Jaja quién me manda a mí meterme en estos fregaos

My first ever experience in a MMO. The continuous hopes and promises of "the greatest FInal Fantasy story" brought me out of my hermit's cave and I decided to give it a try. Dozens of hours later here we are.

I now know that the good stuff comes later in the expansions, but holy shit I was expecting much more than dog shit story in the base game. It's Final Fantasy 2-level basic, but with bigger worldbuilding and 50 more hours. Post game is another story, this is somewhat decent. Not good, but decent. They at least try to tackle some themes, of multiculturalism, refugees in a global crisis, political struggles and the monetarists messing everything up. The ending is crazy, leaving everything open for the expansions to bring new approaches and conflicts to this new state of the world. Can't wait.

I now get one of the appealing elements of MMOs, how they work as just experiences to traverse and lose time, because the vast worlds and unique environments in here give me a sense of comfort and sightseeing that helped through the amounts of chores and shit I had to do for other people like an angry messenger. The music, also, some of the best world music in the franchise.

I can't say anything about the combat because I don't have enough neurons grouped together in my brain to understand all the intricacies, I just do my thing, try to help whenever possible and hope that my teammates are happy and stay hydrated.

I can say that the funniest moment in the game for me was the Crystal Tower raids, when you and 23 other unhinged monkeys go full-speed at the bosses, and there are so many magic effects on screen that I had trouble discerning where I was, and when we killed the monster and was still processing what just happened, half of my team was already sprinting to the next area like madmen. Absolute wild shit of a game.

The tragic beauty of the story told in Spec Ops: The Line has been told in so many video essays and others' reviews that I won't touch on too much of it, other than that I'm extremely glad to have actually experienced it full hand.

Spec Ops tells a harrowing tale of the horrors of war and the horrific nature of Western involvement in the Middle East. Playing through this game is not pleasant at all, beginning as a typical third person cover shooter and delving very quickly into the psyche of a soldier in command of a nightmarish operation.

I knew going into this that it wouldn't be sunshine and smiles at all, and that was definitely the case. I think this is a very necessary playthrough for folks if they can catch it on sale. It's short and rarely overstays its welcome in any segment of the gameplay, allowing the dark story to stay at the forefront of the player's experience. Visuals, storytelling, and voice acting all accent what is an excellent campaign experience.

The main drawback within Spec Ops is the combat, and I think many others would agree. For a fair comparison it feels like the first Uncharted game, where you're tasked with making some fairly difficult shots with a not so friendly targeting and recoil system. Thankfully the game gives you guns that have some serious "Umph" but it can get quite frustrating. Lack of enemy variety and the excessively short TTK on the main character added to major gripes I had with the non-story aspect of the game.

As I've mentioned, there are others who have done phenomenal jobs dissecting this game and I strongly urge everyone to check those out. For those who find that story is the most important aspect of a game, and want to experience one of the better ones out there, Spec Ops: The Line is your game. It's not perfect, but it's a standout title.

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes resumed the series' 3D era with some major features and adjustments, including new environments, abilities, and even their own take on LttP's Dark World. A dangerous, corrupted mirror-image locale, this alternate dimension mostly contains what one would expect from such a re-imagination: Brooding atmosphere, cleverly placed secrets, puzzle-interactivity, etc. And complete with dark (and light) variants of past ideas to match. Its biggest beneficiary - however, is the enemy roster, whose Cthulu-esque designs and erratic behavior grant a terrifying edge to battles, forcing more specialized strategies while utilizing teleports, phasing and visor manipulation to overwhelm players. Some of the dark world's most intense situations involve these eerie creatures. That being said, while some boss fights (Boost/Spider Guardian, Chykka) are as varied as they are stressful, the rest tend to expose how tedious the combat system can get. Certain areas (and their counterparts) are as top-notch as the original, but the real winner has to be the imposing Sanctuary Fortress, a truly futuristic, nightmarish sci-fi spectacle (populated by even more distressing enemies) that stands among Metroid's all-time memorable excursions.

It was clear from the beginning that Retro Studios were exceptional developers, and their second outing reinforced the notion - by taking two of Metroid's prominent virtues (level-design and atmosphere) and simply magnifying their power. If anything, its main drawback lies in the originality; there isn't a lot on display here that didn't revise or repeat concepts from Metroid Prime and/or its influences, but that's hardly a fault when the end result is just as captivating.

So story is top tier, as with any Metal Gear Solid game. I never played these growing up and became interested in them in 2019. I love this series now and it's easily one of my favorite, however the controls for this are so rough imo. The very final section, without any spoilers, was so hard and frustrating for me that it nearly ruined the experience for me. That aside I adore this game and this series and I think if a remake is in the works, if it's made with care it'll be just what this classic needs. This game is still 100% worth playing though!

I was writing a big essay about how Donkey Kong Country is one of my 'comfort' games and how the 'feel' of the game is imprinted in my muscle memory, the secrets and levels are burned into my brain and the feeling of warm nostalgia the sights and sounds (oh god the sounds in this one) will never fail to soothe me, whenever I fire it up. Instead I am just going to say that once upon a time Shigeru Miyamoto said that Donkey Kong Country was all graphics and no gameplay and I reckon he was just salty that no one was as arsed about Yoshi's Island and that Rare had made a much more enjoyable game.

Fuck that guy, what does he know about videogames?

Titanfall's multiplayer was basically flawless but slapping a campaign onto it that is equal parts movement-focused retro shooter and post-Modern Warfare cinematic set-piece onslaught is more than putting a cherry on top of a cake. It's more akin to putting a smaller but just as tasty cake on top.

Every level throws new ideas at you, which range from "oh, that's cute" to "this is the best idea since someone looked at a Twix and said that two of those things should be in the packet". Real top tier fun stuff. If I have any complaints it is that the campaign is a bit one and done but when you've got a multiplayer mode this good to fall back on, its minor.

If there was a checklist of things an FPS game can do in order to be perfect, Titanfall 2 ticks a lot of them off. Damn close to the lot.

There's been roughly one billion videos made and articles written analysing Silent Hill 2's themes, doing deep dives into areas of the game and all sorts of extremely detailed explanations of individual moments throughout it. There's a reason for this, because Silent Hill 2 might be the most thematically solid video game ever made.

Every single aspect of it is all laser focused on the same goal. From the writing, visuals, enemy design, even extremely specific parts of the world design are all an important part of telling this bleak, brutal tale. A mature game, not just in terms of subject matter, but also in regards to the way it is handled and the approach you need to take to truly get the most out of it.

Unfortunately, Silent Hill 2 is starting to show its age. The best place to play it remains on the original hardware, although the modding scene around the PC version is close to getting the game looking its best on modern hardware. Don't even go near the 'HD' version, it is an unholy mess.

A truly standout game in the survival horror genre and one of the best examples of how a video game can tell a story in a way that other types of media simply cannot.

A revitalized classic with improved extras.

Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon is a remake of Sega's strategy role playing game classic originally made on the genesis in 1993. Is it worth playing? despite it's age, this is still one of the most enjoyable games around to me as a huge series fan growing up with them.

Shining Force begins in the kingdom of Guardiana, a skilled young swordsman suffering from amnesia ready to save a kingdom against the forces of Runefaust. While the story isn't super deep it's compelling enough to push the party from location to location fighting a surprisingly great amount of battles some of which are really memorable in their settings or goals.

The battles take place much like a game of chess. Your characters are the pieces, and any number of battlegrounds are the board. The ground you fight on has different grids represented by squares on the map. Each character can move a certain amount of these squares, or even attack a certain amount of squares. turns are taken in order of your characters and enemies speed, the faster they are, the sooner they strike!

Each member of your party is a different class, and each with specials abilities/skills. For instance, Max the main character is the only member with the Egress skill, which allows the party to escape and fight another time. Ken, a knight, can equip both spears (which can be thrown up to two squares away), and lances (which can only hit one square away). Tao and Anri, can cast magic spells varying from fire, ice, lightning and status spells. Classes include archers, mages, priests, birdmen, knights, monks, and hamsters (that's not a typo).

Once your characters have gained enough experience through battle, they will level up. Every action taken gains exp, but the value of the action dictates how much. Casting a healing spell will gain 10-20. Striking the finishing blow to an enemy, 48. Missing an attack completely? a humiliating 1. After they arrive at level 10 they can be promoted to a new stronger class, though they start at level 1 again. This will give them access to stronger weapons and spells they otherwise could not use.

The graphics have had an overhaul from the genesis classic. Character animations and costume designs have been modernized. The towns and backgrounds are also more detailed, overall the game is vibrant and colorful. How much you like the new visuals will vary in comparison with the original. I think they both have their strengths but these worked well for the Game Boy Advance screen.

But to anyone who has played the game before, what's to bring them back? For starters the dialogue has been improved, and Max is no longer a silent hero. Character backgrounds and interaction have also been improved in the HQ (though only members who are active in your party will engage in conversation with you). There are 3 new characters, as well as several new battles revolving around them. One of the afore mentioned characters uses cards in battle, in which you can collect, including through a new game +.

All in all, Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon is a must play game to new and old fans alike, despite it's age the game shines. Proving once and for all that gameplay is what really makes a game.

+ Fantastic gameplay and unique battles.
+ Graphic enhancements.
+ Dialogue improvements and new characters.
+ Awesome OST.

- The new graphical style and characters may not appeal to fans of the original title?

Yeah, it's a brutally tough roguelike inevitably inhering the divisive traits of the genre, striking a tricky balance between that adventurous excitement of every new run and the frustration of progress beholden to RNG. All that being said, Returnal is my favourite PS5 exclusive so far, one of the most conceptually ambitious titles PlayStation Studios has published in years and one of the highlights of the year. A beautifully surreal cosmic horror narrative encases absurdly tight gunplay set in visceral arenas. Both blisteringly modern in its flaunting of particle effects and non-existent load speeds but deliciously old-school with its callbacks to bullet-hell classics like Ikaruga and coin-op shmups begging you to give them one more go. The more I played, the more I came to appreciate its unique design, its obscure storytelling, its ruthless difficulty. Moments of frustration paled in comparison to the ridiculous highs I felt during far greater portions of the game. A brilliant achievement by Housemarque and gave me a bit of faith in the industry once again.

Certainly eclipsed in some ways by later entries, but still a classic. It deserves a lot of credit for pushing the limits of stylish action in a 3D environment.

Yeah, it feels kind of stiff, but I think the combat holds up pretty well aside from that. Every hit has a nice crunchiness to it, which is something admittedly lost in DMC5 in its pursuit of realism. It's a good complement to that badass soundtrack as you're beating on enemies once you're used to the controls. Such a blast. Incentivising clever and bold play is the style meter, which rewards you for mixing up your moves. The requirements for reaching "Stylish!" on the meter are strict but satisfying. It's all tied together beautifully, and is resonant with Dante as a character. Yes, truly, this game makes you feel like Dante.
...At higher level play anyway.
It all culminates in that great feeling when you get that S rank at the end of a mission, signifying a job well done.

I don't think any of the later entries match up to DMC1 in terms of atmosphere, and that's thanks to its music, sound design, the distinctly gothic feel of Mallett Island, and the camera angles. The fixed camera angles get a lot of flack, and rightfully so to an extent, but it does pay off at times. When the developers know how to take advantage of it, it looks good.

As impressive as DMC1 is, it's not without its crust. Depending on the context, the jumping can range from fine to downright painful. It works well for combat, but when platforming... it's pretty rough. Both phases of the Mundus boss fight are weak (not including the one in the last mission), but the finale of the game makes up for it. DMC1 doesn't sport a crazy good story, but it still ends on an emotional high point.
DMC1 is overall blisteringly hard and unforgiving to those trying to use it as a gateway into the genre. It's not going to click straight away, but it's still worth the try if you have any interest in it. And try not to sweat the low ranks too much, it's to be expected on your first run.

If you struggled or are struggling to get into DMC1 on the first playthrough like I did, start a fresh run and see if you're surprised by how much better you're doing. That second run was one of the most enjoyable and satisfying experiences I've ever had playing a game.

A compelling premise, but I like the idea of this game, more than I actually like this game.

It's a story about two pilots that have crashed taking out an enemy unit on the remains of Earth and their discussion about their inevitable deaths. It's great on paper and is what drew me to it but I find the execution just doesn't really work due to the quality of the writing and lack of voice acting (though they do try to mention that they can text only as part of the game I quite liked referencing it).

The writing feels pretty one note with a lot of weirdly nonsensical swearing or naff responses you can choose as your only input. In both playthroughs I chose different responses and it changes the conversation slightly, sometimes with the same answers but with a different tone from the other pilot Beatrice you are speaking to.

The problem is whilst the idea is good and some of the background lore mentioned is interesting it's not long enough or deep enough to get invested or interested in the characters and the endings. It's probably the shortest game I've ever played. I think playing through it was maybe a little longer than it's trailer on YouTube? I literally beat it twice in 25 minutes start to finish.

The visuals are really retro with huge polygons I quite like having grown up with similar titles but they are literally of one static scene from a few different camera angles and different lighting and that's it. Visually nothing interesting happens to contrast the writing. It also annoys me there are two versions of this game (red and blue) that are apparently the same except for a light hue which seems pointless and needlessly confusing?

All in all though super cheap, I still don't really feel like I got my money's worth here. There are simply better sci-fi games, better games about existentialism and better visual novels out there.

+ Great idea.
+ Cheap even at full price.

- Insanely short.
- Multiple editions for a light filter are pointless.
- Writing isn't good enough to hold the game together.

the first deadly premonition became one of my favorite games of all time after i played it a few months ago. i can honestly say that not a single day has gone by where i haven't thought about that game at least a little, either through a funny and memorable scene of dialogue or some connection i suddenly pieced together about the game's themes and its gameplay. the second game is a bit of a disappointment. i didn't expect it to surpass the original, and while at its best moments it matches some of that game's charm, during its worst moments it doesn't come even close or doesn't try. it's about as underwhelming as i expected, but at least it's not the disaster i feared it could be.

the dialogue is still excellent. if you enjoyed the first game you will undoubtably have a great time listening to york interact with the world and comment on his situation. this is really the sole reason i don't hate this game. i was always eager to turn it on and keep playing because york's dialogue is memorable and quotable and there are many hilariously bizarre scenes that i will be thinking about for years.

unfortunately that's about the only thing the sequel does as well as the original. the world feels lifeless and there are much fewer interactable npcs, which severely limits the pool of potential suspects. the story is interesting but the payoff is underwhelming and a lot of the twists feel forced or unbelievable. the otherworld sections are completely lacking the horror aesthetic that made them interesting in the original and rather than serve as twisted versions of the town's landmarks, are completely separate locations that all share the exact same setting and assets. the main issue with the game is that it just doesn't expand the first game very much. i don't feel like i have a better understanding of this world, its lore or its characters after beating it. it was just another miscellaneous adventure starring york, and the payoff of the present-day segments is so minimal that it feels like they didn't need to be there.

there are also some really uncomfortable depictions of racism and transphobia in the game that, even if they don't bother you personally, are completely unnecessary. swery has addressed these and says he plans to change or remove them. hopefully he is able to fix the problem but it really shouldn't have been in the game to begin with. edit: problem was not fixed

overall, i had a lot of good experiences playing this game but i don't think it was worth returning to the world of deadly premonition for the game we ended up getting. the universe of deadly premonition has a lot of room to expand the setting and lore, but this game barely does that.

edit #2: upon further thought, i like this game a lot less than the thoughts i had originally wrote out led on. i gave this game a 6/10 then, which i wrote after playing it on release, but it's been a couple of months since then and i'm struggling to remember any of what i thought were standout moments. the only positive thing i had to talk about was the memorable writing but nowadays i can only remember the parts of the story that frustrate me.

If I could describe this game with a phrase, it'd be "not as good."

The story's not as good. The ending's not as good. The writing's not as good. The music's not as good. The setting's not as good.

It's not terrible, but it's a far cry from what the original was, and it doesn't seem to understand what made the original special in the first place.