dollblood
2024
they put crack in this game. the first 30 or so hours were magical, nothing but going from point a to point b and fighting generic fantasy enemies on the way but with some of the most solid gameplay and feel out of any AAA ARPG i think i've played in a while.
by the end though it felt like the amount of world to explore and quests to do ran out long before my hunger for more of this game did, culminating in me getting to the very end of the game (before the post-game) and going "wait, that's it??", and i ended up exploring every corner of the world map thinking i had missed something, and unfortunately ran out of energy to move on to the post-game.
i WILL eventually play it, though i might wait until more content is added or i gain the motivation to again.
by the end though it felt like the amount of world to explore and quests to do ran out long before my hunger for more of this game did, culminating in me getting to the very end of the game (before the post-game) and going "wait, that's it??", and i ended up exploring every corner of the world map thinking i had missed something, and unfortunately ran out of energy to move on to the post-game.
i WILL eventually play it, though i might wait until more content is added or i gain the motivation to again.
2016
the most finnish eurojank source adventure game i think i've ever played (positive). even if the puzzles feel like kind of a slog at times, and the battery drain mechanic is kind of just an annoyance (luckily, you can edit the configs to decrease the rate that it drains, or just turn it off completely), every environment has an endless amount of care put into it and the photography helps to incentivize you to explore every little crevice you can, find every document and easter egg.
i do wish it was made a bit more obvious at times which path leads you to the next area and which is optional, because there are multiple times where i'll walk into a hallway thinking it's more map only to be met with a level transition. still, i'll definitely replay this at some point, maybe check out the surprising wealth of fan-mods too. i like this game quite a bit, even through the tedium.
i do wish it was made a bit more obvious at times which path leads you to the next area and which is optional, because there are multiple times where i'll walk into a hallway thinking it's more map only to be met with a level transition. still, i'll definitely replay this at some point, maybe check out the surprising wealth of fan-mods too. i like this game quite a bit, even through the tedium.
2010
there is a very strange consensus around this game that it is THE best fallout game of all time, to some, even one of the best modern RPGs of all time, and for a while i just chocked it up to reddit circlejerking, especially when a lot of the conversation used to focus around how obsidian was "better at making a bethesda game than bethesda themselves!", and, well... if you've played the outer worlds, you can probably understand why i felt so skeptical about these sentiments.
however, i've been waiting for Starfield's creation kit 2 to release, and turn that game into a virtual playground, and in the mean time i've been craving some more bethesda-grade open world slop, and the last few times i tried doing another full playthrough of this game, i bounced off everytime, feeling like the exploration was lackluster and uninteresting compared to its peers. so i figured, "fuck it, why not give it another try?" and try i did. i played practically the entirety of the base game (including many quests i missed on my first playthroughs during my childhood) AND all of the DLCs. and you know what? i did decently enjoy it.
while i still think this game's fatal flaw lies in its lack of interesting exploration and locales, i do think the writing and improvements from fallout 3 is strong enough to let the game stand on its own two feet - MOSTLY. i think the main story is still more of the same barebones bethesda storytelling you get from a lot of their games, but the skill of the writers involved does season it enough to make it palatable.
FNV is also a game that very much seems to hold classic fallout and especially fallout 2 in deep reverence, with many aspects from black isles' cancelled fallout 3 (aka van buren) being included in this game, and while i can see the appeal, i'm also a bit biased, as someone who has never really played through those games, and i can really only see the complicated baggage that new vegas carries with it as a result.
anyways, before i make this review even more winding and directionless than it already kind of is, i do like this game a lot more than i used to. that being said, i still kinda think it's a bit overrated, when in reality, it just has the opposite flaws and strong points of most bethesda games in a lot of ways.
however, i've been waiting for Starfield's creation kit 2 to release, and turn that game into a virtual playground, and in the mean time i've been craving some more bethesda-grade open world slop, and the last few times i tried doing another full playthrough of this game, i bounced off everytime, feeling like the exploration was lackluster and uninteresting compared to its peers. so i figured, "fuck it, why not give it another try?" and try i did. i played practically the entirety of the base game (including many quests i missed on my first playthroughs during my childhood) AND all of the DLCs. and you know what? i did decently enjoy it.
while i still think this game's fatal flaw lies in its lack of interesting exploration and locales, i do think the writing and improvements from fallout 3 is strong enough to let the game stand on its own two feet - MOSTLY. i think the main story is still more of the same barebones bethesda storytelling you get from a lot of their games, but the skill of the writers involved does season it enough to make it palatable.
FNV is also a game that very much seems to hold classic fallout and especially fallout 2 in deep reverence, with many aspects from black isles' cancelled fallout 3 (aka van buren) being included in this game, and while i can see the appeal, i'm also a bit biased, as someone who has never really played through those games, and i can really only see the complicated baggage that new vegas carries with it as a result.
anyways, before i make this review even more winding and directionless than it already kind of is, i do like this game a lot more than i used to. that being said, i still kinda think it's a bit overrated, when in reality, it just has the opposite flaws and strong points of most bethesda games in a lot of ways.
2024
it's fine enough i guess? it's a cute concept that kind of gets dull by the end, though it's not long enough to really be anything more than a little tedious and mildly disappointing. very cheesy and campy.
2023
This review contains spoilers
amazing writing, very interesting branching paths, great themes, but... a somewhat odd narrative that doesn't feel completely satisfying to me.
don't get me wrong, the unraveling of all the different layers of mystery and meta-narrative was interesting, but getting to the very end i couldn't help but feel a little disappointed by the final result, like it could have been just a little bit more but wasn't. it almost doesn't feel like the game itself knows what you should do in the end, whether you should continue this ancient and infinite cycle, or you should end it, like it went through one too many cycles itself, now stuck with a head full of voices all fighting for their ending. (though apparently there will be new chapters with The Pristine Cut so i'll hold off further judgement based on the narrative)
all that being said i fucking LOVED just about every other part of this novel. the voice acting is wonderful, i fucking LOVE jonathan sims, and while im not as familiar with nichole goodnight, she does a REALLY good job as the princess. love the goddess, love the vore sphinx creature, love the kitty witch, love love love all of her various iterations, they're great.
the way that various discoveries about the rules of the world you're in are sprinkled into every playthrough also makes the continuous loops feel a lot less repetitious and monotonous, since the loops aren't just a way of seeing what new fucked up monster she'll be this time, but a way of learning more about what the hell is going on, even after getting to an ending.
overall great game. play it if you like time loop mysteries and see how you feel about it, and if you dont like the over-arching narrative, you'll at least enjoy everything else by my estimations.
don't get me wrong, the unraveling of all the different layers of mystery and meta-narrative was interesting, but getting to the very end i couldn't help but feel a little disappointed by the final result, like it could have been just a little bit more but wasn't. it almost doesn't feel like the game itself knows what you should do in the end, whether you should continue this ancient and infinite cycle, or you should end it, like it went through one too many cycles itself, now stuck with a head full of voices all fighting for their ending. (though apparently there will be new chapters with The Pristine Cut so i'll hold off further judgement based on the narrative)
all that being said i fucking LOVED just about every other part of this novel. the voice acting is wonderful, i fucking LOVE jonathan sims, and while im not as familiar with nichole goodnight, she does a REALLY good job as the princess. love the goddess, love the vore sphinx creature, love the kitty witch, love love love all of her various iterations, they're great.
the way that various discoveries about the rules of the world you're in are sprinkled into every playthrough also makes the continuous loops feel a lot less repetitious and monotonous, since the loops aren't just a way of seeing what new fucked up monster she'll be this time, but a way of learning more about what the hell is going on, even after getting to an ending.
overall great game. play it if you like time loop mysteries and see how you feel about it, and if you dont like the over-arching narrative, you'll at least enjoy everything else by my estimations.
2023
i've been a fan of nadia nova's work since i first read can you say my name again as a young trans girl and i've been hearing a lot of good things about this VN, so im very happy to see it totally surpass my expectations. it's a very messy and at times heavy story, but it's executed in a way that feels grounded and real, instead of gratuitous or overly indulgent. i have a lot more feelings on this that are harder to quantify, but needless to say i definitely recommend it.
2023
it's peak
i really, really wanna like this game because everything about it is so beautiful, but the way the mtx in this game are structured makes me feel....... a little gross? the season pass is fine enough (other than the fomo for the cosmetics it gives) but $20+ for a costume??? in a social game that really only gets one or two new areas a year as far as i can tell?? it's a bit much.
2023
i think its overall simplicity is what really gives this game its spark, along with the great AI design for the monsters and their interactions with players. really cool
2004
(12-30-23) tried it for the first time ever with a sub last month, had a blast until i got kicked out of timewalking campaigns mid-cataclysm story questing. might go back eventually to try wrath classic or wow classic, but ive got a bunch of games on my plate already.
just wasnt feeling this one. maybe i've grown past lego games, maybe this one isn't good as the originals, who knows
2023
very good step up in terms of fidelity, very bad step down in terms of overall quantity of furniture and variation in the 'missions'. also very disappointing that a lot of DLC mechanics (and i think even base game mechanics ?) are seemingly missing.
it's cute, the story is nothing special but the unhealthy dynamic between andrew and ashley is ultimately what youre here for and i think it's pretty fun
2023
flawed but probably one of remedy's best games yet.
i think i should probably mention right off the bat how much of a buggy mess this game is at launch, even on my SSD shit would just not load in. i fell through the world a lot. (fitting?) combat can feel frustrating against certain enemies, and the fact that enemies respawn constantly can make the prospect of exploring and finding the collectibles and side content feel like more of a risk than a benefit. i feel like wake's and anderson's mechanics are very underutilized. wake's story in particular feels... underwhelming and confusing at best, totally pointless at worst? the story overall (especially the ending) can feel very underwhelming at times, to be honest. alan wake ii is definitely a game that tries to do a LOT at once, and that leaves it feeling kind of messy or half-baked sometimes, especially its meta-narrative bits.
EDIT: i almost forgot to mention this game is littered with obnoxious jumpscare overlays in certain sections. it's very annoying and detracts from the experience more than anything in my opinion.
all that being said, i really loved this game. even with the weird bugs and technical issues, this game is fucking gorgeous and i had to take multiple pauses just to take in some of the areas and rooms in this game. compared to their previous games, the combat is definitely still a step above and typically feels pretty satisfying. and for all my gripes with the story, it's on a completely different level compared to everything else remedy has put out. wonderful game
i think i should probably mention right off the bat how much of a buggy mess this game is at launch, even on my SSD shit would just not load in. i fell through the world a lot. (fitting?) combat can feel frustrating against certain enemies, and the fact that enemies respawn constantly can make the prospect of exploring and finding the collectibles and side content feel like more of a risk than a benefit. i feel like wake's and anderson's mechanics are very underutilized. wake's story in particular feels... underwhelming and confusing at best, totally pointless at worst? the story overall (especially the ending) can feel very underwhelming at times, to be honest. alan wake ii is definitely a game that tries to do a LOT at once, and that leaves it feeling kind of messy or half-baked sometimes, especially its meta-narrative bits.
EDIT: i almost forgot to mention this game is littered with obnoxious jumpscare overlays in certain sections. it's very annoying and detracts from the experience more than anything in my opinion.
all that being said, i really loved this game. even with the weird bugs and technical issues, this game is fucking gorgeous and i had to take multiple pauses just to take in some of the areas and rooms in this game. compared to their previous games, the combat is definitely still a step above and typically feels pretty satisfying. and for all my gripes with the story, it's on a completely different level compared to everything else remedy has put out. wonderful game
2023
a decent enough baseline as a game, but absolutely barren, uninteresting, and devoid of meaningful story or content. i really wanted to like this game but it just flounders all of its potential at nearly every step.