skarecrow
Not too much to say in all honesty. You slowly grow your supermarket into something bigger and hire employees, stock new items, and price them all. Fun to play if you have time to burn and don't want to stress out about anything.
2019
A goofy turn-your-brain-off kinda game. The multiplayer is extremely early in its development, so much so that practically everything is delayed on each player's screen. Some may see enemies that others don't, and things such as sleeping do nothing for anyone who isn't host. It runs like hot garbage, looks like hot garbage, but it's so damn charming that I can't help but love it. Going on a road trip has never been more fun in a game.
Dead Island is a game that I have fond memories of from when it was first released back in 2011. Walking around on the beach, killing zombies with paddles and bats, those were the moments that I remembered fondly. I never made it far into the game, as I quickly dropped it in favor of other games around that time, so I've thought for the next 13 years that this game was a great zombie-killing experience. I was immensely mistaken...
To start, I want to talk about the gameplay/movement. For some terrible reason, walking or running around feels like you're sliding on ice. This game has HORRID unresponsive movement and the input lag (I think that is how you describe it?) is so unbearable bad that I had to download this mod just to make the movement tolerable. It's a terrible first impression when just the first few minutes of gameplay make me want to stop playing. I've experienced bizarre glitches and bugs when playing with my friend, such as falling through the floor after getting knocked down by a zombie, suddenly having a huge jump boost, the AI breaking itself and getting stuck on props/zombies, and much more.
The combat is okay-ish at best, with gunplay being completely amateur while melee is slightly enjoyable. Once you get closer to the end of the game, zombies become sponges even when you're at an even level with them, making you slash or bash them plenty of times before they fall over and die. Guns are a complete joke with how piss-poor the aiming and shooting is. Don't ever try to hip-fire in this game, even when you're up close to an enemy, because guaranteed nearly all of your bullets will miss. I found guns to be so useless that I ended up switching back to strictly using melee weapons or even my own fists over the god-awful gun mechanics.
The story is completely forgettable, so much in fact that I cannot remember much of anything aside from the locations I was in. The cutscenes feel so stiff with how the characters move and talk, with their mouths poorly trying to lip-sync to what the dialogue is saying. Every song in this game is basic and boring, aside from the extremely catchy and earworm-worthy song, "Who Do You Voodoo" which is canonically written and sung by in-game character, Sam B. Navigating the locations, especially the Slums, is miserable to experience. Roadblocks, cars, misc. props, with the occasional annoying zombie variants scattered around the roads made for a terrible time.
By the time you get to Act 3, the game becomes an extremely irritating and boring fetch quest where you have to go to X and speak to this person, then go to Y and do this thing for this person, rinse and repeat. In conclusion, Dead Island is a game that shows its age greatly, and its spiritual successor, Dying Light, is a far greater series that plays a million times better than Dead Island and Riptide, leaving this series as a diet version of Dying Light essentially.
To start, I want to talk about the gameplay/movement. For some terrible reason, walking or running around feels like you're sliding on ice. This game has HORRID unresponsive movement and the input lag (I think that is how you describe it?) is so unbearable bad that I had to download this mod just to make the movement tolerable. It's a terrible first impression when just the first few minutes of gameplay make me want to stop playing. I've experienced bizarre glitches and bugs when playing with my friend, such as falling through the floor after getting knocked down by a zombie, suddenly having a huge jump boost, the AI breaking itself and getting stuck on props/zombies, and much more.
The combat is okay-ish at best, with gunplay being completely amateur while melee is slightly enjoyable. Once you get closer to the end of the game, zombies become sponges even when you're at an even level with them, making you slash or bash them plenty of times before they fall over and die. Guns are a complete joke with how piss-poor the aiming and shooting is. Don't ever try to hip-fire in this game, even when you're up close to an enemy, because guaranteed nearly all of your bullets will miss. I found guns to be so useless that I ended up switching back to strictly using melee weapons or even my own fists over the god-awful gun mechanics.
The story is completely forgettable, so much in fact that I cannot remember much of anything aside from the locations I was in. The cutscenes feel so stiff with how the characters move and talk, with their mouths poorly trying to lip-sync to what the dialogue is saying. Every song in this game is basic and boring, aside from the extremely catchy and earworm-worthy song, "Who Do You Voodoo" which is canonically written and sung by in-game character, Sam B. Navigating the locations, especially the Slums, is miserable to experience. Roadblocks, cars, misc. props, with the occasional annoying zombie variants scattered around the roads made for a terrible time.
By the time you get to Act 3, the game becomes an extremely irritating and boring fetch quest where you have to go to X and speak to this person, then go to Y and do this thing for this person, rinse and repeat. In conclusion, Dead Island is a game that shows its age greatly, and its spiritual successor, Dying Light, is a far greater series that plays a million times better than Dead Island and Riptide, leaving this series as a diet version of Dying Light essentially.
2023
A simple game with a neat art style. I'm a sucker for bleak colors and tall buildings so I was a fan of how this game presented itself.
A nice and short little horror game about a garage door having issues. Not much to say about it, I completed it in two minutes. It has a nice low poly charm to the graphics.
I can't believe it, somehow there really IS a worse DMC game than DMC2. Before I start on my rant and review, yes I get it, it's a mobile game, but that shouldn't make it to where I can't rant about just how BAD this game truly is. As of January 10th, 2024, this game finally had its International release on both Android and iOS devices, along with an officially endorsed emulator for PC players. This game has had teasers and gameplay footage since 2019 (I think?) and I've been keeping a close eye on the development ever since. However, the game we saw back in 2019, and even 2020, is LEAPS different compared to this awful 2024 release.
THIS is the game that we were supposed to get. Style-switching between all four styles (Trickster, Swordmaster, Royalguard, and Gunslinger) as well as weapon-switching between Dante's arsenal. The fact that this game has the balls to call itself a DMC game while getting rid of CORE MECHANICS that have been in the series since 2005 is completely unforgivable, especially when IT USED TO BE A STANDARD FEATURE IN THIS GAME. Even more baffling was the decision to REMOVE THE GUN ATTACK. Dante, who has been using his arsenal of guns since 2001, now can no longer shoot or even carry guns anymore in this game, even though it still shows him using Ebony & Ivory in cutscenes.
Here is something else that has been (almost) completely removed. Originally, you could change Dante's appearance with outfits that you could unlock through in-game grinding, as well as changing his hairstyles. This has all been completely gutted from the International release of the game. Now, only about 2 of those outfits from the video still remain in the game, and they became Gacha pulls instead of unlockables, with hairstyles being completely removed from the game. It's utterly disgusting that they decided to REMOVE CONTENT just to force players to spend money (or no-life grind) for unlockable outfits.
Here's something even worse, you wanna know why they decided to scrap Style-switching and weapon-switching? It was so they could change the gameplay into a Genshin Impact/Honkai Star Rail style of combat. Now, you have a character-switcher, where you can add 2 other characters to your team and swap between them during combat. This completely removes any form of creativity when it comes to combos, because now, instead of just allowing Dante to freely switch through his weapons and change styles during combat, you have to swap to the Gacha-pulled Dante variants that have weapons like Beowulf or Nevan. I think the only GOOD thing I can say about this game is that you can play as Lady, Vergil, Nero, and eventually, V, but am I really expected to be happy about this when the rest of the game is complete garbage?
I think to end my review/rant off, I want to state that the cutscenes are so poorly directed and acted out that I had to just start skipping them anytime one would appear. No hate for the voice actors, I actually quite like Lady's VA, and I understand that they were just trying their best with the script they got, but everything is acted in such a stiff manner, and none of the characters really act like themselves. Dante's one-liners and quips come off as someone trying to imitate Dante's talking style from DMC3, and all of the lines that Dante has usually falls flat. The characters feel so robotic when they interact with each other, and moments of awkward silence usually occur during cutscenes when they are together. Overall, this game is a complete disappointment to the series and it only makes me hope for a future DMC remake or DMC6.
THIS is the game that we were supposed to get. Style-switching between all four styles (Trickster, Swordmaster, Royalguard, and Gunslinger) as well as weapon-switching between Dante's arsenal. The fact that this game has the balls to call itself a DMC game while getting rid of CORE MECHANICS that have been in the series since 2005 is completely unforgivable, especially when IT USED TO BE A STANDARD FEATURE IN THIS GAME. Even more baffling was the decision to REMOVE THE GUN ATTACK. Dante, who has been using his arsenal of guns since 2001, now can no longer shoot or even carry guns anymore in this game, even though it still shows him using Ebony & Ivory in cutscenes.
Here is something else that has been (almost) completely removed. Originally, you could change Dante's appearance with outfits that you could unlock through in-game grinding, as well as changing his hairstyles. This has all been completely gutted from the International release of the game. Now, only about 2 of those outfits from the video still remain in the game, and they became Gacha pulls instead of unlockables, with hairstyles being completely removed from the game. It's utterly disgusting that they decided to REMOVE CONTENT just to force players to spend money (or no-life grind) for unlockable outfits.
Here's something even worse, you wanna know why they decided to scrap Style-switching and weapon-switching? It was so they could change the gameplay into a Genshin Impact/Honkai Star Rail style of combat. Now, you have a character-switcher, where you can add 2 other characters to your team and swap between them during combat. This completely removes any form of creativity when it comes to combos, because now, instead of just allowing Dante to freely switch through his weapons and change styles during combat, you have to swap to the Gacha-pulled Dante variants that have weapons like Beowulf or Nevan. I think the only GOOD thing I can say about this game is that you can play as Lady, Vergil, Nero, and eventually, V, but am I really expected to be happy about this when the rest of the game is complete garbage?
I think to end my review/rant off, I want to state that the cutscenes are so poorly directed and acted out that I had to just start skipping them anytime one would appear. No hate for the voice actors, I actually quite like Lady's VA, and I understand that they were just trying their best with the script they got, but everything is acted in such a stiff manner, and none of the characters really act like themselves. Dante's one-liners and quips come off as someone trying to imitate Dante's talking style from DMC3, and all of the lines that Dante has usually falls flat. The characters feel so robotic when they interact with each other, and moments of awkward silence usually occur during cutscenes when they are together. Overall, this game is a complete disappointment to the series and it only makes me hope for a future DMC remake or DMC6.
Not exactly a terrible game by any means, but it's not a great one either. The gameplay is simple and repetitive, you can run past most enemies within the levels and just rush to the end of the stage, and the music isn't memorable. The character roster is nice though, and the graphics are great, but at most, this game is a fun time waster.
This review contains spoilers
For starters, let me say that I have NEVER played a Fire Emblem game before this one, so I don't exactly know how the previous games in the series are. However, after playing through this game for about 4 months, it has made me want to try all other games in the series. Before the true review starts, I want to also say that this game is amazing in my eyes, and it will stay with me for the rest of my life thanks to the great cast of characters and story. Anyway, with that stuff out of the way, here goes my ramblings.
Playing through this game truly felt like a fantastic journey, and getting to see my units grow and develop, especially after the time skip, was so cool to see, and it made me feel extremely proud of them. Watching Marianne go from this extremely shy, quiet girl to a woman with confidence in herself made me so happy. Seeing Byleth develop and grow with support from her friends made me feel as if I truly had something driving me to see the journey through to the end. I chose Golden Deer because I thought Claude was interesting and I liked the students in that house the most. The route I went with was the Verdant Wind route, and little did I know that there were 3 other routes in the game, those being:
- Crimson Flower Route (Join Black Eagles & side with Edelgard)
- Silver Snow Route (Join Black Eagles & side with Lady Rhea)
- Azure Moon Route (Join Blue Lions)
While I have no intentions of playing through this game again, at least not anytime soon, the fact that there are THREE other routes to choose during my future playthroughs is incredible to see. I heard that the Crimson Flower route was vastly different from the other routes, so I might go for that route the next time I play. There are so many things that can happen during your playthrough that can completely alter some of your unit's epilogue endings, which, yes, YOUR units can have varying epilogue endings depending on who you recruit and bring to battle. The fact that there is so much varying content in this game is amazing, and it gives the game a large amount of replayability. It can be kinda depressing when you realize how sad some of the dialogue exchanges are depending on what route you choose and who you have in battle.
The gameplay was very enjoyable to me, even though I'm not too big on the Tactical RPG genre of RPG games. I loved how the characters can interact with each other during battle, it really made the game feel more alive. The game has a bonding system, which goes towards your Support Rank for that certain unit, and if maxed out, you can even marry them by end-game. It was nice to see the characters become more fleshed out by seeing them bond with their fellow classmates and friends, which also helped the story by feeling more in-depth. I think my favorite one had to be the Catherine and Shamir Support Ranks, I'm so glad they got a happy ending in my route.
The game also has a Professor Rank system, which goes towards Free Time points, and those points allow you to do things during Free Time with your students. By doing things around the monastery, such as giving gifts, giving lost items, planting flowers, or eating food with students and friends, you earn XP that goes towards leveling your Professor Rank. By doing things with students or friends during Free Time, your bond with them can greatly deepen, especially if you invite them for tea or hand them a gift. All of these ways to bond with your units is a great mechanic, as it can help you feel more immersed within the world, as well as giving you the chance to spend more time with some of your favorite units. I think the Free Time mechanic was a great inclusion for the game.
By the end of my game, I had the following people alive after the war:
- Claude (who I married)
- Hilda
- Marianne
- Lysithea
- Leonie
- Mercedes
- Ingrid
- Shamir
- Catherine
- Flayn
- Cyril
- Sylvain
- Seteth
- Bernadetta
- Rapheal
- Lorenz
- Ignatz
- Lady Rhea
- Anna
As for their epilogue endings, here were some that I took note of:
- Catherine & Shamir partner together for the rest of their lives, traveling around and sticking their nose in things they shouldn't. Eventually, they go back to Shamir's homeland, Dagda, and spend the rest of their days there. They eventually become known for Catherine's Thunderbrand and Shamir's amazing marksmanship. So thankfully they live happily ever after together. :')
- Flayn disappears shortly after the war and soon becomes a distant memory to everyone else, becoming forgotten during the following years. Seteth stays with the Church and gets everyone to accept one another as equals. Many years in the future, a young woman emerges within the new Fodland, and as she gazes at the young man beside her, she asks if she can call him her father. I have no idea what Flayn's ending means...I guess it means she has been rebirthed/reincarnated? Who is the young man, is it Seteth? Why exactly did she disappear after the war...? So many questions...
- I saw nothing about Rhea during my epilogue, so I assume she lived? She was alive prior to the final battle against Nemesis so...
- Once Bernadetta inherited House Varley from her father, she withdrew from anything political and focused on her territory. Due to her long periods of "hibernation", she earned the name as the "Bear of Varley."
- Lysithea returns home to help her parents restore their land. Many years later, after a long period of hard work, she relinquished House Ordelia, handing the territory to a nearby lord. Not long after, both she and her family faded into obscurity. This ending makes me extremely sad because it implies that Lysithea dies and I never removed the crests from her so I think she truly died in my route...
- Hilda and Cyril end up marrying each other and living happily as a couple for the rest of their lives.
- Since I got my female Byleth to marry Claude, Byleth works to rebuild Fodlan. Many months later, a battle happens and right as it seems that Byleth is finished, Claude emerges with an army to defeat the enemies.
- Ignatz became a painter and explored the world, eventually causing a wave of new artists to emerge wherever he went.
- Marianne returns home, where she is cheered for and praised as a savior of Fodlan. Her adoptive father groomed her as his successor, and once she claimed inheritance, she transformed into one of Fodlan's most skilled orators.
- Leonie joined the mercenaries formerly led by Jeralt. As his successor, she quickly became the leader and was granted the title of Blade Breaker. She eventually grew the habits that Jeralt had, such as drinking at taverns and gaining many unpaid tabs.
- Mercedes resides in Garreg Mach, becoming a model cleric. She devoted her entire life to the service of the goddess and became loved by the people.
- Ingrid put in hard work to ensure that the people of Galatea lived peaceful lives and reformed the land's farming practices. Soon, Galatea bore many fruit, and the land became a land of plenty.
- Sylvain devoted his life to improving the relations of people within the Sreng region. He created a new way of life for the people and made people view life where crests were no longer necessary. It eventually became customary to refer to cheaters as "sons of Gautier."
- Raphael returned home to serve as a knight. After years of service, he resigned and devoted his time to the inn that his grandfather and sister made. He eventually took over the inn and became known for his amazing cooking skills.
- Lorenz took leadership over House Gloucester. His political talent yielded revolutionary policy changes, many of which were beneficial to the common folk.
- Anna's business became a great asset during the reconstruction of Garreg Mach. Once it was rebuilt, she vanished, although stories have been passed around in the world for centuries about a mysterious merchant. It is said that she still travels the world, selling her items to wanderers.
With all of that stated, that was how my experience with Fire Emblem: Three Houses was. It was a fantastic journey, one I won't ever forget. The cast of characters is amazing, the story reels you in, and the gameplay is great fun. One of my favorite games of all time.
Playing through this game truly felt like a fantastic journey, and getting to see my units grow and develop, especially after the time skip, was so cool to see, and it made me feel extremely proud of them. Watching Marianne go from this extremely shy, quiet girl to a woman with confidence in herself made me so happy. Seeing Byleth develop and grow with support from her friends made me feel as if I truly had something driving me to see the journey through to the end. I chose Golden Deer because I thought Claude was interesting and I liked the students in that house the most. The route I went with was the Verdant Wind route, and little did I know that there were 3 other routes in the game, those being:
- Crimson Flower Route (Join Black Eagles & side with Edelgard)
- Silver Snow Route (Join Black Eagles & side with Lady Rhea)
- Azure Moon Route (Join Blue Lions)
While I have no intentions of playing through this game again, at least not anytime soon, the fact that there are THREE other routes to choose during my future playthroughs is incredible to see. I heard that the Crimson Flower route was vastly different from the other routes, so I might go for that route the next time I play. There are so many things that can happen during your playthrough that can completely alter some of your unit's epilogue endings, which, yes, YOUR units can have varying epilogue endings depending on who you recruit and bring to battle. The fact that there is so much varying content in this game is amazing, and it gives the game a large amount of replayability. It can be kinda depressing when you realize how sad some of the dialogue exchanges are depending on what route you choose and who you have in battle.
The gameplay was very enjoyable to me, even though I'm not too big on the Tactical RPG genre of RPG games. I loved how the characters can interact with each other during battle, it really made the game feel more alive. The game has a bonding system, which goes towards your Support Rank for that certain unit, and if maxed out, you can even marry them by end-game. It was nice to see the characters become more fleshed out by seeing them bond with their fellow classmates and friends, which also helped the story by feeling more in-depth. I think my favorite one had to be the Catherine and Shamir Support Ranks, I'm so glad they got a happy ending in my route.
The game also has a Professor Rank system, which goes towards Free Time points, and those points allow you to do things during Free Time with your students. By doing things around the monastery, such as giving gifts, giving lost items, planting flowers, or eating food with students and friends, you earn XP that goes towards leveling your Professor Rank. By doing things with students or friends during Free Time, your bond with them can greatly deepen, especially if you invite them for tea or hand them a gift. All of these ways to bond with your units is a great mechanic, as it can help you feel more immersed within the world, as well as giving you the chance to spend more time with some of your favorite units. I think the Free Time mechanic was a great inclusion for the game.
By the end of my game, I had the following people alive after the war:
- Claude (who I married)
- Hilda
- Marianne
- Lysithea
- Leonie
- Mercedes
- Ingrid
- Shamir
- Catherine
- Flayn
- Cyril
- Sylvain
- Seteth
- Bernadetta
- Rapheal
- Lorenz
- Ignatz
- Lady Rhea
- Anna
As for their epilogue endings, here were some that I took note of:
- Catherine & Shamir partner together for the rest of their lives, traveling around and sticking their nose in things they shouldn't. Eventually, they go back to Shamir's homeland, Dagda, and spend the rest of their days there. They eventually become known for Catherine's Thunderbrand and Shamir's amazing marksmanship. So thankfully they live happily ever after together. :')
- Flayn disappears shortly after the war and soon becomes a distant memory to everyone else, becoming forgotten during the following years. Seteth stays with the Church and gets everyone to accept one another as equals. Many years in the future, a young woman emerges within the new Fodland, and as she gazes at the young man beside her, she asks if she can call him her father. I have no idea what Flayn's ending means...I guess it means she has been rebirthed/reincarnated? Who is the young man, is it Seteth? Why exactly did she disappear after the war...? So many questions...
- I saw nothing about Rhea during my epilogue, so I assume she lived? She was alive prior to the final battle against Nemesis so...
- Once Bernadetta inherited House Varley from her father, she withdrew from anything political and focused on her territory. Due to her long periods of "hibernation", she earned the name as the "Bear of Varley."
- Lysithea returns home to help her parents restore their land. Many years later, after a long period of hard work, she relinquished House Ordelia, handing the territory to a nearby lord. Not long after, both she and her family faded into obscurity. This ending makes me extremely sad because it implies that Lysithea dies and I never removed the crests from her so I think she truly died in my route...
- Hilda and Cyril end up marrying each other and living happily as a couple for the rest of their lives.
- Since I got my female Byleth to marry Claude, Byleth works to rebuild Fodlan. Many months later, a battle happens and right as it seems that Byleth is finished, Claude emerges with an army to defeat the enemies.
- Ignatz became a painter and explored the world, eventually causing a wave of new artists to emerge wherever he went.
- Marianne returns home, where she is cheered for and praised as a savior of Fodlan. Her adoptive father groomed her as his successor, and once she claimed inheritance, she transformed into one of Fodlan's most skilled orators.
- Leonie joined the mercenaries formerly led by Jeralt. As his successor, she quickly became the leader and was granted the title of Blade Breaker. She eventually grew the habits that Jeralt had, such as drinking at taverns and gaining many unpaid tabs.
- Mercedes resides in Garreg Mach, becoming a model cleric. She devoted her entire life to the service of the goddess and became loved by the people.
- Ingrid put in hard work to ensure that the people of Galatea lived peaceful lives and reformed the land's farming practices. Soon, Galatea bore many fruit, and the land became a land of plenty.
- Sylvain devoted his life to improving the relations of people within the Sreng region. He created a new way of life for the people and made people view life where crests were no longer necessary. It eventually became customary to refer to cheaters as "sons of Gautier."
- Raphael returned home to serve as a knight. After years of service, he resigned and devoted his time to the inn that his grandfather and sister made. He eventually took over the inn and became known for his amazing cooking skills.
- Lorenz took leadership over House Gloucester. His political talent yielded revolutionary policy changes, many of which were beneficial to the common folk.
- Anna's business became a great asset during the reconstruction of Garreg Mach. Once it was rebuilt, she vanished, although stories have been passed around in the world for centuries about a mysterious merchant. It is said that she still travels the world, selling her items to wanderers.
With all of that stated, that was how my experience with Fire Emblem: Three Houses was. It was a fantastic journey, one I won't ever forget. The cast of characters is amazing, the story reels you in, and the gameplay is great fun. One of my favorite games of all time.
2003
I wish I could've enjoyed this game, I really do, but I think the controls are so abysmal that it's impossible for me to continue playing it to completion. The graphics look nice, the music is cool, and I love the game's cyber style, but the gameplay is just so damn bad. You stand, rapidly shoot, sometimes dodge or jump, rinse and repeat. When Vanessa gets shot by literally anything, she gets slammed to the ground and a chunk of your health just disappears. Aside from that, this game was a part of the Capcom Five for the Gamecube, where there would be five exclusive games for the Gamecube to show off its potential, which featured:
- P.N.03
- Viewtiful Joe
- Dead Phoenix (never released)
- Resident Evil 4
- Killer 7
Nearly all of these games got PS2 releases so the whole Capcom Five thing didn't last long, plus Dead Phoenix was canceled so technically it's the Capcom Four. Regardless, P.N.03 is a truly unique game for the Gamecube system, but it fails to feel enjoyable in my eyes.
- P.N.03
- Viewtiful Joe
- Dead Phoenix (never released)
- Resident Evil 4
- Killer 7
Nearly all of these games got PS2 releases so the whole Capcom Five thing didn't last long, plus Dead Phoenix was canceled so technically it's the Capcom Four. Regardless, P.N.03 is a truly unique game for the Gamecube system, but it fails to feel enjoyable in my eyes.
2002
Here's a game that I find to be quite underrated when it comes to the PS2's anime library. Gungrave is short and simple, with a good art style and decent visuals. The player takes control of Grave, a guy who was killed, and then resurrected to get revenge on those who wronged him. You'll see yourself playing through 6 stages and fighting 8 bosses, all within the length of about 1 hour and 30 minutes to 2 hours. While the gameplay isn't in-depth by any means, it gets the job done and can offer you some fun to be had.
When it comes to combat, Grave can:
- Dodge in 4 different directions (and shoot while doing so)
- Rapidly fire all around him (by rapidly pressing Square)
- Sling his coffin around his body (by pressing R1)
- Fire a Demolition Shot (by pressing Triangle)
As you progress through the game and complete the stages, Grave unlocks new Demolition Shots to use in battle. To use Demolition Shots, you must create a combo by rapidly firing your guns at everything, be it boxes, enemies, barrels, tables, or anything else that can be gunned down. A blue orb will then enter your Demolition Gauge and you'll be able to use a Demolition Shot once it's filled. You can store up to 4 total Shots, which you can then unleash, or if you're low on health, you can trade 1 Shot for half of your health bar back, which allows some slight strategy as you can choose between a room-clearing Shot, or more health to survive. The game has no upgrade system, so the only new moves you'll get on this journey are the Demolition Shots.
The music isn't anything special, but it works well enough for the areas that the tracks are used in. There were only a handful of songs that I enjoyed enough to listen to outside of the game, but that doesn't mean the OST is awful. Once your adventure is over, you unlock Extras where you can view the character models from each stage, which is pretty neat to look at. In the end, Gungrave is a good game that stands out on its own as a niche little PS2 gem.
When it comes to combat, Grave can:
- Dodge in 4 different directions (and shoot while doing so)
- Rapidly fire all around him (by rapidly pressing Square)
- Sling his coffin around his body (by pressing R1)
- Fire a Demolition Shot (by pressing Triangle)
As you progress through the game and complete the stages, Grave unlocks new Demolition Shots to use in battle. To use Demolition Shots, you must create a combo by rapidly firing your guns at everything, be it boxes, enemies, barrels, tables, or anything else that can be gunned down. A blue orb will then enter your Demolition Gauge and you'll be able to use a Demolition Shot once it's filled. You can store up to 4 total Shots, which you can then unleash, or if you're low on health, you can trade 1 Shot for half of your health bar back, which allows some slight strategy as you can choose between a room-clearing Shot, or more health to survive. The game has no upgrade system, so the only new moves you'll get on this journey are the Demolition Shots.
The music isn't anything special, but it works well enough for the areas that the tracks are used in. There were only a handful of songs that I enjoyed enough to listen to outside of the game, but that doesn't mean the OST is awful. Once your adventure is over, you unlock Extras where you can view the character models from each stage, which is pretty neat to look at. In the end, Gungrave is a good game that stands out on its own as a niche little PS2 gem.
This game is so unbearably bad that I cannot be bothered to write a detailed review. The platforming is slow and clunky, Batman is terrible to play as, and the combat is awful. If you want to know what the combat is like, when you beat an enemy, you have to swap through your gadgets, find the Batcuffs, then handcuff each enemy individually, and if you aren't fast enough, they can get up and gun you down to instantly kill you.
2006
Introduction
Dead Rising is a game that needs no introduction. You're a freelance photojournalist named Frank West, who decides to visit Willamette and get a big scoop, thus putting his name out there in the world. However, he underestimated just how terrible this plan would become.
Gameplay
Dead Rising is an excellent sandbox-styled game. You're in a massive mall and nearly everything can be used as a weapon or resource for your survival. Do you see a bowling ball? You can use it. Find a potted plant? You can use it. Frank has the entire mall at his disposal, which allows you to find unique ways to deal with bosses.
Speaking of bosses, they're called Psychopaths in this game. Occasionally, you'll be called by your friend, Otis. Otis will tell you about the things he finds or sees on the cameras back in the security room/safe room. These are called Scoops, and are basically side quests. Occasionally, he'll give you an ominous call about someone that he sees at the mall, which once you arrive at the area, will begin a Psychopath fight.
The Psychopaths in this game vary greatly. Some are completely insane, others are sadistic, and some are just weird. All Psychopaths in this game have fun, engaging boss fights, topped off with a fantastic theme for each one. Thanks to the wide variety of things to use in the mall, these fights can have plenty of different outcomes.
However, there are some issues in this game that prevent me from giving it a perfect 5-star rating. The survivor AI is utterly abysmal and is possibly the WORST AI I have ever seen in a video game. Some will completely ignore your shouting or commands, others will just stand around and get eaten alive, and sometimes they'll even freak out and run into hordes of zombies. Aside from the frustrating AI, Otis is a minor annoyance in this game with his constant, non-stop calls, which will NEVER end unless you answer him. What makes it worse is that if you get grabbed or hit by a zombie, he will call you back immediately afterward and complain to you that you shouldn't hang up on him, THEN he goes back to talking about whatever he was discussing earlier.
Other than those issues, another issue I found was just how boring some Cases are when you're waiting for them. When you have time to kill and nothing to do, I found myself just sitting around for nearly 40 minutes in the security room while waiting for the next Case to happen. It makes the game flow abruptly stop and feel sluggish when you were just completing Cases back-to-back mere moments ago, now forced to wait around until the next Case begins.
Story (NO SPOILERS)
Frank West is a freelance photojournalist who plans to enter Willamette, Colorado, and enter the huge shopping mall in order to find his huge scoop and get his name popular. Unfortunately for him, he gets dragged into a zombie outbreak and finds himself stuck in a huge mall while waiting for a helicopter to arrive and save him, along with anyone else that he saves in the mall. A mysterious man named Carlito seems to have something bigger planned for this outbreak, and it is up to Frank to find out what it is.
Characters
Frank West is an average, occasionally charming guy who finds himself stuck in this mess. You have Brad and Jessie from Homeland Security, who have an on-and-off partnership with Frank. Then, as stated earlier, you have the mysterious man named Carlito, who also has a sister in the mall named Isabella. On top of those guys, you have the Psychopaths, as discussed earlier. All of these varying characters make Dead Rising have quite a diverse cast.
Conclusion
Dead Rising is a game that is well deserving of its praise. With plenty of replayability, multiple endings, an Overtime mode, and many secret unlockables, you'll find that there are tons of things to do in this zombie-filled mall.
Dead Rising is a game that needs no introduction. You're a freelance photojournalist named Frank West, who decides to visit Willamette and get a big scoop, thus putting his name out there in the world. However, he underestimated just how terrible this plan would become.
Gameplay
Dead Rising is an excellent sandbox-styled game. You're in a massive mall and nearly everything can be used as a weapon or resource for your survival. Do you see a bowling ball? You can use it. Find a potted plant? You can use it. Frank has the entire mall at his disposal, which allows you to find unique ways to deal with bosses.
Speaking of bosses, they're called Psychopaths in this game. Occasionally, you'll be called by your friend, Otis. Otis will tell you about the things he finds or sees on the cameras back in the security room/safe room. These are called Scoops, and are basically side quests. Occasionally, he'll give you an ominous call about someone that he sees at the mall, which once you arrive at the area, will begin a Psychopath fight.
The Psychopaths in this game vary greatly. Some are completely insane, others are sadistic, and some are just weird. All Psychopaths in this game have fun, engaging boss fights, topped off with a fantastic theme for each one. Thanks to the wide variety of things to use in the mall, these fights can have plenty of different outcomes.
However, there are some issues in this game that prevent me from giving it a perfect 5-star rating. The survivor AI is utterly abysmal and is possibly the WORST AI I have ever seen in a video game. Some will completely ignore your shouting or commands, others will just stand around and get eaten alive, and sometimes they'll even freak out and run into hordes of zombies. Aside from the frustrating AI, Otis is a minor annoyance in this game with his constant, non-stop calls, which will NEVER end unless you answer him. What makes it worse is that if you get grabbed or hit by a zombie, he will call you back immediately afterward and complain to you that you shouldn't hang up on him, THEN he goes back to talking about whatever he was discussing earlier.
Other than those issues, another issue I found was just how boring some Cases are when you're waiting for them. When you have time to kill and nothing to do, I found myself just sitting around for nearly 40 minutes in the security room while waiting for the next Case to happen. It makes the game flow abruptly stop and feel sluggish when you were just completing Cases back-to-back mere moments ago, now forced to wait around until the next Case begins.
Story (NO SPOILERS)
Frank West is a freelance photojournalist who plans to enter Willamette, Colorado, and enter the huge shopping mall in order to find his huge scoop and get his name popular. Unfortunately for him, he gets dragged into a zombie outbreak and finds himself stuck in a huge mall while waiting for a helicopter to arrive and save him, along with anyone else that he saves in the mall. A mysterious man named Carlito seems to have something bigger planned for this outbreak, and it is up to Frank to find out what it is.
Characters
Frank West is an average, occasionally charming guy who finds himself stuck in this mess. You have Brad and Jessie from Homeland Security, who have an on-and-off partnership with Frank. Then, as stated earlier, you have the mysterious man named Carlito, who also has a sister in the mall named Isabella. On top of those guys, you have the Psychopaths, as discussed earlier. All of these varying characters make Dead Rising have quite a diverse cast.
Conclusion
Dead Rising is a game that is well deserving of its praise. With plenty of replayability, multiple endings, an Overtime mode, and many secret unlockables, you'll find that there are tons of things to do in this zombie-filled mall.
2016
Introduction
While I was on the search for some cheap games recently, I stumbled upon ICEY. I watched the trailer and looked at the Steam screenshots, and decided that the game was worth the $3.87 to spend on it. I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I actually enjoyed this game.
Gameplay
The gameplay is nice and smooth, with tight controls and fun moves to use. ICEY is a 2D Hack 'n' Slash/Metroidvania style game, so expect plenty of juggling enemies, doing long combos, and plenty of button-combo variations. It's nothing over-the-top or crazy, but it's satisfying to play and juggling enemies is as fun as always with these kinda games. ICEY (the main character) has a fast and responsive dash move, which gets upgraded early on to have upwards of 5 dashes, all in many different directions, allowing you to quickly reposition yourself to avoid damage or to continue a combo.
Story (NO SPOILERS)
I'll be honest, I didn't really understand the story too well, but what I do know is that this game has a Stanley Parable feel to it. There is a narrator who tells you where to go/what to do, and you, as the person who controls ICEY, are able to ignore what the narrator says and deliberately go on a separate path. The narrator usually warns you or tries to correct your mistake, but you can continue ignoring him and push forward, usually getting you into a completely new route or at least getting you an achievement for seeing a secret room. Sometimes, the story will get completely sidetracked when you disobey the narrator, sometimes going as far as putting you into a completely separate game unrelated to ICEY. It's honestly pretty fun and it makes you really want to explore every corner of the game to see what route you might've missed out on.
Characters
The bosses are pretty unmemorable, with the only ones I remember off the top of my head being Trinity and Dahal. As for characters, you have ICEY, who is an android/cyborg girl. She doesn't ever speak or have any thoughts of her own, so you don't get to know what kind of personality she has. The narrator talks to you through the whole game and basically explains what's going on or what ICEY's objective is, sometimes commenting on a boss or giving some plot or backstory. Otherwise, there isn't much to the characters, as bosses have no dialogue.
DLC (and my appreciation)
There are two pieces of DLC for ICEY, those being the OST and an expansion to the story, "UCEY's awakening". Both are completely free, and I cannot describe how happy that makes me. In the modern world where DLC is typically $15+, getting both the OST and an expansion story for FREE as DLC is such a great thing to see. I cannot speak much on either, as I haven't listened to the OST nor have I played UCEY's awakening, but from what I can tell, both are fantastic additions to the game.
Conclusion
ICEY is a game that is well worth the price tag, and if you ever see it on sale, I highly suggest getting it even more. A nice, short Hack 'n' slash that doesn't overstay its' welcome and is worth every single dollar.
While I was on the search for some cheap games recently, I stumbled upon ICEY. I watched the trailer and looked at the Steam screenshots, and decided that the game was worth the $3.87 to spend on it. I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I actually enjoyed this game.
Gameplay
The gameplay is nice and smooth, with tight controls and fun moves to use. ICEY is a 2D Hack 'n' Slash/Metroidvania style game, so expect plenty of juggling enemies, doing long combos, and plenty of button-combo variations. It's nothing over-the-top or crazy, but it's satisfying to play and juggling enemies is as fun as always with these kinda games. ICEY (the main character) has a fast and responsive dash move, which gets upgraded early on to have upwards of 5 dashes, all in many different directions, allowing you to quickly reposition yourself to avoid damage or to continue a combo.
Story (NO SPOILERS)
I'll be honest, I didn't really understand the story too well, but what I do know is that this game has a Stanley Parable feel to it. There is a narrator who tells you where to go/what to do, and you, as the person who controls ICEY, are able to ignore what the narrator says and deliberately go on a separate path. The narrator usually warns you or tries to correct your mistake, but you can continue ignoring him and push forward, usually getting you into a completely new route or at least getting you an achievement for seeing a secret room. Sometimes, the story will get completely sidetracked when you disobey the narrator, sometimes going as far as putting you into a completely separate game unrelated to ICEY. It's honestly pretty fun and it makes you really want to explore every corner of the game to see what route you might've missed out on.
Characters
The bosses are pretty unmemorable, with the only ones I remember off the top of my head being Trinity and Dahal. As for characters, you have ICEY, who is an android/cyborg girl. She doesn't ever speak or have any thoughts of her own, so you don't get to know what kind of personality she has. The narrator talks to you through the whole game and basically explains what's going on or what ICEY's objective is, sometimes commenting on a boss or giving some plot or backstory. Otherwise, there isn't much to the characters, as bosses have no dialogue.
DLC (and my appreciation)
There are two pieces of DLC for ICEY, those being the OST and an expansion to the story, "UCEY's awakening". Both are completely free, and I cannot describe how happy that makes me. In the modern world where DLC is typically $15+, getting both the OST and an expansion story for FREE as DLC is such a great thing to see. I cannot speak much on either, as I haven't listened to the OST nor have I played UCEY's awakening, but from what I can tell, both are fantastic additions to the game.
Conclusion
ICEY is a game that is well worth the price tag, and if you ever see it on sale, I highly suggest getting it even more. A nice, short Hack 'n' slash that doesn't overstay its' welcome and is worth every single dollar.
Introduction
I had never heard of this game until the Steam announcement in late September. Looking at it made me quite interested, since I'm a sucker for indie horror stuff, plus the visual style reeled me in a bit as well. What followed was...something, to say the least.
Gameplay
To be honest, with games like this, it isn't fair to critique the gameplay since it isn't a main focus. It's a simple 2D game where you can interact with various things to see the characters' thoughts on them, and you have yourself a button to run. Other than that, there really is no gameplay, so there is nothing for me to talk about or really criticize.
Story (NO SPOILERS)
You play as both Andrew and Ashley, a pair of siblings who have quite a complicated relationship. Ashley is a bit...clingy to Andrew, and Andrew just kinda tolerates her bullshit. Both Andrew and Ashley did some messed up things in the past, and so they (more specifically, Andrew) struggle with it in their current days. They live in a shitty, quarantined apartment, which they were left at due to their parents. Hijinks ensue...
Characters
This is where my major complaints come in at with our two protagonists. Andrew has no backbone when it comes to Ashley's attitude and bullshit. The most he'll do is tell her to fuck off or back away from him, yet he immediately goes back to kissing her ass mere moments later and being all lovey-dovey with her. He hardly ever stands up for himself and instead lets Ashley pin the blame on him for nearly damn everything. He flip-flops between being mad at Ashley and not wanting to continue doing the things that they do together, to immediately being playful with her and playing along with things that she says.
Ashley has plenty of issues, just like Andrew. Ashley is such an annoying character to both play as and to be around. She constantly bitches and nags about anything Andrew says or does, and the moment a single damn female is in his radius, she goes straight to saying shit like "Oh, Andrew, am I not PRETTY enough for you?" and other things in that tone. To make matters even worse, as I stated earlier, Ashley pins the blame on Andrew for everything that SHE thought of/wanted to do. Both of these characters are completely insufferable, which leads me to not liking them or enjoying their dialogue half of the time.
The only character I enjoyed was their mother in Chapter 2. I won't go into detail about anything, but I enjoyed her dialogue and her screen time FAR more than I enjoyed Andrew and Ashley's bickering.
Conclusion
Ultimately, I'm torn on how I feel about this game. On one hand, it has good music and a cute/spooky art style. On the other, it has awful characters and bad writing. I truly want to enjoy this game, and I plan on playing through Chapter 3 when it releases, but as of now, I do not expect to enjoy Andrew and Ashley's adventures anytime soon.
I had never heard of this game until the Steam announcement in late September. Looking at it made me quite interested, since I'm a sucker for indie horror stuff, plus the visual style reeled me in a bit as well. What followed was...something, to say the least.
Gameplay
To be honest, with games like this, it isn't fair to critique the gameplay since it isn't a main focus. It's a simple 2D game where you can interact with various things to see the characters' thoughts on them, and you have yourself a button to run. Other than that, there really is no gameplay, so there is nothing for me to talk about or really criticize.
Story (NO SPOILERS)
You play as both Andrew and Ashley, a pair of siblings who have quite a complicated relationship. Ashley is a bit...clingy to Andrew, and Andrew just kinda tolerates her bullshit. Both Andrew and Ashley did some messed up things in the past, and so they (more specifically, Andrew) struggle with it in their current days. They live in a shitty, quarantined apartment, which they were left at due to their parents. Hijinks ensue...
Characters
This is where my major complaints come in at with our two protagonists. Andrew has no backbone when it comes to Ashley's attitude and bullshit. The most he'll do is tell her to fuck off or back away from him, yet he immediately goes back to kissing her ass mere moments later and being all lovey-dovey with her. He hardly ever stands up for himself and instead lets Ashley pin the blame on him for nearly damn everything. He flip-flops between being mad at Ashley and not wanting to continue doing the things that they do together, to immediately being playful with her and playing along with things that she says.
Ashley has plenty of issues, just like Andrew. Ashley is such an annoying character to both play as and to be around. She constantly bitches and nags about anything Andrew says or does, and the moment a single damn female is in his radius, she goes straight to saying shit like "Oh, Andrew, am I not PRETTY enough for you?" and other things in that tone. To make matters even worse, as I stated earlier, Ashley pins the blame on Andrew for everything that SHE thought of/wanted to do. Both of these characters are completely insufferable, which leads me to not liking them or enjoying their dialogue half of the time.
The only character I enjoyed was their mother in Chapter 2. I won't go into detail about anything, but I enjoyed her dialogue and her screen time FAR more than I enjoyed Andrew and Ashley's bickering.
Conclusion
Ultimately, I'm torn on how I feel about this game. On one hand, it has good music and a cute/spooky art style. On the other, it has awful characters and bad writing. I truly want to enjoy this game, and I plan on playing through Chapter 3 when it releases, but as of now, I do not expect to enjoy Andrew and Ashley's adventures anytime soon.
2010
Introduction
After the success of Dead Rising 1, Capcom (understandably) wanted to make a sequel. Capcom purchased a studio called Blue Castle Games, which prior to being turned into Capcom Vancouver, made baseball games...so who knows why they were chosen to make a sequel to a zombie game. Vancouver was assigned to work on Dead Rising 2 (and all subsequent DR games), which is why it has far more of an American feel to it than the first game.
Gameplay
I feel like this game refined what DR1 did, and made it better. Sure, Chuck might not have as much access to mobility moves as Frank did in DR1, but Chuck controls more tightly and fluidly than Frank, which is a surprise to me. DR1's controls felt amazing, and not once did I ever think of it being clunky or unresponsive, yet DR2 managed to refine DR1's controls and movement and make it better. Chuck can now walk and shoot, which was something Frank couldn't do, and the introduction to Combo Weapons (and Combo Cards) adds a great mix of experimentation into the game which was lacking in DR1. On top of that, DR2 adds online co-op, meaning you can join up with a random or join a friend and play through the entire game with them, adding plenty of replayability to an already replayable game.
Story (NO SPOILERS)
The story continues where Case Zero left off (which if you don't have an Xbox, you wouldn't even know that game exists anyways) and once again, features Chuck and his daughter, Katey. Chuck is a motocross champion and participates in a game show called Terror is Reality, in which 4 contestants slaughter zombies for cash and American entertainment. After the show, a zombie apocalypse breaks out and Chuck is framed as being the cause of it all, which leads to the ultimate plot of the game. Chuck must clear his name and save anyone he can, while also keeping tabs on his daughter Katey and making sure she has Zombrex in her system. Overall, the story has a nice drama-ish charm to it while still maintaining that DR1 story-telling feeling.
Characters
Chuck Greene is the protagonist of the game and he's a father who will do anything to protect his daughter from harm. Compared to Frank, who was an average guy, Chuck has a bit more up his sleeve with his skills. Chuck is not only a motocross champion, but a great mechanic, which allows him to create Combo Weapons by combining certain tools and objects together. Chuck is a likable guy who occasionally cracks some groan-worthy jokes but is an overall good protagonist, much like Frank. The supporting characters aren't very noteworthy, but the Psychopaths shine in this game with their boss themes, cutscenes, and overall weirdness.
Conclusion
Dead Rising 2 is a fantastic sequel in my eyes. It improves upon what Dead Rising 1 did and the new gameplay mechanic of creating combined weapons from random objects is a great way to make players engaged and wanting to experiment with what can be combined. However, the series begins a downfall after this entry, and we all know how that ends...
After the success of Dead Rising 1, Capcom (understandably) wanted to make a sequel. Capcom purchased a studio called Blue Castle Games, which prior to being turned into Capcom Vancouver, made baseball games...so who knows why they were chosen to make a sequel to a zombie game. Vancouver was assigned to work on Dead Rising 2 (and all subsequent DR games), which is why it has far more of an American feel to it than the first game.
Gameplay
I feel like this game refined what DR1 did, and made it better. Sure, Chuck might not have as much access to mobility moves as Frank did in DR1, but Chuck controls more tightly and fluidly than Frank, which is a surprise to me. DR1's controls felt amazing, and not once did I ever think of it being clunky or unresponsive, yet DR2 managed to refine DR1's controls and movement and make it better. Chuck can now walk and shoot, which was something Frank couldn't do, and the introduction to Combo Weapons (and Combo Cards) adds a great mix of experimentation into the game which was lacking in DR1. On top of that, DR2 adds online co-op, meaning you can join up with a random or join a friend and play through the entire game with them, adding plenty of replayability to an already replayable game.
Story (NO SPOILERS)
The story continues where Case Zero left off (which if you don't have an Xbox, you wouldn't even know that game exists anyways) and once again, features Chuck and his daughter, Katey. Chuck is a motocross champion and participates in a game show called Terror is Reality, in which 4 contestants slaughter zombies for cash and American entertainment. After the show, a zombie apocalypse breaks out and Chuck is framed as being the cause of it all, which leads to the ultimate plot of the game. Chuck must clear his name and save anyone he can, while also keeping tabs on his daughter Katey and making sure she has Zombrex in her system. Overall, the story has a nice drama-ish charm to it while still maintaining that DR1 story-telling feeling.
Characters
Chuck Greene is the protagonist of the game and he's a father who will do anything to protect his daughter from harm. Compared to Frank, who was an average guy, Chuck has a bit more up his sleeve with his skills. Chuck is not only a motocross champion, but a great mechanic, which allows him to create Combo Weapons by combining certain tools and objects together. Chuck is a likable guy who occasionally cracks some groan-worthy jokes but is an overall good protagonist, much like Frank. The supporting characters aren't very noteworthy, but the Psychopaths shine in this game with their boss themes, cutscenes, and overall weirdness.
Conclusion
Dead Rising 2 is a fantastic sequel in my eyes. It improves upon what Dead Rising 1 did and the new gameplay mechanic of creating combined weapons from random objects is a great way to make players engaged and wanting to experiment with what can be combined. However, the series begins a downfall after this entry, and we all know how that ends...