sairam71
This is a fine game and at times its pretty good but at times very disengaging. I gave the first game a 5 rating and this one a 3 so its a HUGE step down. The main reasons being this game lacks the emotional connection that lee and clem had that propelled 1st game. Here most of the conflict is adults bickering for no reason, overly distrusting each other, and clem a 13 year old telling them to stop over and over again, clem being treated like a full grown adult and being constantly put in harms way by "Adults" so you have some game play, people dying left and right, many many double crosses, new chars coming and going with no chance to connect with them. This game has some emotional touch here and there but its largely missing compared to 1. This is focusing very much on giving you the feels through bickering and killing chars. Well if you don't care much about the chars, does it matter if they die. :) I thought chapter 3 and the ending of the game were the best. Rest i wanted to speed through.
🎮 Platform: Xbox
⌚ Time to finish - 9h
🏆Trophy completion - 100% - easy just play the game and most are story unmissable.
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🎮 Platform: Xbox
⌚ Time to finish - 9h
🏆Trophy completion - 100% - easy just play the game and most are story unmissable.
[ if you liked the review throw me a like! ❤️ ]
Playtime: 5.5h
Trophy Completion: 67% (most from playing the game. I have never been a fan of classic GOW platinums because they reduce the reaction times for QT events and sometimes its just frustrating to keep missing things by a few 100ms. I also played on PS Now, so I think my internet lag contributes to some of this.)
Platform: PS5 + PS Now. Overall very responsive. Played on normal difficulty.
This game is a little better than Chains of olympus but worse than Ascension, and overall in tier 2 of the gow series. However I enjoyed this game. They overall do a lot more with combat, movement, epicness than chains of olympus but it reaches no where close to the adrenaline pumping badass games that gow 2,3 are.
The game does have one very memorable battle in the middle, that reminds me of what I wanted from a god of war game, but is straightforward outside of that. I liked the tweaks on combat they made introducing you to new weapons, grapple hook, fire buffing your weapons etc. So there was definitely things here to play with outside of pressing X,X,Y.
The story also brings a little bit of emotional touch, which of course felt fully made up for this game. They do a 180 on something you are lead to believe is truth, just to make this game, and of course you know what gow 3 is about so you already know how this will end, and that everything in this game is irrelevant to the canon.
I am always happy to play a GOW game being a huge fan so glad I played it. It wasn't horrible thankfully but it also didn't blow me away. I enjoyed my 5h with it and I think you will too.
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Trophy Completion: 67% (most from playing the game. I have never been a fan of classic GOW platinums because they reduce the reaction times for QT events and sometimes its just frustrating to keep missing things by a few 100ms. I also played on PS Now, so I think my internet lag contributes to some of this.)
Platform: PS5 + PS Now. Overall very responsive. Played on normal difficulty.
This game is a little better than Chains of olympus but worse than Ascension, and overall in tier 2 of the gow series. However I enjoyed this game. They overall do a lot more with combat, movement, epicness than chains of olympus but it reaches no where close to the adrenaline pumping badass games that gow 2,3 are.
The game does have one very memorable battle in the middle, that reminds me of what I wanted from a god of war game, but is straightforward outside of that. I liked the tweaks on combat they made introducing you to new weapons, grapple hook, fire buffing your weapons etc. So there was definitely things here to play with outside of pressing X,X,Y.
The story also brings a little bit of emotional touch, which of course felt fully made up for this game. They do a 180 on something you are lead to believe is truth, just to make this game, and of course you know what gow 3 is about so you already know how this will end, and that everything in this game is irrelevant to the canon.
I am always happy to play a GOW game being a huge fan so glad I played it. It wasn't horrible thankfully but it also didn't blow me away. I enjoyed my 5h with it and I think you will too.
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Playtime: 5h
Completion: 69% (most from playing the game. I have never been a fan of classic GOW platinums because they reduce the reaction times for QT events and sometimes its just frustrating to keep missing things by a few 100ms. I also played on PS Now, so I think my internet lag contributes to some of this.)
Platform: PS5 + PS Now. Overall very responsive. Played on normal difficulty.
In my quest to play all the classic series of GOW, it was time to hit the expansions. This is by far the worst gow game and even for a die hard fan like me it was a just a very avg/fair game. They removed everything that reminds me of what a GOW game is and delivered this. Apart from Kratos, I couldn't find anything GOW about this game. Where is the epic music, the epic battles, the cutscenes, the camera angles, the sense of scope? The story is all over the place and also doesn't add anything to the actual canon.
Being on PSP the graphics were fairly poor as well so that further took me out of the game too.
Overall its an ok game play it if your a fan otherwise skip it. Its just a very generic hack and slash game and they never sat down to say what is the DNA of a GOW game and how do we bring that here. It feels like they told some studio make a hack and slash game and put Kratos in it. And that's what you get. Very average middle of the road game with no risks or real creativity.
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Completion: 69% (most from playing the game. I have never been a fan of classic GOW platinums because they reduce the reaction times for QT events and sometimes its just frustrating to keep missing things by a few 100ms. I also played on PS Now, so I think my internet lag contributes to some of this.)
Platform: PS5 + PS Now. Overall very responsive. Played on normal difficulty.
In my quest to play all the classic series of GOW, it was time to hit the expansions. This is by far the worst gow game and even for a die hard fan like me it was a just a very avg/fair game. They removed everything that reminds me of what a GOW game is and delivered this. Apart from Kratos, I couldn't find anything GOW about this game. Where is the epic music, the epic battles, the cutscenes, the camera angles, the sense of scope? The story is all over the place and also doesn't add anything to the actual canon.
Being on PSP the graphics were fairly poor as well so that further took me out of the game too.
Overall its an ok game play it if your a fan otherwise skip it. Its just a very generic hack and slash game and they never sat down to say what is the DNA of a GOW game and how do we bring that here. It feels like they told some studio make a hack and slash game and put Kratos in it. And that's what you get. Very average middle of the road game with no risks or real creativity.
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2015
Playtime: 3h
Completion: 100% (easy, just do it)
Platform: Xbox
I was definitely intrigued by the story and really enjoyed the first 30 minutes of searching through things and trying to piece together what happened. However, the more I uncovered about what was going on the more I realized, this story really has very little substance. Infact the main char in this game is just outright dumb. I think any 10 year old would have the common sense to not do the things she is doing in these interviews with the police. Also the big reveal you find out, left me scratching my head; in what society that would even be possible? Its completely unrealistic and plot hole ridden. What started off as a really interesting mystery game ended in a this is dumb, unbelievable story.
I enjoyed how the story is told here even if the story itself was bleh. I was able to get through and relatively liked it, it so am giving it 3 stars.
Completion: 100% (easy, just do it)
Platform: Xbox
I was definitely intrigued by the story and really enjoyed the first 30 minutes of searching through things and trying to piece together what happened. However, the more I uncovered about what was going on the more I realized, this story really has very little substance. Infact the main char in this game is just outright dumb. I think any 10 year old would have the common sense to not do the things she is doing in these interviews with the police. Also the big reveal you find out, left me scratching my head; in what society that would even be possible? Its completely unrealistic and plot hole ridden. What started off as a really interesting mystery game ended in a this is dumb, unbelievable story.
I enjoyed how the story is told here even if the story itself was bleh. I was able to get through and relatively liked it, it so am giving it 3 stars.
2016
If there was ever a game that exemplifies style over substance, for me its this game. It has insane level visuals and class, but if they only spent half that time on story, narration, combat, this could have been a stellar game. It had all the promise of a cool sci-fi game with a very cool story, but doesn't deliver at all. Overall its a completely skippable game, maybe play 1 act to experience the visuals. Normally I abandon low scoring games but this game I did finish, as it was always pulling me back with its visuals, and bearable story.
🎮 Platform: Xbox
⌚ Time to finish - 12.5h
🏆Trophy completion - 66% - not too hard, i don't recommend it unless you LOVED the game. The game has a fair bit of collectibles that are easy to get to with chapter select. It has a set of combat trophies that aren't too hard to grind. The last level on hard is pretty hard, you will definitely have to try it at least 5-10 times, especially with a controller which isn't my forte to aim with. Game can be played once on hard and cleaned up on easy.
🤬Difficulty - I played on hard. The game even on hard difficulty is not hard (you will die for sure) if you are familiar with shooters. The last level on hard I would rate it to be maybe ultra-hard. this is mainly because its poorly designed. the boss pretty much once shots you with grenades and the grenade cues pretty much mix into the environment or the rumble of shooting and its very very easy to miss and instantly die.
🌄Graphics – Insane level graphics and style! Super unique looking game. Unfortunately it could not save this game. Some of the best facial and motion capture I have seen in any game.
🌦 Atmosphere/Music – Its fine. The typical adrenaline pumping music in firefights. I loved the gun sounds!
📚 Main Story / Characters – I didn't like any of the characters or the story or the story telling and narration. I commend them for mixing extremely well directed and shot live action + mo cap cut scenes. The insane production quality and really good acting is what kept me going. Time travel stories are hard to do and its even harder to do in a video game. The story is very simple, but told in such a convoluted way, and the conclusion of the story is lame. The game also intersperses, the protagonist interviewing someone, with his own thoughts, and with radio chatter, and self talk. Its absolutely confusing who is saying what and why. Some characters in the live action video never show up in the game. Its very hard to follow their journey through time and events. Really just a gigantic mess.
The game has these things called stutters, meaning the game play just pauses and only your character can move, sometimes he can use his powers sometimes he cant.... They never do a good job explaining when they happen and don't and most of the time you are basically left feeling they use it more a story device to make the combat harder and move the story along or slow it down.
🤺 Combat – no variety. Its either shotgun or semi-automatic with some time powers thrown in. Sometimes the enemies and snipers are sooooo far away, there is no way to close distance apart from running and wishing to god you don't die in 2 hits. it got boring very quick. it reminded me of Uncharted 1 combat minus the special powers. Could give us some grenades, sniper rifles, at least? opponents use them!
The guns are extremely inaccurate!
🧭 Side Activities / Exploration – typical collect athon. Apart from reading those notes you collect, and unlocking things to upgrade your powers which does help in hard mode, I didn't find any reason to go out of my way. Can be beaten on hard without any upgrades which is pretty much how my char was.
🚗 Movement/Physics – fine.
📣 Voice acting – Amazing performances!
🥇 Best thing about the game - The visuals and style of the game. Never seen anything like it!
👎 Worst thing about the game - Apart from visuals nothing redeeming for me about the game.
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🎮 Platform: Xbox
⌚ Time to finish - 12.5h
🏆Trophy completion - 66% - not too hard, i don't recommend it unless you LOVED the game. The game has a fair bit of collectibles that are easy to get to with chapter select. It has a set of combat trophies that aren't too hard to grind. The last level on hard is pretty hard, you will definitely have to try it at least 5-10 times, especially with a controller which isn't my forte to aim with. Game can be played once on hard and cleaned up on easy.
🤬Difficulty - I played on hard. The game even on hard difficulty is not hard (you will die for sure) if you are familiar with shooters. The last level on hard I would rate it to be maybe ultra-hard. this is mainly because its poorly designed. the boss pretty much once shots you with grenades and the grenade cues pretty much mix into the environment or the rumble of shooting and its very very easy to miss and instantly die.
🌄Graphics – Insane level graphics and style! Super unique looking game. Unfortunately it could not save this game. Some of the best facial and motion capture I have seen in any game.
🌦 Atmosphere/Music – Its fine. The typical adrenaline pumping music in firefights. I loved the gun sounds!
📚 Main Story / Characters – I didn't like any of the characters or the story or the story telling and narration. I commend them for mixing extremely well directed and shot live action + mo cap cut scenes. The insane production quality and really good acting is what kept me going. Time travel stories are hard to do and its even harder to do in a video game. The story is very simple, but told in such a convoluted way, and the conclusion of the story is lame. The game also intersperses, the protagonist interviewing someone, with his own thoughts, and with radio chatter, and self talk. Its absolutely confusing who is saying what and why. Some characters in the live action video never show up in the game. Its very hard to follow their journey through time and events. Really just a gigantic mess.
The game has these things called stutters, meaning the game play just pauses and only your character can move, sometimes he can use his powers sometimes he cant.... They never do a good job explaining when they happen and don't and most of the time you are basically left feeling they use it more a story device to make the combat harder and move the story along or slow it down.
🤺 Combat – no variety. Its either shotgun or semi-automatic with some time powers thrown in. Sometimes the enemies and snipers are sooooo far away, there is no way to close distance apart from running and wishing to god you don't die in 2 hits. it got boring very quick. it reminded me of Uncharted 1 combat minus the special powers. Could give us some grenades, sniper rifles, at least? opponents use them!
The guns are extremely inaccurate!
🧭 Side Activities / Exploration – typical collect athon. Apart from reading those notes you collect, and unlocking things to upgrade your powers which does help in hard mode, I didn't find any reason to go out of my way. Can be beaten on hard without any upgrades which is pretty much how my char was.
🚗 Movement/Physics – fine.
📣 Voice acting – Amazing performances!
🥇 Best thing about the game - The visuals and style of the game. Never seen anything like it!
👎 Worst thing about the game - Apart from visuals nothing redeeming for me about the game.
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2012
This game is a masterpiece in story telling. I started to wonder at many points in this game is this game actually better than the last of us!?! I believe it is. Its so focused on the story and cuts out most fluff. Even the exploration pieces are quick and every interaction point adds to the story or the flavor. I loved the story, the music, the characters, the hard choices, I cannot think of one think I wish was different. I was gripped as if I was watching a HBO TV show or watching Breaking Bad! This game ALMOST made me cry which is saying a lot. What a beautiful game. I am someone who does not like reading a lot so, this game in this format is a blessing! Play it now!
🎮 Platform: Xbox
⌚ Time to finish - 12h (includes season 1 + 400 DLC)
🏆Trophy completion - 100% - easy just play the game and most are story unmissable. 400 DLC does have some non story trophies but easy to revisit with chapter select, but do look them up before hand.
🤬Difficulty - haha... this is an interesting one. :) I would say its difficult because of the choices you have to make not the game play. I agonized over so many decisions only to find out time running out to make a selection. This game has probably the toughest choices I had to make in any game. They nailed it.
🌄Graphics – Good. Its from previous generation so nothing mind blowing but i liked the comic booky feel.
🌦 Atmosphere/Music – Amazing score. Amazing atmosphere. Every chapter in the journey has you meeting interesting characters and going through interesting story beats. I really felt immersed in this world and could understand the motivations of everyone. Here I would give last of us a 1 up on music and atmosphere. But still amazing here.
📚 Main Story / Characters – I loved the story. Its one of the best stories of any media. I really liked seeing each person's motivation and take on what is going on. The fine balance between trust and mistrust, choice and no choice. I really liked most of the characters, but some did not have enough screen time, which is fine. I already was emotionally invested in so many of them. The main characters of Lee & Clem are amazing individuals and amazing together. Clem trying to make sense of this fucked up world, Lee doing his best balancing between a brute that has to protect her and also trying to appeal to her soft side. So good!!
🤺 Combat – It boils down to QTime events, but i felt the sensitivity was too high or not enough time was given to aim your gun, which did cause some unncessary deaths. But its fine, they don't come up often. I also disliked that the cursor does not stay where you left it between QTime events, you keep having to aim even if you previously were there before. It does add to the tension however.
🧭 Side Activities / Exploration – I found engaged in pressing all the interactable. I think they all had good color to add to the story. I liked talking to each person and getting their thoughts on things. Definitely absorb everything you can and TAKE YOUR TIME with this game!
🚗 Movement/Physics – fine.
📣 Voice acting – Amazing performances with depth of emotion! The height of the voice acting is in the last chapter of the game. I won't spoil it.
🥇 Best thing about the game - Everything!
👎 Worst thing about the game - None. Again saying a lot as if you have followed any of my reviews, you know I am super critical and picky.
[ if you liked the review throw me a like! ❤️ ]
🎮 Platform: Xbox
⌚ Time to finish - 12h (includes season 1 + 400 DLC)
🏆Trophy completion - 100% - easy just play the game and most are story unmissable. 400 DLC does have some non story trophies but easy to revisit with chapter select, but do look them up before hand.
🤬Difficulty - haha... this is an interesting one. :) I would say its difficult because of the choices you have to make not the game play. I agonized over so many decisions only to find out time running out to make a selection. This game has probably the toughest choices I had to make in any game. They nailed it.
🌄Graphics – Good. Its from previous generation so nothing mind blowing but i liked the comic booky feel.
🌦 Atmosphere/Music – Amazing score. Amazing atmosphere. Every chapter in the journey has you meeting interesting characters and going through interesting story beats. I really felt immersed in this world and could understand the motivations of everyone. Here I would give last of us a 1 up on music and atmosphere. But still amazing here.
📚 Main Story / Characters – I loved the story. Its one of the best stories of any media. I really liked seeing each person's motivation and take on what is going on. The fine balance between trust and mistrust, choice and no choice. I really liked most of the characters, but some did not have enough screen time, which is fine. I already was emotionally invested in so many of them. The main characters of Lee & Clem are amazing individuals and amazing together. Clem trying to make sense of this fucked up world, Lee doing his best balancing between a brute that has to protect her and also trying to appeal to her soft side. So good!!
🤺 Combat – It boils down to QTime events, but i felt the sensitivity was too high or not enough time was given to aim your gun, which did cause some unncessary deaths. But its fine, they don't come up often. I also disliked that the cursor does not stay where you left it between QTime events, you keep having to aim even if you previously were there before. It does add to the tension however.
🧭 Side Activities / Exploration – I found engaged in pressing all the interactable. I think they all had good color to add to the story. I liked talking to each person and getting their thoughts on things. Definitely absorb everything you can and TAKE YOUR TIME with this game!
🚗 Movement/Physics – fine.
📣 Voice acting – Amazing performances with depth of emotion! The height of the voice acting is in the last chapter of the game. I won't spoil it.
🥇 Best thing about the game - Everything!
👎 Worst thing about the game - None. Again saying a lot as if you have followed any of my reviews, you know I am super critical and picky.
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This is an hour long experience or so of different characters in the universe and some of the tough choices they make in this dire world. I enjoyed it and would suggest playing it. It doesn't really add to the main story but helps you understand the stories of others in quick bites. It has the great music, story telling, and tough choices the original is known for. But you don't really feel a sense of connection or impact with any of it because the characters are introduced quickly and story is resolved as quickly.
Playtime: 3h
Status: Abandoned
What you may be thinking! Is this guy crazy giving this 2 **!
Well this is a take from someone who didn't grow up with pokemon games, I was already a teenager then. My only real pokemon gaming experience was Go. Which I really liked, the catching aspect and the augmented reality was cool! I also loved showing off my rare pokemon that my friends didn't have. I also remember one of the first 2d pokemons, I enjoyed that too. Apart from that I have no nostalgia or experience with pokemon.
Coming into this game, I found it super boring. Because I don't have pokemon nostalgia, I was looking for some hook in this game. Unfortunately I did not find it. Some people told me they play it to relax and in short bursts. The story is bland, the catching is boring, which essentially just is throw a ball..., the fights were boring, the graphics suck, the tutorial was sooooo damn long with so much text, i am not excited to fill my pokedex. There are so many grindy and boring Pokédex tasks.
Because of my negative view on this game I reached out to my friends in the community to find out why they love this game. From them, I learned the highlights for people is seeing pokemon in their natural habitat, and in the open world, going out and exploring. They got that, but it had no impact on me since I have no clue that for example charazard is a fire pokemon that lives in hot areas, and what his habitat is suppose to look like. I came into this game with 0 expectations, and ready to try what it gave me, and hoping the game would hook me. In contrast, I never played much mario or kirby and I loved those games on the switch!
I am an odd one in this community and I really tried to find ways to like this game. Just couldn’t do it. :)
Status: Abandoned
What you may be thinking! Is this guy crazy giving this 2 **!
Well this is a take from someone who didn't grow up with pokemon games, I was already a teenager then. My only real pokemon gaming experience was Go. Which I really liked, the catching aspect and the augmented reality was cool! I also loved showing off my rare pokemon that my friends didn't have. I also remember one of the first 2d pokemons, I enjoyed that too. Apart from that I have no nostalgia or experience with pokemon.
Coming into this game, I found it super boring. Because I don't have pokemon nostalgia, I was looking for some hook in this game. Unfortunately I did not find it. Some people told me they play it to relax and in short bursts. The story is bland, the catching is boring, which essentially just is throw a ball..., the fights were boring, the graphics suck, the tutorial was sooooo damn long with so much text, i am not excited to fill my pokedex. There are so many grindy and boring Pokédex tasks.
Because of my negative view on this game I reached out to my friends in the community to find out why they love this game. From them, I learned the highlights for people is seeing pokemon in their natural habitat, and in the open world, going out and exploring. They got that, but it had no impact on me since I have no clue that for example charazard is a fire pokemon that lives in hot areas, and what his habitat is suppose to look like. I came into this game with 0 expectations, and ready to try what it gave me, and hoping the game would hook me. In contrast, I never played much mario or kirby and I loved those games on the switch!
I am an odd one in this community and I really tried to find ways to like this game. Just couldn’t do it. :)
2020
Total play time: 2.5h
Status: Abandoned
Sorry this game is not for me. The first 30 minutes are interesting and fun, and then you start the collecting bugs part. Wow some of them are super tedious! Sure you can scan to figure out what they like and how to catch them, so the simple ones are easy enough to figure out. The more complicated ones require you to experiment in unintuitive ways. For example some bugs require you to have 2 bugs interact with each other, if you didn't know that and caught one of the bugs, you CANNOT catch the other bug. You will pull your hair out trying to fiugre out why and then look it up on the internet and realize the "bait" bug you shouldn't have caught, and reload the level.
Though initially it seemed fun to catch bugs the core mechanic of catching bugs is just super tedious and wears you think quickly, due to a more trial and error basis vs it being a puzzle with clues. Too bad it had promise.
Comparing this to arceus which I also bounced off from, this seemed like it introduced some more interesting ways of catching things rather than just throw a pokeball or catch after a fight.
Status: Abandoned
Sorry this game is not for me. The first 30 minutes are interesting and fun, and then you start the collecting bugs part. Wow some of them are super tedious! Sure you can scan to figure out what they like and how to catch them, so the simple ones are easy enough to figure out. The more complicated ones require you to experiment in unintuitive ways. For example some bugs require you to have 2 bugs interact with each other, if you didn't know that and caught one of the bugs, you CANNOT catch the other bug. You will pull your hair out trying to fiugre out why and then look it up on the internet and realize the "bait" bug you shouldn't have caught, and reload the level.
Though initially it seemed fun to catch bugs the core mechanic of catching bugs is just super tedious and wears you think quickly, due to a more trial and error basis vs it being a puzzle with clues. Too bad it had promise.
Comparing this to arceus which I also bounced off from, this seemed like it introduced some more interesting ways of catching things rather than just throw a pokeball or catch after a fight.
Xenoblade Chronicles was overall a good game. I really enjoyed the story, the music, and found the combat initially very engaging. However, samey combat over a span of the game, even when switching characters, and some amount of level grinding, the world being actually smaller than it seems, found me less immersed and ready to get to the next story beat. Overall I enjoyed this game and I would definitely recommend playing it and experiencing the topsy turvy story. If you are new to JRPGs, like me, there is no better place to start! I will offer some tips that will enhance your experience. Lets dive in!
🎮 Platform: Switch OLED
⌚ Time to finish - 36h (some side questing to grind out lvls, switched to casual for last 2 chapters to avoid grind)
🏆Trophy completion - Not sure but its lengthy and long. I do not think this is the sort of game i would want to 100%. The strength of this game is the story and in the first 25% of the game i tried to 100% everything and i did not find it added to the story. Most of the side quests are there to get you $$ and grind out lvls. So use them simply for that and try to get back to the main story asap.
🤬Difficulty - easy. Initially every fight something new is thrown at you, and then slowly it stops and you get use to everything. The game does have the standard rpg issue of being under leveled, and the game ramps up levels quickly especially towards the end. The combat did get very repetitive after 20h so at the end when the enemies are over 10+ lvls more than you, i did not want to grind and I switched to casual so the level diff. penalty is not there. I suggest you do the same unless you really enjoy the combat.
🌄Graphics – On switch the graphics were good. There is a huge open world feel and you transition from area to area without much down time. Pretty impressive. I especially liked all the mech designs and cut scenes. Even if they weren't technically beautiful vs like a ps5, the model design was awesome!
🌦 Atmosphere/Music – Super fun score. the main theme still rings in my head.
📚 Main Story / Characters – This is the highlight of the game! It does eventually turn into super natural, philosophical, sci-fi things as you expect all Japanese stories to turn, but it wasn't overly done and wasn't super pseudo-sciency. You get to explore most characters back story in the party and get to know and learn about them and their motivations. I really liked all the characters and the transformations they go through.
🤺 Combat – Its fast, hard hitting, and flashy! Even the bosses don't feel like a long grind to kill. Its engaging in the beginning, repetitive mid-late. Combat wise apart from the mage, everyone pretty much plays the same. I tried to use the mage, but her spell rotation is convoluted and very risky in boss battles. I just stuck to a 3 tank build with heavy topple focus. Topple is super op. Every battle is the same, press all the cool down buttons, respond to the QTE, throw up shields. What the boss is doing in most cases is irrelevant. Also because of how the game works, i had most of my focus always on the actions bar and not much on the action itself. You need to navigate to press the abilities, so you can't do that if you are staring at the screen, you have to be staring at the bottom of the screen to see when things are coming off cool down, which means you miss everything else. This also means i missed a lot of the flash and cool animations they put in. I wish they went with a tales of arise like style, where an ability is attached to each button.
Shulk was easily my fav to control as you keep him moving. rest are boring press buttons on cool down in right order. if you have any experience with rpgs and ability juggling like in MMORPGs this will be cake.
🧭 Side Activities / Exploration – Not worth it except to close lvl gaps and get money. Initially i was looking at the world and saying wow this is huge! but as i started to explore i realized you don't get much from exploring apart from collectibles. There are no interesting characters there, no extra story beats to add, really nothing. its actually deceptively large.
The game also has a wide array of things i never used. What was the point of collecting mats from mines? I never needed to upgrade my gems, though that system existed.
🚗 Movement/Physics – Great no issues. I wish there was a way to move faster apart from using abilities.
📣 Voice acting – Great voice acting! Really added to the story!
🥇 Best thing about the game - the story! I really enjoyed it. This is why you are here.
👎 Worst thing about the game - none. Its JPRG standard, but I don't like lvl grinds. Switch to casual if you are bored of combat and don't want to lvl grind so you don't loose out on the game experience!
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🎮 Platform: Switch OLED
⌚ Time to finish - 36h (some side questing to grind out lvls, switched to casual for last 2 chapters to avoid grind)
🏆Trophy completion - Not sure but its lengthy and long. I do not think this is the sort of game i would want to 100%. The strength of this game is the story and in the first 25% of the game i tried to 100% everything and i did not find it added to the story. Most of the side quests are there to get you $$ and grind out lvls. So use them simply for that and try to get back to the main story asap.
🤬Difficulty - easy. Initially every fight something new is thrown at you, and then slowly it stops and you get use to everything. The game does have the standard rpg issue of being under leveled, and the game ramps up levels quickly especially towards the end. The combat did get very repetitive after 20h so at the end when the enemies are over 10+ lvls more than you, i did not want to grind and I switched to casual so the level diff. penalty is not there. I suggest you do the same unless you really enjoy the combat.
🌄Graphics – On switch the graphics were good. There is a huge open world feel and you transition from area to area without much down time. Pretty impressive. I especially liked all the mech designs and cut scenes. Even if they weren't technically beautiful vs like a ps5, the model design was awesome!
🌦 Atmosphere/Music – Super fun score. the main theme still rings in my head.
📚 Main Story / Characters – This is the highlight of the game! It does eventually turn into super natural, philosophical, sci-fi things as you expect all Japanese stories to turn, but it wasn't overly done and wasn't super pseudo-sciency. You get to explore most characters back story in the party and get to know and learn about them and their motivations. I really liked all the characters and the transformations they go through.
🤺 Combat – Its fast, hard hitting, and flashy! Even the bosses don't feel like a long grind to kill. Its engaging in the beginning, repetitive mid-late. Combat wise apart from the mage, everyone pretty much plays the same. I tried to use the mage, but her spell rotation is convoluted and very risky in boss battles. I just stuck to a 3 tank build with heavy topple focus. Topple is super op. Every battle is the same, press all the cool down buttons, respond to the QTE, throw up shields. What the boss is doing in most cases is irrelevant. Also because of how the game works, i had most of my focus always on the actions bar and not much on the action itself. You need to navigate to press the abilities, so you can't do that if you are staring at the screen, you have to be staring at the bottom of the screen to see when things are coming off cool down, which means you miss everything else. This also means i missed a lot of the flash and cool animations they put in. I wish they went with a tales of arise like style, where an ability is attached to each button.
Shulk was easily my fav to control as you keep him moving. rest are boring press buttons on cool down in right order. if you have any experience with rpgs and ability juggling like in MMORPGs this will be cake.
🧭 Side Activities / Exploration – Not worth it except to close lvl gaps and get money. Initially i was looking at the world and saying wow this is huge! but as i started to explore i realized you don't get much from exploring apart from collectibles. There are no interesting characters there, no extra story beats to add, really nothing. its actually deceptively large.
The game also has a wide array of things i never used. What was the point of collecting mats from mines? I never needed to upgrade my gems, though that system existed.
🚗 Movement/Physics – Great no issues. I wish there was a way to move faster apart from using abilities.
📣 Voice acting – Great voice acting! Really added to the story!
🥇 Best thing about the game - the story! I really enjoyed it. This is why you are here.
👎 Worst thing about the game - none. Its JPRG standard, but I don't like lvl grinds. Switch to casual if you are bored of combat and don't want to lvl grind so you don't loose out on the game experience!
[ if you liked the review throw me a like! ❤️ ]
2017
A hat in time reminded me of psychonauts mixed with super Mario odyssey. It will be hard not to compare A hat in time to these games. Overall it was an enjoyable platformer, which had neat ideas and very interesting level design. It throws you in the middle of gigantic levels, that are altered in interesting ways each time you visit them. I felt the game did not really make use of all the hats and its powers except to gate you from entering levels/rooms. It is definitely worth playing, for anyone that enjoys platformers, but I was not blown away, lets dive in.
🎮 Platform: Switch OLED
⌚ Time to finish - 14h
🏆Trophy completion - 100% - I would recommend going to for 100%. Majority of the 100% is about collecting all the time pieces and hats. The time pieces are gotten from completing extra levels and i enjoyed some of these levels even more than the main game levels! It reminded me of super Mario Odyssey levels. The game is not overly difficult so 100% never once felt like a chore. For non switch there are other achievements not covered in switch. We have no access to those. Too bad. I wouldn’t have minded in game achievements tracker as a replacement. Also nothing is missable.
🤬Difficulty - easy. There was never anything in this game that gave me trouble, apart from not knowing where to go sometimes. The final boss was definitely a step up in difficulty but its totally doable.
🌄Graphics – On switch the graphics were fine. Nothing that blew me away like first party Nintendo games. Its also clear that because this game is cross platform its not fully optimized for Switch like SM:O was. The draw distance seems too close and the distance blur effect seems too close to my liking. However it never affected the gameplay. I can only imagine on a more powerful machine the amount of draw distance and detail these level designs allow for.
🌦 Atmosphere/Music – Super fun score. I enjoyed it! All the levels are very different and designed creatively.
📚 Main Story / Characters – Story is not the strong point, its just an excuse to collect time pieces. There are some funny and silly characters you meet like in Psychonauts. Mustache girl, mob boss, and others are memorable and silly.
🤺 Combat – Simple. A few punches dashes etc. The boss battles were not hard and all brought in unique mechanics I hadn't seen before. Fighting them was definitely a highlight.
🧭 Side Activities / Exploration – Totally worth exploring and doing the side activities. It is easy to get lost given the size of the levels. When I first launched the game I got lost in the first level because I was expecting a Mario style game. But i went to the wrong part of the map and eventually realized I wasn't suppose to be there. This can happen many many times to you. I wish there was a map and key destination points like in SM:O.
Though the game is called A Hat in Time. I rarely used any of the hats except for when the game gated a level until you got the hat. I thought it was a missed opportunity. Again comparing to SM:O where the hats are integral, or in Kirby you use these abilities to complete challenges, I felt the hats in a hat in time were just a gimmick. too bad.
🚗 Movement/Physics – The game does a great job of allowing you to traverse the level however you want. Its really impressive. You can get from point A to B in whatever set of moves you want. It feels fluid. I will say I missed a varied set of moves like Mario has. I was always using some combo of jump + dash to get around. It kinda got boring to keep repeating this. However, I still recommend everyone experience this for themselves. Its really cool!
📣 Voice acting – Great voice acting.
🥇 Best thing about the game - The level design and traversal was really amazing to see. Every time you revisit a level it changes. Its pretty interesting that an entire level is at your disposal for you to tackle how you see fit. The boss fights were fun.
👎 Worst thing about the game - There is nothing really bad about the game apart from frustration in getting lost in some levels.
[ if you liked the review throw me a like! ❤️ ]
🎮 Platform: Switch OLED
⌚ Time to finish - 14h
🏆Trophy completion - 100% - I would recommend going to for 100%. Majority of the 100% is about collecting all the time pieces and hats. The time pieces are gotten from completing extra levels and i enjoyed some of these levels even more than the main game levels! It reminded me of super Mario Odyssey levels. The game is not overly difficult so 100% never once felt like a chore. For non switch there are other achievements not covered in switch. We have no access to those. Too bad. I wouldn’t have minded in game achievements tracker as a replacement. Also nothing is missable.
🤬Difficulty - easy. There was never anything in this game that gave me trouble, apart from not knowing where to go sometimes. The final boss was definitely a step up in difficulty but its totally doable.
🌄Graphics – On switch the graphics were fine. Nothing that blew me away like first party Nintendo games. Its also clear that because this game is cross platform its not fully optimized for Switch like SM:O was. The draw distance seems too close and the distance blur effect seems too close to my liking. However it never affected the gameplay. I can only imagine on a more powerful machine the amount of draw distance and detail these level designs allow for.
🌦 Atmosphere/Music – Super fun score. I enjoyed it! All the levels are very different and designed creatively.
📚 Main Story / Characters – Story is not the strong point, its just an excuse to collect time pieces. There are some funny and silly characters you meet like in Psychonauts. Mustache girl, mob boss, and others are memorable and silly.
🤺 Combat – Simple. A few punches dashes etc. The boss battles were not hard and all brought in unique mechanics I hadn't seen before. Fighting them was definitely a highlight.
🧭 Side Activities / Exploration – Totally worth exploring and doing the side activities. It is easy to get lost given the size of the levels. When I first launched the game I got lost in the first level because I was expecting a Mario style game. But i went to the wrong part of the map and eventually realized I wasn't suppose to be there. This can happen many many times to you. I wish there was a map and key destination points like in SM:O.
Though the game is called A Hat in Time. I rarely used any of the hats except for when the game gated a level until you got the hat. I thought it was a missed opportunity. Again comparing to SM:O where the hats are integral, or in Kirby you use these abilities to complete challenges, I felt the hats in a hat in time were just a gimmick. too bad.
🚗 Movement/Physics – The game does a great job of allowing you to traverse the level however you want. Its really impressive. You can get from point A to B in whatever set of moves you want. It feels fluid. I will say I missed a varied set of moves like Mario has. I was always using some combo of jump + dash to get around. It kinda got boring to keep repeating this. However, I still recommend everyone experience this for themselves. Its really cool!
📣 Voice acting – Great voice acting.
🥇 Best thing about the game - The level design and traversal was really amazing to see. Every time you revisit a level it changes. Its pretty interesting that an entire level is at your disposal for you to tackle how you see fit. The boss fights were fun.
👎 Worst thing about the game - There is nothing really bad about the game apart from frustration in getting lost in some levels.
[ if you liked the review throw me a like! ❤️ ]
This was my first Kirby game and what a beautiful game it was. I cannot find any faults with this game, which is saying alot as I ripped up Chicory, BOTW, and other fan favorites. Everyone should play this game immediately! I was worried it would feel like SM:Odyssey, Isn't Kirby stealing abilities the same thing as cappy?, though it share the same DNA, its a distinctive enough game. Lets dive in!
🎮 Platform: Switch OLED
⌚ Time to finish - 30h ( 5H+ of this was trying to beat some really hard 100% challenges, which you can probably reduce if you follow my trophy tips below)
🏆Trophy completion - 100% - I did everything this game had to offer. Some things were difficult and i had to repeat some fights, challenges, multiple times, but each time i felt i was getting better and closer to the goal. The only real issue is the 100% requirements is unclear in game. I had to look it up outside to figure out what I needed for 100%. Tip: You do not need to beat the proposed clear time for 100%, you just need to finish the trail before the level timer ends. I will share other tips later.
🤬Difficulty - Nintendo is a master at letting you go through the game at a difficulty that is right for you. I heard many people say the game is easy. Sure the main story is easy, just like every nintendo game. But go for 100% and tell me the game is still easy. :) The Z cup boss gauntlet challenge is no joke, or the don't get hit boss challenges. These took me a while especially the z cup boss gauntlet. I finally gave up after 3+ hours of grinding this challenge and looked up tips online and then played for another 45 mins using the tips and finally beat it. It was satisfying to finally beat it. There was another particularly difficulty one where you can't get hit by 2 yetis. That took a couple hours too until I looked up a solution.
🌄Graphics – Absolutely beautiful. On par with super mario odyssey which is an amazing looking switch game. Characters are smooth, colors are vibrant. The stages and worlds are all very different. I loved it. I couldn't ask for more.
🌦 Atmosphere/Music – Amazing score. They did a great job making a post apolocyptic world vibrant. Nothing stood out apart from the typical charm of nintendo world you come to expect.
📚 Main Story / Characters – As usual a weak main story. But I am not here for that. Since I never played any other kirby games everything was new. I am not sure why the main boss showed up, and it seemed the boss was pretty damn powerful without waddledees so why did they steal it? A lengthy epilogue was weak in story as well. Who knows who cares. It gave me a chance to play more kirby.
🤺 Combat – General combat is not hard but its fun!!!! I loved all the powers, and upgrading them and seeing what they do at each of the 2-3 different upgrades you can get it. Though I gravitated towards ice, fire, hammers i enjoyed experimenting with them all. There are a few clunky ones like tornado, which don't always go where you want it to go when you need precision so I didn't use those as much. The real test of your skill is the 0 damage boss battles and the arenas. Super fun to learn boss patterns and figure out how to counter them. This is not a skill that comes naturally to me so I am still learning.
The final bosses are really really cool. They are dangerous, annoying, challenging, and creative in their abilities. Very very well designed bosses. Each one is different! Though some are easier than others I never felt they recycled anything in the numerous main bosses that you fight.
🧭 Side Activities / Exploration – Absolutely do them! Even if you aren't going to 100% the game, the time trails are great because they will reintroduce you to an ability and create a level focus just around that ability. Because the abilities are so fun to use, i enjoyed levels focused just around these abilities. Some of them are hard. and unless you grind you won't hit the clear time, they are really hard to it, but again not needed for 100%. Sometimes hidden paths lead to an entire sub level! Do everything in this game. Nothing felt cheap, everything was fun!
🚗 Movement/Physics – Excellent. No issues at all. Dodge is going to be crucial for a-lot of harder boss battles and 0 damage runs.
📣 Voice acting – Minimal to none. Kirby squeals.
🥇 Best thing about the game - The game is just fun and creative. Every level is different. The powers are fun, everything this game has is fun. They really nailed it. I cannot find one issue with it, where even in SMB: Odysseys in 100% the game i found issues with certain stars and repetitiveness.
👎 Worst thing about the game - None apart from if you care, no real good 100% requirements tracker in game.
💡Final Thoughts:
Nintendo is a master and 1st party games that nail what their audience is looking for. This nailed it! The levels are fun, they aren't too linear. Its somewhere between your traditional SMB levels mixed with something open like Psychonauts/A Hat in time. This game is a pure pleasure to play and one of the best switch games/games I ever played!
🏆🏆🏆 Trophy Tips 🏆🏆🏆 ( Spoilers obviously, may trivialize some game play):
🏆 use the bomb ability to kill the 2 yetis without taking damage. You need to keep the bomb ability all the way till this boss and not use it anywhere else in the level.
🏆 If you are having trouble, to win the z cup, upgrade your hammers with damage boost, stack attack and speed. Watch some speed run tips on how to kill these bosses fast. The longer a boss stays alive the more dangerous it is.
🏆 not all collectibles are gotten from collecting capsules. Some of them are for doing in game activities, and the waddle-dee gives you a reward of that figure. Look them up if you feel like you keep getting duplicates and can't seem to complete your collection.
🏆 The fastest way to farm money is the 1st colosseum cup, which also gives you a star, which you can grade for a collectible.
🏆 I calculated about a 35-40% chance of getting dupes when using the vending machine for collectibles, so if you think you need 1000 gold, you probably need 1400 gold to complete the set.
🏆 for free 200second boosts, use the sleep ability multiple times when you are in the ability selection hut in waddledee town.
🎮 Platform: Switch OLED
⌚ Time to finish - 30h ( 5H+ of this was trying to beat some really hard 100% challenges, which you can probably reduce if you follow my trophy tips below)
🏆Trophy completion - 100% - I did everything this game had to offer. Some things were difficult and i had to repeat some fights, challenges, multiple times, but each time i felt i was getting better and closer to the goal. The only real issue is the 100% requirements is unclear in game. I had to look it up outside to figure out what I needed for 100%. Tip: You do not need to beat the proposed clear time for 100%, you just need to finish the trail before the level timer ends. I will share other tips later.
🤬Difficulty - Nintendo is a master at letting you go through the game at a difficulty that is right for you. I heard many people say the game is easy. Sure the main story is easy, just like every nintendo game. But go for 100% and tell me the game is still easy. :) The Z cup boss gauntlet challenge is no joke, or the don't get hit boss challenges. These took me a while especially the z cup boss gauntlet. I finally gave up after 3+ hours of grinding this challenge and looked up tips online and then played for another 45 mins using the tips and finally beat it. It was satisfying to finally beat it. There was another particularly difficulty one where you can't get hit by 2 yetis. That took a couple hours too until I looked up a solution.
🌄Graphics – Absolutely beautiful. On par with super mario odyssey which is an amazing looking switch game. Characters are smooth, colors are vibrant. The stages and worlds are all very different. I loved it. I couldn't ask for more.
🌦 Atmosphere/Music – Amazing score. They did a great job making a post apolocyptic world vibrant. Nothing stood out apart from the typical charm of nintendo world you come to expect.
📚 Main Story / Characters – As usual a weak main story. But I am not here for that. Since I never played any other kirby games everything was new. I am not sure why the main boss showed up, and it seemed the boss was pretty damn powerful without waddledees so why did they steal it? A lengthy epilogue was weak in story as well. Who knows who cares. It gave me a chance to play more kirby.
🤺 Combat – General combat is not hard but its fun!!!! I loved all the powers, and upgrading them and seeing what they do at each of the 2-3 different upgrades you can get it. Though I gravitated towards ice, fire, hammers i enjoyed experimenting with them all. There are a few clunky ones like tornado, which don't always go where you want it to go when you need precision so I didn't use those as much. The real test of your skill is the 0 damage boss battles and the arenas. Super fun to learn boss patterns and figure out how to counter them. This is not a skill that comes naturally to me so I am still learning.
The final bosses are really really cool. They are dangerous, annoying, challenging, and creative in their abilities. Very very well designed bosses. Each one is different! Though some are easier than others I never felt they recycled anything in the numerous main bosses that you fight.
🧭 Side Activities / Exploration – Absolutely do them! Even if you aren't going to 100% the game, the time trails are great because they will reintroduce you to an ability and create a level focus just around that ability. Because the abilities are so fun to use, i enjoyed levels focused just around these abilities. Some of them are hard. and unless you grind you won't hit the clear time, they are really hard to it, but again not needed for 100%. Sometimes hidden paths lead to an entire sub level! Do everything in this game. Nothing felt cheap, everything was fun!
🚗 Movement/Physics – Excellent. No issues at all. Dodge is going to be crucial for a-lot of harder boss battles and 0 damage runs.
📣 Voice acting – Minimal to none. Kirby squeals.
🥇 Best thing about the game - The game is just fun and creative. Every level is different. The powers are fun, everything this game has is fun. They really nailed it. I cannot find one issue with it, where even in SMB: Odysseys in 100% the game i found issues with certain stars and repetitiveness.
👎 Worst thing about the game - None apart from if you care, no real good 100% requirements tracker in game.
💡Final Thoughts:
Nintendo is a master and 1st party games that nail what their audience is looking for. This nailed it! The levels are fun, they aren't too linear. Its somewhere between your traditional SMB levels mixed with something open like Psychonauts/A Hat in time. This game is a pure pleasure to play and one of the best switch games/games I ever played!
🏆🏆🏆 Trophy Tips 🏆🏆🏆 ( Spoilers obviously, may trivialize some game play):
🏆 use the bomb ability to kill the 2 yetis without taking damage. You need to keep the bomb ability all the way till this boss and not use it anywhere else in the level.
🏆 If you are having trouble, to win the z cup, upgrade your hammers with damage boost, stack attack and speed. Watch some speed run tips on how to kill these bosses fast. The longer a boss stays alive the more dangerous it is.
🏆 not all collectibles are gotten from collecting capsules. Some of them are for doing in game activities, and the waddle-dee gives you a reward of that figure. Look them up if you feel like you keep getting duplicates and can't seem to complete your collection.
🏆 The fastest way to farm money is the 1st colosseum cup, which also gives you a star, which you can grade for a collectible.
🏆 I calculated about a 35-40% chance of getting dupes when using the vending machine for collectibles, so if you think you need 1000 gold, you probably need 1400 gold to complete the set.
🏆 for free 200second boosts, use the sleep ability multiple times when you are in the ability selection hut in waddledee town.
2018
A short and sweet game and doesn't require my long reviews that I normally write so let me summarize my experience.
Completion: 100% ( you have chapter select nothing is missable, no reason not to 100%)
The game is quick, its 45m-1hr and it goes through the life of Florence. Its engaging and emotional. The story is a heartbreak story and being able to find strength in heartbreak. It was touching. The animation and music and the light puzzles are fitting. This is an artistic game I can get behind. It does not drag the story since we already have seen this in our own lives probably many times. Definitely play it and get lost in Florence's life for 45 minutes. :)
Completion: 100% ( you have chapter select nothing is missable, no reason not to 100%)
The game is quick, its 45m-1hr and it goes through the life of Florence. Its engaging and emotional. The story is a heartbreak story and being able to find strength in heartbreak. It was touching. The animation and music and the light puzzles are fitting. This is an artistic game I can get behind. It does not drag the story since we already have seen this in our own lives probably many times. Definitely play it and get lost in Florence's life for 45 minutes. :)
🎮 Platform: PS5
⌚ Time to finish - 11.5h
🏆Trophy completion - 90% - All trophies but master difficulty were completed. Master difficulty is too hard and I wish they had NG+. however getting to 90% was so lovely. I think its totally worth collecting all this stuff and just staying in the world a little longer! The music, the visuals, the general feel good atmosphere, is so nice. I didn't want to leave this world. I really wish I could have plat this game. That is my only disappointment and it would have been possible with NG+. Unfortunately without the late game skills for a medicore gamer like me master is too hard.
🤬Difficulty - Played on normal 100%. This game is either too easy on story or too hard on normal. Higher modes are brutal. The difficulty of this game is mainly due to very limited healing and crazy damage the bosses do. I am sure if you are a souls veteran and melee combat veteran who can easily read boss patterns you are going to be fine. But some bosses in normal felt like I was playing hard. Some bosses i killed on first try. I really wish this game was a little easier but I did eventually conquer all bosses, even after 10 tries. Generally this is a difficult game along the lines of death's door.
🌄Graphics – Absolutely beautiful. The green vibrant colors, the foliage, the huts, everything. The cute Rot, the facial animations, cut scenes, everything about this game is beautiful. Its one of the best looking games I Have ever seen. Only thing it suffers from is variety. Much of the game is forest, and a little bit of snow capped roads. That's fine though, I loved every minute of the visuals and did not want to leave this world.
🌦 Atmosphere/Music – Amazing score. Amazing atmosphere. However I think the game score is at its best early in the game. It turns it down a notch later in the game. I kept thinking about the score trying to hum it. Its a mix of bali music, drums, and language i don't understand. It comes together nicely and I love it. I am listening to it as I write this review. I really felt immersed in this beautiful world. My fav is this song: https://youtu.be/smQ71FHyuNw?t=236 feels good :)
📚 Main Story / Characters – The main story is simple and charming. This is what I like. Don't make it overly complicated. Kena's main job is to help spirits move on. Its a noble cause and the story is predictable and nothing unique about it. However its to the point. This just goes to show you don't need a complicated story, what you need a character with a noble drive that the player resonates with. The kids in this game are cute. And the Rot are so damn cute. Also I have no clue what Kena in her language to them but how she talks to the Rot in her cute language, just made me feel good inside. Like there is still some good in this world. I know I am getting a little sappy here. But what can I say, I love how she talks to these cute and helpful creatures.
🤺 Combat – Super hard and rewarding. The bosses all look the same though thats my only complaint. However they bring about different mechanics. I think the bosses do WAYYY too much damage. The other criticism is they are impossible to parry, so you just basically dodge all the time. Dodge spam ftw but even then you get hit. So yes this game does require you to understand boss patterns, and react in a timely fashion and appropriately. For someone like me who is medicore, spam dodge and get in bow and couple melee shots usually did the trick. You don't unlock good abilities in the beginning so later on the game actually gets easier. The beginning bosses are an absolute bitch, especially the 2nd one, the woodsmith. OMG!
🧭 Side Activities / Exploration – So worth doing. I wanted to hear the music more. I wanted to find these cute rots and see kena talk to them and be nice to them. In this game its very hard to get lost, the markers are clear and I never once got stuck. That's saying a lot because I am directionally challenged.
🚗 Movement/Physics – Excellent. Everything was responsive in and out of combat. I had no issues with ledges, or timing of temporary platforms. Everything felt fair and doable. There were no frustrating parts i had to keep retrying. Its super polished game.
📣 Voice acting – awesome! The other great thing is the sound design of enemies, even if you don't see them on screen, all their moves are properly telegraphed through audio and visuals. Its very easy to make out when you are about to loose half a chunk of health, dodging it is another story. I am sure if you spend time with it it will be rewarding.
🥇 Best thing about the game - The music and visuals bring for a memorable experience. Its a great overall package though nothing new.
👎 Worst thing about the game - That i could not beat master and get my plat. I really wish I had a plat in this game! it deserves it! NG+ please!!!!
💡Final Thoughts:
Definitely play it. This game doesn't innovate on anything new, but SUPER polished end to end. Don't be afraid to drop it to story if you feel the difficulty is ruining the game. Collect all the rot and make the world a better place. :)
⌚ Time to finish - 11.5h
🏆Trophy completion - 90% - All trophies but master difficulty were completed. Master difficulty is too hard and I wish they had NG+. however getting to 90% was so lovely. I think its totally worth collecting all this stuff and just staying in the world a little longer! The music, the visuals, the general feel good atmosphere, is so nice. I didn't want to leave this world. I really wish I could have plat this game. That is my only disappointment and it would have been possible with NG+. Unfortunately without the late game skills for a medicore gamer like me master is too hard.
🤬Difficulty - Played on normal 100%. This game is either too easy on story or too hard on normal. Higher modes are brutal. The difficulty of this game is mainly due to very limited healing and crazy damage the bosses do. I am sure if you are a souls veteran and melee combat veteran who can easily read boss patterns you are going to be fine. But some bosses in normal felt like I was playing hard. Some bosses i killed on first try. I really wish this game was a little easier but I did eventually conquer all bosses, even after 10 tries. Generally this is a difficult game along the lines of death's door.
🌄Graphics – Absolutely beautiful. The green vibrant colors, the foliage, the huts, everything. The cute Rot, the facial animations, cut scenes, everything about this game is beautiful. Its one of the best looking games I Have ever seen. Only thing it suffers from is variety. Much of the game is forest, and a little bit of snow capped roads. That's fine though, I loved every minute of the visuals and did not want to leave this world.
🌦 Atmosphere/Music – Amazing score. Amazing atmosphere. However I think the game score is at its best early in the game. It turns it down a notch later in the game. I kept thinking about the score trying to hum it. Its a mix of bali music, drums, and language i don't understand. It comes together nicely and I love it. I am listening to it as I write this review. I really felt immersed in this beautiful world. My fav is this song: https://youtu.be/smQ71FHyuNw?t=236 feels good :)
📚 Main Story / Characters – The main story is simple and charming. This is what I like. Don't make it overly complicated. Kena's main job is to help spirits move on. Its a noble cause and the story is predictable and nothing unique about it. However its to the point. This just goes to show you don't need a complicated story, what you need a character with a noble drive that the player resonates with. The kids in this game are cute. And the Rot are so damn cute. Also I have no clue what Kena in her language to them but how she talks to the Rot in her cute language, just made me feel good inside. Like there is still some good in this world. I know I am getting a little sappy here. But what can I say, I love how she talks to these cute and helpful creatures.
🤺 Combat – Super hard and rewarding. The bosses all look the same though thats my only complaint. However they bring about different mechanics. I think the bosses do WAYYY too much damage. The other criticism is they are impossible to parry, so you just basically dodge all the time. Dodge spam ftw but even then you get hit. So yes this game does require you to understand boss patterns, and react in a timely fashion and appropriately. For someone like me who is medicore, spam dodge and get in bow and couple melee shots usually did the trick. You don't unlock good abilities in the beginning so later on the game actually gets easier. The beginning bosses are an absolute bitch, especially the 2nd one, the woodsmith. OMG!
🧭 Side Activities / Exploration – So worth doing. I wanted to hear the music more. I wanted to find these cute rots and see kena talk to them and be nice to them. In this game its very hard to get lost, the markers are clear and I never once got stuck. That's saying a lot because I am directionally challenged.
🚗 Movement/Physics – Excellent. Everything was responsive in and out of combat. I had no issues with ledges, or timing of temporary platforms. Everything felt fair and doable. There were no frustrating parts i had to keep retrying. Its super polished game.
📣 Voice acting – awesome! The other great thing is the sound design of enemies, even if you don't see them on screen, all their moves are properly telegraphed through audio and visuals. Its very easy to make out when you are about to loose half a chunk of health, dodging it is another story. I am sure if you spend time with it it will be rewarding.
🥇 Best thing about the game - The music and visuals bring for a memorable experience. Its a great overall package though nothing new.
👎 Worst thing about the game - That i could not beat master and get my plat. I really wish I had a plat in this game! it deserves it! NG+ please!!!!
💡Final Thoughts:
Definitely play it. This game doesn't innovate on anything new, but SUPER polished end to end. Don't be afraid to drop it to story if you feel the difficulty is ruining the game. Collect all the rot and make the world a better place. :)
Well it seems like the past few crowd favorite games I have reviewed, I have gone against the norm. Well here is another one....
🎮 Platform: PC KB+M (Due to the amount of coloring you do a mouse is fastest. Controller swill get tedious for me)
⌚ Time played - 10h
🏆Trophy completion - Most were just story based. Though nothing is locked post game, there is no real collectible tracker, and collectibles just blend into the background and very easy to miss. You can call parents for hints on some collectibles or more than likely follow a guide. There are tons of things to collect and looks very tedious but doable.
🤬Difficulty - Not very difficult. Your standard puzzles and map traversal. If you love the sort of map traversals in old school Zelda, Oneshot, etc etc, you will be at home. If you get lost in those games, get ready to get lost here. The game does provide you an overwold map, but dungeons do not have a map.
🌄Graphics – what can i say bland. The game has a promise of something interesting happening because you will color the game yourself. Well, you are very limited on colors, brush styles, and basically 95% of the game you just color the whole scene one color and quickly as possible, as the point is to solve puzzles and move to the next area. Just want to make it clear, I am not expecting an MS Paint here. I am looking for a creative take on colorlessness in games.
Sure there are some interesting interactions here and there with mobs, plants, vines, etc. but nothing that doesn't get old after the first 2 hours. For a game that features a world your suppose to color, its very limited in creativity on that.
🌦 Atmosphere/Music – Music is nice. Everyone is super nice to each other, siblings tell each other they love them, that's cool. All for world peace and love. Coupled with this, you have a bit of self-doubt and imposter syndrome in our protagonists. Whatever, did not appeal to me. Its not that I haven't dealt with it, I do, but when character X asks you to leave them alone, you keep coming back to them and pestering them... not realistic. Most stories have some emotional intelligence and support elements, this has more but It did not touch me the way it touched others.
📚 Main Story / Characters – A very typical story. Go to different worlds, solve bunch of puzzles, meet different talking races of people and insects, upgrade your brush to get new skills, with a bit of emo thrown in, blah blah blah
🤺 Combat – Horrible. The main combat in this game is the boss fights. I did 6 boss fights or so and I cannot tell you exactly what happened in them. I just took my brush and swiped on their eye ball or face 1000x times and then something happened and something else happened and eventually it ended. There is no strategy, creativity, you cannot do clever things like erase things, But its inexcusable for 50% of the game every boss fight is exactly this. Its absolutely dumb. the music in the boss fight was great though! I just focused on that.
🧭 Side Activities / Exploration – Holy moly there are a ton of things to collect and VERY easy to miss things. Because nothing has color collectibles just mix into the background. Good luck if you are trying to collect things. Luckily post game you can collect stuff so nothing is locked out.
🚗 Movement/Physics – Annoying. This game only has PUSH, so sometimes you need to push a bomb to a certain area. because of its impreciseness, it gets trapped into a corner ,and you have to reset the puzzle. Because without a pull you can't get it out. How hard is it to implement a pull? There are other annoyances related to manipulating mob movement which I won't get into to not spoil the game. You will see what I mean when you get there. One thing I do like is you can move fast in your own paint when you unlock it very early on in game.
📣 Voice acting – None
🥇 Best thing about the game - None
👎 Worst thing about the game - The core game play is boring.
💡Final Thoughts:
Well I expected a lot from this game. I was expecting some creativity around coloring, an innovative way of exploration, creative uses of color and textures to solve puzzles. Something artistic. However this game is just simply a colorless zelda like 2d exploration game. Coloring and a brush is just a side effect. Right here you are going to argue with me and say well your wrong vin because the abilities your char unlocks are thematic. So far all thr abilities I unlocked are movement related. Go up a painted wall, walk faster on a painted floor, go through a painted vine, you get the idea. If you love your 2d zelda games play this. If you were expecting something artistic, creative, unique look at colorlessness in games, move on. This game overstays its welcome and initially i decided to stop at the 50%. the core game play loop it provides is not why I came here. However, with some prompting from other gamers i finished it and my experience did not change for the 2nd half of 50%. I felt other games do whatever this is trying to do a lot better. For example I think Okami is a great game and innovates on this painting concept! Simply put there is nothing I haven't seen before, except a black and white game. I don't think I have played any black and white games in my life....except this and Toem.
🎮 Platform: PC KB+M (Due to the amount of coloring you do a mouse is fastest. Controller swill get tedious for me)
⌚ Time played - 10h
🏆Trophy completion - Most were just story based. Though nothing is locked post game, there is no real collectible tracker, and collectibles just blend into the background and very easy to miss. You can call parents for hints on some collectibles or more than likely follow a guide. There are tons of things to collect and looks very tedious but doable.
🤬Difficulty - Not very difficult. Your standard puzzles and map traversal. If you love the sort of map traversals in old school Zelda, Oneshot, etc etc, you will be at home. If you get lost in those games, get ready to get lost here. The game does provide you an overwold map, but dungeons do not have a map.
🌄Graphics – what can i say bland. The game has a promise of something interesting happening because you will color the game yourself. Well, you are very limited on colors, brush styles, and basically 95% of the game you just color the whole scene one color and quickly as possible, as the point is to solve puzzles and move to the next area. Just want to make it clear, I am not expecting an MS Paint here. I am looking for a creative take on colorlessness in games.
Sure there are some interesting interactions here and there with mobs, plants, vines, etc. but nothing that doesn't get old after the first 2 hours. For a game that features a world your suppose to color, its very limited in creativity on that.
🌦 Atmosphere/Music – Music is nice. Everyone is super nice to each other, siblings tell each other they love them, that's cool. All for world peace and love. Coupled with this, you have a bit of self-doubt and imposter syndrome in our protagonists. Whatever, did not appeal to me. Its not that I haven't dealt with it, I do, but when character X asks you to leave them alone, you keep coming back to them and pestering them... not realistic. Most stories have some emotional intelligence and support elements, this has more but It did not touch me the way it touched others.
📚 Main Story / Characters – A very typical story. Go to different worlds, solve bunch of puzzles, meet different talking races of people and insects, upgrade your brush to get new skills, with a bit of emo thrown in, blah blah blah
🤺 Combat – Horrible. The main combat in this game is the boss fights. I did 6 boss fights or so and I cannot tell you exactly what happened in them. I just took my brush and swiped on their eye ball or face 1000x times and then something happened and something else happened and eventually it ended. There is no strategy, creativity, you cannot do clever things like erase things, But its inexcusable for 50% of the game every boss fight is exactly this. Its absolutely dumb. the music in the boss fight was great though! I just focused on that.
🧭 Side Activities / Exploration – Holy moly there are a ton of things to collect and VERY easy to miss things. Because nothing has color collectibles just mix into the background. Good luck if you are trying to collect things. Luckily post game you can collect stuff so nothing is locked out.
🚗 Movement/Physics – Annoying. This game only has PUSH, so sometimes you need to push a bomb to a certain area. because of its impreciseness, it gets trapped into a corner ,and you have to reset the puzzle. Because without a pull you can't get it out. How hard is it to implement a pull? There are other annoyances related to manipulating mob movement which I won't get into to not spoil the game. You will see what I mean when you get there. One thing I do like is you can move fast in your own paint when you unlock it very early on in game.
📣 Voice acting – None
🥇 Best thing about the game - None
👎 Worst thing about the game - The core game play is boring.
💡Final Thoughts:
Well I expected a lot from this game. I was expecting some creativity around coloring, an innovative way of exploration, creative uses of color and textures to solve puzzles. Something artistic. However this game is just simply a colorless zelda like 2d exploration game. Coloring and a brush is just a side effect. Right here you are going to argue with me and say well your wrong vin because the abilities your char unlocks are thematic. So far all thr abilities I unlocked are movement related. Go up a painted wall, walk faster on a painted floor, go through a painted vine, you get the idea. If you love your 2d zelda games play this. If you were expecting something artistic, creative, unique look at colorlessness in games, move on. This game overstays its welcome and initially i decided to stop at the 50%. the core game play loop it provides is not why I came here. However, with some prompting from other gamers i finished it and my experience did not change for the 2nd half of 50%. I felt other games do whatever this is trying to do a lot better. For example I think Okami is a great game and innovates on this painting concept! Simply put there is nothing I haven't seen before, except a black and white game. I don't think I have played any black and white games in my life....except this and Toem.