All of the weirdness and jank that came from the first two releases without all of the charm and nostalgia those two had. Shenmue III leads off almost directly where 2 ended, Ryo is back on his revenge tour and there's not a sailor in sight that can stop him.

The game does feature a new coat of paint both visually and design wise. Graphically, the improvements feel still a bit dated for 2019 but the controls have been modernized and goes a long way as a great improvement compared to the original titles. Moving around and looking at things is so much easier, though moving around NPCs can still be a little weird. The game also features some laughable and clear game loading areas where running is just plain not allowed in the city, for reasons that are just not explained in game. It's not game breaking or anything too awful but it's more obvious here than in most modern games.

You will spend the game in two big locations; a small village and a bigger, bustling city. Both have been built to feel completely different from one another and fairly unique, though characters feel more placed and less organic compared to other Shenmue games. Some characters definitely are on a schedule where they come and go from certain locations but they feel fewer than in the past.

These locations, despite looking and feeling a bit different though feature pretty much the same types of things to do with very little difference between them besides places you can buy random stuff in.

Since you need to be constantly making money in order to afford various things, the biggest disappointment is the ways you go about doing that, despite the changes in location and clear differences in their settings (small, quiet village vs. busy city) don't really change how you go about making money. Your choices are fairly limited unless you want to take advantage of some tricks; you can chop wood, you can gamble, or you can fish and that's about it. It would've been nice to get some changes in these money making opportunities to reflect their setting a bit more.

The money making is a chore overall in this game too, even if you take advantage of some loopholes to speed this up. I found myself constantly having to buy food to eat to up my health, especially since your health gradually falls doing literally anything as the day progresses. Wanna train and get stronger in fighting? Your health's gonna go down. Train your stamina so you can block more? Health is gonna go down. Running? Same thing. Sitting there and just letting time go by? Somehow makes your health go down.

On top of that, the story progression will force you to buy expensive items twice in game. So you'll be forced to grind through the few paths you can take to make money over and over and over or take advantage of save scumming in gambling games, which come with their own problems (basically you can only gamble with non-money chips you have to buy. You can then take those chips to buy items that then in turn can be sold at pawn shops for money, so you can technically make money gambling but it's a tedious, multi-step process that feels unnecessary).

Most items only improve a bit of that health too so you'll either be spending more on items that improve it better, which of course costs more money, or you'll just have to hope your day ends without having to do any story focused battles, since all fights in this game start you off at whatever health you started the fight at, so if you're already low just because the day is almost over, your health will be low period and you'll just have to be really good at the fighting aspects of the game, which to me, just aren't very good.

Targeting and the fights in this game were a pretty big downgrade to me. Targeting was always a pain to me and overall fights were a bit more challenging than in previous games. Harder is not really my problem either but with the health factor being a thing, and sometimes fights happening back to back from one another, some of these fights can get really ridiculous unless you are really prepared and aware of what's coming next and stock up beforehand (which is gonna cost ya of course).

You can't heal yourself during fights unless you've bought one specific item. You can buy multiples of these items but they aren't cheap in context to the game economy. They are a one time use item too, so if you use them once, you'll need to buy more.

There are a ton of moves you can learn and add to an auto-use list but that list has a five max limit so you'll have to memorize other moves if you want to diversify your move set or just stick to the handful of moves you've locked to your list. Buying more moves can be a pain too since that will also cost money and that spending can get quite expensive.

There are a slew of other janky things but honestly, some of that jank was expected and fairly charming. Things like the bad voice acting returns and is probably a negative in hindsight but after two games of bad voice acting, it just feels like the Shenmue way and not a major negative.

Awkward back and forth conversations with strangers is also back where the things they say back to you or the things Ryo replies with sometimes doesn't make any sense. Is it bad? Probably, but its return got a laugh from me more than anything.

Basically, Shenmue 3 is definitely a Shenmue game, good and bad. If you remember these games being janky as hell but charming in it's jank, maybe give Shenmue 3 a shot. Some of the newer annoyances may turn you off but the game still brings the janky charm you may look back on fondly. I also respect the hell out of this game ending with a tease for a 4th game. Despite my issues with this game and the continued issues this game still possesses, I'd probably dive right in to a fourth game and see what kind of himbo nonsense Ryo gets himself into.

A game that hooked me almost instantly and I was truly loving up until the end when nothing really connects or concludes in any satisfying way.

There's a lot that works in Firewatch for me. The story is heavy right out the game which helped me connect immediately to Henry. As you progress, I think the chemistry between Henry and Delilah is also really good. The overall setting is also nice and fun to explore for the most part, and the mysteries thrown in at first are intriguing.

However, for me, as these things start to build and these mysteries start to get answered, nothing feels like it connects naturally or with any obvious theme behind it. The choices you make in dialogue you slowly realize doesn't really matter. Whatever you end up choosing won't really change the situation or the outcomes. It's a major disappointment given how strong everything starts off.

Add an annoying to use map in an easy-to-get-lost location and it kinda drags the game down a bit further for me.

Overall though, the game is relatively short, the voice acting and location is pretty nice, and the chemistry is still really good between the two main characters. Enough to say that It's worth giving a shot and trying if you like narrative heavy games that are light on gameplay.

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.

A God of War game in physical form but missing the spirit and scale that God of War impresses in usually.

The first entry on the PSP released between the second and third, Chains of Olympus covers part of the time Kratos was in the service of the Gods. Chains of Olympus features a lot of the same with Kratos having to take on large creatures and a few Gods that dare to step up to the God of War.

Repetitive aspects of combat and enemies are not entirely new with these games so more of the same was to be expected. What usually sets these games apart is the various new weapons/items you collect that aid you in battle, the over-the-top gruesome brutality, and the simple scope that some of the set pieces feature, with the large scale scope always increasing game after game.

For a game that was released between God of War II and III, the scale is definitely lesser here than it is in III and it would be unfair for me to judge it based on the then-impressive PS3 hardware.

However, this game feels like a step down from God of War II in scope and over-the-top brutality. It's perfectly adequate but instead of feeling like it is a bit of a step up, it feels closer to what was found in the original.

Practically all locations you visit and all areas of combat feel completely underwhelming. There are no "holy #!$%" type set pieces, no wicked, insanely/absurd boss battles. No interesting weapons or tools to really fiddle around with.

It's just a paint by number God of War game. At it's foundation, that's not a terrible game, the core gameplay has always been fun, chaining together massive combos with the tools you're provided is still neat. It just feels like a game more so on auto pilot than one that has its foot firmly planted on the accelerator.

If you're a die hard God of War fan and want more Kratos and his story, Chains of Olympus is short and more of the same. If you just like these games getting bigger, more violent and love the big action set pieces, you may be a bit disappointed with this one and it might not be worth your time, although the overall time it takes to play this is relatively short.

A decent snowboarding game that just didn't quite vibe with me.

It feels like the foundations of what could be a solid snowboard franchise but the controls were something I just couldn't wrap my head around completely and there just wasn't enough interesting variety to keep me interested in trying to get better.

The music is quite nice and helps put you in the right vibe for what you'd want from a snowboarding game but the lacking game play just eventually pushes those good vibes out the way.

The game does feature some boarder customizations but your character is more avatar than anything, sporting no face whatsoever using goggles, a hat and other gear to hide where the face should be. The clothing though is all so bare bones that the clear generic NPC avatar you are controlling sticks out even further.

There are other characters and what seems like a semblance of a story or a point to the characters and what you're doing but it too is so bland and generic that I was quickly skipping these cutscenes rather early into my play through.

Overall, Shredders might vibe with you if you're looking for a more realistic snowboard game. It's on game pass as of Sep. 2022 so if you are looking for some time to kill before bed or something, maybe give the game a shot. Hopefully the game can eventually get a sequel, there is an interesting core in this game in a market that isn't exactly seeing a ton of activity in it.

If you love to play a game where you will be spending more time on Google or looking up strategy guides vs actually exploring the game you're playing, Chinatown Detective Agency is a game made for you.

A futuristic Singapore is the setting and it starts off pretty good, but quickly the game loop is uncovered and the game's charming look and interesting location go right out the window.

The game is largely puzzle solving and trying to figure out where to go next. The only problem is that the actual game only provides you with hints and clues and there's no real way to uncover some of these puzzles without being really knowledgeable on a lot of various things or to constantly be Googling quotes, flags, languages, capitals, and a few other topics.

The game doesn't provide you any way of discovering these in game. You either look them up or pay someone in the game to give you the answer. There's the option to get a hint, which also costs money, but it's a waste of time to do.

You can't really just fly/look around until you come up to the place/solution too since some clues have to be manually types out and traveling costs money. The game also features a fun rent system where, at the start of every month, you have to pay your bills. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

If you run out of money or get trapped/arrested/fail the puzzle, you get a game over and you will restart from the beginning of the case more times than not. The game features an auto save feature that almost always only works at the beginning of the case. You can't save yourself at any time, so if you're worried about running out of money flying around and discovering the next location and want to save so you don't have to go through all the dialogue you've already read, too bad.

Flying around and seeing the various dystopian locations is neat but they are completely empty with nothing to explore besides the screen you will load up when you "land". Most areas that are not necessary to the story are empty husks. Some times new areas will open up if they are story related but I rarely visited most of the locations in the one storyline path I took.

The game provides you with three different clients to work with. At the start, you can work with all three to help get an idea for the case and the story. Eventually though, you will have to pick one to work full time which will ignore the rest of the cases. I only played through one path, so it's possible that these other areas are explored more in other pathways but it just feels like a lot of wasted space.

I played the XBox version of this game as well and there are issues with the console version of this compared to the PC version. Since you have no mouse, you aren't able to just click on the thing you want to interact with, so you'll have to rely on the game automatically hovering over the correct item/person, which this game struggles to do.

So many times I was standing right of front of something but the game instead was focusing on me interacting with something behind me or nearby. There was also a very frustrating puzzle involving getting out of a trap by solving constellations (another Google focused puzzle for me). Getting through the puzzle wasn't too bad, except for the auto focusing. Since two of the puzzles were right next to each other (one was above, the other below it), I was unable to easily click on the final part of the puzzle. After dying twice and having to get back there, I got lucky finally by just pressing A until it recognized the bottom puzzle. I almost quit then and there.

There are other bugs as well, characters just not appearing, or not being able to talk to them, or other various in game issues that just make the whole experience worse. Things where it wasn't as simple as leaving and coming back. Things where I had to literally shut the game down and start from the beginning of the case.

This game has an interesting location, mainly taking place in a futuristic Singapore and the idea could have been good but Chinatown Detective Agency falls well short of being worth your time unless the idea of Google searching your way into progress sounds like a great time

Weird West fits the bill. It is indeed a weird world, mixing your standard western setting, with all the garnishes of a Western, mixed with other various things.

Pig men? You got it. Zombies and witches? Absolutely. Pretty sure I saw a UFO at one point as well. The story of Weird West slowly reveals a fairly bizarre story about a group of five strangers who are all connected by a brand.

This brand and a strange group of individuals that you will slowly learn more about all seem to be connected and along the way, you will go out there to find answers. The main stories won't really connect much, all deal with a different group of people and their who set of issues and questions, but the main connective thread does help tie things together to where it never felt like five completely separate stories.

As you progress and these stories end and begin, you'll see some continuity. Since the land doesn't really change but the tasks do, you'll come across similar people. One stranger, a man named Essex, will always seem to pop up for example. On top of that, you'll be able to recruit your old heroes and have them tag along as you change over to a new playable character.

I do wish the stories would have a bit more post consequences though. They have some, choices you make will have longer lasting effects to both the world and yourself, but some of the decisions I made didn't really feel like they changed much.

For example, in one of the earlier stories I had the option to expose a city sheriff for being a flesh eating monster. I chose to keep her secret but I never really saw her being around as having much consequences. Maybe exposing her secret makes for bigger changes to the world but it would be nice for some of these changes to be more than just "things stay the same"

The game says that areas you explore can change over time depending on your actions. Go into a city and kill everyone? Well, there's a chance that that city will become abandoned and a new haven for bandits and monsters, while also losing a safe place to rest and buy new goods.

Over time, these areas can become overrun on their own without your intervention supposedly, though my playthrough never saw that happen, least not in any obvious manner.

On top of these types of changes, the game features a ally/enemy system. While exploring the world, you'll come across (either through side quests you discover or purely accidental) people who you can choose to help. If you do help them out, they'll become allies, forever in your debt. What that basically means is if you're in combat and near death, sometimes they'll show up to try and even the odds.

These allies can die though during these battles and if they die, they die for good.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, you can also make enemies. During battles, there is a chance that someone decides to run away or catches you doing something nefarious. In some situations, this can turn people into your enemy, where at times, when traveling to new locations or while exploring areas, these people who have survived your attacks or have a vendetta against you, can show up and try and get revenge by killing you then and there. Much like the allies, these enemies can be killed then and there and you'll never see them again.

These two systems work pretty nicely. At times, when I was losing a battle, those allies showing up to help did swing things a bit. I also did grow attached to some of these allies and really tried to make sure I wasn't killing them all the time. I definitely re-loaded a few times just to make sure a fallen ally was revived.

Unfortunately, a lot of the other systems in this game aren't all that great. AKA, the gameplay is kinda whatever.

Weird West features top down action. For me, that's always featured a camera that's always a bit disappointing. Weird West does a decent job with keeping the scale relatively small, so my normal frustrations with top down camera displays are lessened a bit, losing track of enemies, not being able to see all, things like that aren't as bad in this game......but it still happens with some minor consistency.

Controlling the camera and the game in general is not bad, which also helps.

The shooting though, is kinda basic and kinda boring. There are special abilities that all main characters have, all with a bit of uniqueness but they are fairly underwhelming and also pretty uninteresting.

Overall, the game playing aspects of this game aren't all that bad, they are just incredibly basic and after a while, since it never really evolves, it just becomes whatever. A few nitpicks with things like inventory space, but nothing overly critical. It's blandness though stands out a bit more because of that.

Weird West is still an interesting time. The story is interesting, weird, and offbeat enough to keep me entertained and a bit intrigued. The end reveal of how these heroes are all connected was a letdown but it kept me going and interested up until that and by then the game is already in its last moments so despite that and some solid, albeit bland, gameplay, it's worth a playthrough if top down action adventure games with a bit of an offbeat nature to them appeals to you. If it does suck you in, the various consequences your actions can provide, and the permadeath aspects of it do give it some replayability aspects to it.

Short and to the point but Arial Knight's Never Yield just doesn't do enough to make up for its rudimentary gameplay.

It's an endless runner and it tries its best at times to change up its loop to try and make it a bit different but doesn't succeed in doing so all that much.

It's also just a bit too sloppy with the controls. There are tight succession areas that just don't input fast enough based on some things it wants you to do. Luckily, since there are essentially two different jump buttons, you can get around it by just not doing what it wants you to.

The game also implements a slow down/bullet time style whenever you get close to something you'll have to jump/flip/slide on. It certainly helps but it just slows the whole flow of the game down

The game also tries to implement some style to it with some visual flair and a really great jazzy soundtrack but, at least from a visual standpoint, it just doesn't fully commit to that type of visual flair so ultimately, it all just falls a little flat.

A lot of the stage areas are also repeated pretty often, so areas don't feel all that different. Since you're doing a lot of the same thing over and over again too, there are a few times I legit thought the game was just re-doing areas I had just finished.

It's a short game though so it's hard to get fairly offensive with the flaws the game possesses. I got it for free and had a decent time with it but I don't think it offers enough to recommend for any price tag above that, which does suck to say because I feel like the creator's heart was in the right place with making this game. So maybe if you can get it cheap and you want to support indie developers, maybe not the worst purchase to kill an hour or two with.

There is just enough off with the game play of this game that makes it a pain to play through. A part puzzle game, part rouge-like, Loot River's two ideas are interesting in concept but the execution is not good.

The rogue-like action is alright, with just two issues that stood out. First, the controls feeling just slightly off. Parrying feels off in a way that didn't feel like missed parrying opportunities are a skill issue but just a problem with the detection. As if I have to adjust things on my end to make up for technical issues and not having to adjust to patterns or just missing the window in a obvious and natural manner. Combat is okay but just nowhere near as satisfying as you'd like for a game like this. These two combinations, along with the difficulty, just makes it not worth pushing through since again, it's just not very satisfying.

The puzzle factor too is just there and at times, more tedious than its worth.

Overall, I could see Loot River be a game people really do enjoy. For me though, the lack of interesting puzzles out the gate along with combat that's just not satisfying or tight enough makes the difficulty to push through simply not worth the time and effort.

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

It's got a cool style and it controls well enough but the gameplay loop is just too tedious for me to stick with. Mixes a Risk-like tactical map with a Mario + Rabbids style game tactics and you get Research and Destroy.

In theory, it starts off well but as you play longer maps and as they introduce new enemies, it just becomes un-fun to play. The biggest issue is the enemy spawning.

Instead of bing laid out for you at the start, the enemies appear on their turn as you progress, meaning that wherever you move to, during the enemy's turn, the game will spawn enemies within camera view every single time. It basically gets to a point where you are having to rush to the objective because if you waste time or try to explore the map, the enemies never stop which means you are frequently taking damage or progressing slower since attacks take up your action bar, which then in turn means enemies are spawning more frequently since you're hindered.

It's an annoying cycle, especially as the enemy diversity starts to increase. Give the game a shot if tactical shooters are your thing, maybe your patience for the loop is greater than mine or you'll find it fun in general.