keydemographics
Quite good. Obviously essential to the Mass Effect 3 experience and it's wild that this wasn't included in the original release.
The modular structure and galaxy-hopping format means it slots in seamlessly with the rest of Mass Effect 3, and the production values are worth it alone.
What you're pales in comparison to the presentation. For what's ultimately the most vital piece of storytelling in Mass Effect, you do spend a lot of time escorting macguffins and looking for different icons in the same lab.
The modular structure and galaxy-hopping format means it slots in seamlessly with the rest of Mass Effect 3, and the production values are worth it alone.
What you're pales in comparison to the presentation. For what's ultimately the most vital piece of storytelling in Mass Effect, you do spend a lot of time escorting macguffins and looking for different icons in the same lab.
2012
Dark horse best Mass Effect DLC. Tells the contained story of a lightning war, with a genuinely interesting question at its core: are you going to dance with the one that brought you?
Omega and Aria are two of the most distinct elements of Mass Effect 2, the most reperesentative of that game's bolder, meaner presentation. The Omega DLC has some of the best rolling battles in Mass Effect 3, the most striking presentation, and a commitment to military sci-fi that weaves the personal and galactic-scales together effortlessly.
Players often evaluate narrative DLC modules based on what they add, rather than what they achieve as single piece of storytelling. Omega has everything that works about Mass Effect 3 contained within 90 minutes (if that) and it rocks.
Omega and Aria are two of the most distinct elements of Mass Effect 2, the most reperesentative of that game's bolder, meaner presentation. The Omega DLC has some of the best rolling battles in Mass Effect 3, the most striking presentation, and a commitment to military sci-fi that weaves the personal and galactic-scales together effortlessly.
Players often evaluate narrative DLC modules based on what they add, rather than what they achieve as single piece of storytelling. Omega has everything that works about Mass Effect 3 contained within 90 minutes (if that) and it rocks.
Too cutesy-poo. So deliberately sycophantic that the end result is treacly and annoying. Especially if you're playing the Legendary Edition, so much of Citadel boils down to quips about things that just happened, repeated back at the player ad nauseum.
I'm not a fan of Joss Whedon at the best of times and Citadel is biting his worst impulses, always undermining drama with self-conscious humour lest we ever take genre fiction seriously. In a series where one's culmative investment in the universe and characters is supposed to pay off in the final game, Citadel finds the fluffiest and least consequential ways to do so.
There's fan-service and there's Fan Service, and this is the kind for the folks with N7 hoodies. While I suppose those people deserve something that rewards their love for these characters, it slots in awkwardly with the rest of a tonally-consistent experience. Few things that are "for the fans" have much artistic value and Citadel is no exception.
I'm not a fan of Joss Whedon at the best of times and Citadel is biting his worst impulses, always undermining drama with self-conscious humour lest we ever take genre fiction seriously. In a series where one's culmative investment in the universe and characters is supposed to pay off in the final game, Citadel finds the fluffiest and least consequential ways to do so.
There's fan-service and there's Fan Service, and this is the kind for the folks with N7 hoodies. While I suppose those people deserve something that rewards their love for these characters, it slots in awkwardly with the rest of a tonally-consistent experience. Few things that are "for the fans" have much artistic value and Citadel is no exception.
Somehow doubly insulting that a game that's so aesthetically my shit sucks so much. Even if you put aside how schizophrenia is her superpower, Senua controls awfully and I wanted every combat encounter to be over 30 seconds after it started. Ninja Theory are absolute garbage at this and the only thing salvaging the experience is that genuine grisly folk horror is hard to come by at this level of production and fidelity.
2021
Lots of embarrassing and dumb writing choices, but the volume and density of bespoke storytelling is still pretty dazzling. There's just something immediate and intimate about how BioWare block dialogue scenes in this game. These characters are just Too Big on-screen and the overall effect is so stylish it demands your attention. For what's ultimately a really rudimentary third-person shooter, the rock-paper-scissors elements of the combat are just engaging enough to carry the thing.
2010
Any given Rockstar game is only as good as the movie it's stealing from, and video games can do a lot worse than stealing from The Wild Bunch. Of course a team of Scottish coke-addicts would be Peckinpah fans.
Still has that Rockstar tone that grates more often than it gets a laugh, but when this game cooks with the drama, it genuinely delivers. If you stripped half the first act and kept the "I Know You" quest, you'd yourself have a perfect western.
Still has that Rockstar tone that grates more often than it gets a laugh, but when this game cooks with the drama, it genuinely delivers. If you stripped half the first act and kept the "I Know You" quest, you'd yourself have a perfect western.
So cool. Has an enthusiasm for the devil that rivals the best of Romero, and this renovation Vicarious Visions died for looks tasteful and stylish. That said, I'm a wet-brained idiot who likes it when the monsters explode so the Diablo for mouth-breathers (3) will always be the one for me.
2012
Takes all the best lessons from DiRT, Burnout, and console sim racing in general to create the complete package. Vibes for days. Every hour is golden hour. Generous without being pandering or desperate, and understands that a great racing game has nice cars and nice places to drive them.
2023
Neither flavoursome nor pretty, and it moves like software. Still the best a sim racer can feel on a gamepad, and the laser focus on track racing is a choice I didn't expect, but I appreciate it. Should have gone harder on being a racing game for track nerds rather than The One On The Xbox.
2023
Electrifying. I was constantly astonished with how many smart decisions the game made in adapting Aliens, and how demanding the real-squad piloting can be.
It's a game that is deliberately, proudly punishing and yet I was happy to roll with its punches because they all made for a good story. I don't regret leaving Latimer behind, the squad would have never made it out alive otherwise!
It's a game that is deliberately, proudly punishing and yet I was happy to roll with its punches because they all made for a good story. I don't regret leaving Latimer behind, the squad would have never made it out alive otherwise!
I dislike it. Dying Light 2 has all of the ambition and none of the execution required to pull it off. Even after 2 years of retooling to make the game systems more like the original, the quest design and map are still dull and needlessly complex. I am also begging the writers to read a book, any book!
Enjoyers of the original Dying Light should be wary of claims that this benighted product has been "fixed" by Techland's dedication to the sunk-cost fallacy. Lipstick has been liberally applied to this pig and no amount of flowery sophistry from Aiden Caldwell should convince you otherwise. We should have all been more bullish on Dead Island 2.
Enjoyers of the original Dying Light should be wary of claims that this benighted product has been "fixed" by Techland's dedication to the sunk-cost fallacy. Lipstick has been liberally applied to this pig and no amount of flowery sophistry from Aiden Caldwell should convince you otherwise. We should have all been more bullish on Dead Island 2.
2014
A nervous game from people deathly afraid of making Far Cry 3 again. The setting, the presentation, the progression; all as good as they've been, or ever will be for the series. Probably the last time this particular formula was fun.
2020
Of course I'm the lone dissenting opinion on what is quite clearly a huge achievement in adaptation, and one of the most consistently detailed games I've played.
It doesn't light my fire. Lots of individual elements, scenarios, and options that I like and will continue to poke at but precious little that I actually love. Larian are geniuses of mechanics and systems design, and the flexibility of the narrative is the clear standout here.
I just... don't think these stories or characters are very good. I don't care about these people. The scenarios they set up are interesting but I've yet to be motivated by much beyond curiousity, some of it idle.
It doesn't light my fire. Lots of individual elements, scenarios, and options that I like and will continue to poke at but precious little that I actually love. Larian are geniuses of mechanics and systems design, and the flexibility of the narrative is the clear standout here.
I just... don't think these stories or characters are very good. I don't care about these people. The scenarios they set up are interesting but I've yet to be motivated by much beyond curiousity, some of it idle.
A decent time and the Yakuza format is still good fun. Kiryu continues to be a bottomless well of deeper feeling, but the game around him is assembled from the trim and offcuts of better Yakuzas. While I prefer the brawler games of yesteryear, the role-playing branch of the RGG tree is bearing more interesting fruit right now.
Played with an eyebrow raised. A game brimming with ideas but none of them are as exciting as Fallen Order feeling a bit like a game made in 2006. Introduces new systems, mechanics, and characters like it's afraid you'll get bored, and I was. We're not allowed to have normal action games anymore, but if this had been half as long and shed the Souls influence, it'd have real potential.