setareh
2024
at long last somebody dared to ask "what if tabtarget mmo combat was fun actually"
Seth did irreversible damage to seven-year-old-mes psyche, the reverberations of which are still felt to this day
Hector my beloved
massive pvp rework which doesn't save it but makes it slightly more bearable, a visually striking alliance raid (that could stand to be like twice as difficult) and the introduction of trusts for 2.0 dungeons. lots of other stuff but those are the big 3 for me (I don't have friends to do ultimates with but I hear DSR is good). all in all, a very promising start to the 6.xx series. story is inoffensive and is largely just setup. good stuff all around
This review contains spoilers
i found out that you can review each individual patch so redoing this one for just 6.0
if not for the incredible emotional payoff brought about by the story (yes, I AM a sucker for the same 3 songs being played over and over again in cutscenes but with a sad piano melody this time), this expansion would be a 2/5. completely throws the entire world into the garbage in favor of a blank slate for 7.0 in literally every aspect. there is countless plot threads that COULD be explored in greater detail which are dismissed with no effort. every mystery of the world was solved in the blink of an eye. incredibly disappointing
dungeons are universally "Walk Down A Hallway And Pull 2 Packs Of Monsters Two Or Three Times And Then Fight A Boss, Repeat This Three Times", trials are... fine? and the first raid tier has some of the best armor/weapon designs in the game. all in all, each individual part of endwalker is either some of the best there has ever been for XIV, or the absolute worst. and as we get further into the individual patches, we lean more towards "the absolute worst"
but again, good emotional payoff and I am a sucker for that
if not for the incredible emotional payoff brought about by the story (yes, I AM a sucker for the same 3 songs being played over and over again in cutscenes but with a sad piano melody this time), this expansion would be a 2/5. completely throws the entire world into the garbage in favor of a blank slate for 7.0 in literally every aspect. there is countless plot threads that COULD be explored in greater detail which are dismissed with no effort. every mystery of the world was solved in the blink of an eye. incredibly disappointing
dungeons are universally "Walk Down A Hallway And Pull 2 Packs Of Monsters Two Or Three Times And Then Fight A Boss, Repeat This Three Times", trials are... fine? and the first raid tier has some of the best armor/weapon designs in the game. all in all, each individual part of endwalker is either some of the best there has ever been for XIV, or the absolute worst. and as we get further into the individual patches, we lean more towards "the absolute worst"
but again, good emotional payoff and I am a sucker for that
2024
This game is the quintessential sequel to dragon's dogma in every way. Whatever you liked about the first one is still present and arguably better here than it was before. Whatever you disliked about the first one is still present and arguably worse than before. For me, the first one was the perfect encapsulation of dozens of vague concepts that I have in my head for what would be a "good" and "fun" game. Things didn't always mesh very well together and it was clearly rushed in some places. That same concept applies perfectly to Dragon's Dogma 2. It takes out everything that I envision in my dream game and throws it all on the table, often with no disregard for conflicting desires.
Dragon's Dogma 1 was janky and rushed. It's also one of the most entertaining open world games I've ever played. Dragon's Dogma 2 was janky (arguably moreso) and rushed (arguably less so). It's also the most entertaining open world game that I've ever played. When I think about the parts of the game that maybe fell flat in some cases, those memories are juxtaposed with thoughts of climbing onto the back of a griffin as it takes flight, sending me on a journey across Vermund, only for that journey to end in a crash landing when I eventually make my way to it's head and land a solid blow on it.
In every way, DD2 is a worthy sequel to the first one. It doesn't reinvent the series. It takes the parts that made the first one unique and doubles down on them, for better or worse. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Dragon's Dogma 1 was janky and rushed. It's also one of the most entertaining open world games I've ever played. Dragon's Dogma 2 was janky (arguably moreso) and rushed (arguably less so). It's also the most entertaining open world game that I've ever played. When I think about the parts of the game that maybe fell flat in some cases, those memories are juxtaposed with thoughts of climbing onto the back of a griffin as it takes flight, sending me on a journey across Vermund, only for that journey to end in a crash landing when I eventually make my way to it's head and land a solid blow on it.
In every way, DD2 is a worthy sequel to the first one. It doesn't reinvent the series. It takes the parts that made the first one unique and doubles down on them, for better or worse. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
2005
I'VE GOT A WAY TO WORK THIS OUT I'VE GOT A WAY AND YOU KNOW HOW I'VE GOT A WAY TO WORK THIS OUT I'VE GOT A WAY AND YOU KNOW HOW I'VE GOT A WAY TO WORK THIS OUT I'VE GOT A WAY AND YOU KNOW HOW I'VE GOT A WAY TO WORK THIS OUT I'VE GOT A WAY AND YOU KNOW HOW I'VE GOT A WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY
2008
burnout should never have left the closed track maps. I miss this series so much
2019
I was waiting for it to get fun. feels like every ARPG that came before it with the barest amount of set dressing to make it stand out. skill customization is cool, but the combat itself felt flat and unrewarding. After a few hours of playing, I asked myself why I would play this over Path of Exile and there's just really no good answer to that question.
2024
the sliding is fun
my favorite part of open world games is when you get instantly killed for walking outside of the mission area
2018
It's crazy how the last 15 minutes of this game singlehandedly ruins everything that comes before it
2019
the culmination of every awful design decision from late-2010s gaming. A miserable open world with a miserable story that pulls the control away from you constantly so that you can suffer more miserable dialogue. I hate this game.
2011
one of the most influential games to come out in the 21st century, which is funny because it's also an incredibly dull experience without mods (and even a slog with them)
4.5 stars is less for classic specifically and moreso just for the overall wow run from 2004-2008. still a deeply engaging experience to this day.
for classic specifically, hardcore was one of the most memorable MMO runs I've had in a long time. ironbeard, the dwarf who chatted with me while we trained lockpicking in redridge, I hope you're doing well wherever you are
for classic specifically, hardcore was one of the most memorable MMO runs I've had in a long time. ironbeard, the dwarf who chatted with me while we trained lockpicking in redridge, I hope you're doing well wherever you are