saggysamurai
2022
The strengths of this game have been talked to death about so i wanted to be a bit more critical.
Its a terrific experience for sure but after letting it sit with me for a while and after afew replays, some cracks in the experience begin to appear, i think my main issue with the game is the power scaling issues that can become very apparent in the late game and the late game in general. Late game areas are nowhere near as enjoyable and as deep as early game ones, like low-key i kinda think the game peaks at its middle section when you get to leyndell. I think bloodborne and sekiro were more enjoyable for me, the core gameplay is stronger in both of those games and i dont think the general story writing is as interesting as its previously been in this series, the world is super intriguing but i dont think it is as believable or as immersive as say, Yharnam or Lordran.
Its a terrific experience for sure but after letting it sit with me for a while and after afew replays, some cracks in the experience begin to appear, i think my main issue with the game is the power scaling issues that can become very apparent in the late game and the late game in general. Late game areas are nowhere near as enjoyable and as deep as early game ones, like low-key i kinda think the game peaks at its middle section when you get to leyndell. I think bloodborne and sekiro were more enjoyable for me, the core gameplay is stronger in both of those games and i dont think the general story writing is as interesting as its previously been in this series, the world is super intriguing but i dont think it is as believable or as immersive as say, Yharnam or Lordran.
1999
Um woah, whatever my expectations were going into this, they certainly didn’t expect anything near this level of insane wacky shit.
Story and characters are soooo surprisingly good man, i think squall, the protagonist, has genuinely one of the best character arcs i have ever seen in a piece of media. And the party of supporting characters are all wonderfully realised.
There’s so much to talk about with this game i’m gonna have to do a second more in depth review later.
Story and characters are soooo surprisingly good man, i think squall, the protagonist, has genuinely one of the best character arcs i have ever seen in a piece of media. And the party of supporting characters are all wonderfully realised.
There’s so much to talk about with this game i’m gonna have to do a second more in depth review later.
2020
Decent indie title that has weirdly got so much unnecessary hate on this site. It’s kinda short and it’s lacking some more complex bosses but i personally don’t mind if games like this are short as long as the content is well constructed and for the most part it is.
I think the opening area is the game at its best tbh, very similar to fire link shrine in DS1 not just in its aesthetics but also in its function. The way every dungeon is immediately accessible no matter its difficulty is something i dig. I started with one of the harder ones and it was really challenging for where i was at progression wise so i came back to the hub area and explored different pathways and then later in the game i returned to that dungeon and absolutely walked through it like it was nothing which was pretty satisfying. That being said the level design in the separate dungeon areas isn’t so satisfying, a lot of them are very linear and i think some areas in the game are pretty poorly paced and go on for too long which is pretty damning considering this game is considered to be quite short. Nevertheless the art direction is pretty cool and the combat can be cool most of the time. Bosses can be enjoyable but they are nowhere near the complexity of anything in the souls games and most of them are pretty easy.
As long as you are able to accept that the game is mechanically really quite unoriginal, i think it was a decent time.
I think the opening area is the game at its best tbh, very similar to fire link shrine in DS1 not just in its aesthetics but also in its function. The way every dungeon is immediately accessible no matter its difficulty is something i dig. I started with one of the harder ones and it was really challenging for where i was at progression wise so i came back to the hub area and explored different pathways and then later in the game i returned to that dungeon and absolutely walked through it like it was nothing which was pretty satisfying. That being said the level design in the separate dungeon areas isn’t so satisfying, a lot of them are very linear and i think some areas in the game are pretty poorly paced and go on for too long which is pretty damning considering this game is considered to be quite short. Nevertheless the art direction is pretty cool and the combat can be cool most of the time. Bosses can be enjoyable but they are nowhere near the complexity of anything in the souls games and most of them are pretty easy.
As long as you are able to accept that the game is mechanically really quite unoriginal, i think it was a decent time.
2020
This is a truly epic game. Its got to be one of the best open world games ive played. Its contending with the world of skyrim as the best in my opinion. For one the art direction is absolutely stunning, the lighting, foliage, use of colour and weather effects make it visually one of my favourite games. The actual exploration is what makes it tho, visual cues like smokestacks, animals trying to get your attention, random citizens letting you in on a rumour and the wind lead you to mystical shrines or hidden grottoes holding secret stories or items. There is no mini map in the corner of the screen telling you where to go and there is no level gating which is a huge win. Side quests for the most part are also very well done. Some lead to encounters and circumstances that are completely unique to those side quests. A simple rescue mission became a whole lot more interesting when you got to sail out onto a mongolian ship for the first time. Each side quest is unique and hold their own intriguing side stories. There arent 10+ rescue missions or 20+ fetch quests. The game also houses side stories to characters from the main quest which are all very engaging and often as cinematic as the main quest, they also let you in on their characters a little more, the best form of side quests though in my opinion are the Mythic tales which have you tracking down Ancient samurai techniques and tools, theres nothing cooler than hearing a poet at an inn telling the story of a Legendary Samurai’s flaming sword at the top of a mountain peek and then climbing this huge mountain in a perilous blizzard to discover the truth of this old tale. Now onto the main quest, this is where we start to get into a-few complaints, the plot is pretty basic, stop the mongol invasion, which is ok because it means that we could focus on the characters alot more, this is where the game falters, the characters are relatively generic and a little dull at times. The main character Jin has good character development and a good arc but he doesn’t really have much of a personality compared to someone like Geralt from the witcher. The story still has some great moments though, there are twists, betrayals, huge battles, the villian is very serviceable and the ending is really good. Now that we have gotten past the worst thing, lets talk about the combat. The combat in this game is kind of god tier? The moment to moment samurai sword combat never got old, its full of depth, variety and “badassery“ and the game does get challenging at points but not by just making enemies spongier or “higher level” but by actually making the enemies harder to fight to test and increase the skill of the player. Im going to cut this review short because i could talk about this game for a long time but know that i could have talked about, how the soundtrack is my favourite from this year, the terrific audio design, awesome boss battles, the armour and weapon customisation or even the decisions you can make to alter the story. This is an amazing game and a great final addition to the terrific library of the ps4. What a game, what a console.
One of the most over hated games of all time in my opinion, more or less as a result of the games rough, buggy launch.
Don't get me wrong, there is some baaaaadddd writing but tbh there are a lot of interesting plot threads as well, there's a lot of potential in the games setting and a lot of it is missed but some of it is also cool.
The combat is the best its been in the series too, its really not the worst thing ive ever played.
Don't get me wrong, there is some baaaaadddd writing but tbh there are a lot of interesting plot threads as well, there's a lot of potential in the games setting and a lot of it is missed but some of it is also cool.
The combat is the best its been in the series too, its really not the worst thing ive ever played.
2003
Idk i found humour in its awfulness, mostly had fun tbh lol
2017
This game is so fucking good. A literal perfect mix between bloodborne and fucking bugs life. Hollownest is such an interesting and unique world to be dropped into, almost immediately the atmosphere and the bread crumb storytelling hooked me in. The environmental storytelling is on another level and the few mysterious tidbits of lore that you get keep eggIng you on in search of the next clue or NPC to interact with. And speaking of the NPCs, the world is filled with them and all of them have great story threads to follow. Among other things in the world these side stories are often genuinely depressing and the world constantly lands you in these areas that are tinted with sadness and destruction, ruins of what the world once was but the game manages to keep you going with small moments of wholesomeness and joy to convince the player that hollownest can be saved. The combat is an excellent free flowing reflex based collage of dodging, weaving, slashing and smacking. Aggressiveness is encouraged, especially in the high Intensity boss battles which are ALL great. There was not a single boss i beat and then thought to myself, “oh that boss was annoying” it was always a “fuck yes that was cool as hell weather it was any of the many EPIC main bosses or the equally entertaining secret optional bosses which can be found throughout the world hidden behind breakable walls or secluded passages which brings us to the Metroidvania esc level design which is a fantastic achievement of interconnectivity and area diversity. There are about 14 areas in the base game and my favourite has to be the city of tears where its always raining because above it there is a beautiful blue lake. But all 14 of them have a gorgeous piece of score to accompany them and holy shit the boss OSTs too. There is just such an attention to detail to the way the world is structured and its an absolute joy to explore. The art direction is sexy af, there is not a bad looking frame in this game, The game is also super meaty, its base main campaign took me about 30 hours and i stll have more to dsicover in the world, not to mention all the FREE dlc that this game has, its honestly unbelievable to me that in my playthrough i didnt experience a single bug, crash or any type of frame rate issue. And this poInt is accentuated when you realise that the development team of this game (excluding vocalists and the composer) consisted of 3 people. Its a mind blowing feat for such a small team to outperform most triple A studios. A truly mesmerising experience that i hope to spend alot more time in. Play it.
This review contains spoilers
After completing it i cannot stop thinking about the game. The game has made me feel things i have never felt before. In some ways its its an absolute masterclass while in others its borderline sickening. Its the most miserable game i have ever played and i think that’s exactly what naughty dog were aiming for. Its undeniably one of the most emotional stories thats ever been told. I understand what naughty dog were trying to do and the more i think about it the more i like the game. Joels death was heartbreaking even though hes an incredibly flawed human being and for him to be killed so unceremoniously is horrible to watch but i think it really works as a hook into ellies story and it really gives you as the player the motivation to go out with ellie for vengeance. And if you take the flashbacks we are given into account its even more powerful and tragic. When joel and ellie return to Jackson after their life changing adventure in the first game, joel an extremely broken man finally finds purpose in ellie. However when ellie starts fitting in at jackson she no longer really has a need for joel and we see how joel awkwardly tries to repair their relationship and its hard not to feel bad for joel. Ellie is the last thing joel has and he desperately doesn’t want to lose her. This relationship is only worsened by joels lie which ellie soon sees past. She threatens to leave jackson if joel doesnt tell her the truth. Joel, desperate for ellie to stay admits the truth and ellie is devastated by it and tells joel to stay away from her. A Heartbreaking moment for joel. But he regrets that he didnt let ellie live the life she wanted. And the irony is that even in death joel still does this, the fact that ellie never got the opportunity to repair their relationship and forgive joel which is the reason that ellie so badly wants revenge so when she is about to kill abby by forgiving her she is also forgiving joel and now thats shes done that theres no reason for her to kill abby thus ending the “cycle of violence” The real theme of the game is forgiveness not revenge. Its not until a year later that ellie finally talks to joel again and it just so happens to be the day before his death. The two talk and ellie suggest that she wants to work towards forgiveness (just thinking about this beautiful scene gets me teary) joel is overwhelmed with happiness that it draws him to tears and thats the last time the two speak. Ellies revenge isnt just about avenging someone she loved. It was the fact that she never got the opportunity to repair that relationship. Abby represents an opposite of ellie, she is avenging someone she loved. Abby is an evil person and i believe she is to be hated but the fact that she lost her father to joel is understandable. Abby eventually realises that killing joel changed nothing and didnt help her pain at all. However the second abby section of the game is far too long and is not as interesting as the ellie one also i think the story would have benefited from less flashbacks and more stuff told in chronological order, this simple change would add so much more tension and the structure of the game wouldn't be so muddled which in turn would help the games pacing . Its one of the most memorable experiences i expect i will ever have as far as the entertainment industry goes, it will traumatise you and upset you to the point where you feel like quitting. Neil clearly wanted to try something new after the last of us. That being said the game of course is visually beautiful and the world building is excellent, the sound design is impeccable: from the shriek of a clicker echoing through a subway tunnel to the crunch of the shotgun. The soundtrack is also brilliant my boy Gustavo has teamed up with Mac Quayle from Mr robot and they have created something on par with the original. Its good to note though that Gustavo did the best tracks lol. The gameplay is very engaging, the exploration is fascinating and levels are often very open and extremely detailed. The combat is brutal and intense and the enemy designs are often terrifying, wether its the whistling of the cult like seraphytes or the slow intense engagements with groups of infected stalkers. The 1 on 1 melee fights are cool too and the brutality here is clocked up to 11. Another surprising thing that you might not expect from a naughty dog game are the genuinely well done boss fights. Confrontations with the overhauled infected bloaters are super intense and there is another encounter later on in the game with a new kind of infected that gets your heart pumping and keeps you moving, its very reminiscent of something out of resident evil. Overall i respect the game for what it was trying to do and i really like some parts of it but overall the plot is a bit of a mess and im not sure if i could recommend the game to anyone because it gets you so depressed but if you are feeling up to it, play it.
2019
The most interesting parts of this game are what i read about in an article, the art is really nice too but it’s lacking personality in my opinion or some sort of sauce to mix it up a lil, average kind of metroidvania with some really frustrating platforming.
One of the best games ever made, period. Excellent characters, Snake, ocelot and The Boss being the highlights. An amazing OST. The stealth gameplay at first u have to get used to but when you do its alot of fun and there is a surprising amount of depth and hidden things that the game doesn’t tell you how to do. When you actually get the basics of CQC down its very satisfying to use. Also theres is a bunch of hidden details and secrets that you can find in the game, like secret ways to defeat bosses, hidden items and hidden cutscenes. The bosses are great with the final boss being the best. The game still looks decent surprisingly and the cinematography is what you would expect from Kojima. Its probably the best bond movie.
One of the most terrific achievements in video gaming history, a lot is owed to this game.
A timeless piece of art in my books.
A timeless piece of art in my books.
The unintentional mastapiece. This is the dumbest game i have ever played but because of that its also the funniest game Ive ever played. The story is pretty basic but the characters are what make it memorable, raiden is way better here, jetstream sam is actually a great character and ofc senator armstrong who is so fucking funny and the stuff he says during the final boss made me laugh so hard. This game is really dumb and over the top but it embraces those things and the dumb shit becomes some of the best things about the game. The combat is freaking badass and the bosses especially are the highlights of the game, they are long, sweaty, high octane, fuckin nuts to buts showdowns with badass music. These boss fights are challenging and i died numerous time to lots of them. The final boss alone is literally an hour long, fuck its good lol.
2007
Finished replaying this for the first time in years and despite it being fairly aged, i ended up appreciating and enjoying it way more than i did the first time i played through it.
There’s just something so impressive about being able to completely build a new universe from the ground up to me, especially one that is this detailed and well thought out. Best way i can describe this games general feel is how It feels to watch “new hope.” nowadays. There’s just such a fantastic feeling of iconography and nostalgia. The simple, colourful character designs and costumes of ur crew are kind of genius.
The actual gameplay isn’t particularly complex or engaging but i do feel as if the game makes up for it with a very gripping feeling of immersion. The mako is annoying and the gunplay will feel especially clunky unless you are playing on the remastered version (which i did.) The dialogue wheel was revolutionary at the time, and nowadays no RPG really has attempted to match the system.
The main draws for this series in general are the universe/world building and the character writing/dialogue and something i wasn’t expecting is how well the writing in this game holds up today, it’s actually full of good humour, especially if you go renegade. But i was more surprised at how relevant many of the political discussions within the game really were. The universe is ridiculously entertaining but importantly as well it is tangible.
Fantastic Game 8/10
There’s just something so impressive about being able to completely build a new universe from the ground up to me, especially one that is this detailed and well thought out. Best way i can describe this games general feel is how It feels to watch “new hope.” nowadays. There’s just such a fantastic feeling of iconography and nostalgia. The simple, colourful character designs and costumes of ur crew are kind of genius.
The actual gameplay isn’t particularly complex or engaging but i do feel as if the game makes up for it with a very gripping feeling of immersion. The mako is annoying and the gunplay will feel especially clunky unless you are playing on the remastered version (which i did.) The dialogue wheel was revolutionary at the time, and nowadays no RPG really has attempted to match the system.
The main draws for this series in general are the universe/world building and the character writing/dialogue and something i wasn’t expecting is how well the writing in this game holds up today, it’s actually full of good humour, especially if you go renegade. But i was more surprised at how relevant many of the political discussions within the game really were. The universe is ridiculously entertaining but importantly as well it is tangible.
Fantastic Game 8/10
2019
MONDAY LEFT ME BROKEN TUESDAY I WAS THROUGH WITH HOPING WEDNESDAY MY EMPTY ARMS WERE OPEN THURSDAY WAITING FOR LOVE
The best transformers game, no cap. Platinum games (creators of metal gear rising and bayonetta) have again created a fun high octane, blood pumping action hack and slash while also paying homage to the classic 80s G1 cartoon, the combat and bosses are phenomenally fun. Combat feels satisfying and unique from platinums other games. Music is real cool, and that starscream/megatron abusive relationship is Fuckin funny. Underrated and under appreciated game.