floortSGX
195 reviews liked by floortSGX
This game is something special. I got into ff7 not too long ago, but it already feels like this series has been part of my life for years. OG FF7 and FF7 Remake are truely super fun games, but this one has been cooking so hard it became one of the best meals I've had in my life. I've not been bored after playing for more than 90 hours, which is truely unique for me.
My thoughts:
(+ = (mostly) positive; - = (mostly) negative)
++ Gameplay;
Everything has been improved from the previous game. More fun combat options, smoother gameplay and a wider variety of minigames. I enjoyed exploring all area's, doing all battles and even the tasks that are supposed to be boring/annoying were fun to me. There is sooo much to do, and it never feels forced imo. If the 3rd game is only half as good as this one, it'll still be a super enjoyable game.
++ Music;
Crazy new remixes and new original songs. Never got bored of it and everything fits the mood perfectly. Also for certain scenes it adds so much and gives hints about the story. By that I mean, the visuals might not be what it seems to be thanks to the music that's playing in the background. (which is a good thing)
+ Graphics;
All cutscenes are gorgeous, but during gameplay the light is sometimes overexposed.
All areas are unique, memorable and fun to explore. I like how heavy crowded some places are.
++ Story/Characters;
Let them cook. it's crazy how everything is familiar and new at the same time. This is how you do a remake. You still have the story from the OG game, but at the same time it'll give you so many new things and hints to keep you engaged. The ending was a bit confusing at first, but after looking at it again and again it only gets better and better. I've been watching hours of theories from Maximillian_Dood and it's crazy how much hidden stuff is in the game.
Recommend?
Yes, but play the Remake first. If you haven't play Crisis Core as well.
I'd recommend playing the OG as well to see all thats different, but it's not a must. Should be fine to play that after the remakes as well.
My thoughts:
(+ = (mostly) positive; - = (mostly) negative)
++ Gameplay;
Everything has been improved from the previous game. More fun combat options, smoother gameplay and a wider variety of minigames. I enjoyed exploring all area's, doing all battles and even the tasks that are supposed to be boring/annoying were fun to me. There is sooo much to do, and it never feels forced imo. If the 3rd game is only half as good as this one, it'll still be a super enjoyable game.
++ Music;
Crazy new remixes and new original songs. Never got bored of it and everything fits the mood perfectly. Also for certain scenes it adds so much and gives hints about the story. By that I mean, the visuals might not be what it seems to be thanks to the music that's playing in the background. (which is a good thing)
+ Graphics;
All cutscenes are gorgeous, but during gameplay the light is sometimes overexposed.
All areas are unique, memorable and fun to explore. I like how heavy crowded some places are.
++ Story/Characters;
Let them cook. it's crazy how everything is familiar and new at the same time. This is how you do a remake. You still have the story from the OG game, but at the same time it'll give you so many new things and hints to keep you engaged. The ending was a bit confusing at first, but after looking at it again and again it only gets better and better. I've been watching hours of theories from Maximillian_Dood and it's crazy how much hidden stuff is in the game.
Recommend?
Yes, but play the Remake first. If you haven't play Crisis Core as well.
I'd recommend playing the OG as well to see all thats different, but it's not a must. Should be fine to play that after the remakes as well.
Half-Life
1998
I am genuinely unsure why people love Half-Life so much. Is it nostalgia? Is it its advancements in gaming at the time? Certainly, the gameplay is not quite it, and although the story is pretty interesting, the game has a poor way of showing what it is about exactly.
To me, Half-Life is one of those games that have aged pretty poorly, just like Majora's Mask and the first Portal game. Not that fun to play, but fun to read about online.
To me, Half-Life is one of those games that have aged pretty poorly, just like Majora's Mask and the first Portal game. Not that fun to play, but fun to read about online.
Baldur's Gate 3
2020
Baldur's Gate 3 is without a doubt the best adventure RPG I have ever played. FINALLY, an RPG in which the choices you make actually matter! From the dialogue choices, lore, and worldbuilding to dice rolls, this is the closest we've ever gotten to a real Dungeons and Dragons campaign.
If I start naming everything I love about BG3, I would be here for a few weeks at least...So, I will reduce it to three things: First, the voice acting. Every character comes alive by their voice actor, impossibly real. How did Larian even get their hands on these people? Second, the choices...everything you do in BG3 has consequences. I did not think we would be able to experience something like this for years and years to come. The amount of times I was stunned at the fact that the game reminded me of earlier choices in this much details...it is truly remarkable. Third, the gameplay and combat. The possibilities are literally endless. You can multiclass into every single class, so there are no restrictions either. And it even felt fair and balanced!
This title truly deserved game of the year 2023, no doubt about it. I am actually going to enjoy multiple replays of this, which is something I rarely do. Applause to Larian studios!!
If I start naming everything I love about BG3, I would be here for a few weeks at least...So, I will reduce it to three things: First, the voice acting. Every character comes alive by their voice actor, impossibly real. How did Larian even get their hands on these people? Second, the choices...everything you do in BG3 has consequences. I did not think we would be able to experience something like this for years and years to come. The amount of times I was stunned at the fact that the game reminded me of earlier choices in this much details...it is truly remarkable. Third, the gameplay and combat. The possibilities are literally endless. You can multiclass into every single class, so there are no restrictions either. And it even felt fair and balanced!
This title truly deserved game of the year 2023, no doubt about it. I am actually going to enjoy multiple replays of this, which is something I rarely do. Applause to Larian studios!!
Return of the Obra Dinn and Papers Please both have the personality of their creator, Lucas Pope, written all over them. Yet, they are both so distinct and original, you cannot compare the two at all.
Obra Dinn is such a unique and creative way of storytelling, and the setting for it is probably the most interesting one could imagine. It feels incredibly real, mostly because of design: the ship's crew is diverse and 18th century-like, the languages are spoken by native speakers, the ship's design is true to its inspirations, and the interactions and motivations of the characters are exactly how one might envision them when thrown into a tragic story like this. The voice-acting is full of emotion, allowing you to closely follow what's happening on screen, even though you aren't even seeing the characters move.
The string of clues the player must follow is laid out in a scattered pattern, but I never felt lost in the story. Sure, putting names to characters is difficult sometimes, but I always felt like I knew what was happening in every scene. When I completed the story, I immediately watched a video with all scenes chronologically, and it all made perfect sense.
The one thing I would have changed about this title, is to allow the player to control cutscene length; at certain scenes, I felt short on time to view everything that was happening, while at others I felt like I had to wait ages. It would have been great to be able to choose when you want to open the book to insert the scene, instead of being forced to wait a certain amount of time.
But, this waiting time also adds value to the amazing soundtrack that accompanies every scene. It was fitting and well-composed in my opinion, much like the soundtrack of Papers Please. It would have been a disservice to skip the music on my first playthrough in my opinion.
Overall, I think this is an amazing puzzle-adventure! It's easy to understand, and hard to perfect, meaning that anyone will get a good kick out of it. I sincerely hope that Lucas Pope will develop more games in the future, because they are an absolute joy to play through.
Obra Dinn is such a unique and creative way of storytelling, and the setting for it is probably the most interesting one could imagine. It feels incredibly real, mostly because of design: the ship's crew is diverse and 18th century-like, the languages are spoken by native speakers, the ship's design is true to its inspirations, and the interactions and motivations of the characters are exactly how one might envision them when thrown into a tragic story like this. The voice-acting is full of emotion, allowing you to closely follow what's happening on screen, even though you aren't even seeing the characters move.
The string of clues the player must follow is laid out in a scattered pattern, but I never felt lost in the story. Sure, putting names to characters is difficult sometimes, but I always felt like I knew what was happening in every scene. When I completed the story, I immediately watched a video with all scenes chronologically, and it all made perfect sense.
The one thing I would have changed about this title, is to allow the player to control cutscene length; at certain scenes, I felt short on time to view everything that was happening, while at others I felt like I had to wait ages. It would have been great to be able to choose when you want to open the book to insert the scene, instead of being forced to wait a certain amount of time.
But, this waiting time also adds value to the amazing soundtrack that accompanies every scene. It was fitting and well-composed in my opinion, much like the soundtrack of Papers Please. It would have been a disservice to skip the music on my first playthrough in my opinion.
Overall, I think this is an amazing puzzle-adventure! It's easy to understand, and hard to perfect, meaning that anyone will get a good kick out of it. I sincerely hope that Lucas Pope will develop more games in the future, because they are an absolute joy to play through.
Roboquest
2020
Roboquest does everything it needs to do. Incredibly fast pace, fluidity, a plethora of unique weapons, great economy and progression system, good performance and graphics, and most of all one of the most satisfying and fun shooters I have ever played.
Sometimes, you stumble onto a game that just feels right. Roboquest is one of them. It is never frustrating, never unclear, never boring...it just works. The only thing I didn't like that much was the music because of repetitiveness, but other than that, I have literally zero criticisms.
I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys first person shooters, shoot-em-ups, or roguelites. Even more so if you have a friend to play with!
Sometimes, you stumble onto a game that just feels right. Roboquest is one of them. It is never frustrating, never unclear, never boring...it just works. The only thing I didn't like that much was the music because of repetitiveness, but other than that, I have literally zero criticisms.
I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys first person shooters, shoot-em-ups, or roguelites. Even more so if you have a friend to play with!
Much like the Spider of Lanka, The Case of the Golden Idol: The Lemurian Vampire has some frustrating naming problems. Although I like this DLC more than the first, the availability of synonyms for filling in the scrolls made it quite annoying to fill them in. Some clues seemed to only accept one type of input, even though others basically described the same scenario. Nevertheless, I had a great time with the entirety of the series.
Although The Case of the Golden Idol: Spider of Lanka provides a lovely shift in setting and shows some fun backstory for the origins of the characters of the main game, matching names to faces/places in this DLC is too confusing in my opinion (especially in the second chapter). However, in conjunction to the second DLC, it is a must-play.
The Case of the Golden Idol is quite a treat for fans of puzzle/detective stories. You follow a story about a device that gives people strange powers, but as a "3rd person helicopter" observer. Being given clues about 12 different cases, you are tasked to chronologically put the story together.
The story in itself is quite interesting, and solving the cases can be quite challenging due the introduction of constant new characters and places. On the one hand, this makes the game that much more nuanced, but on the other, it also becomes quite convoluted when you approach the ending.
And that is my main gripe with this game: after a while, you are given so many clues that it becomes frustrating to keep an overview of all the clues you have collected so far. To be honest, I recommend people to keep a system (such as only collecting clues about people first, etc.) instead of collecting all the clues right away. It doesn't help that dragging and dropping clues is a bit wonky, either.
Next to the main story of The Case of the Golden Idol, I also played both DLC's and reviewed them separately. I do think the main story is much better than the DLC's. However, playing both DLC's does give a lot of context to the events of the main game, so they are defitinely worth checking out.
The story in itself is quite interesting, and solving the cases can be quite challenging due the introduction of constant new characters and places. On the one hand, this makes the game that much more nuanced, but on the other, it also becomes quite convoluted when you approach the ending.
And that is my main gripe with this game: after a while, you are given so many clues that it becomes frustrating to keep an overview of all the clues you have collected so far. To be honest, I recommend people to keep a system (such as only collecting clues about people first, etc.) instead of collecting all the clues right away. It doesn't help that dragging and dropping clues is a bit wonky, either.
Next to the main story of The Case of the Golden Idol, I also played both DLC's and reviewed them separately. I do think the main story is much better than the DLC's. However, playing both DLC's does give a lot of context to the events of the main game, so they are defitinely worth checking out.
Donut County
2018
Charming game with humorous dialogue! Gameplay is a little stale, but satisfying nonetheless. It's not a game I can rate very highly, because of its simplicity and length. Recommend it on sale.
Shogun Showdown
2023
Although I think Shogun Showdown is definitely satisfying to play, I cannot recommend it due to it being entirely one-dimensional. It is advertised as being similar to Into the Breach, but it's too simple to match that type of gameplay. I got bored of it within the first hour of playing, and refunded it after seeing the low depth of item/power variety in action. I am going to have to let this one cook for a while, to see if the gameplay is extended in the future.
