Prefacing this with the fact that it took me embarrassingly long to realise this was a parry-based combat system.

I love Star Wars, just like so many others, and I am glad that Fallen Order delivered on many fronts which make Star Wars enjoyable. Combat is really good fun [once you figure it out], the characters are interesting and at some points kinda zany, but all in all the world feels true to the Star Wars universe. I felt the narrative to be a tiny bit shallow at the beginning, but I can forgive it for allowing the player space to figure out more about how different systems work and how to play the game properly. Sometimes some of the puzzles felt like a little bit of a struggle, but again unsure if that was me being slow or just that they were pretty tricky. I certainly got stuck in a few places where I verged on the precipice of looking up a walkthrough.

Overall I really enjoyed all of the time I put into learning how to play and exploring every inch that I could within the game. For Star Wars fans who really want a satisfying, light-sabre based combat system with great characters and a story to bite into, this is for you!

I WANT to like this more, I really do, but it just somehow stays way below the "great game" line for me.

First I guess I should get the story out of the way, except for the final part, I was not at all into it. The tone and pacing of the general game and story made me feel like I was playing a sci-fi Call of Duty with dull characters that all fall into a generic soldier archetype. Half of the Noble team is barely present, and the ones that are, are extremely one dimensional characters even for this series. Noble Six himself is barely a character as well, but for some reason instead of going the Rookie from ODST route (silent protagonist), they decided he should be a diet Master Chief. Whenever Six tries to be quippy or something, it falls flat, as he lacks any charisma or character outside of a very small amount of lore. Everyone in this game is a rough soldier type and the tone is just about the tacticool aesthetic, which feels so far removed from the personality of this series.

As for the gameplay, most of the levels felt fairly repetitive and bland to me, with the soundtrack rarely matching the mood as well. Gunplay is more military shooter-ish, really just missing aim down sights, and we have sprinting now. Sure, sprinting isn't an innate mechanic and it's part of the Spartan Abilities, but only Sprinting and Jetpack are versatile and actually worth using. Active camo doesn't help much in these cramped levels, hologram rarely comes in handy, drop shield nearly locks you into a small area, and armor lock completely locks you to where you are. Armor lock in particular is really annoying as even in campaign enemies can use it, and all it does is make you wait until it turns off to keep fighting.

Recruiting marines is a cool concept but it all happens automatically when you get near them so it doesn't actually feel like you're recruiting them, they feel even more useless anyway as they rarely hit their target. Vehicle driving feels way heavier and harder to control, the only decent vehicles are flyable and you only get them in a couple missions.

But now to what saved the game for me: the final mission. Despite not caring at all for the characters, it IS where the game is the most thematically strong, with music that fits the mood and scale of the conflict, and a very well executed ending for what happened, not to mention the mission itself is just very fun. Gets some large scale fights with lots of weapons to scavenge and rush in with or try to sneak by, and the final fight you get is a pretty interesting introduction to firefight mode. I probably don't really need to explain what these elements are in detail, because anyone familiar with the game will know even if not played, something that sadly does take the magic away a bit.

I should also mention that while previously 3 ODST was the MCC port that gave me most issues, this one takes the cake. Asides from stutters, cutscenes have broken lighting and completely out of sync audio often cutting off dialogue or delaying sound effects by several seconds, unfortunately unlikely that these things will get a fix as MCC developers are no longer working on it and the game seems to be in just "let's just keep it online" mode (Thanks Xbox!).

But really asides from the ending, I don't really see what makes this game so acclaimed? I feel like I might be going insane, but with Halo 3 and CE existing I can't help but feel like this game is a regression in the formula, like it is a prequel gone too far. I understand the tone needed some adjustment for the story at play here, but it just seems like it loses focus and turns it into a fairly generic and average experience.

F tier yakuza outside the ending and a few characters p much

i was so bored to tears that i practically just skipped a shitton of the dialogue that wasnt immediately story relevant at certain points because this game is hellbent on wasting your time for no reason with random events

all the akame network shit sucks, the agent style is jank and feels bad to use, and the game feels like its 50 hours long despite being the shortest in the series because of all the stupid shit it throws at you

i will say tho, that ending is peak and prolly some of the most emotional shit in the entire series, too bad its stuck in this game.

its kind of a shame because the final boss and the ending are both like genuinely peak shit in the franchise but you have to suffer through so much worthless meandering, bad combat changes and a new style that is not worth using whatsoever.

im also disappointed a setting as cool as the castle amounted to nothing more than just window dressing for like a single mini game essentially

tldr; this game is genuinely worthless outside a kson's fat tits and the ending

The most mixed bag of a Need For Speed game you'll get. The Gameplay is well put together and even takes some interesting leaps with Offroading being added, which overall leads to a fun experience. The story is a typical Need For Speed story, fun, cheesy, and pretty dumb, but can be enjoyed. Overall this is actual a pretty good modern NFS game, if it wasn't for one thing, Speed Cards. Basically lets take away the usual way to upgrade your car's performance, and add a randomize system of parts to try and get micro-transactions out of us. Luckily the system is so poorly made that you'll never have a reason to spend actual money, but it still ruins the game for being there

Need for Speed meets Forza Horizon meets Fast & Furious. NFS Payback is probably slightly underrated these days, but I understand the low scores.

The map is meant to be Vegas, and it works well enough. The downtown area never feels quite as big or vibrant as the real Vegas, but I do think this one of the better NFS cities. You get a lot of varied terrain and landscapes and a proper day/night cycle, something that NFS ditched after this game. Because of the dessert setting, there isn't a huge focus on street racing, so it doesn't always feel like a NFS game.

There is a nice variety of events of events initially, but the they become repetitive by the end of the story, which is definitely 3 hours longer than it needs to be and is backloaded with some longer, more frustrating missions. The RNG-based card upgrade system is the big thing people hated about this game, and I can confirm it doesn't really have any redeeming qualities. It was promptly scrapped with the next entry and hasn't returned.

Handling is just ok. I felt like I had pretty good control of my cars during the first half of the game, but by the time they were fully-upgraded, it felt like they were sliding all over the place. Drifting is done by oversteering rather than the double-tap method, which some people may prefer, but I feel more in control in Heat and Unbound. The story is interesting in premise, but the characters feel generic and the acting leaves something to be desired.

You can tell NFS Payback took a lot of notes from Forza Horizon in regards to structure, and as a big FH fan myself, I don't really blame them. That said, this game doesn't always feel like a NFS game, which is probably why they pivoted after. It's on a Game Pass and overall was a decent time if you're into open world racing games.

To be able to interact in a world such as this one is why I've loved the medium of games for so long. While the combat can be annoying at times, and the puzzles sometimes redundant, I found myself so captivated by the narrative and the design techniques used to convey psychosis. The permadeath mechanic, the distorted and unreliable audio scape, and the surreal/experimental approach give a truly individual and unique experience that is both anxious and freeing. A wonderful examination of perspective, and how the stories and connections we make can be taken advantage of at our weakest moments. You have no choice, but to look it right in the eyes. Senua is such an amazing character, and I hope we all can be one with our darkness one day.