sairam71
๐ฎ Platform: Switch
โ Time played - 3h
โญ Score: 2.5/5 ( Fine for a few hours and then boring and repetitive )
๐ Difficulty: easy game
๐ Full Review:
Simply put the game's novelty wears off quick and its super repetitive. There isn't enough variety in game play or the challenges and battles to keep it going. I played it in prep for the new mario + rabbids game. I think playing this for 3h was more than enough for me to see whats going on. I had no interest to return to it and abandoned the game.
โ Time played - 3h
โญ Score: 2.5/5 ( Fine for a few hours and then boring and repetitive )
๐ Difficulty: easy game
๐ Full Review:
Simply put the game's novelty wears off quick and its super repetitive. There isn't enough variety in game play or the challenges and battles to keep it going. I played it in prep for the new mario + rabbids game. I think playing this for 3h was more than enough for me to see whats going on. I had no interest to return to it and abandoned the game.
๐ฎ Platform: PS5
โ Time played - 8
โญ Score: 3/5 ( a fine playable game)
๐ Difficulty: easy game
๐ Full Review:
Because i played the original game to plat and all its DLCs this game felt super repetitive and somewhat boring. This felt to the quality of the spiderman DLC and does not match the original game in any way.
- Story is boring and typical B level hollywood movie script, where everything is predictable
- Miles voice is SUPER winy.... my god.
- Combat got boring as its pretty much like the original. I turned down the difficulty so the fights would end.
- Plat the game would have been easy but since i wasn't enjoying i wasn't going to subject myself to it
- Nothing memorable or amazing set pieces in this game. I was really missing them. Boss fights were non memorable.
- Graphics were better but it didnt save the game.
I hope spiderman 2 is better than this. I say if you played the original just skip this.
โ Time played - 8
โญ Score: 3/5 ( a fine playable game)
๐ Difficulty: easy game
๐ Full Review:
Because i played the original game to plat and all its DLCs this game felt super repetitive and somewhat boring. This felt to the quality of the spiderman DLC and does not match the original game in any way.
- Story is boring and typical B level hollywood movie script, where everything is predictable
- Miles voice is SUPER winy.... my god.
- Combat got boring as its pretty much like the original. I turned down the difficulty so the fights would end.
- Plat the game would have been easy but since i wasn't enjoying i wasn't going to subject myself to it
- Nothing memorable or amazing set pieces in this game. I was really missing them. Boss fights were non memorable.
- Graphics were better but it didnt save the game.
I hope spiderman 2 is better than this. I say if you played the original just skip this.
๐ฎ Platform: PS5
โ Time played - 5.5h
โญ Score: 3/5 ( a fine game which I abandoned due to frustration and difficulty)
๐ Difficulty: Played on normal. The first half of the game felt normal. Then the survival boss battle kicked into high gear and I just kept dying over and over. No way to switch to easy. I am here for the story not a souls game.
๐ Full Review:
This review is from a person who hasn't played many survival horror games.
So my expectation of this game was a story driven horror game. It delivered all that and then some more which I didn't like. I really loved the atmosphere and the first half of the game.
I didn't realize that the survival aspect of this game is very hard! This game started off great and i was really really enjoying it. And half way point the difficulty ramps up 5x. up till now i had no problem defeating anything trying a couple times. And at the half way point the boss battles ram up crazy and i finally got past the mid point boss after 20+ tries. Few others i played with had the same issue, and some others didn't. After the the next boss showed up, who wasn't hard, but after trying it 5 times i said forget this game. I am already worn out from the previous boss and i can't keep doing this. Its just not fun.
If they didn't F** with the difficulty this would have been an easy 4 stars.
โ Time played - 5.5h
โญ Score: 3/5 ( a fine game which I abandoned due to frustration and difficulty)
๐ Difficulty: Played on normal. The first half of the game felt normal. Then the survival boss battle kicked into high gear and I just kept dying over and over. No way to switch to easy. I am here for the story not a souls game.
๐ Full Review:
This review is from a person who hasn't played many survival horror games.
So my expectation of this game was a story driven horror game. It delivered all that and then some more which I didn't like. I really loved the atmosphere and the first half of the game.
I didn't realize that the survival aspect of this game is very hard! This game started off great and i was really really enjoying it. And half way point the difficulty ramps up 5x. up till now i had no problem defeating anything trying a couple times. And at the half way point the boss battles ram up crazy and i finally got past the mid point boss after 20+ tries. Few others i played with had the same issue, and some others didn't. After the the next boss showed up, who wasn't hard, but after trying it 5 times i said forget this game. I am already worn out from the previous boss and i can't keep doing this. Its just not fun.
If they didn't F** with the difficulty this would have been an easy 4 stars.
2019
I will play this time to time because my son and wife like it. Its a poor man's version of diablo 3. Its fun to play once in a while but i would never seek out this game. I am not sure the game has very different play styles between chars and i just think some items are flat out better.
๐ฎ Platform: Nintendo Switch
โ Time played - 5h
โญ Score: 3/5 ( a fine game)
๐ Difficulty: Played on normal, felt easy compared to other platformers.
๐ Full Review:
This game reminded me a lot of Kirby's epic yarn. But just not as fun. This game was some how just missing the magic. There were a few levels here and there but just because its a 1st party title doesn't mean it has the charm, the music, the fun that oozes out of most 1st party nintendo games. I just can't put my finger on it. Its almost as if they hired the B team here.
The biggest Issue i had with this game was the gating of zones by # of flowers you collect playing each level. Because I didn't think it was a stellar game, i really just wanted to finish the levels and just beat the game, so i often rushed through levels which bit, me because i got gated to next zone for not having enough collectible flowers. Now I have to go back and replay levels to collect more and more flowers. I got to about 75% of the game and then when i had to basically start looking up how to replay levels to get more flowers on youtube (I am not a platform veteran/expert), i said i should stop.
Most of the levels were basic and fine. Few levels were creative and things i hadn't seen before. This is no super mario 3d world.
โ Time played - 5h
โญ Score: 3/5 ( a fine game)
๐ Difficulty: Played on normal, felt easy compared to other platformers.
๐ Full Review:
This game reminded me a lot of Kirby's epic yarn. But just not as fun. This game was some how just missing the magic. There were a few levels here and there but just because its a 1st party title doesn't mean it has the charm, the music, the fun that oozes out of most 1st party nintendo games. I just can't put my finger on it. Its almost as if they hired the B team here.
The biggest Issue i had with this game was the gating of zones by # of flowers you collect playing each level. Because I didn't think it was a stellar game, i really just wanted to finish the levels and just beat the game, so i often rushed through levels which bit, me because i got gated to next zone for not having enough collectible flowers. Now I have to go back and replay levels to collect more and more flowers. I got to about 75% of the game and then when i had to basically start looking up how to replay levels to get more flowers on youtube (I am not a platform veteran/expert), i said i should stop.
Most of the levels were basic and fine. Few levels were creative and things i hadn't seen before. This is no super mario 3d world.
๐ฎ Platform: XBOX Series X
โ Time played - 17h (no trophy hunting at all rush straight through)
โญ Score: 2.7/5
๐Trophy completion - 57% - just whatever i got completing the game.
๐ Full Review:
This game is worse than the 1st game and a completely mediocore to boring game. Sorry guys. Before i dive in deep why, let me tell you one of my FAVORITE types of games are emotional story driven games, such as drake series, last of us, walking dead, etc. However for me to enjoy the games the game has to have emotion, good chars, and an actual engaging story, none of which exists here. Since I did finish the game, it wasn't utter trash so its definitely a finishable game even with its flaws.
- Loved the music, and visuals. one of the best looking games and runs smooth as butter on XboX. This team did their A+ job here.
- The story is boring and nothing creative. I was waiting for a story line that is not typical and something that 90% of us wouldn't be able to think of. The story doesn't go anywhere. Ideas they set forth are never fleshed out or completely forgotten. The story department completely dropped the ball.
- The game is EXTREMELY padded. It starts off nice and ends somewhat nice, but everything in between has so much fluff in it. Its almost like they finished the game and said shit... that was like 4 hours long. How do we add more? I've played enough of these games to know that its never straight forward from A -> B, but how to get there is just not fun here. Examples of fluff:
1) The captain of the boat gets his boat stuck (really?), doesn't lift a finger, and the entire chapter is you doing rat puzzles to unstuck the boat. Nothing about the story line.
2) Go from point a -> b avoiding guards, only to reach point b, repeat the same story point over again, and now go back to to b -> except with now rats chasing you. Over and over again.
3) Go to a -> b, except you randomly lost party members and have to find them first.
-Gameplay is boring. Taking down guards is not fun, its not even puzzly. Dealing with rats is not fun. honestly i would just run through guareds and just go to the next check point because it was so boring. Gameplay doesn't know what it wants to be, it starts off guard and rats, and environmental puzzles, and then completely does away with most of it towards last 30% of game.
-the lore behind the rats, what they can do, what they can't, why they can overwhelm someone with torch, sometimes they can't, it doesnt make any sense from a lore perspective. The whole Ma*** thing is never fully explained.
- All side characters are boring once again. They come and go as the story device needs them.
If you want to enjoy this game just turn off ALL logic part of your brain, ignore anything you have come to expect from previous story driven games, and just focus on the visuals. I am that guy who watches movies and wants things to connect, if you are such a person you will really dislike this game. If you are the kind of person that can turn that part of your brain off, then you can likely do that here and enjoy what is offered to you.
โ Time played - 17h (no trophy hunting at all rush straight through)
โญ Score: 2.7/5
๐Trophy completion - 57% - just whatever i got completing the game.
๐ Full Review:
This game is worse than the 1st game and a completely mediocore to boring game. Sorry guys. Before i dive in deep why, let me tell you one of my FAVORITE types of games are emotional story driven games, such as drake series, last of us, walking dead, etc. However for me to enjoy the games the game has to have emotion, good chars, and an actual engaging story, none of which exists here. Since I did finish the game, it wasn't utter trash so its definitely a finishable game even with its flaws.
- Loved the music, and visuals. one of the best looking games and runs smooth as butter on XboX. This team did their A+ job here.
- The story is boring and nothing creative. I was waiting for a story line that is not typical and something that 90% of us wouldn't be able to think of. The story doesn't go anywhere. Ideas they set forth are never fleshed out or completely forgotten. The story department completely dropped the ball.
- The game is EXTREMELY padded. It starts off nice and ends somewhat nice, but everything in between has so much fluff in it. Its almost like they finished the game and said shit... that was like 4 hours long. How do we add more? I've played enough of these games to know that its never straight forward from A -> B, but how to get there is just not fun here. Examples of fluff:
1) The captain of the boat gets his boat stuck (really?), doesn't lift a finger, and the entire chapter is you doing rat puzzles to unstuck the boat. Nothing about the story line.
2) Go from point a -> b avoiding guards, only to reach point b, repeat the same story point over again, and now go back to to b -> except with now rats chasing you. Over and over again.
3) Go to a -> b, except you randomly lost party members and have to find them first.
-Gameplay is boring. Taking down guards is not fun, its not even puzzly. Dealing with rats is not fun. honestly i would just run through guareds and just go to the next check point because it was so boring. Gameplay doesn't know what it wants to be, it starts off guard and rats, and environmental puzzles, and then completely does away with most of it towards last 30% of game.
-the lore behind the rats, what they can do, what they can't, why they can overwhelm someone with torch, sometimes they can't, it doesnt make any sense from a lore perspective. The whole Ma*** thing is never fully explained.
- All side characters are boring once again. They come and go as the story device needs them.
If you want to enjoy this game just turn off ALL logic part of your brain, ignore anything you have come to expect from previous story driven games, and just focus on the visuals. I am that guy who watches movies and wants things to connect, if you are such a person you will really dislike this game. If you are the kind of person that can turn that part of your brain off, then you can likely do that here and enjoy what is offered to you.
2022
Never played splatoon before and this was my first foray into it. This game is definitely most fun multiplayer but i am not that great at fps style games with a twin stick, i grew up playing these on K+M and competed on K+M. So whenever i have to play with controllers competitively, I can't but help think of what my potential is and it gets frustrating fast. As a result i tried to play campaign. There were some fun mechanics here but ultimately decided to stop playing. It was fun but just didnt hold me. Awesome music though!
๐ฎ Platform: PS5
โ Time played - 12.5h (some frustrating levels at the end added to this. Could have been an 11 hour run otherwise, with collectibles hunting included)
โญ Score: 3.7/5
๐Trophy completion - 56% - Easy but not really a fun trophy. Things to collect, have to look up mid chapter achievements etc. This means you are not immersing yourself in the game, and also means you really need a 2nd play-through. Chapter select is there so nothing is missable, but there is no way to jump to mid chapter to pick up missing trophies. I don't understand why games don't give you ability to jump to all the checkpoints IN chapters. Missed about 25% collectibles but i wasn't going to bother. On PS5 you get in game hints which are helpful if you get stuck or want to collect things. They were good. Also to upgrade all your items for trophy lots of materials are really hard to miss so if you don't collect enough you literally have to play everything looking for mats....
๐ Full Review:
Overall a good game that had me immersed. However the story is nothing creative. I believe I saw the movie Willard who did the same thing :) I would say if you generally like story driven games with good emotional touch play this.
- Generally enjoyable story though nothing creative
- Good emotional moments between the main char and the boy.
- Mid story beats of stealth take downs weren't too repetitive, but because there is no depth to it, it can get boring for people
- last 2 chapters were very glitchy, auto aim deliberately stopped working and i had to do this one fight 10 times in the last chapter. it was frustrating. Aiming is SUPER hard in this game when aim assist isn't working.
- Side characters were forgettable. They were generally there to push levers, fill the silence. Sorry.
- Game doesn't do much to explain WHY these things are happening. Maybe part 2 does.
โ Time played - 12.5h (some frustrating levels at the end added to this. Could have been an 11 hour run otherwise, with collectibles hunting included)
โญ Score: 3.7/5
๐Trophy completion - 56% - Easy but not really a fun trophy. Things to collect, have to look up mid chapter achievements etc. This means you are not immersing yourself in the game, and also means you really need a 2nd play-through. Chapter select is there so nothing is missable, but there is no way to jump to mid chapter to pick up missing trophies. I don't understand why games don't give you ability to jump to all the checkpoints IN chapters. Missed about 25% collectibles but i wasn't going to bother. On PS5 you get in game hints which are helpful if you get stuck or want to collect things. They were good. Also to upgrade all your items for trophy lots of materials are really hard to miss so if you don't collect enough you literally have to play everything looking for mats....
๐ Full Review:
Overall a good game that had me immersed. However the story is nothing creative. I believe I saw the movie Willard who did the same thing :) I would say if you generally like story driven games with good emotional touch play this.
- Generally enjoyable story though nothing creative
- Good emotional moments between the main char and the boy.
- Mid story beats of stealth take downs weren't too repetitive, but because there is no depth to it, it can get boring for people
- last 2 chapters were very glitchy, auto aim deliberately stopped working and i had to do this one fight 10 times in the last chapter. it was frustrating. Aiming is SUPER hard in this game when aim assist isn't working.
- Side characters were forgettable. They were generally there to push levers, fill the silence. Sorry.
- Game doesn't do much to explain WHY these things are happening. Maybe part 2 does.
I got till about world 2 after dying soooo many times. Then world 3 turned up the heat. I tried the easiest difficulty character and I just suck at this game. its hard. Way harder than super mario 3d world which i got all the stars and top of flags for, with a bit of effort. i did not grow up with platfomers and this game definitely seems like its for 2d platform mario veterans. i enjoyed what i saw and the creativity of all the levels despite sucking at it.
2020
Ran into a bug in the first 30 minutes and could not progress. Game did not interest me enough in first 30 minutes to try again.
2022
Not my kind of game. Lots of reading and exploring around town. Kinda reminded me of games like night in the woods. I am not generally a fan of such games. But if you are I am sure you will enjoy it.
2018
๐ฎ Platform: PS5
โ Time played - 29h (platinum main game + 3 DLC fiished. Yea i did this at mad speed :) )
โญ Score: 4.3/5
๐Trophy completion - Plat the main game. Definitely a fun plat and would recommend though the crime missions got repetitive after a while and my brain shut off. Thought the plat was fun, I did not feel like i needed more of this content so I did not 100% the 3 DLCs.
๐ Full Review:
The gold standard to me for any super hero game is the Arkham Series. Though this game does not live up to that benchmark in every aspect there are some aspects it does and some where it falls short. One can definitely see the influence of that game here.
- I found the main story to be pretty interesting and gripping and one of its highlights. It felt like a real thought out story, which alot of games don't seem to do anymore. The DLC story was fine, nothing out of the ordinary.
- The combat became repetitive and the stealth missions lacked variety. It always ended up slam a guy from the air, web him, or lure him with webs. This was imo mediocore.
- Swinging through NY is generally very smooth and was always fun even after the 20th hour.
- The non Spiderman missions with alternate characters were fine, but not anything i was looking forward to.
I will take a break and hit up Miles Morales next.
โ Time played - 29h (platinum main game + 3 DLC fiished. Yea i did this at mad speed :) )
โญ Score: 4.3/5
๐Trophy completion - Plat the main game. Definitely a fun plat and would recommend though the crime missions got repetitive after a while and my brain shut off. Thought the plat was fun, I did not feel like i needed more of this content so I did not 100% the 3 DLCs.
๐ Full Review:
The gold standard to me for any super hero game is the Arkham Series. Though this game does not live up to that benchmark in every aspect there are some aspects it does and some where it falls short. One can definitely see the influence of that game here.
- I found the main story to be pretty interesting and gripping and one of its highlights. It felt like a real thought out story, which alot of games don't seem to do anymore. The DLC story was fine, nothing out of the ordinary.
- The combat became repetitive and the stealth missions lacked variety. It always ended up slam a guy from the air, web him, or lure him with webs. This was imo mediocore.
- Swinging through NY is generally very smooth and was always fun even after the 20th hour.
- The non Spiderman missions with alternate characters were fine, but not anything i was looking forward to.
I will take a break and hit up Miles Morales next.
๐ฎ Platform: PS5
โ Time played - 8h
โญScore: 4/5
๐Trophy completion - Game requires multiple play throughs and time trials. I generally don't try to plat such games.
๐ Full Review:
I never got to play this on the ps2 and went straight to remaster in ps5. I can only imagine that when this came out on ps2 it was unlike anything at that time. i wonder if god of war got inspiration from this because the only other game i played where you are scaling gigantic beasts is GOW.
Overall it was a fun game and I really enjoyed it. The boss battles are tense not because you are getting your ass beat, but because of the mechanics of having to crawl and grab large areas of fur clinging on to dear life while the beast tries to get you off. How to defeat each boss is a puzzle. Most are pretty intuitive once you think about it which I appreciated. There are some obscure ones but the clues they give help alot.
Music is great, tense, and immersive. The world is beautiful too as you traverse it.
The controls are clunky but i didn't have too much trouble with it. The camera unnecessarily pans also didn't bother me. I know for others these were show stoppers.
Definitely experience this game. Meet the different and varied colossi that show up. Leave thinking about the touching and simple story. The game has this fine balance of telling you just enough but not everything to leave you with a sense of fulfillment yet wonderment. Its really interesting how they did that.
โ Time played - 8h
โญScore: 4/5
๐Trophy completion - Game requires multiple play throughs and time trials. I generally don't try to plat such games.
๐ Full Review:
I never got to play this on the ps2 and went straight to remaster in ps5. I can only imagine that when this came out on ps2 it was unlike anything at that time. i wonder if god of war got inspiration from this because the only other game i played where you are scaling gigantic beasts is GOW.
Overall it was a fun game and I really enjoyed it. The boss battles are tense not because you are getting your ass beat, but because of the mechanics of having to crawl and grab large areas of fur clinging on to dear life while the beast tries to get you off. How to defeat each boss is a puzzle. Most are pretty intuitive once you think about it which I appreciated. There are some obscure ones but the clues they give help alot.
Music is great, tense, and immersive. The world is beautiful too as you traverse it.
The controls are clunky but i didn't have too much trouble with it. The camera unnecessarily pans also didn't bother me. I know for others these were show stoppers.
Definitely experience this game. Meet the different and varied colossi that show up. Leave thinking about the touching and simple story. The game has this fine balance of telling you just enough but not everything to leave you with a sense of fulfillment yet wonderment. Its really interesting how they did that.
๐ฎ Platform: PC
โ Time played - 2h
โญScore: 3.4/5
๐Trophy completion - GOG games do not support trophies so no clue.
๐ Full Review:
After having heard so much about the game i finished it and felt a little underwhelmed by the ending. Maybe thats just the purpose of it. The game is about grandiose tales of many members in the finch family dying and how they die. Many of the sequences are very creative in how they depict death, weaving fantasy and reality. Those scenes were pretty cool. Some of the game's death do leave you with an emotional impact, and others don't. There are also so many deaths in the game with so many family members who you don't really have a connection with that its sometimes hard to care about them dying.
Overall i suggest playing it but wouldn't consider it a masterpiece. If you are into subtle narration and metaphors and unqiue story telling i think you will like it a lot.
โ Time played - 2h
โญScore: 3.4/5
๐Trophy completion - GOG games do not support trophies so no clue.
๐ Full Review:
After having heard so much about the game i finished it and felt a little underwhelmed by the ending. Maybe thats just the purpose of it. The game is about grandiose tales of many members in the finch family dying and how they die. Many of the sequences are very creative in how they depict death, weaving fantasy and reality. Those scenes were pretty cool. Some of the game's death do leave you with an emotional impact, and others don't. There are also so many deaths in the game with so many family members who you don't really have a connection with that its sometimes hard to care about them dying.
Overall i suggest playing it but wouldn't consider it a masterpiece. If you are into subtle narration and metaphors and unqiue story telling i think you will like it a lot.
2020
๐ฎ Platform: Nintendo Switch
โ Time played - 10h
โญScore: 3.9/5
๐Trophy completion - I believe you can go around and collect all the optional fruit and could have been fun but I did not want to overstay its welcome. I have other games in backlog itching to get through. Completed whatever was necessary and any i discovered accidentally or looked fun to get.
๐ Full Review:
This game reminds me very much of a simple RTS. Though I assume if you got really good at this game you can run things in parallel with multiple leaders like RTS require, I never really needed that. Its a good introduction to fundamental elements of an RTS. Overall its a short and fun game. Its to the point and not overly complicated. I really loved the hint system in case you got stuck, you can use the hint and it will map where you need to go. Really simple and fun and straightforward. Highlight was definitely the boss battles! Having you mix up your pikmin usage but also being very forgiving. Overall a definite recommend with no real drawbacks.
Pros:
approachable , engaging, and fun game play loop. Building the world with different pikmin abilities and then going after the boss. Then moving onto the next world.
Hard to get stuck due to hint system
i liked the world of pikmin. Its alive, cute and believable and looks great! Though not the level of 1st party visuals. Feel good Nintendo world. :)
Some cool puzzles where the leaders have to coop and split up. Wish there was more of it. Often times all the leaders are in one place and you pick the right pikmin for the job.
Cons:
minor: I am use to playing these sorts of "micro" control games with a mouse. It took me a little bit of time to get use to the times when i needed precision. EX: if you call your pikmin w/whistle they will drop what they are carrying, when i sometimes just wanted stragglers to follow me. NOT drop the carriers. You have to be very careful where you aim your whistle sometimes.
minor: lack of real story
โ Time played - 10h
โญScore: 3.9/5
๐Trophy completion - I believe you can go around and collect all the optional fruit and could have been fun but I did not want to overstay its welcome. I have other games in backlog itching to get through. Completed whatever was necessary and any i discovered accidentally or looked fun to get.
๐ Full Review:
This game reminds me very much of a simple RTS. Though I assume if you got really good at this game you can run things in parallel with multiple leaders like RTS require, I never really needed that. Its a good introduction to fundamental elements of an RTS. Overall its a short and fun game. Its to the point and not overly complicated. I really loved the hint system in case you got stuck, you can use the hint and it will map where you need to go. Really simple and fun and straightforward. Highlight was definitely the boss battles! Having you mix up your pikmin usage but also being very forgiving. Overall a definite recommend with no real drawbacks.
Pros:
approachable , engaging, and fun game play loop. Building the world with different pikmin abilities and then going after the boss. Then moving onto the next world.
Hard to get stuck due to hint system
i liked the world of pikmin. Its alive, cute and believable and looks great! Though not the level of 1st party visuals. Feel good Nintendo world. :)
Some cool puzzles where the leaders have to coop and split up. Wish there was more of it. Often times all the leaders are in one place and you pick the right pikmin for the job.
Cons:
minor: I am use to playing these sorts of "micro" control games with a mouse. It took me a little bit of time to get use to the times when i needed precision. EX: if you call your pikmin w/whistle they will drop what they are carrying, when i sometimes just wanted stragglers to follow me. NOT drop the carriers. You have to be very careful where you aim your whistle sometimes.
minor: lack of real story