ThumbsMckenzie
BACKER
2022
I have played many Dark Souls games before so I knew the kind of hard task that I was in store for (to a degree). I've never felt compelled to really keep the fight going. Bloodborne was the most I spent on a game like this, until Elden Ring.
Elden Ring has been complimented to death, and it deserves all of it and more (for the most part). Its scale, it's satisfying combat (even when you are getting absolutely smashed for hours on end), it's world building, the scale (the scale deserves multiple compliments), the secrets. The game never feels like you're near the end of exploring.
Even when you get the crumb of the end game starting, the amount of content between that and the real end game is unbelievable. I thought I was done multiple times, defeating a near-impossible boss that took 100s of runs before finally getting a little luck, only to discover, "there's more, and it's gonna get worse."
The satisfaction of beating those unbeatables, the areas the open up when you're near that end, the effects you choices have on other parts of the already explored world, it's all so interesting even when nearing the end. I put over 170 hours into this game and there's still more for me to do, more for me to kill. These enemies no longer scare me, for I am a God, I fear no man, woman, child, or creature.
Anyway, the combat is very satisfying. When you edge out a roll dodge or a jump at the last second and spring a massive wave of damage at your opponent, it feels damn good. Get surrounded by a plethora of annoying low level bad guys that manage to get you near death, only for you to figure out a way to roll out the way of danger, sneak in a heal, and finish them all off, is so damn satisfying. Getting crushed, still, by wolves because a group of them came out of nowhere and killed your horse, and killed you when you were stunned, while having enough runes to level up once more, is not satisfying and sucks but it's worth it for the highs.
This game makes you paranoid about everything, on purpose. No empty looking room is safe. No empty looking corner with a glowing treasure to pick up is safe. Everything wants to kill you and the game purposely makes it come at you from every unexplored corner. You eventually get used to this hellscape, you don't trust anyone.
Which is interesting for this whole game. There are "bad" guys that will not attack you but because you have been trained to murder anything that doesn't resemble yourself (even that is shaky trust wise) or an NPC usually attacks. But eventually you will discover things that won't and those creatures are the best......unless you accidentally hit one of them, and then they do attack you. It's a risk I sometimes took, unless I wanted more blood. Sometimes you just need more blood.
There are some negatives, definitely. The camera is your enemy way more often than it should. Auto targeting is sometimes awful, and in tandem these two combined can straight up ruin a great run against tough bosses. Especially if those enemy encounters are big. The camera just cannot scale up in a way that doesn't leave you feeling super venerable to things, and since many attacks can one hit kill you, this can be real awful.
The game is also very hands off. It really lines nothing up for you when it comes to many of the items and how the menus and prompts do. It is very "try and see what happens" with a lot. Obviously your play style will dictate what items you give chances to more often than not. There are many items I straight up never touched because they never seemed to go with my build type. I don't want a full on hand holding but it would be nice to get some explanation as to how to setup some of your stuff without so much trial and error and just being left in the dark until you look something up or something else.
Despite these flaws, there are a ton of jaw dropping design choices with areas you explore, there are a ton of jaw dropping bosses that just........do things to make themselves more powerful halfway through a fight or just when you think you've finally beaten them. It never feels severely cheap (every once and a while in the heat of it it def can). It's all wild and brutal and insane. Early on you will face something that rips off a dragon's whole head and use it as a weapon after you've reached a certain level of health. It completely changes strategy on the fly but god, these things are so cool.
The game wants to fuck with you and destroy you. It wants to mentally destroy you. It may have accomplished that with me. I'm still not sure. But God, beating this game was a very satisfying and crazy experience (mostly). I don't know if I will ever touch this game again and beat some of the other, non-main bosses. But I will have this written on my tomb, in blood. Not really though. I am a God now, I will never die.
You will either want to play this already or you don't. This review will probably not change your mind. These games are not for everyone. But for someone who never feels like it's worth sticking through in order to beat these, I beat this one, and I think that's really cool.
Elden Ring has been complimented to death, and it deserves all of it and more (for the most part). Its scale, it's satisfying combat (even when you are getting absolutely smashed for hours on end), it's world building, the scale (the scale deserves multiple compliments), the secrets. The game never feels like you're near the end of exploring.
Even when you get the crumb of the end game starting, the amount of content between that and the real end game is unbelievable. I thought I was done multiple times, defeating a near-impossible boss that took 100s of runs before finally getting a little luck, only to discover, "there's more, and it's gonna get worse."
The satisfaction of beating those unbeatables, the areas the open up when you're near that end, the effects you choices have on other parts of the already explored world, it's all so interesting even when nearing the end. I put over 170 hours into this game and there's still more for me to do, more for me to kill. These enemies no longer scare me, for I am a God, I fear no man, woman, child, or creature.
Anyway, the combat is very satisfying. When you edge out a roll dodge or a jump at the last second and spring a massive wave of damage at your opponent, it feels damn good. Get surrounded by a plethora of annoying low level bad guys that manage to get you near death, only for you to figure out a way to roll out the way of danger, sneak in a heal, and finish them all off, is so damn satisfying. Getting crushed, still, by wolves because a group of them came out of nowhere and killed your horse, and killed you when you were stunned, while having enough runes to level up once more, is not satisfying and sucks but it's worth it for the highs.
This game makes you paranoid about everything, on purpose. No empty looking room is safe. No empty looking corner with a glowing treasure to pick up is safe. Everything wants to kill you and the game purposely makes it come at you from every unexplored corner. You eventually get used to this hellscape, you don't trust anyone.
Which is interesting for this whole game. There are "bad" guys that will not attack you but because you have been trained to murder anything that doesn't resemble yourself (even that is shaky trust wise) or an NPC usually attacks. But eventually you will discover things that won't and those creatures are the best......unless you accidentally hit one of them, and then they do attack you. It's a risk I sometimes took, unless I wanted more blood. Sometimes you just need more blood.
There are some negatives, definitely. The camera is your enemy way more often than it should. Auto targeting is sometimes awful, and in tandem these two combined can straight up ruin a great run against tough bosses. Especially if those enemy encounters are big. The camera just cannot scale up in a way that doesn't leave you feeling super venerable to things, and since many attacks can one hit kill you, this can be real awful.
The game is also very hands off. It really lines nothing up for you when it comes to many of the items and how the menus and prompts do. It is very "try and see what happens" with a lot. Obviously your play style will dictate what items you give chances to more often than not. There are many items I straight up never touched because they never seemed to go with my build type. I don't want a full on hand holding but it would be nice to get some explanation as to how to setup some of your stuff without so much trial and error and just being left in the dark until you look something up or something else.
Despite these flaws, there are a ton of jaw dropping design choices with areas you explore, there are a ton of jaw dropping bosses that just........do things to make themselves more powerful halfway through a fight or just when you think you've finally beaten them. It never feels severely cheap (every once and a while in the heat of it it def can). It's all wild and brutal and insane. Early on you will face something that rips off a dragon's whole head and use it as a weapon after you've reached a certain level of health. It completely changes strategy on the fly but god, these things are so cool.
The game wants to fuck with you and destroy you. It wants to mentally destroy you. It may have accomplished that with me. I'm still not sure. But God, beating this game was a very satisfying and crazy experience (mostly). I don't know if I will ever touch this game again and beat some of the other, non-main bosses. But I will have this written on my tomb, in blood. Not really though. I am a God now, I will never die.
You will either want to play this already or you don't. This review will probably not change your mind. These games are not for everyone. But for someone who never feels like it's worth sticking through in order to beat these, I beat this one, and I think that's really cool.
2023
Dripping with Max Payne influence, El Paso, Elsewhere does maybe too good of an homage to that style game.
The constant motion abilities with gunplay and movement are good. It gets a bit dragged down by aiming mechanics that just feel slightly off though. Where the reticle is in relation to the camera placement just feels slightly off, so whenever I was aiming, I found it unnatural and like I was going to miss.
The game is a bit rough around the edges in a few places. Some of this is charming and really works for the style of game its going for. It's not able to overcome all of those rough spots, especially in regards to hit detection and clipping.
I found myself a few times getting stuck on something or getting stuck inside something. These of course would always happen in a wave of enemies, so I'd end up dying or in pretty rough shape when this would occur, making the whole experience a bit frustrating at times. Especially with the more common hit detection issues.
To just finish the bad stuff and get it all out of the way, the game is also way too long. The environments, the gunplay, the weapon and enemy variety, these are all pretty good in El Paso, Elsewhere, but because the game feels like it drags, some of these good factors get less impressive as the game goes on. Especially once the game stop introducing new enemies, new weapons and new environments.
There are good to great things with this game too. The music is fantastic, the weapon variety is nice, the enemy variety is as well, and the story is pretty good on top of it. The voiceover of our main character is also done very well.
El Paso, Elsewhere does a great job standing apart from its inspiration while feeling so similar to that Max Payne style gunplay and vibe. Some of the design choices from those games probably should've been left to that era. Minor frustrations and bigger ones drag the overall creative and interesting experience down which is a shame but this is a game worth trying if Max Payne style mechanics is something you enjoy. The story, the music, and overall experience should be enough to push through some of the issues.
The constant motion abilities with gunplay and movement are good. It gets a bit dragged down by aiming mechanics that just feel slightly off though. Where the reticle is in relation to the camera placement just feels slightly off, so whenever I was aiming, I found it unnatural and like I was going to miss.
The game is a bit rough around the edges in a few places. Some of this is charming and really works for the style of game its going for. It's not able to overcome all of those rough spots, especially in regards to hit detection and clipping.
I found myself a few times getting stuck on something or getting stuck inside something. These of course would always happen in a wave of enemies, so I'd end up dying or in pretty rough shape when this would occur, making the whole experience a bit frustrating at times. Especially with the more common hit detection issues.
To just finish the bad stuff and get it all out of the way, the game is also way too long. The environments, the gunplay, the weapon and enemy variety, these are all pretty good in El Paso, Elsewhere, but because the game feels like it drags, some of these good factors get less impressive as the game goes on. Especially once the game stop introducing new enemies, new weapons and new environments.
There are good to great things with this game too. The music is fantastic, the weapon variety is nice, the enemy variety is as well, and the story is pretty good on top of it. The voiceover of our main character is also done very well.
El Paso, Elsewhere does a great job standing apart from its inspiration while feeling so similar to that Max Payne style gunplay and vibe. Some of the design choices from those games probably should've been left to that era. Minor frustrations and bigger ones drag the overall creative and interesting experience down which is a shame but this is a game worth trying if Max Payne style mechanics is something you enjoy. The story, the music, and overall experience should be enough to push through some of the issues.
There are moments in Midnight Fight Express where the fighting is kinetic, the action is high paced and the chains of your combos are racking up as you bounce between guys, picking up whatever you can where everything feels so damn good and the experience is surreal.
Unfortunately, those moments are not consistent, and when this isn't happening, the game is fairly bland and a bit of a chore to get through. It's a bit of a bummer because those moments of bliss hit and I just found myself thinking, "if this game was this more often, it could be pretty damn fun." There just aren't enough of those moments to really recommend this game.
The game has its own sense of style and doesn't take itself too seriously with how it functions and the story its telling. That being said, some of the offbeat humor and moments just didn't work for me. The general story itself is also pretty forgettable, which certainly doesn't help with the game's general "washes over you like nothing" vibe.
The style is attempting a more simplistic presentation so there's not a lot that really will impress you there either.
The controls though are solid and on top of those moments of bliss, once you become fully skilled up, the sense of strength and growth from what you're upgrading is noticeable. There are some very satisfying kills despite the basic look and style.
It's still not enough to recommend though, as the game also feels quite long. It's a bummer more than anything since there are moments of greatness that really make this game feel cool. This being the work of one person seemingly is also quite the feat despite its shortcomings.
Unfortunately, those moments are not consistent, and when this isn't happening, the game is fairly bland and a bit of a chore to get through. It's a bit of a bummer because those moments of bliss hit and I just found myself thinking, "if this game was this more often, it could be pretty damn fun." There just aren't enough of those moments to really recommend this game.
The game has its own sense of style and doesn't take itself too seriously with how it functions and the story its telling. That being said, some of the offbeat humor and moments just didn't work for me. The general story itself is also pretty forgettable, which certainly doesn't help with the game's general "washes over you like nothing" vibe.
The style is attempting a more simplistic presentation so there's not a lot that really will impress you there either.
The controls though are solid and on top of those moments of bliss, once you become fully skilled up, the sense of strength and growth from what you're upgrading is noticeable. There are some very satisfying kills despite the basic look and style.
It's still not enough to recommend though, as the game also feels quite long. It's a bummer more than anything since there are moments of greatness that really make this game feel cool. This being the work of one person seemingly is also quite the feat despite its shortcomings.
2022
Tinykin is an effortless charming, very well crafted game. It's gameplay is to the point, the game is short and sweet and overall, it's a gorgeous looking game. Calling it a Pikmin clone, while true for the most part, feels too harsh for a game like this.
While it's not the most exciting game to play, a lot of it's gameplay changes come quick and doesn't too a ton to change things up, it's still a delightful experience that's easily recommended
While it's not the most exciting game to play, a lot of it's gameplay changes come quick and doesn't too a ton to change things up, it's still a delightful experience that's easily recommended
2021
Of course this game is bad, I'm not the first and certainly not the last person to make that statement about Balan Wonderworld. It's kind of impressive just how bad it is though.
An amalgamation of unfinished ideas, dated design, and just plain bad design choices make up Balan Wonderworld. The story, the character itself, the main world hub, none of it makes any sense and is never explained.
You collect Chao-like creatures.......for reasons? You then feed them gems that you collect throughout various levels and feed them to these creatures........also for reasons that are just never explained. I could continue, but obviously, and once again, none of what you're supposed to do is explained.
You have various power ups in the form of "costumes" that you collect. Each have a singular ability that can be done and that is it. The frustrating thing about these costumes is that, because they all have one singular ability, sometimes that ability does not include jumping. Some costumes are completely stationary for reasons that are confusing and baffling.
Part of the reason behind this, I'd imagine, is that the controller setup for this game is very poor. All four main buttons do the same thing. You can jump or use your ability with any of these buttons. It doesn't sound like a major hinderance and it kinda isn't but it is an annoyance, especially if you are trying to move around the limited menu screens and just wanting to back out of it and go back to the hellscape of this game.
I could go on and on and on about the weird and poor design choices this game possesses but I just can't bring myself to continue to type these things out and care anymore. I want to be free from this prison and finishing this paragraph will be the final part of my sentence, once I finish with this, I will be free finally. Don't play this game? I guess that's the final feeling, but maybe if you are a glutton for bad things like I am, give this a shot because I assure you, even if you've heard all the bad things about this game, actually sitting down and playing it will not prepare you for just how bad it actually is.
An amalgamation of unfinished ideas, dated design, and just plain bad design choices make up Balan Wonderworld. The story, the character itself, the main world hub, none of it makes any sense and is never explained.
You collect Chao-like creatures.......for reasons? You then feed them gems that you collect throughout various levels and feed them to these creatures........also for reasons that are just never explained. I could continue, but obviously, and once again, none of what you're supposed to do is explained.
You have various power ups in the form of "costumes" that you collect. Each have a singular ability that can be done and that is it. The frustrating thing about these costumes is that, because they all have one singular ability, sometimes that ability does not include jumping. Some costumes are completely stationary for reasons that are confusing and baffling.
Part of the reason behind this, I'd imagine, is that the controller setup for this game is very poor. All four main buttons do the same thing. You can jump or use your ability with any of these buttons. It doesn't sound like a major hinderance and it kinda isn't but it is an annoyance, especially if you are trying to move around the limited menu screens and just wanting to back out of it and go back to the hellscape of this game.
I could go on and on and on about the weird and poor design choices this game possesses but I just can't bring myself to continue to type these things out and care anymore. I want to be free from this prison and finishing this paragraph will be the final part of my sentence, once I finish with this, I will be free finally. Don't play this game? I guess that's the final feeling, but maybe if you are a glutton for bad things like I am, give this a shot because I assure you, even if you've heard all the bad things about this game, actually sitting down and playing it will not prepare you for just how bad it actually is.
Yeah, this rules. Tears of the Kingdom takes the foundation of BotW and improves on it in really fun and creative ways.
The building aspects and the new power ups are both bulls-eye level additions. These both give you so much freedom to just try and figure out the hurdles and puzzles in the game.
On top of it, the additions these bring in combat are all great. Being able to fuse weapons to make them more powerful is great and makes weapon's breaking a little less frustrating. The sages also bring a nice addition to the combat in this game.
At its core, there are still issues I have with how this game feels and plays but it's still a positive step compared BotW.
The shrines and temples are also an improvement from the original game. Shrines don't feel as repetitive with less frustration overall. The temples and the bosses inside are also more fun and less repetitive.
The story is better, exploration is much more fun, especially with various levels of the world to explore. Again, its nearly across the board with improvements.
Really, the game's only faults are minimal. It's way too long and given how free this game is, there are times I really wished I was given better direction. Especially near the end of the game after already putting so much time into the game. Some of the new enemy types are also a miss for me as well. The weather system is also unchanged and something that's more annoying and in the way than anything else.
It's still incredible despite some of these bigger flaws. There so many awe-inspiring moments, the score is one of the best of the year and one of the best in a franchise filled with great music. It's a home run of a game.
The building aspects and the new power ups are both bulls-eye level additions. These both give you so much freedom to just try and figure out the hurdles and puzzles in the game.
On top of it, the additions these bring in combat are all great. Being able to fuse weapons to make them more powerful is great and makes weapon's breaking a little less frustrating. The sages also bring a nice addition to the combat in this game.
At its core, there are still issues I have with how this game feels and plays but it's still a positive step compared BotW.
The shrines and temples are also an improvement from the original game. Shrines don't feel as repetitive with less frustration overall. The temples and the bosses inside are also more fun and less repetitive.
The story is better, exploration is much more fun, especially with various levels of the world to explore. Again, its nearly across the board with improvements.
Really, the game's only faults are minimal. It's way too long and given how free this game is, there are times I really wished I was given better direction. Especially near the end of the game after already putting so much time into the game. Some of the new enemy types are also a miss for me as well. The weather system is also unchanged and something that's more annoying and in the way than anything else.
It's still incredible despite some of these bigger flaws. There so many awe-inspiring moments, the score is one of the best of the year and one of the best in a franchise filled with great music. It's a home run of a game.
2019
Was sitting at a four up until the end and the true ending really pushes it over to getting that extra 1/2. It's kinda hard to put into words what Outer Wilds does without making it seem too simple or too complicated.
Overall, it's just a hauntingly beautiful game with some really nice vibes of exploring space with some moments that are absolutely stunning when you run into it. The music specifically is so on point throughout and hit many, many home runs with some of the set pieces. Some nitpicks aside, it's a great experience
Overall, it's just a hauntingly beautiful game with some really nice vibes of exploring space with some moments that are absolutely stunning when you run into it. The music specifically is so on point throughout and hit many, many home runs with some of the set pieces. Some nitpicks aside, it's a great experience
2020
The Ito vibes and sound are great but the gameplay loop is not good enough to stick around
Ultimately not as good as the first but the eerieness is still fantastic and a killer ending does enough to make up for some of the issues I have with the issues I have.
It balances on that thin line of being so silly and unaware that a lot of the things in this game that shouldn't work, work. That being said, the general combat, loot system and overall gameplay still isn't all that great. I never found combat all that fun or engaging, the loot you find doesn't feel all that unique or interesting over the long run, and it's just a game that didn't really suck me in as much as I was hoping it would.
2023
Combat in this game is garbage but outside of this, the game is near perfect. Wildly ambitious, creative, and strange in ways that only Remedy can. It's really, really great.
A step up from the first PSP entry but still a step or two back from the main three entries in the franchise. Everything fo the most part in Ghost of Sparta compared to Chains of Olympus is an improvement. It's got a much better scope and scale to its fighting and level design, the enemies are a bit more varied, the story is much improved, and the levels are a lot more varied.
Again though, it is handcuffed and not nearly as good as its console counterparts but it's good to at least see improvement on the handheld side of these games.
There are still some issues I had, fights feel a bit more tedious and I felt like I was constantly being stun locked on my feet and on the ground, taking a lot more damage because of it a lot more frequently. Also felt like some of the hit detection was a little off, though I am giving the game a bit of a benefit of the doubt in these instances since I played an emulated version of the game.
The magic being hot keyed was a nice addition and the ability to add fire to your weapon attacks was a nice addition that helped switch up combat a bit and is pretty flawless turned on and off, even in the middle of attacks which was great.
Overall, Ghost of Sparta is a well made and solid entry into this series. Not a definitive, must play in the franchise, but a short and solid entry nonetheless.
Again though, it is handcuffed and not nearly as good as its console counterparts but it's good to at least see improvement on the handheld side of these games.
There are still some issues I had, fights feel a bit more tedious and I felt like I was constantly being stun locked on my feet and on the ground, taking a lot more damage because of it a lot more frequently. Also felt like some of the hit detection was a little off, though I am giving the game a bit of a benefit of the doubt in these instances since I played an emulated version of the game.
The magic being hot keyed was a nice addition and the ability to add fire to your weapon attacks was a nice addition that helped switch up combat a bit and is pretty flawless turned on and off, even in the middle of attacks which was great.
Overall, Ghost of Sparta is a well made and solid entry into this series. Not a definitive, must play in the franchise, but a short and solid entry nonetheless.
2022
A solid game that doesn't feel as tight and as charming as Two Point Hospital.
2022
I don't really know how to talk about Beacon Pines and the things it does so well in a way that truly emphasizes how great and well made those things are. It's not doing anything THAT unique. It's just doing it all at such a high degree of skill and polish that it's a wonderful experience from start to finish.
The art style is gorgeous, the writing and humor are top notch, the music is incredibly complimentary, the narrator is on top of her game in projecting the perfect emotion for the situation.
It's not going to blow you away from the game play department, this is a narrative experience for the most part, so don't play this if you get bored easily from walking and talking and exploring but if you are into that type of thing, Beacon Pines is a multi-layered narrative heavy game that is absolutely worth your time.
The art style is gorgeous, the writing and humor are top notch, the music is incredibly complimentary, the narrator is on top of her game in projecting the perfect emotion for the situation.
It's not going to blow you away from the game play department, this is a narrative experience for the most part, so don't play this if you get bored easily from walking and talking and exploring but if you are into that type of thing, Beacon Pines is a multi-layered narrative heavy game that is absolutely worth your time.
2022
Sam Barlow's Immortality doesn't fully gel with me from a story or game mechanic perspective but overall, this FMV game is a pretty good and interesting experience.
Immortality has you sift through the three films of former actress Marissa Marcel. These movies never saw the light of day and you will sift through these clips to figure out just what happened to Marissa and why these movies never came out.
You'll jump in between these clips by clicking faces/things in these things which will then take you to another scene that has that person/object in common. For instance, clicking on a microphone in one scene will direct you to another scene in one of the films that features a microphone. You can then play that clip where it starts or rewind/fast forward to the start finish. The game let's you go about it however you want.
Overall, this method of learning and exploring works, though it makes for the info you gain a bit random and can definitely lead to a mixed experience depending on how much sifting you're doing before getting any worthwhile info.
This method of exploring though near the end, when you are trying to locate the last remaining scenes or info can lead to constantly clicking and clicking and clicking since the jumping to random scenes is random. Click on a knife in the same scene and each time, it'll take you to a random other scene with a knife/blade/etc, so if you are looking for a specific thing, it's not a guarantee that you will get there.
The overall menus and layout of the game itself is a bit clunky as well so if you are a bit of an achievement hunter or looking to complete the whole thing, it can get a little annoying from that aspect. There are secrets amongst the clips as well and even where those are is a bit random so overall, the ease of the experience as you progress, does get increasingly tedious.
To add to that increased tedious nature, the secrets amongst the clips that you can discover aren't unlocked with much ease. Sometimes you can find stuff by rewinding through the clips to uncover other things but sometimes getting those secrets to play out takes some finagling. At times, these play out with ease, other times you have to keep going back and forth to get it to start playing out.
Outside of that and a few crashes here and there though, I don't have a ton of issues with this game. The story is pretty interesting, even if it doesn't completely connect and the way the story unfolds is done in a satisfying way, though results may vary on that aspect as well. It's worth giving a shot at the very least.
Immortality has you sift through the three films of former actress Marissa Marcel. These movies never saw the light of day and you will sift through these clips to figure out just what happened to Marissa and why these movies never came out.
You'll jump in between these clips by clicking faces/things in these things which will then take you to another scene that has that person/object in common. For instance, clicking on a microphone in one scene will direct you to another scene in one of the films that features a microphone. You can then play that clip where it starts or rewind/fast forward to the start finish. The game let's you go about it however you want.
Overall, this method of learning and exploring works, though it makes for the info you gain a bit random and can definitely lead to a mixed experience depending on how much sifting you're doing before getting any worthwhile info.
This method of exploring though near the end, when you are trying to locate the last remaining scenes or info can lead to constantly clicking and clicking and clicking since the jumping to random scenes is random. Click on a knife in the same scene and each time, it'll take you to a random other scene with a knife/blade/etc, so if you are looking for a specific thing, it's not a guarantee that you will get there.
The overall menus and layout of the game itself is a bit clunky as well so if you are a bit of an achievement hunter or looking to complete the whole thing, it can get a little annoying from that aspect. There are secrets amongst the clips as well and even where those are is a bit random so overall, the ease of the experience as you progress, does get increasingly tedious.
To add to that increased tedious nature, the secrets amongst the clips that you can discover aren't unlocked with much ease. Sometimes you can find stuff by rewinding through the clips to uncover other things but sometimes getting those secrets to play out takes some finagling. At times, these play out with ease, other times you have to keep going back and forth to get it to start playing out.
Outside of that and a few crashes here and there though, I don't have a ton of issues with this game. The story is pretty interesting, even if it doesn't completely connect and the way the story unfolds is done in a satisfying way, though results may vary on that aspect as well. It's worth giving a shot at the very least.