Zothique
2020
If being given the choice to waste your money is a roadblock to enjoying an otherwise free game, that seems like a you problem.
There's no good reason to spend money on Genshin Impact. Really, none whatsoever. The best thing about it is the open world content, and that's all free, and you get more than enough characters and weapons to enjoy said open world content with the currency you get by playing it.
You are then given the option to spend money for additional pulls at the slot machine for more characters and weapons. Just don't? Some of the characters are more interesting than others, but after after you level them and farm some decent artifacts, most things in the open world will die so fast that your teams will mostly feel interchangeable.
They might as well be cosmetics. And, again, you get plenty of pulls for free just by playing the game.
Actually worse than cosmetics in a lot of cases. 5-star weapons and constellation abilities (for additional copies of the same character) will make an already too easy game even easier. You're literally paying to make the game worse.
The closest thing the game has to end-game content that might incentivize spending money is Spiral Abyss, and this is so lazy and unfun that you're better off not thinking about it at all. The devs sure didn't.
There's no good reason to spend money on Genshin Impact. Really, none whatsoever. The best thing about it is the open world content, and that's all free, and you get more than enough characters and weapons to enjoy said open world content with the currency you get by playing it.
You are then given the option to spend money for additional pulls at the slot machine for more characters and weapons. Just don't? Some of the characters are more interesting than others, but after after you level them and farm some decent artifacts, most things in the open world will die so fast that your teams will mostly feel interchangeable.
They might as well be cosmetics. And, again, you get plenty of pulls for free just by playing the game.
Actually worse than cosmetics in a lot of cases. 5-star weapons and constellation abilities (for additional copies of the same character) will make an already too easy game even easier. You're literally paying to make the game worse.
The closest thing the game has to end-game content that might incentivize spending money is Spiral Abyss, and this is so lazy and unfun that you're better off not thinking about it at all. The devs sure didn't.
2016
Delilah is a pretty interesting character.
The most banal criticism of games of this type is that they're more movies than games. But even granting that (which I don't), is it a good movie or a bad movie?
"TV series" is more apt now, with the ongoing HBO adaptation. 2 very faithful episodes in, we now have a pretty good indication of how well The Last of Us works as a piece of cinema separate from its gameplay. And the answer is very well.
As I said, I don't buy the premise. TLOU's gameplay draws you into its world in a way that a non-interactive medium can't replicate. Still, it can't be dismissed as "just a movie" even if you were so inclined. It's a damn good movie.
"TV series" is more apt now, with the ongoing HBO adaptation. 2 very faithful episodes in, we now have a pretty good indication of how well The Last of Us works as a piece of cinema separate from its gameplay. And the answer is very well.
As I said, I don't buy the premise. TLOU's gameplay draws you into its world in a way that a non-interactive medium can't replicate. Still, it can't be dismissed as "just a movie" even if you were so inclined. It's a damn good movie.
2021
Most winning runs end with a long boring stretch of being mostly unkillable. I'm really not sure why runs are so long.
There are better dopamine-drip time wasters that are completely free.
There are better dopamine-drip time wasters that are completely free.
I'm finding this to be a major improvement on the first Pillars and in many ways a rival to Divinity: Original Sin 2 for the title of best modern CRPG.
My one complaint so far is that the soundtrack is mostly pretty bland (though better than the first game's), and often a distracting and tonally ill fitting piece of music is being looped over long scenes of dialogue.
My one complaint so far is that the soundtrack is mostly pretty bland (though better than the first game's), and often a distracting and tonally ill fitting piece of music is being looped over long scenes of dialogue.
2015
A workmanlike CRPG and fantasy world elevated by a fantastic villain and some great vocal performances.
2019
If you're on PC, delete the voice audio files.
I'm serious. There are many tutorials on how to do this. If you delete the voice files not only will you not have to listen to all the obnoxiously voice acted unfunny writing, the game will zip through the dialogue very quickly. And it's difficult to overstate just how much of it there is to (mercifully) skip. Are Gearbox's writers paid by the word?
Goes from a bad game to a fairly enjoyable one.
I'm serious. There are many tutorials on how to do this. If you delete the voice files not only will you not have to listen to all the obnoxiously voice acted unfunny writing, the game will zip through the dialogue very quickly. And it's difficult to overstate just how much of it there is to (mercifully) skip. Are Gearbox's writers paid by the word?
Goes from a bad game to a fairly enjoyable one.
In retrospect, notable mainly for how ill conceived it was to combine its leveling system with auto-scaling. Two bad tastes that taste even worse together. Difficulty slider there not to serve the usual function of difficulty options, but as a crutch for baffling game design.
But this is still a pleasant world to mosey around in.
But this is still a pleasant world to mosey around in.
1994
My most contrarian take is that the DKC trilogy are among the ugliest games on the SNES.
Just pure aesthetic violence.
The platforming is fine but unremarkable.
Just pure aesthetic violence.
The platforming is fine but unremarkable.
Nadine's abilities get massively hyped up in IV, only for her to get out action hero'd at every turn by Chloe?
It's a good game, but the PC should've been Nadine!
It's a good game, but the PC should've been Nadine!
Lacks the beautiful otherworldly visuals of a Myst game, in fact it's downright ugly, but has significantly better puzzles than IV and is very puzzle dense.
2008
Through the unexciting faux-platforming some excellent level design shows through. And it's genuinely pleasing to look at.