VenoKnight01
2012
Clash of Clans struggles to find a balance between keeping legacy players engaged and giving new player a chance to reach that point. The main weakness is the upgrade timers - reaching endgame takes years of upgrades, and by the time you're halfway there another Town Hall level with a years worth of upgrades will have rolled out to keep the already maxed players playing. This makes endgame unobtainable for new players without a very significant money or time investment. As another reviewer pointed out, this 'wait to play' model is unsatisfying and I can't justify spending any more time on this game.
2023
Main stage is a basic guitar hero game, and the jam stage allows you to create loops to make your own music. Limited content, expensive microtransactions, grindy quests and not my thing. Won't be picking up again.
Fun but clunky puzzle-platforming with poorly-presented but essential lore hidden behind it. While I did enjoy this, I wish it was a bit more imaginative in its gameplay (needed to develop more on the base game Desmond segments or do something different) and gave more lore background into Clay and Lucy.
Ketchapps 'The Tower' re-released with an AC skin for the franchises 10th anniversary. Pretty inoffensive mobile game, you can unlock different backgrounds/regions as you level up, and unlock different characters for the points that you earn. I did experience some crashes, which there isn't really much excuse for.
This game is a cheap-looking 'micro'transaction simulator with some real expensive bundles to help you get around the grind. Gameplay consists of clicking where you want to go next, clicking to perform a skill check (95% chance to assassinate the enemy...) or clicking attack. This will gain you the materials you need to level up your characters to go and do harder skill checks and spongier enemies. Rinse and repeat. Don't bother playing this game.
2023
4/10
Endless menus, almost no gameplay, a real pricy premium subscription, requires the app to be open and the phone to be plugged in. I check my screen time the following morning to see that sometimes the app has been 'awake' and on all night, which can't be good for my battery or my screen. This is a poor sleep tracker and a poor Pokémon game.
Endless menus, almost no gameplay, a real pricy premium subscription, requires the app to be open and the phone to be plugged in. I check my screen time the following morning to see that sometimes the app has been 'awake' and on all night, which can't be good for my battery or my screen. This is a poor sleep tracker and a poor Pokémon game.
6/10
Solid little multiplayer Zelda experience. Unfortunately I was not able to experience it with other people but I can tell it would have been awesome - I just would have had to have been there. Repeats levels, but a bunch of different items and enemies makes each level interesting. Grindy for unlocking postgame. Some great fanservice in levels themed like previous games.
Solid little multiplayer Zelda experience. Unfortunately I was not able to experience it with other people but I can tell it would have been awesome - I just would have had to have been there. Repeats levels, but a bunch of different items and enemies makes each level interesting. Grindy for unlocking postgame. Some great fanservice in levels themed like previous games.
2020
5/10
Great graphics, pretty good story. Too many notes and crew members to keep up with. Monster encounters didn't require much thinking and what happens when you're caught is just bad design. Gave too much information away about the other world IMO - this is not a Lovecraft-esque game as there is no mystery left. I wish the ending gave the player a meaningful dilemma. All in all, pretty good but not great.
Great graphics, pretty good story. Too many notes and crew members to keep up with. Monster encounters didn't require much thinking and what happens when you're caught is just bad design. Gave too much information away about the other world IMO - this is not a Lovecraft-esque game as there is no mystery left. I wish the ending gave the player a meaningful dilemma. All in all, pretty good but not great.
5/10
Great concept, great story, but gameplay was repetitive and clunky. I look forward to seeing how future titles improve.
Great concept, great story, but gameplay was repetitive and clunky. I look forward to seeing how future titles improve.
4/10
Again held back by the lack of interesting interactions with its monsters, A Machine for Pigs pulls through with a bite-sized and more interesting setting and narrative. While I don't mourn the loss of the sanity mechanic, it fails to do anything interesting with light/darkness, and the loss of the inventory can be attributed towards its greatly simplified puzzles. Much like with Justine, it is a great concept that lacks the complexity to make it truly engaging.
Again held back by the lack of interesting interactions with its monsters, A Machine for Pigs pulls through with a bite-sized and more interesting setting and narrative. While I don't mourn the loss of the sanity mechanic, it fails to do anything interesting with light/darkness, and the loss of the inventory can be attributed towards its greatly simplified puzzles. Much like with Justine, it is a great concept that lacks the complexity to make it truly engaging.
5/10
Fun horror experience with puzzles, lore, setting, monsters etc. However, the sanity mechanic was dizzying and made me feel ill, and monster encounters were heavily scripted and lacked interest. More roaming (& diverse!) monsters and environments that encouraged hiding in closets or the dark and reducing the noise you make would have greatly improved this concept.
Fun horror experience with puzzles, lore, setting, monsters etc. However, the sanity mechanic was dizzying and made me feel ill, and monster encounters were heavily scripted and lacked interest. More roaming (& diverse!) monsters and environments that encouraged hiding in closets or the dark and reducing the noise you make would have greatly improved this concept.
2011
3/10
The concept is great but the execution is lacking. I wish Justine had leaned into the 'studying the psyche' idea with some actual ethical decisions that make you consider deliberately killing the prisoners, rather than accidentally killing them because you couldn't solve the puzzle. It would also be nice to actually save the prisoners, rather than leaving them chained to the walls and progressing to the next room. Also, the ability to save so you don't have to play the same puzzles over and over again whenever you make a mistake and die.
The monster and interactions with it are the best part of this expansion, and are better than in the base game. The exploration of setting, story and puzzles is as captivating as The Dark Descent is, but the combination of being forced to repeat it and the fact it doesn't do anything interesting with it makes it difficult to recommend.
The concept is great but the execution is lacking. I wish Justine had leaned into the 'studying the psyche' idea with some actual ethical decisions that make you consider deliberately killing the prisoners, rather than accidentally killing them because you couldn't solve the puzzle. It would also be nice to actually save the prisoners, rather than leaving them chained to the walls and progressing to the next room. Also, the ability to save so you don't have to play the same puzzles over and over again whenever you make a mistake and die.
The monster and interactions with it are the best part of this expansion, and are better than in the base game. The exploration of setting, story and puzzles is as captivating as The Dark Descent is, but the combination of being forced to repeat it and the fact it doesn't do anything interesting with it makes it difficult to recommend.
2008
Dead Space (2008) is an incredibly well-designed game.
Pros:
Expert visuals, sound and lore all combine to create a convincing and compelling atmosphere and narrative. Enemy and environment design truly sells the USG Ishimura to the player: for the first few chapters I was jumping at shadows, creeping around corners and transfixed by my surroundings.
Cons:
I didn't find it very challenging on medium difficulty, the horror wore off after the first few chapters, and some of the plot points compelling the main character felt repetitive. Many environments felt too bright which took away from the horror.
Ultimately, the truly expert design outweighs any negatives. I look forward to revisiting this title when the remake comes out next year.
Pros:
Expert visuals, sound and lore all combine to create a convincing and compelling atmosphere and narrative. Enemy and environment design truly sells the USG Ishimura to the player: for the first few chapters I was jumping at shadows, creeping around corners and transfixed by my surroundings.
Cons:
I didn't find it very challenging on medium difficulty, the horror wore off after the first few chapters, and some of the plot points compelling the main character felt repetitive. Many environments felt too bright which took away from the horror.
Ultimately, the truly expert design outweighs any negatives. I look forward to revisiting this title when the remake comes out next year.
2020
Would only pick this up again if I was playing with friends. Team games aren't fun without friends, and the single-player games aren't really engaging in terms of competition - they're just races, and could be experienced the exact same with no other players. The elimination mechanic makes it feel like multiplayer, but it's not.
Also lost credibility with a Battlepass and multiple in-game currency types, and all the associated bullshit that comes with that.
Also lost credibility with a Battlepass and multiple in-game currency types, and all the associated bullshit that comes with that.