Beaten: Oct 9 2021
Time: 28 Hours
Platform: PS5
Have you ever thought to yourself "Wow, I wish Hideo Kojima would make a piece of media that's like a perfect crossroads between his singular style and Neon Genesis Evangelion"? If you have, this is probably the game for you. If you haven't, it might still be the game for you, idk. Somehow it's also a game about being connected to people despite not being able to see them in person, that came out a year before we had to live like that in real life. It's a game about the way that american patriotism can be taken advantage of, the way that the bonds between us are more important than anything else. And for all of that, I respect it wholly.
But that's not why I love it. I love it because it gave me that feeling of exploring the outdoors, finding footholds in the rocks in my neighborhood, the way I used to when I was a young kid. Breath of the Wild did this too, and I think it might be what makes these games special to me. Not only is free traversal the main thrust of the gameplay, you're encouraged to just, find your own way. Not your own destination, but your own journey.
Literally I didn't find anything more enjoyable in this than just walking from one end of the country to the other, carrying too much cargo on my back. No roads, no bikes, just walking. It's the kinda thing I should do more in real life (walking, not carrying too much weight lol), given how thoroughly enjoyable and nostalgic it left me.
On top of all that, the setting for the game is maybe the most original post-apocalyptic setting I've ever seen. The style and tone remind me of Arrival, but what's actually presented as lore and concept here is just stellar, and about as original as I've ever seen. It feels like a very unique, very modern HBO science fiction show in so many ways. Er, one that mixes itself with like, Rambo occasionally? It's great lol.
Beyond all that love though, there's a few things that didn't quite connect with me here, or put some distance between me and the game. For one, I thought a lot of the early-mid plot was kind of uninteresting. Not bad per se, but a bit standard, and a bit flat. Die-Hardman and Mama doesn't come into their own as characters until much later in the game, particularly Die (er, or at least they didn't for me, your mileage may vary). Del Toro's character was great from the outset though, and once Heartman really entered the picture, the game really came into it's own for me.
Another issue, that's probably more a me thing than anything else here, is the facial animation? It's not bad across the board, and it works for some characters (Mads Mikkelson's character and Dr. Heartman in particular), but there's a stiffness to everything that really threw me off in some scenes. Emotions never felt like they were acted quite right, despite these actors being all very talented. It was probably my biggest issue with the game, the only thing that really kept me skeptical until things started to go down. I almost wish it'd gone for a less realistic style, but that might've beeb a completely different game.
Anyways, if you want a moving and unique and weird triple AAA experience, you probably can't do much better than this. Give it a try, if you like artsy stuff or Kojima in general.
Time: 28 Hours
Platform: PS5
Have you ever thought to yourself "Wow, I wish Hideo Kojima would make a piece of media that's like a perfect crossroads between his singular style and Neon Genesis Evangelion"? If you have, this is probably the game for you. If you haven't, it might still be the game for you, idk. Somehow it's also a game about being connected to people despite not being able to see them in person, that came out a year before we had to live like that in real life. It's a game about the way that american patriotism can be taken advantage of, the way that the bonds between us are more important than anything else. And for all of that, I respect it wholly.
But that's not why I love it. I love it because it gave me that feeling of exploring the outdoors, finding footholds in the rocks in my neighborhood, the way I used to when I was a young kid. Breath of the Wild did this too, and I think it might be what makes these games special to me. Not only is free traversal the main thrust of the gameplay, you're encouraged to just, find your own way. Not your own destination, but your own journey.
Literally I didn't find anything more enjoyable in this than just walking from one end of the country to the other, carrying too much cargo on my back. No roads, no bikes, just walking. It's the kinda thing I should do more in real life (walking, not carrying too much weight lol), given how thoroughly enjoyable and nostalgic it left me.
On top of all that, the setting for the game is maybe the most original post-apocalyptic setting I've ever seen. The style and tone remind me of Arrival, but what's actually presented as lore and concept here is just stellar, and about as original as I've ever seen. It feels like a very unique, very modern HBO science fiction show in so many ways. Er, one that mixes itself with like, Rambo occasionally? It's great lol.
Beyond all that love though, there's a few things that didn't quite connect with me here, or put some distance between me and the game. For one, I thought a lot of the early-mid plot was kind of uninteresting. Not bad per se, but a bit standard, and a bit flat. Die-Hardman and Mama doesn't come into their own as characters until much later in the game, particularly Die (er, or at least they didn't for me, your mileage may vary). Del Toro's character was great from the outset though, and once Heartman really entered the picture, the game really came into it's own for me.
Another issue, that's probably more a me thing than anything else here, is the facial animation? It's not bad across the board, and it works for some characters (Mads Mikkelson's character and Dr. Heartman in particular), but there's a stiffness to everything that really threw me off in some scenes. Emotions never felt like they were acted quite right, despite these actors being all very talented. It was probably my biggest issue with the game, the only thing that really kept me skeptical until things started to go down. I almost wish it'd gone for a less realistic style, but that might've beeb a completely different game.
Anyways, if you want a moving and unique and weird triple AAA experience, you probably can't do much better than this. Give it a try, if you like artsy stuff or Kojima in general.
Reviewed on May 25, 2022