mook_
2024
I had a blast with this one. The combat is extremely addicting and fun- the attacks, combos, and counters feel super satisfying and look amazing. All of EVE's finishers go so fucking crazy dude. the exploration is engaging, soundtrack SLAPS, the side quests feel rewarding and worth doing. The story is decent, it's not anything groundbreaking but it's solid and cohesive. And man the customization is just top tier. Had a lot of fun mixing and matching the different outfits, hair styles and accessories. Lord those outfits. peak fanservice while also being very fun to play. THANK YOU SHIFT UP! THANK YOU EVE!
maybe the most satisfying combat system i've experienced. fromsoft just doesn't miss
PEAK GAMING RIGHT HERE!
PEAK GAMING RIGHT HERE!
high-speed platforming done right. SEGA, take notes. this is the direction Sonic games should take. this is the formula.
wasn't a fan of the story or combat but the platforming was so good that i didn't really care
wasn't a fan of the story or combat but the platforming was so good that i didn't really care
top tier music and boss fights while also rounding out the lore. just peak man. Orphan of Kos, Lady Maria, and Ludwig are ALL TIMERS.
BLOODBORNE 2 WHEN
BLOODBORNE 2 WHEN
2015
fromsofts finest. the combat system is amazing, trick weapons and the rally mechanic are genius game design. the enemy and boss designs are insanely good. the story and lore is sick too, the deeper you get into the mystery the better the game becomes. great music as usual. I also like how genuinely scary it is at times, you could call this a horror game and not be totally wrong
one of my few gripes is how flasks work, it's definitely a step down from Dark Souls/Elden Ring flask systems, it's a chore having to constantly stock up on blood vials and bullets. secondly, some of the boss run-backs are just dumb, Stakes of Marika in Elden Ring removing those entirely was a great decision
but yeah, PEAK. fear the old blood.
one of my few gripes is how flasks work, it's definitely a step down from Dark Souls/Elden Ring flask systems, it's a chore having to constantly stock up on blood vials and bullets. secondly, some of the boss run-backs are just dumb, Stakes of Marika in Elden Ring removing those entirely was a great decision
but yeah, PEAK. fear the old blood.
game has crispy visuals, cool abilities, bad bitches, and just really fun and satisfying gameplay
on top of all of that, the majority of cosmetics can be unlocked via free in-game currency? no grimy monetization bullshit?
couldn't ask for more in a fighting game
narmaya please have my children
on top of all of that, the majority of cosmetics can be unlocked via free in-game currency? no grimy monetization bullshit?
couldn't ask for more in a fighting game
This review contains spoilers
Bigger doesn't always mean better.
This is gonna be a yap sesh. TLDR: This game is incredible, I had a blast with it. The gameplay is amazing and had me gripped for a good 100 hours; it's definitely one of my favorite games ever. But unfortunately there are a lot of missteps and problems that hold it back from surpassing its predecessor, namely being a much less consistently good experience from top to bottom. very high highs and low lows.
Let's start with positives
-Nearly everything that made Breath of the Wild so good is present in this game, no need to address those things
-The ultrahand abilities are amazing, what they were able to accomplish with that physics system is beyond impressive. You can really just make anything. Fuse is really cool. Ascend is goated.
-Zelda's sacrifice and Master Sword scene were powerful. they moved mountains. I got major chills, top 10 video game scenes for me EASILY.
And now the negative aspects. Keep in mind I only had like 3 issues with BoTW.
Exploration:
-The depths and sky Islands were massively underutilized and disappointing which severely hampered one of the key components of what made BOTW great: exploration. I'll address the depths first-Ogo you were right: the depths are slavery. Once I realized I was low-key forcing myself to explore them I stopped. It's just all the same shit over and over again. There's little motivation or reason to explore them to their fullest. If you want zonite, just find a single mine and use that one every time the deposit respawns, it's more than enough. most of the armor down there is just cosmetic stuff brought over from BOTW, there's no drive for me to get those... The most fun thing to do is the Floating Coliseum and even that got boring quick
-The Sky Islands are arguably an even worse error. The way the game was advertised, I was expecting plenty of big new areas to explore but it's literally just the Great Sky Island. That's it. Literally EVERY other island is the same recycled look except way smaller and worse
Story:
-Outside of the last couple of memories, the story is kinda ass, which sucks because that opening scene was incredible. For instance, why on earth do we have to see the SAME EXACT CUTSCENE after every temple? It's literally the same explanation of the Imprisoning War every single time, but the camera focuses on a different sage. by the third one I started looking at my phone during it. one of the most ridiculous parts of this game to me.
-That "Fake Zelda" storyline got old quick too. Why is everyone in Hyrule an imbecile. And why doesn't Link tell them it's not the real Zelda. this Link talks. he speaks full sentences. he's not a silent protagonist. it's genuinely immersion breaking if you learn what happened before the end of the game and he just doesn't tell anyone, like at the every least tell Purah what the deal is. Going through the same "is that Princess Zelda??!?! what is she doing??? maybe that's not her..." with the NPC's in FOUR regions was soooo boring. Just a shitty part of the story overall.
-I think the story would be a lot better if Zelda "died", (I don't care if it's a Nintendo game, Fire Emblem exists) yeah diving and catching her was still a great scene but there was just something murky about her being revived like that at the last minute...especially after how many times they had to mention that you can't come back from eating a Secret Stone. Kinda mixed on how I feel about this cause diving scene is still reeeeally good. just wanted to mention how bs it was
-Being able to discover the memories in this game in any order does not work like it did in BOTW. Link has amensia in that game, it makes sense for him to remember stuff out of order and they're not all in chronological order anyways. In this game it is very ordered and discovering certain ones before others can be jarring and can straight spoil you heavily if you run into the wrong one. It doesn't really align with the "nigh unlimited freedom" the game tries to sell you on- which nicely segways into my next point
Gameplay
While the gameplay was amazing ,there were a couple nitpicks i had with some of the design choices
-I think shrines and temples would benefit from a little more restriction, especially temples. Zonite tools are just really OP and a lot of the shrines and some temples can be cheesed to hell w/ them. Like you really don't have to use the carts at all in the fire temple.
-This is more of a UI thing, but why is there an amiibo button on the skill select wheel? the map doesn't need to be there either as pressing minus is quicker. just kinda clunkers .
-the sages A.I was pretty jank, didn't really enjoy using them all that much other than Tulin, the goat
Despite everything I still rate it a 4/5 (a 3.9 if this site let me) because those highs were really something special but I don't see myself ever coming back to this game.
This is gonna be a yap sesh. TLDR: This game is incredible, I had a blast with it. The gameplay is amazing and had me gripped for a good 100 hours; it's definitely one of my favorite games ever. But unfortunately there are a lot of missteps and problems that hold it back from surpassing its predecessor, namely being a much less consistently good experience from top to bottom. very high highs and low lows.
Let's start with positives
-Nearly everything that made Breath of the Wild so good is present in this game, no need to address those things
-The ultrahand abilities are amazing, what they were able to accomplish with that physics system is beyond impressive. You can really just make anything. Fuse is really cool. Ascend is goated.
-Zelda's sacrifice and Master Sword scene were powerful. they moved mountains. I got major chills, top 10 video game scenes for me EASILY.
And now the negative aspects. Keep in mind I only had like 3 issues with BoTW.
Exploration:
-The depths and sky Islands were massively underutilized and disappointing which severely hampered one of the key components of what made BOTW great: exploration. I'll address the depths first-Ogo you were right: the depths are slavery. Once I realized I was low-key forcing myself to explore them I stopped. It's just all the same shit over and over again. There's little motivation or reason to explore them to their fullest. If you want zonite, just find a single mine and use that one every time the deposit respawns, it's more than enough. most of the armor down there is just cosmetic stuff brought over from BOTW, there's no drive for me to get those... The most fun thing to do is the Floating Coliseum and even that got boring quick
-The Sky Islands are arguably an even worse error. The way the game was advertised, I was expecting plenty of big new areas to explore but it's literally just the Great Sky Island. That's it. Literally EVERY other island is the same recycled look except way smaller and worse
Story:
-Outside of the last couple of memories, the story is kinda ass, which sucks because that opening scene was incredible. For instance, why on earth do we have to see the SAME EXACT CUTSCENE after every temple? It's literally the same explanation of the Imprisoning War every single time, but the camera focuses on a different sage. by the third one I started looking at my phone during it. one of the most ridiculous parts of this game to me.
-That "Fake Zelda" storyline got old quick too. Why is everyone in Hyrule an imbecile. And why doesn't Link tell them it's not the real Zelda. this Link talks. he speaks full sentences. he's not a silent protagonist. it's genuinely immersion breaking if you learn what happened before the end of the game and he just doesn't tell anyone, like at the every least tell Purah what the deal is. Going through the same "is that Princess Zelda??!?! what is she doing??? maybe that's not her..." with the NPC's in FOUR regions was soooo boring. Just a shitty part of the story overall.
-I think the story would be a lot better if Zelda "died", (I don't care if it's a Nintendo game, Fire Emblem exists) yeah diving and catching her was still a great scene but there was just something murky about her being revived like that at the last minute...especially after how many times they had to mention that you can't come back from eating a Secret Stone. Kinda mixed on how I feel about this cause diving scene is still reeeeally good. just wanted to mention how bs it was
-Being able to discover the memories in this game in any order does not work like it did in BOTW. Link has amensia in that game, it makes sense for him to remember stuff out of order and they're not all in chronological order anyways. In this game it is very ordered and discovering certain ones before others can be jarring and can straight spoil you heavily if you run into the wrong one. It doesn't really align with the "nigh unlimited freedom" the game tries to sell you on- which nicely segways into my next point
Gameplay
While the gameplay was amazing ,there were a couple nitpicks i had with some of the design choices
-I think shrines and temples would benefit from a little more restriction, especially temples. Zonite tools are just really OP and a lot of the shrines and some temples can be cheesed to hell w/ them. Like you really don't have to use the carts at all in the fire temple.
-This is more of a UI thing, but why is there an amiibo button on the skill select wheel? the map doesn't need to be there either as pressing minus is quicker. just kinda clunkers .
-the sages A.I was pretty jank, didn't really enjoy using them all that much other than Tulin, the goat
Despite everything I still rate it a 4/5 (a 3.9 if this site let me) because those highs were really something special but I don't see myself ever coming back to this game.
2023
sprite work, level design, puzzles, story, characters, animations, mechanics, MUSIC......
ALL TOP CLASS.
especially the sprite work and animations tho. one of the best looking games i have ever played, period. this is the pinnacle of pixel graphics. shout out the banger soundtrack too.
so many jaw dropping moments. this is my Game of the Year.
PEAK OF STARS
to get the full story experience I highly recommend playing "The Messenger" by the same developers first. enhances it greatly and is borderline required lol
ALL TOP CLASS.
especially the sprite work and animations tho. one of the best looking games i have ever played, period. this is the pinnacle of pixel graphics. shout out the banger soundtrack too.
so many jaw dropping moments. this is my Game of the Year.
PEAK OF STARS
to get the full story experience I highly recommend playing "The Messenger" by the same developers first. enhances it greatly and is borderline required lol
2011
once i got over that beginning hump i got pulled in like crazy
it's peak gaming and i haven't even played modded yet
gamplay loop is addicting af once you know what you're doing, exploring caves was surprisingly super fun and some of the bosses are my favorites ever. should have done this a long time ago
one of the greatest!
it's peak gaming and i haven't even played modded yet
gamplay loop is addicting af once you know what you're doing, exploring caves was surprisingly super fun and some of the bosses are my favorites ever. should have done this a long time ago
one of the greatest!
2018
the game is a treat, really fun movement and decently challenging platforming. the game just kept getting better, especially with the mechanic they introduced later on. soundtrack is FIRE, graphics are CRISP (without saying too much, the mid game "upgrade" to them was cool af, never seen something like that in a game before), and I enjoyed the Shopkeepers dialogue he was funny
2011
On paper this game should be right up my alley, but I can't play a single-player session without getting bored in under 10 minutes and like 70% of my playtime has been with other people carrying me, which was decently fun ig. I'm sure I would have loved this 10 years ago but I just get can't get into it now for a couple of reasons. One being that the wiki is practically a necessity. At every point in the game you need to know
A. what boss u need to fight
B. how to fight that boss
C. what gear is good at your stage
D. how u should make your loadout for your class.
If you don't already know these things, i think it's quite a lot to learn for a beginner. only an insane person would craft+sift through all the gear in-game to figure out what you need, or mindlessly wander that giant world until you figure out what boss is next in the gauntlet and the specifics to spawn said boss without a wiki page open.
I do respect the game tho, the soundtrack is nice and I have a soft spot for pixel graphics. My mind can definitely change with mods, and potentially retrying vanilla single-player; but for now my experience with Terraria has just been ok
A. what boss u need to fight
B. how to fight that boss
C. what gear is good at your stage
D. how u should make your loadout for your class.
If you don't already know these things, i think it's quite a lot to learn for a beginner. only an insane person would craft+sift through all the gear in-game to figure out what you need, or mindlessly wander that giant world until you figure out what boss is next in the gauntlet and the specifics to spawn said boss without a wiki page open.
I do respect the game tho, the soundtrack is nice and I have a soft spot for pixel graphics. My mind can definitely change with mods, and potentially retrying vanilla single-player; but for now my experience with Terraria has just been ok
The new characters control like ass, especially Knuckles; his slow gliding start-up animation and turn speed was clunky af to control. Thought it was really weird how most of Amy's combat made use of tarot cards, what a deep cut. I thought it was a no brainee to let me smash shit with her hammer. The difficulty spike was badly implemented and flat out boring. The tower climbs were very frustrating and have some really really weird design oversights, like having to kill yourself for the boxes to respawn if you fall. The jank feels like it was turned up a notch compared the the original game, this was like 10x more frustrating. As far as positives go, The final boss was what the original game needed. It was infinitely more hype that the original final fight, though probably not worth suffering through all the jank to get to it. The added soundtracks are really really good and the addition of spindash made traversal even more fun than before. Overall I think this expansion needed more time in the oven.
Edit: well they just patched out a lot of what i was talking about so... yeah LMAO. updated score
Edit: well they just patched out a lot of what i was talking about so... yeah LMAO. updated score
2023
a scary and hilarious co-op experience
fun games like this blowing up is what the industry needs, not the same rehashed drivel that comes out every year
common indie W
fun games like this blowing up is what the industry needs, not the same rehashed drivel that comes out every year
common indie W
2022
While admittedly pretty jank and unpolished in hindsight, on release I was still able to have a euphoric experience after a decade in the trenches as a Sonic fan. Exploring the open world was great and I've always wanted to fight with Sonic this way. the highlight of the experience is easily the Super Sonic titan battles, i popped off during every single one. shit was RAW AF. I also really appreciated the voice direction here, I've always been somewhat of a hater of Roger's Sonic but he did really well this game. Flynn did a good job with the story and the soundtrack was godlike per usual. Despite it's shortcomings (pop in, questionable design choices,etc), the core gameplay loop was very fun (tho it kind of started to drag around the last island); this game is 100% a step in the right direction for the franchise and I hope SEGA capitalizes on its success. (please man.)
2018
definitely in my top 5 platformers of all time. figuring out the gimmick of each level was really fun and brought a puzzle-like feel to the genre that I've never seen done this well before. while the story didn't resonate with me as much as i've seen it for others, it was still decently enjoyable tho not really something i cared for that much. but yeah the soundtrack is GOATED, pixel graphics on TOP, super great game