jensen
2004
back in my childhood years i played this and i recreated a guy that i had a crush on as a sim. his character later went on to become abducted and impregnated by aliens and i was so horrified by the whole ordeal i married my sim to bella goth in what in hindsight was probably an early sign of my budding bisexuality
cool game!
cool game!
i feel like I don't have the words necessary to review this game- like it requires an analysis with fancy words that i lack. it's just as close to perfect I think a crpg will be able to come.
This review contains spoilers
This game ticks aaall my boxes but for some reason I didn't love it the way I thought I would.
Although I've never played Pathfinder, I'm a huge fan of similar TTRPGs and must say this was a stunning CRPG. I'm also a sucker for Kingdom management so you won't hear me complain about that.
In classic me-fashion, I will say that I LOVED this game up until the end. Then came House at the Edge of Time (?) and it was as if all momentum just... died. It was such a colossal pain in the ass that a few hours in, I died and reincarnated as a spiteful ghost of my former self that is now writing this review. Luckily Nyrissa girlbossed gatekept gaslighted the rating up half a notch
Although I've never played Pathfinder, I'm a huge fan of similar TTRPGs and must say this was a stunning CRPG. I'm also a sucker for Kingdom management so you won't hear me complain about that.
In classic me-fashion, I will say that I LOVED this game up until the end. Then came House at the Edge of Time (?) and it was as if all momentum just... died. It was such a colossal pain in the ass that a few hours in, I died and reincarnated as a spiteful ghost of my former self that is now writing this review. Luckily Nyrissa girlbossed gatekept gaslighted the rating up half a notch
I went into this game expecting it to be absolute ass, but turns out, it was only moderately ass! Shame it's so buggy it's almost literally unplayable :,)
I'm not joking when I say that I had to conduct a six-step ritual in order to start this game up. You had to open origin, start game, end process, restart game, DO NOT IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCE TOUCH A BUTTON, sit through a 30 min loading screen and then- voila. And it's not much of a voila either, considering how pouring half-an-hour into getting past the start screen wasn't a guarantee the game wouldn't crash once running. Oh and if I left the game unattended for more then ~7 minutes it just... froze? Which is pretty bad, considering the game is not good enough to bother EXORCISING BACK TO LIFE.
In all seriousness, it really wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be. It has a touch of the soullessness I find plagues many modern triple-A releases with far-too-large open worlds (DA:I, Fallout 5, etc etc.), but it's not incoherent or unenjoyable- it's just meh. Story is meh. Ryder is meh. Companions are meh. Mechanics are meh. I like the concept itself well enough- in the beginning I was even enjoying myself- but the further the game went the more I just wanted it to end and to punch the shit out of Ryder and that dumb AI and the companions whose personality can be boiled down into one singular character trait that they kept nagging to you about over and over (Vetra and her sister, that engine guy's desire to have a child, Cora and THE ASARI YES WE GET IT- and so on).
On the plus side, this game really turned me off gaming, which is perfect in time for summer!
I'm not joking when I say that I had to conduct a six-step ritual in order to start this game up. You had to open origin, start game, end process, restart game, DO NOT IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCE TOUCH A BUTTON, sit through a 30 min loading screen and then- voila. And it's not much of a voila either, considering how pouring half-an-hour into getting past the start screen wasn't a guarantee the game wouldn't crash once running. Oh and if I left the game unattended for more then ~7 minutes it just... froze? Which is pretty bad, considering the game is not good enough to bother EXORCISING BACK TO LIFE.
In all seriousness, it really wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be. It has a touch of the soullessness I find plagues many modern triple-A releases with far-too-large open worlds (DA:I, Fallout 5, etc etc.), but it's not incoherent or unenjoyable- it's just meh. Story is meh. Ryder is meh. Companions are meh. Mechanics are meh. I like the concept itself well enough- in the beginning I was even enjoying myself- but the further the game went the more I just wanted it to end and to punch the shit out of Ryder and that dumb AI and the companions whose personality can be boiled down into one singular character trait that they kept nagging to you about over and over (Vetra and her sister, that engine guy's desire to have a child, Cora and THE ASARI YES WE GET IT- and so on).
On the plus side, this game really turned me off gaming, which is perfect in time for summer!
2004
I fuckign hate this game
*slaps divinity original sin 2* this bad boy can fit so much fucking gameplay in it
this game absolutely rocks and I don't think I will ever shut up about it. not only is it a close-to-flawless RPGs on its own, it also features a multiplayer implementation(!!!!) that is absolutely stellar. there is so much I adore about this game and I don't think anything is ever going to come close to it in terms of personal attachment anytime soon. I could spend hours praising the combat or the writing or the music, but what really made this game for me was the insane attention to details. I was constantly amazed by call-backs to what at the time seemed like minor interactions and choices, even if just mentioned off-handedly. everything in this game is just brimming with /love/, from the carefully crafted companion storylines to details such as allowing the player to choose a personal instrument to carry the soundtrack. I don't usually like to replay games but I don't think I will be able to keep away from this for too long!
this game absolutely rocks and I don't think I will ever shut up about it. not only is it a close-to-flawless RPGs on its own, it also features a multiplayer implementation(!!!!) that is absolutely stellar. there is so much I adore about this game and I don't think anything is ever going to come close to it in terms of personal attachment anytime soon. I could spend hours praising the combat or the writing or the music, but what really made this game for me was the insane attention to details. I was constantly amazed by call-backs to what at the time seemed like minor interactions and choices, even if just mentioned off-handedly. everything in this game is just brimming with /love/, from the carefully crafted companion storylines to details such as allowing the player to choose a personal instrument to carry the soundtrack. I don't usually like to replay games but I don't think I will be able to keep away from this for too long!
I wish I could rate this game lower but Todd Howard is in my house and he is holding a gun to my head and he fuz'roh'dahd my family please send help
2009
the blueprint
2018
well, you are certainly on a raft!
This review contains spoilers
Bought it, started it, spent 10 hours in the Hinterlands, dropped it.
Then picked it up again and absolutely loved it! It's not perfect by any means, but (and this is a large but!!) if you stay on the main story path it makes for a great game.
+ Interesting and well-developed companions with grounded and individual perspectives that makes for interesting interactions.
+ Never got around to exploring the crafting system as well as I would've wanted to, but it looks pretty solid.
+ Solid character creation, where your background/class actually impacts the story.
+ Beautiful maps. Wow!
+ The soundtrack is fantastic.
+/- Overall plot and concept. The plot was pretty cookie-cutter stuff, but I liked the whole "organization management" part of it all and I wish they leaned further into that. I liked the main quests enough, but with the level/power requirement it became a little "grindy" at times.
+/- Very very strongly tied to the potential Dragon Age 4. Not necessarily a bad thing, but the "sequel potential" is so great that, if Dragon Age 4 never leaves development hell, it might feel a bit incomplete. If done well, however, it can probably make for a great sequel.
- Unnecessary large. The size of the open world sometimes made the entire thing feel unfocused. Too many side quests, areas and mechanics I felt were added just for the sake of adding things. Tablets, shards, treasure maps- it seemed a bit like an attempt to make the unnecessarily many/huge areas seem less empty. Most of it could be ignored without impacting much of the experience however.
- The combat system didn't do it for me personally. Most of the encounters were meeeh and the scaling didn't feel well done.
- Relies on Trespasser (DLC) for a narratively satisfactory ending.
Despite all my complaining, it's a lovely game that I enjoyed to the point of not being able to put it down.
Then picked it up again and absolutely loved it! It's not perfect by any means, but (and this is a large but!!) if you stay on the main story path it makes for a great game.
+ Interesting and well-developed companions with grounded and individual perspectives that makes for interesting interactions.
+ Never got around to exploring the crafting system as well as I would've wanted to, but it looks pretty solid.
+ Solid character creation, where your background/class actually impacts the story.
+ Beautiful maps. Wow!
+ The soundtrack is fantastic.
+/- Overall plot and concept. The plot was pretty cookie-cutter stuff, but I liked the whole "organization management" part of it all and I wish they leaned further into that. I liked the main quests enough, but with the level/power requirement it became a little "grindy" at times.
+/- Very very strongly tied to the potential Dragon Age 4. Not necessarily a bad thing, but the "sequel potential" is so great that, if Dragon Age 4 never leaves development hell, it might feel a bit incomplete. If done well, however, it can probably make for a great sequel.
- Unnecessary large. The size of the open world sometimes made the entire thing feel unfocused. Too many side quests, areas and mechanics I felt were added just for the sake of adding things. Tablets, shards, treasure maps- it seemed a bit like an attempt to make the unnecessarily many/huge areas seem less empty. Most of it could be ignored without impacting much of the experience however.
- The combat system didn't do it for me personally. Most of the encounters were meeeh and the scaling didn't feel well done.
- Relies on Trespasser (DLC) for a narratively satisfactory ending.
Despite all my complaining, it's a lovely game that I enjoyed to the point of not being able to put it down.
2011
Is it the worst Dragon Age game to date? Probably.
Is it the sexiest Dragon Age game to date? Absolutely.
My introduction to the DA series, I bought this game off origin due to it being on sale (originally, together with ME: Andromeda- a bad game that unfortunately lacks the sexiness that permeates every pixel of DA2).
I completed nearly every side quest thrown my way and I did so with absolute glee. This game is ugly and dull but it's /Dragon Age/ in a way that Inquisition will never be to me. Is part of it nostalgia? Oh for sure- most of it, probably. But I genuinely came to love the companions in a way I never did in Inquisition and Hawke is hands down the best protagonist in any Dragon Age game. I usually jump on the opportunity to customize characters and create a unique story for them, but in this game I couldn't bring myself to play anything but the standard male Hawke. Instead of being the standard blank canvas, he felt like an actual realized character- and I personally enjoyed that (though I understand while some did not like how "predetermined" Hawke was in comparison to the HoF or the Inquisitor).
Oh and #TeamAnders for life btw
Is it the sexiest Dragon Age game to date? Absolutely.
My introduction to the DA series, I bought this game off origin due to it being on sale (originally, together with ME: Andromeda- a bad game that unfortunately lacks the sexiness that permeates every pixel of DA2).
I completed nearly every side quest thrown my way and I did so with absolute glee. This game is ugly and dull but it's /Dragon Age/ in a way that Inquisition will never be to me. Is part of it nostalgia? Oh for sure- most of it, probably. But I genuinely came to love the companions in a way I never did in Inquisition and Hawke is hands down the best protagonist in any Dragon Age game. I usually jump on the opportunity to customize characters and create a unique story for them, but in this game I couldn't bring myself to play anything but the standard male Hawke. Instead of being the standard blank canvas, he felt like an actual realized character- and I personally enjoyed that (though I understand while some did not like how "predetermined" Hawke was in comparison to the HoF or the Inquisitor).
Oh and #TeamAnders for life btw
This review contains spoilers
A great game. Not necessarily a great /Assassin's Creed/ game, but a great game nonetheless.
Do yourself a favor and choose Kassandra as protagonist- Melissanthi Mahut is an absolute delight!
Despite being a huge Assassin's Creed fan, I can't help but feel as if this game would have been better if you took out the... Assassin's Creed part. The modern-day parts were uninspired and unfortunately detracted from the all in all experience.
Loved pretty much everything until the ending, which soured me a bit on the game in general.
hihi Found Family go brrr I love my war criminal brother
Do yourself a favor and choose Kassandra as protagonist- Melissanthi Mahut is an absolute delight!
Despite being a huge Assassin's Creed fan, I can't help but feel as if this game would have been better if you took out the... Assassin's Creed part. The modern-day parts were uninspired and unfortunately detracted from the all in all experience.
Loved pretty much everything until the ending, which soured me a bit on the game in general.
hihi Found Family go brrr I love my war criminal brother
2015
Another day, another settlement needs your help
2007
best of the trilogy story-wise, worst of the trilogy gameplay-wise, first of the absolute best video game series of all time
WotR is everything Kingmaker wishes it was, and a little bit more. it is not perfect by any means, many of the storylines (main quests, side quests and companion quests alike) fall flat and the mythic paths are very unbalanced in terms of content and narrative. that said, it was consistently engaging and the crusade management rocks soooo hard in comparison to the Kingmaker kingdom management system. art and graphics are beautiful and the 360 camera has been integrated fantastically, allowing for amazing map designs with depth and interaction on another level. the story is pretty standard stuff, but the mythic path system gives it great flair and replayability, though I found it hard to deviate from my first one (azata main 4life <3), which still remains my favorite. all in all a great game!