speed, more than 95% of the Jiggies were obtainable as soon as you went into the level, in this one there's a lot of backtracking and boring walking, instead of making creative puzzles the game just makes puzzles that are obvious but you need a specific skill you only get 5 levels after, not only do you have to go back and forth between levels all the time, you also waste your time thinking there's a creative and cool solution to something that is just "use skill nº 12 here". The levels are gigantic but feel really empty at the same time, the original had shorter levels but they were packed with detail and love on every corner, in this one you'll be spending most of your time traversing giant empty paths with nothing to do. The notes and eggs aren't even scattered anymore, having them be neatly placed around the levels, not only made them look better and but also gave you subtle hints on where to go and explore. If the long walks inside the levels and outside the levels weren't enough, the game also has an insane amount of long cutscenes for everything you do, even with multiple teleporters it feels extremely slow and tedious. It's impressive how many mechanics there are in the game, and how big it looks compared to the first one, but the gameplay is so boring and underwhelming that I couldn't even bring myself to finish it. Not as important but also worth noting the music isn't nearly as good in this one as it was in the first game.
Doom Eternal
2020
This is currently my all-time favorite game, nothing has made me so happy, hyped, angry and skilled in my life.
Soundtrack bangs, will buy the vinyl when it releases.
Soundtrack bangs, will buy the vinyl when it releases.
This is one of the first huge RPGs that I was ever introduced to and it's one that I'm still in love with to this day, I mean, you can do whatever you want in this game and mods definitely make the game far more interesting.
Is the game broken? Yes, but I've never found it to be game-breaking.
Is the game balanced? No, but I love being overpowered in video games, especially RPGs.
Does the game make any sense? No, but if it did, the game wouldn't be nearly as interesting imo.
Definitely a game that you should at least play once and find yourself playing it a million times more afterwards lol
Is the game broken? Yes, but I've never found it to be game-breaking.
Is the game balanced? No, but I love being overpowered in video games, especially RPGs.
Does the game make any sense? No, but if it did, the game wouldn't be nearly as interesting imo.
Definitely a game that you should at least play once and find yourself playing it a million times more afterwards lol
Sadly, Metroid Prime 3 is a little bit of a disappointment. Because Metroid Prime 2 was so good, I had high hopes. Sadly because this is a Wii game, a lot of the game was designed for the Wii's audience, the casuals. Everything pretty simple and easy and doesn't leave much of an impact.
The game is still great however with a lot of cool aspects. The control method is odd at first but very immersive when you get the hang of it. Environments are visually interesting. The boss fight range from meh to that's impressive.
I sound like i'm shitting on the game but i'm really not. It's a very solid title. It's just a shame it doesn't reach the heights of Metroid Prime 2.
The game is still great however with a lot of cool aspects. The control method is odd at first but very immersive when you get the hang of it. Environments are visually interesting. The boss fight range from meh to that's impressive.
I sound like i'm shitting on the game but i'm really not. It's a very solid title. It's just a shame it doesn't reach the heights of Metroid Prime 2.
