UrLocalBanktoad
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Lufia II was one of the later games released on the SNES. Despite the release date, it's graphically unimpressive and looks worse than a lot of SNES RPGs released the same year. It doesn't try to be a Chrono Trigger or an FF6, and it doesn't need to be.
The highlight of this game, especially for me, is its dungeons and puzzles. They're basically just better Zelda dungeons, to be honest. You're given tools throughout the game, and the game design will make great use of them throughout the whole journey. There are also a ton of branching pathways with treasure chests, which, for the most part, have very useful items for your party. I can't stress enough how incredible the head-scratchers are in this game, though. I've yet to find an RPG that even holds a torch to this game in that regard.
This game has an interesting equipment system. Not only do I have to decide which equipment has the best stat allocations for the characters, but there is an IP system in which some equipment pieces will have a special move that you can pick from when your IP meter is charged from taking damage in battle. There are many variables for equipment to take into account in the form of rings and rocks, which all raise different stats and have their own special move most of the time. This game also has shops to learn magic instead of getting spells from leveling up. I like this because I have to choose which character most needs certain spells to not waste all my money. In addition to party members, there is a new type of member called capsule monsters. There are 7 to collect in the game, and you can evolve all of them by feeding them equipment, items, or whatever they desire in the form of a menu telling you what to feed them. This was fun, as they could all help out a bit in their respective manners.
My only complaint about Lufia II is that the characters and story are really boring. The pacing is bad later on in the story, as it starts to get really repetitive and the characters are not interesting at all. They don't get any development for the most part, instead substituting for bad humor in the cutscenes. The gameplay more than makes up for it though!
My favorite SNES game, without a doubt. It's a shame that this series kind of gets neglected now, only getting a mid remake on the DS in 2010. The series as a whole isn't very good, to be honest, with this being the only one worth playing, and it is very much worth playing.
The highlight of this game, especially for me, is its dungeons and puzzles. They're basically just better Zelda dungeons, to be honest. You're given tools throughout the game, and the game design will make great use of them throughout the whole journey. There are also a ton of branching pathways with treasure chests, which, for the most part, have very useful items for your party. I can't stress enough how incredible the head-scratchers are in this game, though. I've yet to find an RPG that even holds a torch to this game in that regard.
This game has an interesting equipment system. Not only do I have to decide which equipment has the best stat allocations for the characters, but there is an IP system in which some equipment pieces will have a special move that you can pick from when your IP meter is charged from taking damage in battle. There are many variables for equipment to take into account in the form of rings and rocks, which all raise different stats and have their own special move most of the time. This game also has shops to learn magic instead of getting spells from leveling up. I like this because I have to choose which character most needs certain spells to not waste all my money. In addition to party members, there is a new type of member called capsule monsters. There are 7 to collect in the game, and you can evolve all of them by feeding them equipment, items, or whatever they desire in the form of a menu telling you what to feed them. This was fun, as they could all help out a bit in their respective manners.
My only complaint about Lufia II is that the characters and story are really boring. The pacing is bad later on in the story, as it starts to get really repetitive and the characters are not interesting at all. They don't get any development for the most part, instead substituting for bad humor in the cutscenes. The gameplay more than makes up for it though!
My favorite SNES game, without a doubt. It's a shame that this series kind of gets neglected now, only getting a mid remake on the DS in 2010. The series as a whole isn't very good, to be honest, with this being the only one worth playing, and it is very much worth playing.
This game refers to 1ups as "free dudes" in the demo that plays if you leave it hanging for a while. That's about the most 90's thing I've ever seen.
In all seriousness, this is a pretty decent platformer considering it's western made (something I've noticed a lot of people in these circles tend to loathe when it comes to older games for some reason). You're a scientist who has found himself shrunk down due to a freak lab accident and now has to retrieve machine parts stolen by mutated bugs.
Levels are mostly linear until the end and take you anywhere from a kitchen to the backyard. You'll find yourself picking up everyday items such as paperclips and thumb tacks to take out enemies, collect bolts (aka coins) and even jetfuel so that you can fly around on a gnarly jetpack.
Control wise, the game handles fine enough considering that it's shooting for that pre-rendered/claymation look that became popular in the mid 90's. I didn't care for the fact that the jump height can't be varied- if you ever played Kid Niki on the NES it's basically the same kind of jump. You'll get used to it after a stage or two, but it is annoying.
Although the level design itself is nothing special, there are a handful of interesting ideas here and there that make the game just worth that single playthrough. One stage, for instance, has you knocking a sponge into the sink so that you can run across it to generate bubbles. Then, you'll float to the top of the stage where the part is hidden. You're even able to explore the sink's pipelines for extra goodies, but it's risky due to the amount of traps and limited air supply.
This is a short game and a relatively easy playthrough outside of the backyard and lab stages (which are perhaps a bit too mazey for their own good). If you're not vehemently against euro-style games and are in the mood for something that screams "1993", you could definitely do far worse.
In all seriousness, this is a pretty decent platformer considering it's western made (something I've noticed a lot of people in these circles tend to loathe when it comes to older games for some reason). You're a scientist who has found himself shrunk down due to a freak lab accident and now has to retrieve machine parts stolen by mutated bugs.
Levels are mostly linear until the end and take you anywhere from a kitchen to the backyard. You'll find yourself picking up everyday items such as paperclips and thumb tacks to take out enemies, collect bolts (aka coins) and even jetfuel so that you can fly around on a gnarly jetpack.
Control wise, the game handles fine enough considering that it's shooting for that pre-rendered/claymation look that became popular in the mid 90's. I didn't care for the fact that the jump height can't be varied- if you ever played Kid Niki on the NES it's basically the same kind of jump. You'll get used to it after a stage or two, but it is annoying.
Although the level design itself is nothing special, there are a handful of interesting ideas here and there that make the game just worth that single playthrough. One stage, for instance, has you knocking a sponge into the sink so that you can run across it to generate bubbles. Then, you'll float to the top of the stage where the part is hidden. You're even able to explore the sink's pipelines for extra goodies, but it's risky due to the amount of traps and limited air supply.
This is a short game and a relatively easy playthrough outside of the backyard and lab stages (which are perhaps a bit too mazey for their own good). If you're not vehemently against euro-style games and are in the mood for something that screams "1993", you could definitely do far worse.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is the game I've had on my backlog for the longest amount of time and now that I've finished it not only am I relieved that it no longer holds that title, but I'm ashamed that it took me so long to play this absolute masterpiece of a game. From the moment I started the game exactly a week ago (yes, I played a 60-hour game in just a week) to when I saw the credits roll, I was hooked on this game and pulled into its world through its fantastic story, gameplay, setting, and most of all its characters.
A big part of what makes Red Dead Redemption 2 so great is its well-defined setting. First off, the game is incredible to look at and has some of the most detailed and realistic graphics in any modern game I've seen. Secondly the open world is far more diversified and interesting environmentally than it has any right being. Despite being a western story, the game does not limit itself to the basic homogenized setting of such stories (i.e. open prairies and vast deserts) and instead opts to be more unique with its areas and the reasons that the characters would find themselves in such areas. There are of course a few basic western setting areas but there's also a small southern town, a New Orleans like city and Bayou, a harsh mountain region, and a lush wooded area all of which, despite the proximity between them on the map seeming very small, feel separate in tone and environment and allows for an open world that feels natural and realistic. And finally, perhaps the most important strength of the world is just how much there is to do in it. Around every corner in RDR2 there are random encounters with rival gangs, strangers that need help, and side quests with writing that's just as good as the main storyline and it all makes for a world that's immensely enjoyable and rewarding to explore and one that truly feels alive.
It isn't just the setting that makes Red Dead 2 great though, the gameplay is also phenomenal. RDR2 allows the player to live out the fantasy of being a lawless outlaw in the wild west and every part of it is just great. Though there is plenty of variety in the gameplay here, I'd say the main gameplay loop that the story consists of are the shootouts and the horse riding. The shootout sections in RDR2 are incredibly simple and yet because of this manage to be extremely satisfying and enjoyable. These sections usually consist of you and your squad of men taking on a large number of enemies, but the lack of automatic weapons that can plow through these enemies keeps things engaging, relying much more on taking deliberate shots to your opponent’s weak points like their head or heart and knowing when to take cover and heal. There's also the incredibly useful dead-eye mechanic in these fights that shows up as a meter and allows you to slow time for a few brief moments to take aim at enemy weak points directly for an instant kill. Add onto that slow motion effects whenever you get a really impressive shot on an enemy's weak point and a decent amount of weapon variety and you get some of the most satisfying and fun third person shooter mechanics in a game that I've played. The other main aspect of the gameplay is the riding/driving sections which provide a really nice break in the non-stop action of the rest of game. Though it seems like it should be an incredibly forgettable part of the game, hopping on your horse and just riding is where a lot of memorable moments of the game come from. The gameplay here is simple, simply tap the accelerate button to gallop continuously, or hold it down to slow down all the while keeping your horse's stamina and health up, but it's not so much the gameplay of it that's enjoyable here, more so the range of different atmospheres that this simple action can convey. Since riding is your way of getting to and from anywhere on the map the game has to do it's best to make it interesting and thankfully it does for the most part. Whether you're riding with the whole gang to perform a task, riding alongside another character and getting to understand them more, or riding alone and reflecting upon the weight of the story or your actions, these sections exceed by providing versatile gameplay and cinematic moments. Apart from this there are of course other things to do in the game, you can play games like poker, drive wagons or trains, do side quests, rob people, help strangers out, and just explore the world as a whole all of which have their own levels of nuance and fun to them. The game also has an honor system that adds meaning to your actions, playing like a true outlaw and robbing and killing anyone you please will catch up to you and make you look less favorable to townsfolk and local law officers, playing honorably and using discretion when you rob or kill leads to favor in this system and allows cheaper prices at shops and less bounty hunters and law officers to be actively hunting you. This system also has effects on the story and, based on side quests you do can do, can lead to entirely different character interactions and scenes in the story, adding even more weight to your actions and making how you play the game something you feel personally responsible for.
“By 1899, the age of outlaws and gunslingers was at an end, America was becoming a land of laws… Even the west had mostly been tamed. A few gangs still roamed but they were being hunted down and destroyed”. In a few short but effective lines at the very opening screens of the game Red Dead Redemption 2 lays out exactly what kind of story it aims to tell and as it plays out you see exactly what it’s talking about. Red Dead 2 is the story of the Van der Linde gang and it’s downfall, more specifically it’s about the people that make up this gang and how they interact, change, and cope with the events that transpire, but perhaps most importantly of all, it’s the story of Arthur Morgan and the of his unyielding loyalty. At the beginning of the game we see the gang on the run and in the worst shape they’ve ever been, having lost several members to a job gone wrong and desperate to get away to the point of fleeing into the mountains in the middle of a violent snowstorm. Though eventually they’re able to leave the mountains and set up camp somewhere else, this image of a desperate gang never really fades, as the gang try to succeed in making one big score so they can move back west and try to escape their oncoming downfall they only fall further, as a series of bad jobs pushes them further east away from the wild west and further into civilization that doesn’t tolerate them anymore. And yet despite these circumstances, RDR2 is not just a pure tragedy story, the sheer range of scenes and feelings is one of the best parts about the game. The sad moments are depressing, but there’s also happy moments of pure wholesomeness and joy, and insanely badass moments of pure triumph and action that makes my mouth water, and it’s this range that gives RDR2 some of the most satisfying storytelling in a video game. Even despite their circumstances though the Van der Linde gang is like a family to one another, comprised of all sorts of people of different backgrounds. The game does a really good job of fleshing all of these characters out and making you care for them; everyone has a role to play in the gang and the story and through interacting with them at camp and during missions just adds layers onto the complexity of their characters. One of the most important characters in this story is Dutch Van der Linde, the silver-tongued leader of the gang who has the responsibility of getting them out of the mess, but as every plan he makes fails them and only brings pushes them further east he starts changing for the worse, becoming more desperate, reckless, and deceptive towards those who stand in his way and inciting dissension within the gang. The most important character though is none other than Arthur Morgan, the protagonist of the game and the one who undergoes the most change by the end of it. Arthur has been in the gang since he was a boy and is loyal to a fault, he’s sort of the breadwinner of the gang and is the man to call to get the job done, but most importantly he’s honorable, loyal to a fault, and good at heart and helps those who can’t help themselves, he’s truly the example of a good man in a bad life and does everything he can to support the gang who he sees as family. As the story goes on he’s the one who the audience views the changing of the world and gang’s dynamic through, and as these things change so does Arthur turning from a loyal man who admires Dutch and does anything that needs to be done, to one unsure of the way things are going and receptive to the change the world is going through, aware that he’ll probably die in this life and wanting to see things set right before he does. I’ve avoided spoilers here for as long as I can but there are some aspects of this game that cannot be talked about without spoiling things, so if you want to read the rest of this section click this link (https://pastebin.com/86sUXJSA). All of these things add up to make one of, if not the best story I’ve ever played through in a video game and one that needs to be experienced to be believed.
The experience I have had with this game over the last week has been a fantastic one and I’m sad to see it end, but I’m happy that I finally had it. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a triumph in every aspect, from it’s fantastic setting, satisfying and hooking gameplay, and its truly unforgettable story, I have truly never played a game quite this perfect and I’m proud to call it not just one of my favorite games ever made, but also one of if not the best I’ve ever played.
A big part of what makes Red Dead Redemption 2 so great is its well-defined setting. First off, the game is incredible to look at and has some of the most detailed and realistic graphics in any modern game I've seen. Secondly the open world is far more diversified and interesting environmentally than it has any right being. Despite being a western story, the game does not limit itself to the basic homogenized setting of such stories (i.e. open prairies and vast deserts) and instead opts to be more unique with its areas and the reasons that the characters would find themselves in such areas. There are of course a few basic western setting areas but there's also a small southern town, a New Orleans like city and Bayou, a harsh mountain region, and a lush wooded area all of which, despite the proximity between them on the map seeming very small, feel separate in tone and environment and allows for an open world that feels natural and realistic. And finally, perhaps the most important strength of the world is just how much there is to do in it. Around every corner in RDR2 there are random encounters with rival gangs, strangers that need help, and side quests with writing that's just as good as the main storyline and it all makes for a world that's immensely enjoyable and rewarding to explore and one that truly feels alive.
It isn't just the setting that makes Red Dead 2 great though, the gameplay is also phenomenal. RDR2 allows the player to live out the fantasy of being a lawless outlaw in the wild west and every part of it is just great. Though there is plenty of variety in the gameplay here, I'd say the main gameplay loop that the story consists of are the shootouts and the horse riding. The shootout sections in RDR2 are incredibly simple and yet because of this manage to be extremely satisfying and enjoyable. These sections usually consist of you and your squad of men taking on a large number of enemies, but the lack of automatic weapons that can plow through these enemies keeps things engaging, relying much more on taking deliberate shots to your opponent’s weak points like their head or heart and knowing when to take cover and heal. There's also the incredibly useful dead-eye mechanic in these fights that shows up as a meter and allows you to slow time for a few brief moments to take aim at enemy weak points directly for an instant kill. Add onto that slow motion effects whenever you get a really impressive shot on an enemy's weak point and a decent amount of weapon variety and you get some of the most satisfying and fun third person shooter mechanics in a game that I've played. The other main aspect of the gameplay is the riding/driving sections which provide a really nice break in the non-stop action of the rest of game. Though it seems like it should be an incredibly forgettable part of the game, hopping on your horse and just riding is where a lot of memorable moments of the game come from. The gameplay here is simple, simply tap the accelerate button to gallop continuously, or hold it down to slow down all the while keeping your horse's stamina and health up, but it's not so much the gameplay of it that's enjoyable here, more so the range of different atmospheres that this simple action can convey. Since riding is your way of getting to and from anywhere on the map the game has to do it's best to make it interesting and thankfully it does for the most part. Whether you're riding with the whole gang to perform a task, riding alongside another character and getting to understand them more, or riding alone and reflecting upon the weight of the story or your actions, these sections exceed by providing versatile gameplay and cinematic moments. Apart from this there are of course other things to do in the game, you can play games like poker, drive wagons or trains, do side quests, rob people, help strangers out, and just explore the world as a whole all of which have their own levels of nuance and fun to them. The game also has an honor system that adds meaning to your actions, playing like a true outlaw and robbing and killing anyone you please will catch up to you and make you look less favorable to townsfolk and local law officers, playing honorably and using discretion when you rob or kill leads to favor in this system and allows cheaper prices at shops and less bounty hunters and law officers to be actively hunting you. This system also has effects on the story and, based on side quests you do can do, can lead to entirely different character interactions and scenes in the story, adding even more weight to your actions and making how you play the game something you feel personally responsible for.
“By 1899, the age of outlaws and gunslingers was at an end, America was becoming a land of laws… Even the west had mostly been tamed. A few gangs still roamed but they were being hunted down and destroyed”. In a few short but effective lines at the very opening screens of the game Red Dead Redemption 2 lays out exactly what kind of story it aims to tell and as it plays out you see exactly what it’s talking about. Red Dead 2 is the story of the Van der Linde gang and it’s downfall, more specifically it’s about the people that make up this gang and how they interact, change, and cope with the events that transpire, but perhaps most importantly of all, it’s the story of Arthur Morgan and the of his unyielding loyalty. At the beginning of the game we see the gang on the run and in the worst shape they’ve ever been, having lost several members to a job gone wrong and desperate to get away to the point of fleeing into the mountains in the middle of a violent snowstorm. Though eventually they’re able to leave the mountains and set up camp somewhere else, this image of a desperate gang never really fades, as the gang try to succeed in making one big score so they can move back west and try to escape their oncoming downfall they only fall further, as a series of bad jobs pushes them further east away from the wild west and further into civilization that doesn’t tolerate them anymore. And yet despite these circumstances, RDR2 is not just a pure tragedy story, the sheer range of scenes and feelings is one of the best parts about the game. The sad moments are depressing, but there’s also happy moments of pure wholesomeness and joy, and insanely badass moments of pure triumph and action that makes my mouth water, and it’s this range that gives RDR2 some of the most satisfying storytelling in a video game. Even despite their circumstances though the Van der Linde gang is like a family to one another, comprised of all sorts of people of different backgrounds. The game does a really good job of fleshing all of these characters out and making you care for them; everyone has a role to play in the gang and the story and through interacting with them at camp and during missions just adds layers onto the complexity of their characters. One of the most important characters in this story is Dutch Van der Linde, the silver-tongued leader of the gang who has the responsibility of getting them out of the mess, but as every plan he makes fails them and only brings pushes them further east he starts changing for the worse, becoming more desperate, reckless, and deceptive towards those who stand in his way and inciting dissension within the gang. The most important character though is none other than Arthur Morgan, the protagonist of the game and the one who undergoes the most change by the end of it. Arthur has been in the gang since he was a boy and is loyal to a fault, he’s sort of the breadwinner of the gang and is the man to call to get the job done, but most importantly he’s honorable, loyal to a fault, and good at heart and helps those who can’t help themselves, he’s truly the example of a good man in a bad life and does everything he can to support the gang who he sees as family. As the story goes on he’s the one who the audience views the changing of the world and gang’s dynamic through, and as these things change so does Arthur turning from a loyal man who admires Dutch and does anything that needs to be done, to one unsure of the way things are going and receptive to the change the world is going through, aware that he’ll probably die in this life and wanting to see things set right before he does. I’ve avoided spoilers here for as long as I can but there are some aspects of this game that cannot be talked about without spoiling things, so if you want to read the rest of this section click this link (https://pastebin.com/86sUXJSA). All of these things add up to make one of, if not the best story I’ve ever played through in a video game and one that needs to be experienced to be believed.
The experience I have had with this game over the last week has been a fantastic one and I’m sad to see it end, but I’m happy that I finally had it. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a triumph in every aspect, from it’s fantastic setting, satisfying and hooking gameplay, and its truly unforgettable story, I have truly never played a game quite this perfect and I’m proud to call it not just one of my favorite games ever made, but also one of if not the best I’ve ever played.
Kirby 64 feels like a much improved successor to Kirby's Dream Land 3 for the SNES (which I did not enjoy that much), but most of the issues I had with that game are addressed here.
First wanna point out the super charming 3D graphics. I'm a sucker for low poly 3D and it works so well here for Kirby, even taking the advantage of the 3D and making it a 2.5D game. The visuals shine the most during the intro and outro cutscenes of each world with the cast doing silly little things.
In terms of gameplay, it's a Kirby game with the twist that instead of mixing and matching copy abilities with animal buddies like in KDL3, Kirby can just mix those abilities himself, which is such an improvement. But also, the new abilities you get in this game from mixing are some of the best in the whole series. Like a flaming greatsword?? A double-bladed ligjtsaber? Don't get me started with how fun the fireworks ability is to use.
Only big flaw with the gameplay is how Kirby feels to control. In KDL3, Kirby was at his most sluggish and felt terrible to play. In K64, he feels much more responsive but is a little too floaty, even for a floating puffball like Kirby. Still it's a major improvement, but not the best feeling.
The worst thing about KDL3 was the barren level design and how you basically had to go for the optional missions to make any of these levels feel fun. But the optional missions were mostly cryptic and not that fun anyway.
In K64 we how have both excellent level design and a great side objective. Meaning, if you don't play for the 100% you will still have a lot of fun playing through the levels. But now it's even more fun going for the 100% because the side objective is to find all 3 crystal shards in a stage, and they're not that hard to find. It's similar to trying to find the 3 green stars in Mario 3D world. There are a couple of shards that can be annoying to get by needing very specific requirements, but those are only like 4 shards of the 60ish in the game.
Bosses are a lot of fun and quite challenging for a Kirby game. Most of the bosses have 2 stages including the mvfucking tree this time around.
Great Kirby game, while not my favourite, I like it more than some of it's predecessors. If movement was a little less floaty and closer to Kirby's Adventure or Super Star, and some of the few shards weren't a pain to get, I would've liked it a little more.
First wanna point out the super charming 3D graphics. I'm a sucker for low poly 3D and it works so well here for Kirby, even taking the advantage of the 3D and making it a 2.5D game. The visuals shine the most during the intro and outro cutscenes of each world with the cast doing silly little things.
In terms of gameplay, it's a Kirby game with the twist that instead of mixing and matching copy abilities with animal buddies like in KDL3, Kirby can just mix those abilities himself, which is such an improvement. But also, the new abilities you get in this game from mixing are some of the best in the whole series. Like a flaming greatsword?? A double-bladed ligjtsaber? Don't get me started with how fun the fireworks ability is to use.
Only big flaw with the gameplay is how Kirby feels to control. In KDL3, Kirby was at his most sluggish and felt terrible to play. In K64, he feels much more responsive but is a little too floaty, even for a floating puffball like Kirby. Still it's a major improvement, but not the best feeling.
The worst thing about KDL3 was the barren level design and how you basically had to go for the optional missions to make any of these levels feel fun. But the optional missions were mostly cryptic and not that fun anyway.
In K64 we how have both excellent level design and a great side objective. Meaning, if you don't play for the 100% you will still have a lot of fun playing through the levels. But now it's even more fun going for the 100% because the side objective is to find all 3 crystal shards in a stage, and they're not that hard to find. It's similar to trying to find the 3 green stars in Mario 3D world. There are a couple of shards that can be annoying to get by needing very specific requirements, but those are only like 4 shards of the 60ish in the game.
Bosses are a lot of fun and quite challenging for a Kirby game. Most of the bosses have 2 stages including the mvfucking tree this time around.
Great Kirby game, while not my favourite, I like it more than some of it's predecessors. If movement was a little less floaty and closer to Kirby's Adventure or Super Star, and some of the few shards weren't a pain to get, I would've liked it a little more.
They should hit Floowandereeze again on the next banlist. Not because they’re good or anything, I just think they deserve it.
We asked 50 "experts on problems" what Mononobe no Futo's problem was. Nobody could figure it out! Perhaps she isn't even born over 1400 years ago at all and just talks like a jackass because she's roleplaying.
The fuck did you just tell me to do
Game #583
Game #583
Grand Theft Auto IV
2008
This review contains spoilers
This review will contain main story spoilers
Finally after like 4 attempts I managed to fully complete GTA 4... kind of. I will properly go into it later but technically I didn't complete the final mission but I am marking it as completed as I played the entire game and was already well aware of the ending and ill be damned if after all the time it took me to complete this game to not have it marked complete.
Grand Theft Auto 4 is as much of a classic as you can get. Alongside a few other notable titles this game really encapsulates the Xbox 360/PS3 era. Like a lot of games I have played this year, this was the first time I played through this game in its entirety. I messed around with it on the 360 when I was younger and made a few attempts to get through it on PC but only got around a quarter into the main story. Comparing it to the other narratives in the GTA series, 4 leads the pack with its iconic dark and gritty mafia story, along side a bunch of great characters.
The story itself is very enjoyable. It revolves around Niko Bellic, a former soldier turned gun for hire as he tries to track down the traitor who turned on his friends and left him to die. Arriving fresh off the boat in Liberty City, Nico ends up working with all sorts of the cities criminals in order to make money in pursuit of the American dream. The main story is I believe 88 missions long which I do feel is a bit too long. There were lots of times when I felt that the game could of and should of been starting to wrap up, only for there to be another 20 missions with a whole new cast of side characters. The game can be sort of broken down by looking at the characters Nico is interacting with, Act 1 sees him working alongside the Russian Mob where he is betrayed by Dimitri Rascalov who serves as the games main antagonist. The second act sees Nico working with the McCreary family who are part of the Irish Mob. Finally the 3rd act has Nico working for the Pegarino crime family, who are part of the Italian mafia. This is quite a broad assessment and there are lots of other people who Nico also interacts with like a corrupt cop, a federal agent and many street gangs.
The characters, especially the protagonist are this games best area. Nico Bellic is by a long shot the best GTA protagonist and in my opinion the 3rd best Rockstar protagonist behind Arthur Morgan and John Marston. Nico has real motivations and genuinely seems to want to better his life in order to move on from his past. While being a cold blooded gun for hire, there are many moments when you can see Nico reflect on his past actions with clear regret. Which is a lot more than you see from any other GTA protagonist. The side characters are also a great bunch. Roman, Nico's gambling addict cousin who sold him on the American dream. Packie McCreary the 2nd youngest of the McCreary brother eager to restore his family name and my personal favourite Little Jacob who is just the best.
Most missions follow a similar format, either shoot up a large gauntlet of enemies, chase someone in a car and kill them, tail someone in a car and follow them to a gauntlet of enemies. We all know the rockstar gameplay format. While these missions are all quite fun and a lot of cool action movie set pieces are put into these somewhat repetitive missions in order to keep it fresh, as the game progresses you start to see a lot of the same. This game is often praised for its physics which were ground breaking at the time. To this day I am still very impressed with the water physics. Mantling on ledges sounds way cooler than it actually is, its only used properly in like 2 missions and normally is just quite janky. Im not a fan of the shooting mechanics, with the lock on feature either locking onto an enemy across the room instead of the guy shooting you in the face right in front of you, or aiming at a guy behind a wall. I got the hang of it eventually but I much prefer the free aim style they used in GTA 5.
The friend system is something I believe is unique to this game and i'm quite happy it never properly made the jump to 5. Certain side characters you are able to do activities with will call you randomly and ask you to hang out. This is normally fine but it gets to a point in the late game where there are too many to keep track of. On multiple occasions I was heading to meet one person when another would call me up which ends up with you loosing relationships with certain characters which sucks.
Another thing unique to this game was the strange amount of choices you were given throughtout. Obviously GTA 5 had this with its ending but throughout GTA 4 you are given choices between characters to kill. Normally there are benefits for doing either which make for an interesting spin on gameplay. What I like the most about this is that normally there wont be much of an impact outside of different dialogue so its more of a moral decision of who you would rather save (If you ignore the rewards). It's something I hope returns in GTA 6. Speaking of dialogue, I was very surprised by the sheer amount of it, during retries of missions there are sometimes 2 to 3 cycles of dialogue that can happen on the journey to an objective. It helps keep things less stale especially when having to repeat a drive.
Graphics wise this game has aged extremely well. Liberty City looks great, very dingy and run down in certain places and full of life in others. I did sometimes have a bit of trouble with the lighting as the city can get very dark and grey. The music is iconic. That main theme is one of Rockstar's best, even down to the little motives that play after completing missions.
Unfortunately I have one major complaint, the lack of checkpoints. Now this may fall under a "Get Gud" opinion but this is something that really bothered me throughout my playthrough. Now most missions are only around 5 minutes in length and that's ok to repeat but can get annoying with repeated attempts but dear God some of these missions are so long. One in particular that stood out to me was involving stealing drugs from the Triads. to start you have to drive to pick up a truck, then drive this slow ass truck half way across the map, then kill a massive gauntlet of enemies and finally escape on a boat, all without a checkpoint. This is made even more annoying by the fact that your health doesn't regenerate at all, and the medkits are so far between and more or less impossible to find that you end up running through a gauntlet with a slither of health praying you dont die. This is also made more irritating by the fact your ammo isnt reset when you die, so you end up going in with barely any ammo in your good weapons. The amount of times I got within one enemy of completing a mission only to get blasted away and have to do the entire thing again almost made me give up on a few missions lol. Something I am soooo glad they changed in GTA 5.
Now as you may have noticed at the start of this review I said that technically I haven't completed the game. That is because Grand Theft Auto 4 is more or less impossible to complete on Xbox Series X. The final mission has a segment where you need to jump from a bike onto a helicopter in order to kill the final guy. After jumping you have to spam the A button to climb up but due to the Series X running at 60 fps, this is impossible to do. I say borderline impossible as it has been done using certain methods but personally due to my previously mentioned complaint about the games checkpoints, I am not going to constantly replay the entire shooting segment before hand multiple times in order to master the technique. I'm slightly conflicted whether or not to let this effect the score I will give it as it seems more like a software problem than the game problem. As of now my score is 4/5 stars (Or an 8/10) but if anyone has any input on whether or not this issue should affect the score, feel free to leave a comment!
All in all I think GTA 4 is starting to become a bit dated. Not taking anything away from its fantastic story, great characters and genuinely fun missions, but some of its gameplay choices seem like they may make it a bit more inaccessible as the years go on. I'm thinking about grabbing The ballad of Gay Tony and The lost and the damned when they are next on sale to try them out at some point. Still a solid recommendation but look out for that game breaking bug
Finally after like 4 attempts I managed to fully complete GTA 4... kind of. I will properly go into it later but technically I didn't complete the final mission but I am marking it as completed as I played the entire game and was already well aware of the ending and ill be damned if after all the time it took me to complete this game to not have it marked complete.
Grand Theft Auto 4 is as much of a classic as you can get. Alongside a few other notable titles this game really encapsulates the Xbox 360/PS3 era. Like a lot of games I have played this year, this was the first time I played through this game in its entirety. I messed around with it on the 360 when I was younger and made a few attempts to get through it on PC but only got around a quarter into the main story. Comparing it to the other narratives in the GTA series, 4 leads the pack with its iconic dark and gritty mafia story, along side a bunch of great characters.
The story itself is very enjoyable. It revolves around Niko Bellic, a former soldier turned gun for hire as he tries to track down the traitor who turned on his friends and left him to die. Arriving fresh off the boat in Liberty City, Nico ends up working with all sorts of the cities criminals in order to make money in pursuit of the American dream. The main story is I believe 88 missions long which I do feel is a bit too long. There were lots of times when I felt that the game could of and should of been starting to wrap up, only for there to be another 20 missions with a whole new cast of side characters. The game can be sort of broken down by looking at the characters Nico is interacting with, Act 1 sees him working alongside the Russian Mob where he is betrayed by Dimitri Rascalov who serves as the games main antagonist. The second act sees Nico working with the McCreary family who are part of the Irish Mob. Finally the 3rd act has Nico working for the Pegarino crime family, who are part of the Italian mafia. This is quite a broad assessment and there are lots of other people who Nico also interacts with like a corrupt cop, a federal agent and many street gangs.
The characters, especially the protagonist are this games best area. Nico Bellic is by a long shot the best GTA protagonist and in my opinion the 3rd best Rockstar protagonist behind Arthur Morgan and John Marston. Nico has real motivations and genuinely seems to want to better his life in order to move on from his past. While being a cold blooded gun for hire, there are many moments when you can see Nico reflect on his past actions with clear regret. Which is a lot more than you see from any other GTA protagonist. The side characters are also a great bunch. Roman, Nico's gambling addict cousin who sold him on the American dream. Packie McCreary the 2nd youngest of the McCreary brother eager to restore his family name and my personal favourite Little Jacob who is just the best.
Most missions follow a similar format, either shoot up a large gauntlet of enemies, chase someone in a car and kill them, tail someone in a car and follow them to a gauntlet of enemies. We all know the rockstar gameplay format. While these missions are all quite fun and a lot of cool action movie set pieces are put into these somewhat repetitive missions in order to keep it fresh, as the game progresses you start to see a lot of the same. This game is often praised for its physics which were ground breaking at the time. To this day I am still very impressed with the water physics. Mantling on ledges sounds way cooler than it actually is, its only used properly in like 2 missions and normally is just quite janky. Im not a fan of the shooting mechanics, with the lock on feature either locking onto an enemy across the room instead of the guy shooting you in the face right in front of you, or aiming at a guy behind a wall. I got the hang of it eventually but I much prefer the free aim style they used in GTA 5.
The friend system is something I believe is unique to this game and i'm quite happy it never properly made the jump to 5. Certain side characters you are able to do activities with will call you randomly and ask you to hang out. This is normally fine but it gets to a point in the late game where there are too many to keep track of. On multiple occasions I was heading to meet one person when another would call me up which ends up with you loosing relationships with certain characters which sucks.
Another thing unique to this game was the strange amount of choices you were given throughtout. Obviously GTA 5 had this with its ending but throughout GTA 4 you are given choices between characters to kill. Normally there are benefits for doing either which make for an interesting spin on gameplay. What I like the most about this is that normally there wont be much of an impact outside of different dialogue so its more of a moral decision of who you would rather save (If you ignore the rewards). It's something I hope returns in GTA 6. Speaking of dialogue, I was very surprised by the sheer amount of it, during retries of missions there are sometimes 2 to 3 cycles of dialogue that can happen on the journey to an objective. It helps keep things less stale especially when having to repeat a drive.
Graphics wise this game has aged extremely well. Liberty City looks great, very dingy and run down in certain places and full of life in others. I did sometimes have a bit of trouble with the lighting as the city can get very dark and grey. The music is iconic. That main theme is one of Rockstar's best, even down to the little motives that play after completing missions.
Unfortunately I have one major complaint, the lack of checkpoints. Now this may fall under a "Get Gud" opinion but this is something that really bothered me throughout my playthrough. Now most missions are only around 5 minutes in length and that's ok to repeat but can get annoying with repeated attempts but dear God some of these missions are so long. One in particular that stood out to me was involving stealing drugs from the Triads. to start you have to drive to pick up a truck, then drive this slow ass truck half way across the map, then kill a massive gauntlet of enemies and finally escape on a boat, all without a checkpoint. This is made even more annoying by the fact that your health doesn't regenerate at all, and the medkits are so far between and more or less impossible to find that you end up running through a gauntlet with a slither of health praying you dont die. This is also made more irritating by the fact your ammo isnt reset when you die, so you end up going in with barely any ammo in your good weapons. The amount of times I got within one enemy of completing a mission only to get blasted away and have to do the entire thing again almost made me give up on a few missions lol. Something I am soooo glad they changed in GTA 5.
Now as you may have noticed at the start of this review I said that technically I haven't completed the game. That is because Grand Theft Auto 4 is more or less impossible to complete on Xbox Series X. The final mission has a segment where you need to jump from a bike onto a helicopter in order to kill the final guy. After jumping you have to spam the A button to climb up but due to the Series X running at 60 fps, this is impossible to do. I say borderline impossible as it has been done using certain methods but personally due to my previously mentioned complaint about the games checkpoints, I am not going to constantly replay the entire shooting segment before hand multiple times in order to master the technique. I'm slightly conflicted whether or not to let this effect the score I will give it as it seems more like a software problem than the game problem. As of now my score is 4/5 stars (Or an 8/10) but if anyone has any input on whether or not this issue should affect the score, feel free to leave a comment!
All in all I think GTA 4 is starting to become a bit dated. Not taking anything away from its fantastic story, great characters and genuinely fun missions, but some of its gameplay choices seem like they may make it a bit more inaccessible as the years go on. I'm thinking about grabbing The ballad of Gay Tony and The lost and the damned when they are next on sale to try them out at some point. Still a solid recommendation but look out for that game breaking bug
With excitement everything is an adventure
There are two types of sequel installment in video games, one is where they were planned from the start, with scripts stretching to thousands of pages like the Mass Effect trilogy. And the other one such as The Last of Us or Life is Strange, creating a more spontaneous sequel, purely thanks to the success of the first game. Having found a golden goose on your hands, it seems reasonable to bet on a successful franchise rather than risk starting with a new one. Ironically, this often has the opposite effect of the desired one, that sometimes it is very difficult to continue a story that has already ended. Even if the ending offers possibilities, it ultimately stands in its rightful place. There is no need to scribble or convert them into commas because those full stops are made to provide perfect play.
Ori and the Blind Forest is one of the first title that blew up in metroidvania genre, it's a beautiful and amazing game. Its success sparked a new wave of similar genres, including the likes of Hollow Knight and Dead Cells. After the success of Ori and the Blind Forest and winning awards, Moon Studios finally release the sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Ori and The Will of The Wisps continues the ending of the first game's story. Ku, Kuro's son who is the main enemy in the Blind Forest is now adopted by Naru and Gumo. Because his wings were damaged from birth, Ku was unable to fly like other birds. With the help of his mother's wings that Ori had used in previous adventures, Ku tested his new wings with Ori. Unfortunately, because of the storm, the two of them had to be separated and had to find each other and find their way home.
The story telling of the Will of The Wisps could be said kinda similar to the Blind Forest, this can be considered a positive or negative thing depending on your opinion. However, in this second game, more characters fill Ori's adventure. The majority are some kind of merchant which is a shame but many of them provide their own backgrounds and their influence on the world around them, giving the game a "denser" story and not just about Ori and his responsibilities. Despite being a new character with the background of being the antagonist's son, Ku is a good character to the point of being a motivational driver for you to finish the game. Ori and Ku may have very little interaction, but you will be made to feel cared for like your brother. So when he is hurt by the new antagonist, you feel his revenge. But it turns out that the antagonist also has his own background, creating a feeling of sympathy when you have to fight him. Even with the lack of dialogue in the game, Moon Studios has again succeeded in creating a story that feels like an emotional roller coaster.
The first game is already a pleasant experience with the presentation mainly visual and audio, the second game is basically an upgraded and enhanced version and that is a good thing to appreciate. Moon Studios has once again proven that the Unity engine can provide stunning visual quality like a painting. Now, Ori's character and the environment around him look more alive with a very touching character. Ori's adventure in the new, darker jungle feels very tense and gradually touches towards the end of the game. By mixing and matching bright and dark colors on the same screen, Moon Studios succeeded in creating an atmosphere that matches the theme of the story. And the same can be said with the audio. Ori is not a game with a lot of dialogue peppered with good voiceovers. However, the telling of the story feels even deeper thanks to the melancholic music that accompanies it. Moon Studios is very skilled at placing background music at the right moment. When the atmosphere is relaxed, you will find background music that soothes your heart. Likewise, in tense situations, you will be treated to music that will stimulate your adrenaline. Huge props to Gareth Coker for making phenonemal and melancholic soundtracks that truly depicts the sadness behind the beauty of the game's setting back to back.
Now for the main aspect that is probably made huge difference between the two games and that is the gameplay. Ori and the Blind Forest is a game that has inspired many other developers to make similar games. Team Cherry admitted that they created Hollow Knight because they were inspired by Ori. Now, the same thing is happening again, where Hollow Knight actually becomes the inspiration that gives rise to many new ideas to be injected into Ori and the Will of the Wisps. If the Blind Forest focuses on difficult platforming with a few combat moments in it then the Will of The Wisps is more of a 50:50 of the two. Combat now no longer just uses spirits, but Ori now has its own fighting system. Starting with a regular attack that resembles a sword, slowly but surely you will continue to add to your skill set from exploration or buying it directly from the merchant. This is different from the first game where you can only initiate limited movesets. Now here comes the biggest change in the game, the yellow spirits you get while playing no longer function like EXP, but are currency in the second game which can later be used to buy skills or shards which are passive buffs in this game. With a new directions that add more action, the combat system in the game is not groundbreaking and the majority of your time will just be spent spamming the attack button but each hit feels very satisfying because of the particle effects and sound effects that come out when your attacks hit the enemy. When you have all the skills, you can do the wildest possible combos by switching skills between the 3 action buttons, or if you're too lazy, you can always rely on the main attack.
Platforming in the sequel can be said to be easier than the prequel. Comparing it to the prequel, the adventure or platforming sessions in this game are made much easier and forgiving. Ori will not immediately die if hit by thorns or a pool of poison so you still have a chance to find a safe place.
Ori's movements in this game feel much more flexible and agile so the exploration process itself feels very enjoyable. However, you still have to be careful because the world has many traps and secrets that are invisible to the eye. In essence, your brain, eyes and fingers must work in synergy with each other in order to overcome the various obstacles that exist. While being easier could be a bad thing for many players as well as a long-time fans, i appreciate the new design that Moon Studios did on this sequel. The game may not be as difficult as before but it is still challenging because the level design is still tricky to pass.
Is Ori and the Will of the Wisps more of the same as last time? In a way, one can answer yes, but the correct answer is rather that the game is a further polish and perfection of an already magnificent concept. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a game that you will delight in for its beauty and magnificent game mechanics, and possibly bring you to tears for its sadness and melancholy. Moon Studios managed to take the experience of the previous game and make the sequel even better. It is a game that offers even more variety than its predecessor, and if you play on PC, you are also guaranteed a game that flows well and never ceases to surprise you when it comes to the visual presentation.
There are two types of sequel installment in video games, one is where they were planned from the start, with scripts stretching to thousands of pages like the Mass Effect trilogy. And the other one such as The Last of Us or Life is Strange, creating a more spontaneous sequel, purely thanks to the success of the first game. Having found a golden goose on your hands, it seems reasonable to bet on a successful franchise rather than risk starting with a new one. Ironically, this often has the opposite effect of the desired one, that sometimes it is very difficult to continue a story that has already ended. Even if the ending offers possibilities, it ultimately stands in its rightful place. There is no need to scribble or convert them into commas because those full stops are made to provide perfect play.
Ori and the Blind Forest is one of the first title that blew up in metroidvania genre, it's a beautiful and amazing game. Its success sparked a new wave of similar genres, including the likes of Hollow Knight and Dead Cells. After the success of Ori and the Blind Forest and winning awards, Moon Studios finally release the sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Ori and The Will of The Wisps continues the ending of the first game's story. Ku, Kuro's son who is the main enemy in the Blind Forest is now adopted by Naru and Gumo. Because his wings were damaged from birth, Ku was unable to fly like other birds. With the help of his mother's wings that Ori had used in previous adventures, Ku tested his new wings with Ori. Unfortunately, because of the storm, the two of them had to be separated and had to find each other and find their way home.
The story telling of the Will of The Wisps could be said kinda similar to the Blind Forest, this can be considered a positive or negative thing depending on your opinion. However, in this second game, more characters fill Ori's adventure. The majority are some kind of merchant which is a shame but many of them provide their own backgrounds and their influence on the world around them, giving the game a "denser" story and not just about Ori and his responsibilities. Despite being a new character with the background of being the antagonist's son, Ku is a good character to the point of being a motivational driver for you to finish the game. Ori and Ku may have very little interaction, but you will be made to feel cared for like your brother. So when he is hurt by the new antagonist, you feel his revenge. But it turns out that the antagonist also has his own background, creating a feeling of sympathy when you have to fight him. Even with the lack of dialogue in the game, Moon Studios has again succeeded in creating a story that feels like an emotional roller coaster.
The first game is already a pleasant experience with the presentation mainly visual and audio, the second game is basically an upgraded and enhanced version and that is a good thing to appreciate. Moon Studios has once again proven that the Unity engine can provide stunning visual quality like a painting. Now, Ori's character and the environment around him look more alive with a very touching character. Ori's adventure in the new, darker jungle feels very tense and gradually touches towards the end of the game. By mixing and matching bright and dark colors on the same screen, Moon Studios succeeded in creating an atmosphere that matches the theme of the story. And the same can be said with the audio. Ori is not a game with a lot of dialogue peppered with good voiceovers. However, the telling of the story feels even deeper thanks to the melancholic music that accompanies it. Moon Studios is very skilled at placing background music at the right moment. When the atmosphere is relaxed, you will find background music that soothes your heart. Likewise, in tense situations, you will be treated to music that will stimulate your adrenaline. Huge props to Gareth Coker for making phenonemal and melancholic soundtracks that truly depicts the sadness behind the beauty of the game's setting back to back.
Now for the main aspect that is probably made huge difference between the two games and that is the gameplay. Ori and the Blind Forest is a game that has inspired many other developers to make similar games. Team Cherry admitted that they created Hollow Knight because they were inspired by Ori. Now, the same thing is happening again, where Hollow Knight actually becomes the inspiration that gives rise to many new ideas to be injected into Ori and the Will of the Wisps. If the Blind Forest focuses on difficult platforming with a few combat moments in it then the Will of The Wisps is more of a 50:50 of the two. Combat now no longer just uses spirits, but Ori now has its own fighting system. Starting with a regular attack that resembles a sword, slowly but surely you will continue to add to your skill set from exploration or buying it directly from the merchant. This is different from the first game where you can only initiate limited movesets. Now here comes the biggest change in the game, the yellow spirits you get while playing no longer function like EXP, but are currency in the second game which can later be used to buy skills or shards which are passive buffs in this game. With a new directions that add more action, the combat system in the game is not groundbreaking and the majority of your time will just be spent spamming the attack button but each hit feels very satisfying because of the particle effects and sound effects that come out when your attacks hit the enemy. When you have all the skills, you can do the wildest possible combos by switching skills between the 3 action buttons, or if you're too lazy, you can always rely on the main attack.
Platforming in the sequel can be said to be easier than the prequel. Comparing it to the prequel, the adventure or platforming sessions in this game are made much easier and forgiving. Ori will not immediately die if hit by thorns or a pool of poison so you still have a chance to find a safe place.
Ori's movements in this game feel much more flexible and agile so the exploration process itself feels very enjoyable. However, you still have to be careful because the world has many traps and secrets that are invisible to the eye. In essence, your brain, eyes and fingers must work in synergy with each other in order to overcome the various obstacles that exist. While being easier could be a bad thing for many players as well as a long-time fans, i appreciate the new design that Moon Studios did on this sequel. The game may not be as difficult as before but it is still challenging because the level design is still tricky to pass.
Is Ori and the Will of the Wisps more of the same as last time? In a way, one can answer yes, but the correct answer is rather that the game is a further polish and perfection of an already magnificent concept. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a game that you will delight in for its beauty and magnificent game mechanics, and possibly bring you to tears for its sadness and melancholy. Moon Studios managed to take the experience of the previous game and make the sequel even better. It is a game that offers even more variety than its predecessor, and if you play on PC, you are also guaranteed a game that flows well and never ceases to surprise you when it comes to the visual presentation.
Pikuniku
2019
This Game Is Made Of Pure 100% Concentrated Silliness
Operation: Armored Liberty is a very bland and empty first person shooter that gets old after 5 minutes. There are maximum maybe 10 enemies per level, all of which are all giant, empty squares. Sometimes it took me around a full minute just to move from enemy to enemy. There is no story aside from one still image of a guy pointing at a white board with text on it telling you to go and kill your enemies. There is also no music so if you want to play you'd better hope you enjoy the constant never ending compressed sound of a tank engine humming through your GBA speaker. This game is trash.
Scorn
2022
i came into this knowing very little of the game's actual content other than seeing glimpses of incredible visuals in the occasional image/clip and the polarizing reception from those who had been anticipating it. i never personally played any demos or followed along with the development, trailers, or anything of the sort so i didn't have any of the baggage that may have came with that.
when i started this up, i was expecting a horror tinged adventure game that veered closer to a walking sim with some unfortunate combat thrown in for good measure. my first surprise was the environmental design and puzzles. right from the beginning it felt like what i had been seeing in terms of difficulty and complexity had been ripped from Myst. was absolutely fascinated with the obscurity of the flow from area to area and the various puzzles themselves. i can see where some would've had less tolerance for this but i'm glad it clicked for me.
elsewhere i was pleasantly surprised with the combat even. there's no getting around it, the combat feels like complete trash. fortunately for me (and anyone else who played similarly) you can avoid fighting anything a solid 80% of the time if you move your ass. lots of enemies and hazards are in places that you're passing through on your way to go elsewhere and won't be back so there's no harm in running. the occurrences of enemies in spots that i was returning to was infrequent enough that i didn't mind when i had to deal with them all that much. beyond that, the actual boss type encounter that shows is shockingly decent for how the gameplay is and as someone who will happily trash a decent 70% of the boss fights i play in games.
that leaves me with the aforementioned selling point, the aesthetics. this is visually one of the most stunning games i've ever seen. Giger influence isn't anything unique among games (or any media) but the absolute devotion to its design, even at the cost of everything else was refreshing.
it's over just as quickly as it gets started and it won't be making my faves list or anything (at least not upon this first playthrough, maybe in a few years with a replay?) but this feels like a truly singular piece of art. maybe this isn't what it was looking like during development or what people who were waiting otherwise wanted but i'm truly glad to have experienced it, flaws and all.
when i started this up, i was expecting a horror tinged adventure game that veered closer to a walking sim with some unfortunate combat thrown in for good measure. my first surprise was the environmental design and puzzles. right from the beginning it felt like what i had been seeing in terms of difficulty and complexity had been ripped from Myst. was absolutely fascinated with the obscurity of the flow from area to area and the various puzzles themselves. i can see where some would've had less tolerance for this but i'm glad it clicked for me.
elsewhere i was pleasantly surprised with the combat even. there's no getting around it, the combat feels like complete trash. fortunately for me (and anyone else who played similarly) you can avoid fighting anything a solid 80% of the time if you move your ass. lots of enemies and hazards are in places that you're passing through on your way to go elsewhere and won't be back so there's no harm in running. the occurrences of enemies in spots that i was returning to was infrequent enough that i didn't mind when i had to deal with them all that much. beyond that, the actual boss type encounter that shows is shockingly decent for how the gameplay is and as someone who will happily trash a decent 70% of the boss fights i play in games.
that leaves me with the aforementioned selling point, the aesthetics. this is visually one of the most stunning games i've ever seen. Giger influence isn't anything unique among games (or any media) but the absolute devotion to its design, even at the cost of everything else was refreshing.
it's over just as quickly as it gets started and it won't be making my faves list or anything (at least not upon this first playthrough, maybe in a few years with a replay?) but this feels like a truly singular piece of art. maybe this isn't what it was looking like during development or what people who were waiting otherwise wanted but i'm truly glad to have experienced it, flaws and all.
Justice for All is widely agreed on to be the weakest of the Ace Attorney trilogy, for reasons I can understand. It only contains four cases out of the typical five, for one. The first case being a tutorial and the third, infamously, being brought down by the pedophile love triangle plotline. For all of that though, it still introduces incredibly important developments for the series; premiering Fransizka and finishing with the much revered Farewell, my Turnabout
As a child this was easily the least influential game for me, I absolutely could not STAND Fransizka and none of the cases stood out to me much. Now though, I definitely feel more positive about it. I still dont have much attraction for the 1st and 3rd cases but I'm pretty impressed by the overall implications the events in this game have over the rest of the series. In a way, some of it feels partly like a set up for T&T, especially the happenings with Morgan and Pearl. But heres where we start getting smarter and more thoroughly crafted cases, psyche locks also being an intresting way to interact with and progress characters outside of court. As a kid I think I preferred Maya, but honestly Pearl is very endearing and a delight to have as an assistant. Her being more "mature" than her cousin despite her age introduces a lot of funny situations and also reinforces my belief that 9 year old girls are the greatest force on the planet. Mimi Miney and Acro are two of my favorite killers in the trilogy, and I thought Mimi's situation in the 2nd case specifically was very cleverly thought out.
Unfortunately this game (all of the trilogy, really) has some bad habits which annoyed me in JFA particularly. One is just straight up showing you who the killer is- if not in the opening cutscene then just at a random point throughout the case. The other is withholding all developement until you present a random item/profile to a character- despite the fact that you may have already discussed said item with said character 2 or 3 times but you havent ACTUALLY unlocked the conversation topic for it until you show them. And it is very easy go forget what you should be showing whom as theres no way to keep track of dialouge, so that can be a tad frustrating.
Farewell, my Turnabout is a huge bombshell in terms of the logic of the series and opens up a lot of questions that it is still answering. Mainly, what it means to be a defense lawyer and what the search for truth actually looks like, if the law can even uphold that standard, and how to make the right decision within that confinement. Watching Phoenix grow throughout the game from being an anxious rookie to a genuine attorney is important, but it's really only evident through the developments in this case as his and Miles' relationship is reestablished. Miles himself has grown into the character we more or less remember him as, and in a world where prosecutors hate your guts, it is very refreshing to watch a dynamic where the two work together and mesh with each other so easily. Because of the game's length, Fransizka tended to be sidelined a great deal of the time (being the only prosecutor to not even have her own theme), but she did get her moments throughout case 4 that made my heart hurt a little. Especially the post credits scene which had me tearing up a bit at the end, it is a huge shame we dont really see more of her throughout JFA and T&T because I adore her and she should be treated better.
Overall I'm kind of just happy to finally be playing T&T now, and while I wouldnt risk it all dying on the hill of defending JFA- it IS still a very good and important game to the Ace Attorney series regardless of how much you may want to hang Trilo upsidedown by his feet and force feed him milk till he pukes.
umm, like... how do I close out a review? I kind of, like, forgot. Sorry.
As a child this was easily the least influential game for me, I absolutely could not STAND Fransizka and none of the cases stood out to me much. Now though, I definitely feel more positive about it. I still dont have much attraction for the 1st and 3rd cases but I'm pretty impressed by the overall implications the events in this game have over the rest of the series. In a way, some of it feels partly like a set up for T&T, especially the happenings with Morgan and Pearl. But heres where we start getting smarter and more thoroughly crafted cases, psyche locks also being an intresting way to interact with and progress characters outside of court. As a kid I think I preferred Maya, but honestly Pearl is very endearing and a delight to have as an assistant. Her being more "mature" than her cousin despite her age introduces a lot of funny situations and also reinforces my belief that 9 year old girls are the greatest force on the planet. Mimi Miney and Acro are two of my favorite killers in the trilogy, and I thought Mimi's situation in the 2nd case specifically was very cleverly thought out.
Unfortunately this game (all of the trilogy, really) has some bad habits which annoyed me in JFA particularly. One is just straight up showing you who the killer is- if not in the opening cutscene then just at a random point throughout the case. The other is withholding all developement until you present a random item/profile to a character- despite the fact that you may have already discussed said item with said character 2 or 3 times but you havent ACTUALLY unlocked the conversation topic for it until you show them. And it is very easy go forget what you should be showing whom as theres no way to keep track of dialouge, so that can be a tad frustrating.
Farewell, my Turnabout is a huge bombshell in terms of the logic of the series and opens up a lot of questions that it is still answering. Mainly, what it means to be a defense lawyer and what the search for truth actually looks like, if the law can even uphold that standard, and how to make the right decision within that confinement. Watching Phoenix grow throughout the game from being an anxious rookie to a genuine attorney is important, but it's really only evident through the developments in this case as his and Miles' relationship is reestablished. Miles himself has grown into the character we more or less remember him as, and in a world where prosecutors hate your guts, it is very refreshing to watch a dynamic where the two work together and mesh with each other so easily. Because of the game's length, Fransizka tended to be sidelined a great deal of the time (being the only prosecutor to not even have her own theme), but she did get her moments throughout case 4 that made my heart hurt a little. Especially the post credits scene which had me tearing up a bit at the end, it is a huge shame we dont really see more of her throughout JFA and T&T because I adore her and she should be treated better.
Overall I'm kind of just happy to finally be playing T&T now, and while I wouldnt risk it all dying on the hill of defending JFA- it IS still a very good and important game to the Ace Attorney series regardless of how much you may want to hang Trilo upsidedown by his feet and force feed him milk till he pukes.
umm, like... how do I close out a review? I kind of, like, forgot. Sorry.
Wario Land 3
2000
I had never beaten a Wario Land game before, having only played Shake It on the Wii for a little while around the time it released, so after hearing all the praise for the series in recent years, I decided to finally give it a proper try, and went for the game that's most easily accessible at the moment, being Wario Land 3, since it's included with the Game Boy app on NSO.
I was mostly familiar with the fast-paced wacky zany gameplay featured in Wario Land-inspired games like Pizza Tower or Antonblast, but it seems that style stems mostly from Wario Land 4 and Shake It, because Wario Land 3 is certainly not frantic at all like those games! In fact I was surprised to see a fairly methodical Metroidvania platformer! It's interesting to see the usual facets of a game of that genre applied to a platformer, like revisiting previous levels after getting new power-ups to explore a path that you previously couldn't reach. That satisfying sense of getting progressively stronger is also present, of course.
Though I do feel they went a little overboard with the concept, considering there's other elements in stages that impede access to certain areas that are dependant on finding specific treasures in other stages, and they're not linear at all, meaning for example that a treasure from the last world might open a new path on a stage from the second world. The game always tells you which stages are affected by the treasure you acquired, but sometimes it's multiple stages at once, so you better memorize it or grab a pen to write them down.
It's charming seeing how the treasures you collect visually affect the world map to open up new levels, like getting a bunch of chemicals that make a volcano explode and open a huge crater in the middle of the map, which can then be explored as a new level. As for the levels themselves, it's fun to explore them and solve the many puzzles scattered across them to get the treasures, some of which can be fairly tricky. You also gotta be observant and pay attention to roadblocks that you can't overcome on your first visit so that you know exactly where to return once you get some power-ups or specific treasures.
However, there is a MASSIVE caveat for my enjoyment with this game: I completely and utterly abused of the rewind feature, since I played this on the Switch. You see, this game's level design wants to screw you up every step you take, with every stage being littered with enemies or hazards that either immobilize you for a few seconds or bump you back to a previous section of the stage after you spent a while getting to that point. Even the bosses exhibit that behavior, with any minor mistake making you exit their arena and make you work your way back just to get another shot at it, so every boss basically has a one-hit kill.
I guess it makes sense for a game associated with Wario to be constantly giving you the middle finger and annoying you, and I usually do my best not to use save states or rewind, but this one is way too infuriating to deal with. Maybe if I played the game on original hardware when I was a kid I'd have the patience to deal with the bullshit, but nowadays I don't have the time nor the patience.
So yeah, I liked experiencing Wario Land 3 thanks to the rewind feature, but I'm sure I would've dropped it if it wasn't for it.
I was mostly familiar with the fast-paced wacky zany gameplay featured in Wario Land-inspired games like Pizza Tower or Antonblast, but it seems that style stems mostly from Wario Land 4 and Shake It, because Wario Land 3 is certainly not frantic at all like those games! In fact I was surprised to see a fairly methodical Metroidvania platformer! It's interesting to see the usual facets of a game of that genre applied to a platformer, like revisiting previous levels after getting new power-ups to explore a path that you previously couldn't reach. That satisfying sense of getting progressively stronger is also present, of course.
Though I do feel they went a little overboard with the concept, considering there's other elements in stages that impede access to certain areas that are dependant on finding specific treasures in other stages, and they're not linear at all, meaning for example that a treasure from the last world might open a new path on a stage from the second world. The game always tells you which stages are affected by the treasure you acquired, but sometimes it's multiple stages at once, so you better memorize it or grab a pen to write them down.
It's charming seeing how the treasures you collect visually affect the world map to open up new levels, like getting a bunch of chemicals that make a volcano explode and open a huge crater in the middle of the map, which can then be explored as a new level. As for the levels themselves, it's fun to explore them and solve the many puzzles scattered across them to get the treasures, some of which can be fairly tricky. You also gotta be observant and pay attention to roadblocks that you can't overcome on your first visit so that you know exactly where to return once you get some power-ups or specific treasures.
However, there is a MASSIVE caveat for my enjoyment with this game: I completely and utterly abused of the rewind feature, since I played this on the Switch. You see, this game's level design wants to screw you up every step you take, with every stage being littered with enemies or hazards that either immobilize you for a few seconds or bump you back to a previous section of the stage after you spent a while getting to that point. Even the bosses exhibit that behavior, with any minor mistake making you exit their arena and make you work your way back just to get another shot at it, so every boss basically has a one-hit kill.
I guess it makes sense for a game associated with Wario to be constantly giving you the middle finger and annoying you, and I usually do my best not to use save states or rewind, but this one is way too infuriating to deal with. Maybe if I played the game on original hardware when I was a kid I'd have the patience to deal with the bullshit, but nowadays I don't have the time nor the patience.
So yeah, I liked experiencing Wario Land 3 thanks to the rewind feature, but I'm sure I would've dropped it if it wasn't for it.
Gears of War 2
2008
Whoa, I can see! I know this was a big part of the AAA Brownaissance of the mid-to-late 2000s, but compared to the remaster of the first game, this is practically vibrant with color. It's nice to be able to tell the difference between enemies and teammates from more than 10 feet away!
Before this month, my only experience with the Gears series was a single evening of Gears 2's Horde Mode at a buddy's house in 2008, so my wife (who had played a few of these with her brother) decided we needed to tackle them together. They're a little nostalgic for her, so she talks about rending grubs in half with a Lancer like I talk about Kokiri Forest. You can imagine my surprise when this sequel to an already gritty/edgy game spends a good chunk of its time being straight up misery porn! Gears 2 is a bit of a downer! When entire cities aren't getting obliterated, innocent people are either losing everything they have or getting kidnapped and tortured for unknown purposes. I normally can't stand dour stuff like this, so the fact that I had such a great time with it is truly a testament to how compelling the gameplay is.
It's a fantastic evolution on its predecessor, going bigger and better with each of its levels and set pieces. There aren't a lot of new weapons, but the Mortar is more than enough to satisfy me. Once I got the hang of eyeballing distances, the Mortar became one of my favorite weapons in any game I've ever played. I remembered someone telling me 16 years ago that there was a level inside a worm, but I was not prepared for "Avoid the Digestive Teeth". There's enough absurdity in here that I was laughing at the game's audacity more often than I was thousand-year-staring at its cruelty, so I guess that's a win? Good game!
But why do they say "Jacinto" like that?? With a hard "Juh"?? Right in front of Dom???
Before this month, my only experience with the Gears series was a single evening of Gears 2's Horde Mode at a buddy's house in 2008, so my wife (who had played a few of these with her brother) decided we needed to tackle them together. They're a little nostalgic for her, so she talks about rending grubs in half with a Lancer like I talk about Kokiri Forest. You can imagine my surprise when this sequel to an already gritty/edgy game spends a good chunk of its time being straight up misery porn! Gears 2 is a bit of a downer! When entire cities aren't getting obliterated, innocent people are either losing everything they have or getting kidnapped and tortured for unknown purposes. I normally can't stand dour stuff like this, so the fact that I had such a great time with it is truly a testament to how compelling the gameplay is.
It's a fantastic evolution on its predecessor, going bigger and better with each of its levels and set pieces. There aren't a lot of new weapons, but the Mortar is more than enough to satisfy me. Once I got the hang of eyeballing distances, the Mortar became one of my favorite weapons in any game I've ever played. I remembered someone telling me 16 years ago that there was a level inside a worm, but I was not prepared for "Avoid the Digestive Teeth". There's enough absurdity in here that I was laughing at the game's audacity more often than I was thousand-year-staring at its cruelty, so I guess that's a win? Good game!
But why do they say "Jacinto" like that?? With a hard "Juh"?? Right in front of Dom???