mssq
2022
One of the best FPS campaigns I have played in years. It has some of the best combat encounters I can remember and the level design is no slouch either. The biggest surprise was that it is also well written and funny which is rare in games not just in mods.
2022
Not much of a racing guy myself but it's kinda crazy how immersive this feels with VR + Wheel combo and how you can feel the handling of different cars.
I really enjoyed the Café approach to the campaign as it showed me, novice to racing about cars and racing from many different viewpoints and increased my appreciation of motorsports.
I really enjoyed the Café approach to the campaign as it showed me, novice to racing about cars and racing from many different viewpoints and increased my appreciation of motorsports.
2021
This starts as a horror game and ends something closer to original Half-life. The combat might not be close to same quality as Half-life but this does not hamper the experience because there are some truly creepy and creative set pieces here with story that keeps you captivated through it.
Performance is sadly little all over the place with frame drops here and there without any real reason.
Performance is sadly little all over the place with frame drops here and there without any real reason.
2021
It's pretty impressive for the small team that made this weird, dark and filthy world that has some pretty decent surprises along the way.
I do gotta admit that the first impression weren't that strong. You might even call it kinda drab looking at the first couple areas and I was kinda worried. Thankfully it starts to get more interesting visually and gameplay wise the further you get. The gameplay progression I found to be pretty nice as the longer it goes it is less about the souls-like combat and more about platforming which works for me as I always enjoy some challenging platforming.
It is also challenging on the combat front but nothing too hard. But it can get kinda annoying at times to learn the boss patterns as if you're not careful they can one-shot you and then you have to do your walk of shame before you can try it again.
I do gotta admit that the first impression weren't that strong. You might even call it kinda drab looking at the first couple areas and I was kinda worried. Thankfully it starts to get more interesting visually and gameplay wise the further you get. The gameplay progression I found to be pretty nice as the longer it goes it is less about the souls-like combat and more about platforming which works for me as I always enjoy some challenging platforming.
It is also challenging on the combat front but nothing too hard. But it can get kinda annoying at times to learn the boss patterns as if you're not careful they can one-shot you and then you have to do your walk of shame before you can try it again.
It's kinda crazy how much personality there is crammed on this adventure. The writing is still great after all these years.
I also was constantly surprised how varied it was on the gameplay side. They really weren't afraid of trying new things.
The remake itself is fine, some decent quality of life additions. The new artstyle is different, not better or worse necessary. Bowser's Minions is kinda bad tho.
I also was constantly surprised how varied it was on the gameplay side. They really weren't afraid of trying new things.
The remake itself is fine, some decent quality of life additions. The new artstyle is different, not better or worse necessary. Bowser's Minions is kinda bad tho.
2023
Best Soulslike from another studio than From Software.
Of course it's very close to the From Software games but the gothic world and the fairytale-inspired story made this differentiate enough from the inspiration. Also it's just generally well made game so it is easily worth experiencing if you enjoy the genre.
Of course it's very close to the From Software games but the gothic world and the fairytale-inspired story made this differentiate enough from the inspiration. Also it's just generally well made game so it is easily worth experiencing if you enjoy the genre.
2020
This is pretty close to a lower budget Resident Evil 7 or 8 where you replace the combat with stealth and surprisingly it's a pretty decent experience.
After you disable motion blur and turn off TAA there are actually pretty nice looking visuals here. Also when you add the sound design to the mix, the atmosphere is easily one of the strong suits of this game while exploring the Sker hotel.
Sadly the stealth itself is kinda wishy-washy and it feels very forgiving which sadly lowers the effectiveness of the scares. On the other side of the coin at least it is not a frustrating experience.
After you disable motion blur and turn off TAA there are actually pretty nice looking visuals here. Also when you add the sound design to the mix, the atmosphere is easily one of the strong suits of this game while exploring the Sker hotel.
Sadly the stealth itself is kinda wishy-washy and it feels very forgiving which sadly lowers the effectiveness of the scares. On the other side of the coin at least it is not a frustrating experience.
2022
Pretty much nails what it tries to achieve. This Collectathon Platformer controls great, has ton of charm and is just generally enjoyable experience which doesn't go for too long and start to drag.
Maybe the last two tinykins could have been more exciting but other than that I have nothing negative to say.
Maybe the last two tinykins could have been more exciting but other than that I have nothing negative to say.
2023
✔ Beautiful pixel art
✔ Bopping retro music
✔ Precise controls with some tight level design
It might not blow your mind as it's over too quickly but everything it does it does very well and I had a great time with this one.
✔ Bopping retro music
✔ Precise controls with some tight level design
It might not blow your mind as it's over too quickly but everything it does it does very well and I had a great time with this one.
Pretty damn solid expansion pack. It's basically more of the same but this works fine for me as the base game was released so long ago that I didn't mind 3 hours of some fast paced shooting.
The level design is something that feels different from the base game as it has more grand scale and at times it reminded me of Hellraiser II with its labyrinth themed world.
The level design is something that feels different from the base game as it has more grand scale and at times it reminded me of Hellraiser II with its labyrinth themed world.
Beautiful and truly unique murder mystery game and I gotta tip my hat for that. it is split to multiple smaller stories with an overarching story of what happened to the ship and I found it to be rather engaging and well done.
The puzzles I found to be little of a mixed bag. There are some great ones that make you feel like an detective but there is also lots of busywork. Especially at the beginning where you just go from story to story writing how they died because you really don't have much else to go with unless they shout an name. Eventually you will have enough understanding that you can start piecing it together but it does take a while to get there.
The puzzles I found to be little of a mixed bag. There are some great ones that make you feel like an detective but there is also lots of busywork. Especially at the beginning where you just go from story to story writing how they died because you really don't have much else to go with unless they shout an name. Eventually you will have enough understanding that you can start piecing it together but it does take a while to get there.
This is a weird one for me as I pretty much love everything here except the game itself. Visuals, music, absurd story etc. is all great but I just found controlling the Katamari not that fun. Still it's short enough that i did not get annoyed by the controls but it just felt like I was fighting against them the whole time.
2023
At the core it's still Resident Evil 4 but its modernized and improved on many core aspects that makes it worthy alternative way to enjoy RE4 which still is a masterpiece.
The biggest improvement is the combat which is just more aggressive, faster and generally more intense. Especially the way they improved the knife gameplay was a great surprise, parrying just feels great. Second biggest improvement is Ashley. She has some character in this one and is not just a damsel in distress. Also her controlling has been made generally a smoother experience. Special mention for the castle portion where you play as her as this is greatly improved compared to the original.
Some nitpicky stuff that did not work for me:
- Ada's VA, not sure what happened here as everyone else is great.
- Even though they improved most of the fights Del Lago got the short end of the stick and is just lesser version of the original with lacking atmosphere.
- What's up with Ashley and Luis starting to pant like crazy after couple running steps?
- Some great characters get less screen time like Salazar.
- The island is still too combat focused.
The biggest improvement is the combat which is just more aggressive, faster and generally more intense. Especially the way they improved the knife gameplay was a great surprise, parrying just feels great. Second biggest improvement is Ashley. She has some character in this one and is not just a damsel in distress. Also her controlling has been made generally a smoother experience. Special mention for the castle portion where you play as her as this is greatly improved compared to the original.
Some nitpicky stuff that did not work for me:
- Ada's VA, not sure what happened here as everyone else is great.
- Even though they improved most of the fights Del Lago got the short end of the stick and is just lesser version of the original with lacking atmosphere.
- What's up with Ashley and Luis starting to pant like crazy after couple running steps?
- Some great characters get less screen time like Salazar.
- The island is still too combat focused.
This is a decent sequel but sadly for me it was also kinda disappointing. Kingdom Battle was such an positive surprise and this new one has so many changes that just didn't work for me.
I really liked that the battle arenas were part of the main world in Kingdom Battle and all of them felt handcrafted. Now that battles take you to arena out of the main world, it makes everything feel randomly generated. It's not helping that there are more fights now and around 90% of those fights are stupidly easy and offer no challenge. Eventually I just skipped all fights that were not necessary. The new combat system itself is fine but there is just too much of it. I wish there was more variety with puzzles and stuff. I really enjoyed that aspect of this.
Switch itself is also really struggling with this one to keep even close to 30fps in open areas. This has also lost some of its charm on the visual front now that it needs to render bigger areas everything has less detail and looks somehow duller.
I really liked that the battle arenas were part of the main world in Kingdom Battle and all of them felt handcrafted. Now that battles take you to arena out of the main world, it makes everything feel randomly generated. It's not helping that there are more fights now and around 90% of those fights are stupidly easy and offer no challenge. Eventually I just skipped all fights that were not necessary. The new combat system itself is fine but there is just too much of it. I wish there was more variety with puzzles and stuff. I really enjoyed that aspect of this.
Switch itself is also really struggling with this one to keep even close to 30fps in open areas. This has also lost some of its charm on the visual front now that it needs to render bigger areas everything has less detail and looks somehow duller.
2003
It is an inconsistent game but its strengths easily outweigh any negatives that I have with it.
For starters the game still looks great and the oppressive, metallic and disgusting atmosphere really is something that the early Silent Hill games still do best. Music might not be as memorable as in previous entry but it still a strong suit and works great together with the visuals.
On the gameplay side I thought that the first half of the game didn't have enough variety on the gameplay side. You progress through one big area after another and not much happens between them to make it memorable. I wish there was more story or something to break it up.
The story itself really starts up little before the half point and I was pretty invested in it. Sadly the story loses steam near the end and you just kinda wait for the eventual thing to happen and then it ends.
For starters the game still looks great and the oppressive, metallic and disgusting atmosphere really is something that the early Silent Hill games still do best. Music might not be as memorable as in previous entry but it still a strong suit and works great together with the visuals.
On the gameplay side I thought that the first half of the game didn't have enough variety on the gameplay side. You progress through one big area after another and not much happens between them to make it memorable. I wish there was more story or something to break it up.
The story itself really starts up little before the half point and I was pretty invested in it. Sadly the story loses steam near the end and you just kinda wait for the eventual thing to happen and then it ends.