tryagainlater
2022
With all of Grand Theft Auto V's re-releases with the only new content being exclusive to the online mode as well as the long wait for the sequel, there's certainly some fatigue setting in with this game. A decade later though, the game is still a lot of fun to play.
It's GTA so most of the game will be shooting and driving. They do keep a decent amount of variety among the missions, especially with the Strangers and Freaks side missions, ranging from robbing a jewelery store to driving out the back of a plane on a ATV to riding a dirtbike on a train. There are some probelms with the mission design with them feeling railroaded and not allowing much room for player creativity. I don't always mind the linear missions since Rockstar can craft a good setpiece but it does sometimes feel like they spend more time coming up with ways for players to fail missions instead of passing them. It's not as bad as Red Dead Redemption 2 but it is noticeable. Outside of missions, there's a lot of side activities which, while not all well developed, provide a fun distraction. I particularly enjoyed the skydiving activity. The character switching provides an extra spice to the gameplay. This has been greatly improved by the SSD but it really feels like wizardry that they got this working so well on the PS3 and 360. Each character has a unique ability with Franklin activating slow motion while driving, Michael having slow motion when shooting and Trevor having a rage mode that increases damage while taking none. This does affect who I want to play as while performing a certain action. The best missions usually are the one where you can play as all three. The main selling point for the missions in GTAV where the heists. They aren't amazing since I only really like the first and last one and there could be more variations in the different approaches. Doing the small setup missions and having the plan come together is satisfying though.
The writing had some problems when it originally released but it has aged even worse. With the protagonists, I do like Michael because him being essentially a past GTA character that got out of the business and retired provides an interesting perspective for the series. Franklin is likeable but his development gets the short shrift once the other two protagonists take over. Trevor is the main problem. Sure, his insane anger can be enjoyable but he can get tiresome very quickly. I don't mind a hypocritical character but Trevor feels like a way for Rockstar to have their cake and eat it too. This is evident with the mission involving torture. You have to play Trevor as he enjoys torturing some poor guy and then have him deliver a speech afterwards about how torture is wrong. They may as well have plastered "DO YOU GET IT!?" over the screen during that segment. That feels like a common refrain for a lot of the game. GTA's brand of in your face satire has only gotten worse. Most of the satire is them just explaining the joke to you loudly. I'm not saying I didn't have some laughs and there is some genuinely great dialogue in there. I do enjoy the relationship between Michael and Trevor despite my problems with the latter. There are some great side characters too like Lamar although I feel that's more on the actor than the writing. There's just a lot of bad stuff in there, especially with the game's treatment of women. The villains are also really awful and just annoying. The final mission deals with a lot of the villains and try to remember who the Franklin specific villain is.
The star of the show for a Rockstar game is often the setting due to their attention to detail. Los Santos and the adjoining Blaine County have a lot to see and do. The city gives us suburban areas, downtown, commercial zones, industrial zones, docklands, an airport, a marina and many landmarks that are reminiscent of those in Los Angelos. The county offers a desert, an inland sea, countryside, mountains and rural towns. The various areas do feel distinct and the Rockstar detail does make them feel real with the NPCs you see populating the areas and the sounds you here. There has always been something I've found lacking with the map that I've never been able to put my finger on. It could be because the main urban area is in the south with the large swath of land north of it not having much of significance since the rural towns aren't that interesting. I'm not sure another large city at the other end of the map would necessarily improve the game as it may feel unfocused. Even with Los Santos being so impressive, it might be how the areas are laid out or how they're connected that puts me off. Despite it probably being the biggest city in a GTA game, it feels somewhat small which was never a problem with any of the other games despite the PS2 cities being much, much smaller. I've never really been able to qualify what it is that bothers me about the map so it's possibly pointless for me to even write about it but it is always in the back of my mind when I play the game. I can at least say that the detail that was put into the underwater areas was a waste as the missions and activities that bring you there are some of the worst. For the most part, the map is used quite well as the missions bring you to almost every major area which adds to their character.
At this point, you can't talk about GTAV without discussing its online mode. GTA Online is probably the more important part of the game now which was very much not the case at launch as well as a couple years afterwards. People often hate on it because they think it took DLC away from the single player which is partly true and also because they think it's why GTAVI is taking so long which is probably more due to the realities of modern game development. They really have added an incredible amount of stuff to Online over the decade since release. I really do enjoy buy businesses and working to make them profitable. I do very much play it as a single player game which has been made easier with invite only sessions. The heists are cool too but most need at least two players and playing with other people is hell. Although there some stinkers, the missions are generally pretty good and often allow more player creativity than the single player. Some of these missions do feel like a continuation of Los Santos' story after the main campaign with it generally following real time. The Contract DLC showing what Franklin and Lamar were up to nine years later is definitely a favourite of mine. Although I've never felt the need to buy a shark card because I find making money easy in the game, I can't begrudge anyone criticising them as they are manipulative microtransactions.
It has flaws but I've returned to the game many times over the years so it clearly is doing something right. It's the highest grossing piece of media ever created so I'm not sure much more can be said about it at this point. I don't think Rockstar did much to justify another re-release although the higher framerate, ray tracing and SSD loading is nice. If you're one of the few people who hasn't played it at this point, it's probably worth a playthrough.
It's GTA so most of the game will be shooting and driving. They do keep a decent amount of variety among the missions, especially with the Strangers and Freaks side missions, ranging from robbing a jewelery store to driving out the back of a plane on a ATV to riding a dirtbike on a train. There are some probelms with the mission design with them feeling railroaded and not allowing much room for player creativity. I don't always mind the linear missions since Rockstar can craft a good setpiece but it does sometimes feel like they spend more time coming up with ways for players to fail missions instead of passing them. It's not as bad as Red Dead Redemption 2 but it is noticeable. Outside of missions, there's a lot of side activities which, while not all well developed, provide a fun distraction. I particularly enjoyed the skydiving activity. The character switching provides an extra spice to the gameplay. This has been greatly improved by the SSD but it really feels like wizardry that they got this working so well on the PS3 and 360. Each character has a unique ability with Franklin activating slow motion while driving, Michael having slow motion when shooting and Trevor having a rage mode that increases damage while taking none. This does affect who I want to play as while performing a certain action. The best missions usually are the one where you can play as all three. The main selling point for the missions in GTAV where the heists. They aren't amazing since I only really like the first and last one and there could be more variations in the different approaches. Doing the small setup missions and having the plan come together is satisfying though.
The writing had some problems when it originally released but it has aged even worse. With the protagonists, I do like Michael because him being essentially a past GTA character that got out of the business and retired provides an interesting perspective for the series. Franklin is likeable but his development gets the short shrift once the other two protagonists take over. Trevor is the main problem. Sure, his insane anger can be enjoyable but he can get tiresome very quickly. I don't mind a hypocritical character but Trevor feels like a way for Rockstar to have their cake and eat it too. This is evident with the mission involving torture. You have to play Trevor as he enjoys torturing some poor guy and then have him deliver a speech afterwards about how torture is wrong. They may as well have plastered "DO YOU GET IT!?" over the screen during that segment. That feels like a common refrain for a lot of the game. GTA's brand of in your face satire has only gotten worse. Most of the satire is them just explaining the joke to you loudly. I'm not saying I didn't have some laughs and there is some genuinely great dialogue in there. I do enjoy the relationship between Michael and Trevor despite my problems with the latter. There are some great side characters too like Lamar although I feel that's more on the actor than the writing. There's just a lot of bad stuff in there, especially with the game's treatment of women. The villains are also really awful and just annoying. The final mission deals with a lot of the villains and try to remember who the Franklin specific villain is.
The star of the show for a Rockstar game is often the setting due to their attention to detail. Los Santos and the adjoining Blaine County have a lot to see and do. The city gives us suburban areas, downtown, commercial zones, industrial zones, docklands, an airport, a marina and many landmarks that are reminiscent of those in Los Angelos. The county offers a desert, an inland sea, countryside, mountains and rural towns. The various areas do feel distinct and the Rockstar detail does make them feel real with the NPCs you see populating the areas and the sounds you here. There has always been something I've found lacking with the map that I've never been able to put my finger on. It could be because the main urban area is in the south with the large swath of land north of it not having much of significance since the rural towns aren't that interesting. I'm not sure another large city at the other end of the map would necessarily improve the game as it may feel unfocused. Even with Los Santos being so impressive, it might be how the areas are laid out or how they're connected that puts me off. Despite it probably being the biggest city in a GTA game, it feels somewhat small which was never a problem with any of the other games despite the PS2 cities being much, much smaller. I've never really been able to qualify what it is that bothers me about the map so it's possibly pointless for me to even write about it but it is always in the back of my mind when I play the game. I can at least say that the detail that was put into the underwater areas was a waste as the missions and activities that bring you there are some of the worst. For the most part, the map is used quite well as the missions bring you to almost every major area which adds to their character.
At this point, you can't talk about GTAV without discussing its online mode. GTA Online is probably the more important part of the game now which was very much not the case at launch as well as a couple years afterwards. People often hate on it because they think it took DLC away from the single player which is partly true and also because they think it's why GTAVI is taking so long which is probably more due to the realities of modern game development. They really have added an incredible amount of stuff to Online over the decade since release. I really do enjoy buy businesses and working to make them profitable. I do very much play it as a single player game which has been made easier with invite only sessions. The heists are cool too but most need at least two players and playing with other people is hell. Although there some stinkers, the missions are generally pretty good and often allow more player creativity than the single player. Some of these missions do feel like a continuation of Los Santos' story after the main campaign with it generally following real time. The Contract DLC showing what Franklin and Lamar were up to nine years later is definitely a favourite of mine. Although I've never felt the need to buy a shark card because I find making money easy in the game, I can't begrudge anyone criticising them as they are manipulative microtransactions.
It has flaws but I've returned to the game many times over the years so it clearly is doing something right. It's the highest grossing piece of media ever created so I'm not sure much more can be said about it at this point. I don't think Rockstar did much to justify another re-release although the higher framerate, ray tracing and SSD loading is nice. If you're one of the few people who hasn't played it at this point, it's probably worth a playthrough.
Skyward Sword is in a weird spot for The Legend of Zelda series. It was seen as the catalyst for series needing to change. Even though it is very representative of the old Zelda formula, the people who dislike the new formula still don't really look on it with a lot of reverence. I never disliked this game for the most part but Tears of the Kingdom did make me appreciate it more. The best part of of that game were the build up to the dungeons and Skyward Sword is literally all that. Then you get to the dungeons and they're all pretty damn good.
Puzzles are king in Skyward Sword and I really do like that aspect. It's more lock and key puzzling rather than actual brain twisters but I enjoy those types of puzzles. As soon as you're past the boring tutorial is the Sky and down to the surface world, you're constantly working through these types of puzzles whether that be figuring out how the navigate the environments, finding hidden items and using new items to access new areas. In some ways, it can be a bit exhausting but it's the type of gameplay I like in Zelda. This is just on the way to dungeons. When it comes to the dungeons, it is probably the best set in at least the 3D games. Their designs are really solid and although it follows some of the familiar element patterns seen in previous games, they are very fun to explore. The ship dungeon is fairly novel. The items you get aren't unique for the series but it is a good set that leaves plenty of room for puzzles and navigation.
The parts in between the dungeons can start to feel repetitive after a while. It's a valid complaint but more often than not, I actually do enjoy how the game reuses areas. I like tear collecting segments as it rewards your knowledge of the environment and it can be pretty tense when you're being chased. Entering the volcano area to have your items taken away and it turn into a stealth segment to get them all back was pretty cool. Drowning the forest area in water wasn't that interesting but it did offer a new way to look at the area. You do often unlock new areas of these maps each time you're sent back so it's not a total recycle. That said, there is undoubtedly some bad filler involved. They reuse a boss fight four time that wasn't good the first time. You're sometimes sent on a fetch quest to a previous area that offers nothing new from a gameplay perspective that really just feels like it was there to pad runtime. Returning to a dungeon to get some water felt a little novel because I don't think I've ever returned to a completed dungeon in a Zelda game (Phantom Hourglass being an exception) but it does feel very pointless.
The main surfaces areas and dungeons are constrained by design but there is an overworld. It is the Sky and it is bad. Flying doesn't feel great for a start but there is nothing interesting there. Skyloft as a hub town is pretty decent with a lot of personality and a detailed side quest chain. Outside of that, it's just boring. The Great Sea may have felt pretty empty but they gave the islands you could find their own character and were interesting to come across. The Sky is filled with tiny, flat rocks. There are these cubes you find on the surface that unlock a chest in the sky. This is a nice way to connect the surface and the sky but there is often nothing to reaching these chests. They are usually just on one of those flat rocks with nothing else. A puzzle or even just something that would make you use one of items like you would see in Wind Waker's islands are non-existent with a couple of exceptions.
The motion controls definitely annoyed a lot of people back on the Wii and they are optional for the Switch remaster. I actually do enjoy motion controls so I used them exclusively. Sword combat, aiming and rolling bombs are more fun to me with motion. That said, I wish I could decide what elements to use with motion or analog as moving the Joy-Con around to fly feels pretty bad. I didn't use the analog controls so I don't know how they feel but I did really enjoy diving back into motion controls which I haven't really done since the Wii days. The combat can get a bit annoying with how quickly enemies can block but it can be fun to find the windows to attack. The motion controls also give the items a unique feel.
Although I have a lot of complaints, I do enjoy this game and probably liked it more in this remaster. As a remaster, it doesn't add a whole lot. The character models look a lot better but they don't mesh all that well with the environments that retain the impressionist artyle of the original. There are some quality of life additions like Fi not constantly butting in every 10 seconds and some small changes that make the game move a bit quicker. I don't think Zelda needs to return to this formula because of the love and success for the new games but me returning to it does remind me of what I love about the series. Skyward Sword has problems but nothing else really hits me like a classic 3D Zelda does.
Puzzles are king in Skyward Sword and I really do like that aspect. It's more lock and key puzzling rather than actual brain twisters but I enjoy those types of puzzles. As soon as you're past the boring tutorial is the Sky and down to the surface world, you're constantly working through these types of puzzles whether that be figuring out how the navigate the environments, finding hidden items and using new items to access new areas. In some ways, it can be a bit exhausting but it's the type of gameplay I like in Zelda. This is just on the way to dungeons. When it comes to the dungeons, it is probably the best set in at least the 3D games. Their designs are really solid and although it follows some of the familiar element patterns seen in previous games, they are very fun to explore. The ship dungeon is fairly novel. The items you get aren't unique for the series but it is a good set that leaves plenty of room for puzzles and navigation.
The parts in between the dungeons can start to feel repetitive after a while. It's a valid complaint but more often than not, I actually do enjoy how the game reuses areas. I like tear collecting segments as it rewards your knowledge of the environment and it can be pretty tense when you're being chased. Entering the volcano area to have your items taken away and it turn into a stealth segment to get them all back was pretty cool. Drowning the forest area in water wasn't that interesting but it did offer a new way to look at the area. You do often unlock new areas of these maps each time you're sent back so it's not a total recycle. That said, there is undoubtedly some bad filler involved. They reuse a boss fight four time that wasn't good the first time. You're sometimes sent on a fetch quest to a previous area that offers nothing new from a gameplay perspective that really just feels like it was there to pad runtime. Returning to a dungeon to get some water felt a little novel because I don't think I've ever returned to a completed dungeon in a Zelda game (Phantom Hourglass being an exception) but it does feel very pointless.
The main surfaces areas and dungeons are constrained by design but there is an overworld. It is the Sky and it is bad. Flying doesn't feel great for a start but there is nothing interesting there. Skyloft as a hub town is pretty decent with a lot of personality and a detailed side quest chain. Outside of that, it's just boring. The Great Sea may have felt pretty empty but they gave the islands you could find their own character and were interesting to come across. The Sky is filled with tiny, flat rocks. There are these cubes you find on the surface that unlock a chest in the sky. This is a nice way to connect the surface and the sky but there is often nothing to reaching these chests. They are usually just on one of those flat rocks with nothing else. A puzzle or even just something that would make you use one of items like you would see in Wind Waker's islands are non-existent with a couple of exceptions.
The motion controls definitely annoyed a lot of people back on the Wii and they are optional for the Switch remaster. I actually do enjoy motion controls so I used them exclusively. Sword combat, aiming and rolling bombs are more fun to me with motion. That said, I wish I could decide what elements to use with motion or analog as moving the Joy-Con around to fly feels pretty bad. I didn't use the analog controls so I don't know how they feel but I did really enjoy diving back into motion controls which I haven't really done since the Wii days. The combat can get a bit annoying with how quickly enemies can block but it can be fun to find the windows to attack. The motion controls also give the items a unique feel.
Although I have a lot of complaints, I do enjoy this game and probably liked it more in this remaster. As a remaster, it doesn't add a whole lot. The character models look a lot better but they don't mesh all that well with the environments that retain the impressionist artyle of the original. There are some quality of life additions like Fi not constantly butting in every 10 seconds and some small changes that make the game move a bit quicker. I don't think Zelda needs to return to this formula because of the love and success for the new games but me returning to it does remind me of what I love about the series. Skyward Sword has problems but nothing else really hits me like a classic 3D Zelda does.
Like a Dragon Gaiden is a bite-sized Yakuza adventure if a game that still has a ton of content when going for 100% can be considered bite-sized. The main campaign is shorter than the other games which I appreciated for the story they were telling. I wasn't really happy with Yakuza 6 as Kiryu's last game so it is good that RGG have more story to tell with this guy which will continue into Infinite Wealth. It is also nice to have Kiryu in a brawler game now that the Dragon Engine combat has worked it's kinks out which certainly was not the case back with Yakuza 6 or Kiwami 2. The combat is very fun especially with the wire or rocket shoes. Working through the side content and completion list is as entertaining as it always is for me although I wish the main big side content wasn't related to the coliseum. I like when the focus of the side content is related to something other than combat since there's enough combat in the rest of the game. It was nice to see some minigames making a return after a long absence such as pool. When it comes to a story that is set between two points we have already seen, it can be difficult to fill it with something interesting but I think they do a good job here. And if you have any history with the series, that ending is going to hit you hard. I really enjoyed Gaiden and would not mind these shorter experiences in between their big games.
2019
Outer Wilds showed me the folly of forcing my way through a game I'm not enjoying just because it's so acclaimed. What would have been a game that bored me that I just would have moved on quickly from led to me just straight up hating it. This game does not deserve that because regardless of my feelings for it, it does a lot of things right. It's a puzzle game that genuinely makes you think to figure out how it works and it doesn't force in some bad combat. Even if it isn't a setting I care about, I can see how this exploration of a solar system with diverse planets is a dream game for people. I just found the game so completely tedious. Every time I die or do something that resets the loop, having to go through launching the ship and flying back to the planet I was on is so annoying to me. It's not like it takes that long and there's auto pilot but I just hated every second I had to do that. It led to me not willing to experiment with the puzzle solving or rushing exploration because I don't know how long I have left in the loop. I'm usually pretty strict with not looking up answers for puzzles in games but the thought of another loop reset broke me down when I was already forcing my way through it. There has been a lot of time loop games the last few years and this is the only one that had me dreading it every time. I'm being overly harsh on a game that has some brilliant ingenuity to it but I really just did not enjoy it.
I enjoy Elder Scrolls Online and Morrowind is one of my favourite games ever. Can ESO's rendition of Vvardenfell live up to such a height? No, of course not but I didn't expect it to. ESO feels more like a theme park version of Tamriel which is certainly true with this Morrowind expansion but I still have a good time in it. I do enjoy seeing the region again in prettier graphics and seeing it in older state. I don't think they did a great job with presenting Vvardenfell 700 years before the event of The Elder Scrolls 3 such as with Seyda Neen looking the exact same when it really shouldn't exist at all at this point but it is nice to see Vivec City under construction or Ald'Ruhn being an Ashlander camp. As an ESO expansion, it offers a lot of the same stuff as the rest. Wolrd bosses to kill, delves to explore, collectibles to gather. The side quests are pretty strong and do a good job of giving the major settlements some character. The series of quests in Sadrith Mora do drag a bit but for the most part, they are all pretty good. The quests for Balmora are a stand out. The main quest is decent and guides you around the whole map quite well. Seeing Baar Dau drop in the sky was cool even if I can also admit it was pretty cheesy. I had a good time with this expansion and I'm looking forward to seeing more of the Daedric War stroyline.
2022
"It's another one of those" is a phrase that comes up a lot when discussing open world checklist games with skill trees and Ghostwire: Tokyo sure is another one of those. It being a very urban environment with some amount of interiors is cool but the heavy focus on map markers makes it difficult to feel like you are exploring an area. The combat looks cool and it can occasionally feel great but it's not interesting enough to sustain the amount of time you will spend on it. The three different elemental powers do feel different from one another and show their individual strengths once you've gone down the skill tree. I did quite enjoy the side quests because they do usually lead to a unique interior. There writing isn't bad but it does not do much to make you care about the story or characters. I feel I just don't have much to say about this game. It's OK.
2023
An inventive puzzle game is always something to celebrate and Chants of Sennaar is definitely one of them. It's a game all about languages and learning to communicate. It's not just one language; there's quite a few and they have different grammar rules. At the beginning, I found myself thinking how I was going to start putting words and their meaning together but it ramps it up gradually and has some clever ways of teaching you without just giving you the answer. I really liked how the final language in the game is learned by connecting meanings with all the previous languages making the final segment feel like a very satisfying victory lap building on everything you've done so far. Communication and connecting people are, of course, not original themes in fiction but when you're the one learning the languages and bridging the gap between the different peoples in the game, you do feel them a lot stronger. It's an excellent puzzle game and absolutely worth playing through.
As more Elder Scrolls Online DLC and the middle chapter of the Daedric War storyline, Clockwork City is pretty good. The mechanical look of the area isn't really to my liking but building a whole zone and city with the Dwemer tileset is something new for ESO. Unfortunately, it isn't as complex of a structure as you think it should be in the lore even they did try to add some intricacies to the layout of the underground areas. I quite enjoyed the main storyline and really liked the ending and the writing of Sotha Sil. The final conversation with him might be some of the best writing in the game.
2020
A crime noir with animals? Sure, why not? There isn't much in the way of gameplay but there is some puzzle solving and picking the right dialogue for questioning segments. The story isn't particularly original for the genre but this world made up of talking animals works weirdly well. The music and voice acting is quite good. It's nothing special but I enjoyed my time with it.
As the final chapter of the Daedric War storyline, Summerset takes us to the land of the Altmer. The chapter doesn't make the High Elves particularly likeable since they are hard to like with their stuck up attitude but we do get some insight into their culture which is usually the goal of these expansions. The region has a high fantasy looks to its bright colours and white brick towers. It is very gorgeous to look at but I could probably see people saying it looks generic. The main story is decent and it was nice to see some Daedric Princes duking it out. I did really enjoy the characters in this one. Although this was always the case in this game, it became more obvious with this chapter how much dialogue there is and how characters change and have things to say even after their part in a quest is done. There was a number of returning characters and it was interesting to see how they developed since you saw them last and this goes for even small side characters. A character you have the option of saving in a side quest the Morrowind chapter showing up here. She isn't part of a quest in Summerset; she's just working a job and will thank you for helping her and tell you what she's been up to since that quest. I find stuff like that quite rewarding. The side quests in Summerset aren't as good as they are in the Morrowind expansion but they're still pretty solid. A new chapter usually brings a new feature. The one here was jewelery crafting which is pretty light as new features go and it probably should have been there at launch. Getting materials for jewelery crafting was also way more grindy than all the other crafting and was only fixed in a patch in 2023 so it was never that great. Overall, it's a pretty good expansion and provides a decent end for the Daedric Wars storyline.
It's nice that Elder Scrolls Online will bring up to regions in Tamriel that I question will ever be seen in the main games. Although we see some of Black Marsh in the base game, Murkmire brings us to the land of the Argonians and I feel it explores their culture a lot better here. I said something similar when I played the Wrothgar DLC but Argonians were never an Elder Scrolls race I cared much about but now I have a new found appreciation for them. Seeing the visual variety of the Argonians was cool and I was intrigued by the different tribes that make up Murkmire. There's plenty of beauty to be found in the seemingly dank swamps of the region. The most interesting thing about the Argonians was always their connection to the Hist; a possibly sentient race of trees that guides the lizard folks' actions. I don't think we necessarily learn anything new about their relationship but I enjoyed seeing it on display throughout the DLC. The main villain being an Argonian desperate to make a connection to the Hist that they never had is a pretty good motivation for the course of the story. It's a pretty self contained episode with no grander arc and they make good use of the shorter story. There's a decent attempt to make the main quests feel different from one another even if ultimately, you're mostly just killing hordes with the same combat system as always. I did quite enjoy my time with it.
2018
I've been meaning to play this for a while after being very pleasantly surprised by my love for Sea of Stars. I'm glad I've played The Messenger now because it is fantastic. As a platformer, it has a really good pace and the level design has a really great flow to it. Getting a mid-air jump whenever you hit something feels really great. The soundtrack is downright mystifying and it has a great look with good level variety. Eventually, you get a time travel ability that allows you to switch between 8-bit and 16-bit graphics. This is an idea so good, I don't know how it hasn't been used before.
That's not the only twist that this game has to offer though. When you get to what feels like the end of the game, it turns into a Metroidvania. Of course, platformers and Metroidvanias can often go hand in hand but it is impressive that these levels that had a fast pace to them initially suddenly invite you to slow down and be mindful of navigation and how the levels connect. The level design works really well for both types of gameplay. The new items and abilities aren't the most exciting but they do offer a satisfying progression of movement. The bosses are all great and don't really repeat mechanics much. The writing in the game can get a bit tiring with the overly self aware humour but the story can be fun as it coincides with the gameplay twists. I guess I need to pay attention to Sabotage Studio now because both of their games have been winners now.
That's not the only twist that this game has to offer though. When you get to what feels like the end of the game, it turns into a Metroidvania. Of course, platformers and Metroidvanias can often go hand in hand but it is impressive that these levels that had a fast pace to them initially suddenly invite you to slow down and be mindful of navigation and how the levels connect. The level design works really well for both types of gameplay. The new items and abilities aren't the most exciting but they do offer a satisfying progression of movement. The bosses are all great and don't really repeat mechanics much. The writing in the game can get a bit tiring with the overly self aware humour but the story can be fun as it coincides with the gameplay twists. I guess I need to pay attention to Sabotage Studio now because both of their games have been winners now.
The Elder Scrolls Online is still bring us to place in Tamriel we'll probably never see in the main series. Is it a very condensed version of the maps? Yes, absolutely. Will it explore the lore and give a sense of place as much as the main series, if we can even hold the main series to that standard these days? Probably not. Is it still fun to run around and talk to characters in this version of Tamriel? I certainly think it is. This one is about the Khajiit and we all love those folks. It's cool to see the different kinds of Khajiit, or furstocks as they decided to call them here, as opposed to only the one type we've seen in pretty much every other Elder Scrolls game. You can see little kitty cats and giant lions just chatting away.
I usually enjoy the main story of these DLCs but after playing a lot of them the last few months, there is a pretty apparent formula to them. World ending threat starts and we need to find a MacGuffin to power you up to beat it. This is a wider problem in fantasy but as someone who still finds comfort in these fantasy stories, I do enjoy them. I do usually like the characters they build up around you, whether they be new or returning characters. It makes it feel like it's more than just the playable character doing literally everything. I will say this chapter did work through villains quicker than I was expecting. I kept thinking one character was going to the final big bad till you kill them and move onto the next. The actual big bad had a ton of health that the fight, although still not challenging, could have some mechanics rather than the usual beat everyone before they even finish their dialogue because the overland difficulty is so easy. The dragons, while clearly pandering to Skyrim fans, lead to some decent set pieces throughout the story. This Season of the Dragon storyline was the first year long story where the four DLC releases all told a continuous story. I haven't played the final part but I enjoyed the first dungeon DLC that builds up to the release of the dragons and the the second one that shows you some wider consequences of dragons being present. The year long stories don't seem to have been that popular among the playerbase but I want to call this one a successful endeavour from what I've played so far.
A new chapter usually introduces a new gameplay feature. Elsweyr came with a new class, Necromancer. I do not begrudge them adding new classes because people are always asking for them so it's clearly a worthwhile addition. For me though, I've always only played one character who uses the base game class, Nightblade and even if there was a way of switching classes, I still probably wouldn't. As far as new gameplay features go, it may as well not exist for me outside of seeing other players using the unique skills for the class. Overall, I did enjoy Elsweyr and am eager to move onto the smaller Dragonhold DLC to finish the Season of the Dragon.
I usually enjoy the main story of these DLCs but after playing a lot of them the last few months, there is a pretty apparent formula to them. World ending threat starts and we need to find a MacGuffin to power you up to beat it. This is a wider problem in fantasy but as someone who still finds comfort in these fantasy stories, I do enjoy them. I do usually like the characters they build up around you, whether they be new or returning characters. It makes it feel like it's more than just the playable character doing literally everything. I will say this chapter did work through villains quicker than I was expecting. I kept thinking one character was going to the final big bad till you kill them and move onto the next. The actual big bad had a ton of health that the fight, although still not challenging, could have some mechanics rather than the usual beat everyone before they even finish their dialogue because the overland difficulty is so easy. The dragons, while clearly pandering to Skyrim fans, lead to some decent set pieces throughout the story. This Season of the Dragon storyline was the first year long story where the four DLC releases all told a continuous story. I haven't played the final part but I enjoyed the first dungeon DLC that builds up to the release of the dragons and the the second one that shows you some wider consequences of dragons being present. The year long stories don't seem to have been that popular among the playerbase but I want to call this one a successful endeavour from what I've played so far.
A new chapter usually introduces a new gameplay feature. Elsweyr came with a new class, Necromancer. I do not begrudge them adding new classes because people are always asking for them so it's clearly a worthwhile addition. For me though, I've always only played one character who uses the base game class, Nightblade and even if there was a way of switching classes, I still probably wouldn't. As far as new gameplay features go, it may as well not exist for me outside of seeing other players using the unique skills for the class. Overall, I did enjoy Elsweyr and am eager to move onto the smaller Dragonhold DLC to finish the Season of the Dragon.
2021
The Artful Escape might mean more to you if you have a close connection to music but for me, not so much. The gameplay is essentially running in a direction and then you'll get a Simon Says segment. At certain points, it feels like it could have gone in the direction of a platformer or rhythm game but there isn't enough there to really reach either genre. It's nice audio-visual experience and Carl Weathers is cool but it just did not do much for me.
Closing out the Seaon of the Dragon, we have the Dragonhold DLC that brings us to Southern Elsweyr. It doesn't offer anything particularly different from the Northern Elsweyr chapter but it does everything pretty well. It offers another dragon fighting story with another great cast of characters (who couldn't love Caska?). Building up the Dragonguard Sanctum by doing daily quests is a satisfying thing to do. It was the same in Northern Elsweyr but the dragon world events have to be coolest world event they've done, at least up to this point. I love the dolmen sound from the base game but seeing a bunch of players sprinting to where the dragon lands and fighting this massive thing is just really fun. It closes out the year long story well and it was a nice reunion of a lot of the characters from the base game's main quest. I do like the year long story concept and it worked well here but I have heard they're not great after this point.