tryagainlater
I didn't play this game back in the Game Boy days and it is pretty rough to play today on the Switch's emulator. It's no wonder we've gotten both a great official and unofficial remake for it. I shouldn't be too hard on it though. It was doing some cool stuff for the Game Boy. It feels pretty atmospheric with some interesting music and you do feel like you're descending into this scary alien planet. Unfortunately, the lack of map and all the environments looking very similar (especially when it never got a colour version for the GBC) make it incredibly difficult to navigate. I know getting lost can sometimes be the point of these games but when you can't discern one area from another, it just becomes a frustrating experience. I did still get some enjoyment from hunting down all the metroids despite the repetition. I'm glad to have played through it but any revisit will be through either of the remakes.
2021
A number of time loop games have come out the last few years and it's an appealing mechanic. Doing things over till you get things right is very much baked into concept of video games. The Forgotten City does it really well. It avoids repetition by allowing you to keep any item you pick up between loops and at the start of the loop, you're able to tell the NPC that greets you to do some of the tasks for you. It's a fun puzzle game and it's satisfying to work out how to solve everyone's problem. I really did enjoy the story; it felt very Star Trek. I'm always down for a Roman aesthethic and I liked the thematic link between the player builing up knowledge based on past loops and how civilizations like the Romans were built upon past civilizations. I do want to say good for the guy who made a popular Skyrim mod and found success building it into its own game. Those are always nice stories to hear.
2018
This made me realise I should probably start checking out more games I haven't heard of on PS+ Extra because this game only caught my eye when it was leaving the service and the description had me intrigued. Ghost of a Tale is a pretty interesting game that is trying to do a lot with what seems like a low budget. It's refreshing to play an RPG that takes place in a small world and has very little to no combat. You'll be mostly sneaking by enemies although I wouldn't say the stealth mechanics are particularly developed. The focus is more on finding parts of costumes through exploration or quests which allow you to blend in, or cause less noise or run faster. I was quite surprised to find myself quite invested in the characters too. With the main character being a bard, I wish they did something a bit more substantial with the songs other than picking one from a list and listening to an instrumental version. The zero voice acting was an obvious problem there. It's a cool little game that I would like to see what the developers do next, especially with a bit more budget.
I wonder why I waited so long to play this game. Greece during the Peloponnesian War was a dream setting for an Assassin's Creed game that I had been asking for back when I was a big fan of the series. I probably don't have to think too hard as to why it took me so long since I had heard a lot of negative things about the game, which I now realise was from a lot of AC fans feeling spurned by the new direction. Despite enjoying Origins, I wasn't chomping at the bit to play an iterative sequel. So yes, that's why I waited so long but I'm glad I've played it now since I adore it. Origins was mostly an action adventure game with some RPG mechanics which incidentally describes most games these days. Ultimately, the RPG side of the game wasn't particularly substantial while it watered down the fun stealth action and parkour from earlier entries in the series.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey is absolutely an RPG though. It very wholeheartedly embraces the genre.
The most enjoyable aspect of the game as an RPG is the build diversity. There is a lot you can do with the skill tree and the gear that can lead to some fun builds. I'm usually not that into loot vomit but if you're focused on something in particular, you don't really need to switch out your gear that often. There are a lot of abilities in the skill tree that have multiple levels that encourages specialization. You're not just going to get everything there by the end of the game and you have a limited number of slots in your ability wheel so you couldn't use them all anyway. At level 50, you're able to put points into stat boosts, of which there is a massive list of options to choose from. I know basic stat boosts can be boring but it further encourages specialization and can really enhance a build. The three general playstyles in the game are hunter (ranged combat), warrior (melee combat) and assassin (stealthy stabbing). Origins' gameplay was also divided up this way but you could easily just do a bit of everything. You can make very powerful builds just focusing on one part in Odyssey but it is also very possible to make interesting hybrid builds.
The gear may be more significant for making a really powerful character. The actual DPS or armour value of the gear isn't actually the important part so you don't need to replace gear constantly. The engravings on the gear is what you want to pay attention do. These offer some damage boosts to the three main playstyles but also have a whole assortment of different buffs. I was playing a glass assassin build so I was very focused on crit chance and crit damage. I had basically no defense which encouraged me to stay stealthy but I could one-shot pretty much anything the game could throw at me by the end. I've seen people lament the lack of guaranteed assassinations in this game but they are possible. Just not at level 1 and you have to work for it but working towards things is what makes RPGs fun. There are some unique engravings in the game that are almost transformative to your playstyle and you're able to add an angraving to your gear. The vast amount of loot drops and different rarity levels can be confusing but it isn't too overwhelming once you know what you want to look for. You mainly want purple epic gear because it has four engraving slots. Engravings are only improved every 10 levels so you don't need to switch it out every time you get something of a higher level nor will you need to constantly be grinding for upgrade materials for every level. There is some gear locked behind microtransanctions which is a bummer but most of the best stuff is accessible without it even if some RNG is involved.This is the first game where I began to appreciate level scaling. I still think leveling everything down to your level which this game doesn't do is lame. Leveling everything up to your level works really well here. Every ability point you spend along with a smart selection of gear makes you feel like you're constantly getting stronger even if the enemies are pacing alongside you.
Odyssey's Greece is incredibly vast and gorgeous. Sure, there is some procedural generation and copy and paste in there but it really does feel massive and has almost every area in Greece that you would expect to see. Although not everything is realistic, you really do feel transported to Classical Greece with the richly detailed buildings, statues and clothing. There's a lot of city states to explore and although they are not as intricate and lively as some of the city focused games earlier in the series, they are decent. They can feel a bit too similar but they all have a different layout. They do at least capture a unique character of Athens and Sparta. Traversal is very fluid which is good but they may have made it a little too easy to move around the world. I'm mainly refering to the fact that you can climb walls like Spider-Man. I understand the desire to be able to more freely navigate the rocky landscape of Greece but it more often than not just makes me not consider the the environment around me and just run in a direct line to the next waypoint. This is particularly annoying when infiltrating forts. Although there's a lot of copy and paste with the smaller outposts and camps, the bigger forts, which every area has at least one, have a unique design with different entry points. It would be nice to consider which entrance to use for where you want to go in the fort but you don't need to when you can climb every sheer wall. A lot of people think that open world stealth where you can approach an area from every angle is a positive but to me, it makes it all so much less interesting. You also have the Aegean Sea to explore with your trireme which is fairly similar to some of the boat traversal and combat of the past games.
Most of the regions in the game have their own story which is told through a series of side quests, of which there are a ton of. From now until the end of time, every game that has side quests like this is going to be compared to The Witcher 3 and that comparison is mostly going to be unfavourable. Yes, the side quests are not as interesting or well written as those in The Witcher 3 but they are decent. They give each region their own character and make them feel ore memorable. Some are definitely better than others. I particular liked the storyline on The Silver Islands dealing with a rebellion. Whereas I disliked most the quests related to The Olympics in Elis (which is connected to the main story). There's a lot to do outside of these quests. I very much suffered from the "just one more thing" syndrome when I was going to turn the game off for the night. Whether that be trying to get a higher tier in my mercenary ranking, or hunting down another cultist or clearing out another fort or take part in another conquest battle. I can see why people think Ubisoft games have gotten too long or bloated but I was happy to find any reason to stay in Greece.
The main story is nothing special but it is good. They do a decent job of giving motivation to the main character. You can pick to play as Kassandra or Alexios at the start and most people say pick Kassandra which I did. She is a fun protagonist and has some entertaining interactions throughout the games. The game giving you dialogue options and story choices does somewhat muddle her personality to a degree. Maybe that's on me for not staying consistent but there's very little reason to care. Most of the choices are related to romances which I found pretty uninpired in this game. You'll meet a lot of characters throughout this long game, a number of which you will probably completely forget right after meeting them and be confused when they show back up. There are definitely some fun characters. As typical of the series, you bump into historical people of the era and it's great dealing with Alkibiades' insatiateness or Socrates' never ending questions. The story definitely takes a more fantastical turn than the series has had before. There were always sci-fi elements to the games but Odyssey definitely pushes it further. I think this works fine with how far back in history it is though as I feel there's more room to play with the mythology of the era.
I really do love this game mostly for the character builds and the setting. I've seen a lot of people questioning whether it should be considered a good Assassin's Creed game and if it is a good game in its own right. Personally, I don't care much about that distinction. As a game titled Assassin's Creed, it's my favourite since the Ezio days. It definitely is a strong shift in genre which I think it did very successfully but there are plenty of the older style of AC games. Perhaps there were too many which is way it needed a change. With that said, I do think there are plenty of elements to make it feel like an AC game. It takes place in lavishly detailed period setting that games rarely do, you hand out with historical figures, you synchronize at high points, you clear out forts and camps, you can stealthily stab lots of dudes (even if you don't specifically have a hidden blade), there's a modern story that distracts you from the actually interesting history stuff and the cultist system which has you gathering info and luring out targets is reminiscent of the old assassination missions. So yes, I do think it it belongs to the AC series and is a damn good game too.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey is absolutely an RPG though. It very wholeheartedly embraces the genre.
The most enjoyable aspect of the game as an RPG is the build diversity. There is a lot you can do with the skill tree and the gear that can lead to some fun builds. I'm usually not that into loot vomit but if you're focused on something in particular, you don't really need to switch out your gear that often. There are a lot of abilities in the skill tree that have multiple levels that encourages specialization. You're not just going to get everything there by the end of the game and you have a limited number of slots in your ability wheel so you couldn't use them all anyway. At level 50, you're able to put points into stat boosts, of which there is a massive list of options to choose from. I know basic stat boosts can be boring but it further encourages specialization and can really enhance a build. The three general playstyles in the game are hunter (ranged combat), warrior (melee combat) and assassin (stealthy stabbing). Origins' gameplay was also divided up this way but you could easily just do a bit of everything. You can make very powerful builds just focusing on one part in Odyssey but it is also very possible to make interesting hybrid builds.
The gear may be more significant for making a really powerful character. The actual DPS or armour value of the gear isn't actually the important part so you don't need to replace gear constantly. The engravings on the gear is what you want to pay attention do. These offer some damage boosts to the three main playstyles but also have a whole assortment of different buffs. I was playing a glass assassin build so I was very focused on crit chance and crit damage. I had basically no defense which encouraged me to stay stealthy but I could one-shot pretty much anything the game could throw at me by the end. I've seen people lament the lack of guaranteed assassinations in this game but they are possible. Just not at level 1 and you have to work for it but working towards things is what makes RPGs fun. There are some unique engravings in the game that are almost transformative to your playstyle and you're able to add an angraving to your gear. The vast amount of loot drops and different rarity levels can be confusing but it isn't too overwhelming once you know what you want to look for. You mainly want purple epic gear because it has four engraving slots. Engravings are only improved every 10 levels so you don't need to switch it out every time you get something of a higher level nor will you need to constantly be grinding for upgrade materials for every level. There is some gear locked behind microtransanctions which is a bummer but most of the best stuff is accessible without it even if some RNG is involved.This is the first game where I began to appreciate level scaling. I still think leveling everything down to your level which this game doesn't do is lame. Leveling everything up to your level works really well here. Every ability point you spend along with a smart selection of gear makes you feel like you're constantly getting stronger even if the enemies are pacing alongside you.
Odyssey's Greece is incredibly vast and gorgeous. Sure, there is some procedural generation and copy and paste in there but it really does feel massive and has almost every area in Greece that you would expect to see. Although not everything is realistic, you really do feel transported to Classical Greece with the richly detailed buildings, statues and clothing. There's a lot of city states to explore and although they are not as intricate and lively as some of the city focused games earlier in the series, they are decent. They can feel a bit too similar but they all have a different layout. They do at least capture a unique character of Athens and Sparta. Traversal is very fluid which is good but they may have made it a little too easy to move around the world. I'm mainly refering to the fact that you can climb walls like Spider-Man. I understand the desire to be able to more freely navigate the rocky landscape of Greece but it more often than not just makes me not consider the the environment around me and just run in a direct line to the next waypoint. This is particularly annoying when infiltrating forts. Although there's a lot of copy and paste with the smaller outposts and camps, the bigger forts, which every area has at least one, have a unique design with different entry points. It would be nice to consider which entrance to use for where you want to go in the fort but you don't need to when you can climb every sheer wall. A lot of people think that open world stealth where you can approach an area from every angle is a positive but to me, it makes it all so much less interesting. You also have the Aegean Sea to explore with your trireme which is fairly similar to some of the boat traversal and combat of the past games.
Most of the regions in the game have their own story which is told through a series of side quests, of which there are a ton of. From now until the end of time, every game that has side quests like this is going to be compared to The Witcher 3 and that comparison is mostly going to be unfavourable. Yes, the side quests are not as interesting or well written as those in The Witcher 3 but they are decent. They give each region their own character and make them feel ore memorable. Some are definitely better than others. I particular liked the storyline on The Silver Islands dealing with a rebellion. Whereas I disliked most the quests related to The Olympics in Elis (which is connected to the main story). There's a lot to do outside of these quests. I very much suffered from the "just one more thing" syndrome when I was going to turn the game off for the night. Whether that be trying to get a higher tier in my mercenary ranking, or hunting down another cultist or clearing out another fort or take part in another conquest battle. I can see why people think Ubisoft games have gotten too long or bloated but I was happy to find any reason to stay in Greece.
The main story is nothing special but it is good. They do a decent job of giving motivation to the main character. You can pick to play as Kassandra or Alexios at the start and most people say pick Kassandra which I did. She is a fun protagonist and has some entertaining interactions throughout the games. The game giving you dialogue options and story choices does somewhat muddle her personality to a degree. Maybe that's on me for not staying consistent but there's very little reason to care. Most of the choices are related to romances which I found pretty uninpired in this game. You'll meet a lot of characters throughout this long game, a number of which you will probably completely forget right after meeting them and be confused when they show back up. There are definitely some fun characters. As typical of the series, you bump into historical people of the era and it's great dealing with Alkibiades' insatiateness or Socrates' never ending questions. The story definitely takes a more fantastical turn than the series has had before. There were always sci-fi elements to the games but Odyssey definitely pushes it further. I think this works fine with how far back in history it is though as I feel there's more room to play with the mythology of the era.
I really do love this game mostly for the character builds and the setting. I've seen a lot of people questioning whether it should be considered a good Assassin's Creed game and if it is a good game in its own right. Personally, I don't care much about that distinction. As a game titled Assassin's Creed, it's my favourite since the Ezio days. It definitely is a strong shift in genre which I think it did very successfully but there are plenty of the older style of AC games. Perhaps there were too many which is way it needed a change. With that said, I do think there are plenty of elements to make it feel like an AC game. It takes place in lavishly detailed period setting that games rarely do, you hand out with historical figures, you synchronize at high points, you clear out forts and camps, you can stealthily stab lots of dudes (even if you don't specifically have a hidden blade), there's a modern story that distracts you from the actually interesting history stuff and the cultist system which has you gathering info and luring out targets is reminiscent of the old assassination missions. So yes, I do think it it belongs to the AC series and is a damn good game too.
It's always nice to get the wonderful second Naughty Dog game where they enhance the things that worked in the first game and wrap it together in a more polished package (although some Jak fans will probably disagree with that one). Even with that said, I still might prefer the first game but you can really see how the developed the gameplay to be something greater and they were very willing to take some big swings with the story.
When stealth games or games with stealth mechanics put you in an alert state, there's often a very unsatisfying way of dealing with it. One way is the game has enough combat options that you just fight everything anyway which makes you wonder why you were trying to be stealthy in the first place. Another way is you are too weak to fight so you either reload your save or hide somewhere till everyone forgets that you exist. Where The Last of Us shines is in between these two extremes. When enemies are aware of your presence but not entirely sure where you are. The first game did this really well and it's even better here. It is incredibly thrilling trying to decide what ammo and resources to spend as the enemies are desperately searching for you. This improvisation feels even better on higher difficulties. I didn't like the infected gameplay that much in the first game but it is a bit better here since you have a few more options in terms of movement and weapons and there's a bit more variety in the encounters. The highlight is still the human enemies. Every encounter feels significant which is emphasized by every NPC having a name and them calling out to one another in combat. Killing dogs in games already feels horrible enough but you'll rack up even more guilt when you hear their owner crying out for them.
Naughty Dog has yet to follow the the current trend of every big developer making their games open world but they have been pushing more into the wide linear direction with their games. There actually is one fairly open area that I would have liked a couple more of because I really enjoyed exploring it. Exploration is pretty well rewarded with there being upgrades to your weapons and skill trees and well as ammo and resources always being useful to find. There's some useless collectibles too. I do like the light puzzles and platforming needed to move around the environments. I love a good gamey puzzle but I enjoy how the make more natural puzzles. For example, having to attach a wire to a generator that has a limited length. And those sure are the best wire physics in video games. They try not to repeat these types of puzzles too often after how tired everyone got of moving pallets in the first game.
A whole lot can be said about the story and I'm not going to say too much here but it sure makes you feel something. It mostly makes you feel bad. Perhaps it's overbearing in its grimness to the point that I need to take frequent breaks but there is still pockets of love and joy there which feel powerful when they crop up. It would have been easy for Naughty Dog to just make another Ellie and Joel adventure for the sequel after the popularity of the first game but they absolutely did not rest on their laurels. They really go for it in a lot of ways and it kept me guessing in where it was going for what is a pretty damn long game. The HBO adaptation of the first game which is very faithful is very popular and getting rave reviews so the world and characters that Naughty Dog have created clearly speaks to a lot of people regardless of the medium.
I feel like this is the best looking and sounding game I've ever played on a technical level. Perhaps I should be more impressed by something like Red Dead Redemption 2 which looks amazing while also having a giant open world but by estimation, Naughty Dog are on another level. I could spend hours just looking at the incredibly detailed animations. They look realistic while still feeling very responsive. The high interactivity with the environments makes you just want to poke and prod at everything. The sound design is impeccable. Maybe some sounds don't need to sound as realistic as they do. Do we need to hear someone drown in their own blood? Probably not but it sure is impressive. The performance capture and the acting is astounding which is to be expected at this point.
Almost everything I said about the game is glowing and it significantly improves upon its predecessor yet there is something holding me back from completely loving it.The tone may just be too much to take in over the course of the 20-30 hours it takes to complete. I do know I'll find myself returning to this game a number of times in the future. Ultimately, if you like cinematic games, it's a must-play.
When stealth games or games with stealth mechanics put you in an alert state, there's often a very unsatisfying way of dealing with it. One way is the game has enough combat options that you just fight everything anyway which makes you wonder why you were trying to be stealthy in the first place. Another way is you are too weak to fight so you either reload your save or hide somewhere till everyone forgets that you exist. Where The Last of Us shines is in between these two extremes. When enemies are aware of your presence but not entirely sure where you are. The first game did this really well and it's even better here. It is incredibly thrilling trying to decide what ammo and resources to spend as the enemies are desperately searching for you. This improvisation feels even better on higher difficulties. I didn't like the infected gameplay that much in the first game but it is a bit better here since you have a few more options in terms of movement and weapons and there's a bit more variety in the encounters. The highlight is still the human enemies. Every encounter feels significant which is emphasized by every NPC having a name and them calling out to one another in combat. Killing dogs in games already feels horrible enough but you'll rack up even more guilt when you hear their owner crying out for them.
Naughty Dog has yet to follow the the current trend of every big developer making their games open world but they have been pushing more into the wide linear direction with their games. There actually is one fairly open area that I would have liked a couple more of because I really enjoyed exploring it. Exploration is pretty well rewarded with there being upgrades to your weapons and skill trees and well as ammo and resources always being useful to find. There's some useless collectibles too. I do like the light puzzles and platforming needed to move around the environments. I love a good gamey puzzle but I enjoy how the make more natural puzzles. For example, having to attach a wire to a generator that has a limited length. And those sure are the best wire physics in video games. They try not to repeat these types of puzzles too often after how tired everyone got of moving pallets in the first game.
A whole lot can be said about the story and I'm not going to say too much here but it sure makes you feel something. It mostly makes you feel bad. Perhaps it's overbearing in its grimness to the point that I need to take frequent breaks but there is still pockets of love and joy there which feel powerful when they crop up. It would have been easy for Naughty Dog to just make another Ellie and Joel adventure for the sequel after the popularity of the first game but they absolutely did not rest on their laurels. They really go for it in a lot of ways and it kept me guessing in where it was going for what is a pretty damn long game. The HBO adaptation of the first game which is very faithful is very popular and getting rave reviews so the world and characters that Naughty Dog have created clearly speaks to a lot of people regardless of the medium.
I feel like this is the best looking and sounding game I've ever played on a technical level. Perhaps I should be more impressed by something like Red Dead Redemption 2 which looks amazing while also having a giant open world but by estimation, Naughty Dog are on another level. I could spend hours just looking at the incredibly detailed animations. They look realistic while still feeling very responsive. The high interactivity with the environments makes you just want to poke and prod at everything. The sound design is impeccable. Maybe some sounds don't need to sound as realistic as they do. Do we need to hear someone drown in their own blood? Probably not but it sure is impressive. The performance capture and the acting is astounding which is to be expected at this point.
Almost everything I said about the game is glowing and it significantly improves upon its predecessor yet there is something holding me back from completely loving it.The tone may just be too much to take in over the course of the 20-30 hours it takes to complete. I do know I'll find myself returning to this game a number of times in the future. Ultimately, if you like cinematic games, it's a must-play.
2022
I will fully admit that my lack of skill at these games very much affects my appreciation for it. I have never been fully able to wrap my head around the dodge offset and combos in this series. That said, it is hard not to at least get a little invested in the absurdity that happens on screen in these games. You quickly bounce from crazy set pieces to kaiju battles to a random rhythm game battle, you will get caught up in the energy of the game. The story is nonsense but that's nothing new for the series. The Switch is really starting to show its age here with Bayonetta 3 having a muddy look and doesn't run as smoothly as a Platinum game should. The game is fun but I'm just really bad at them. Maybe I should replay them all as people usually say that the entire first playthrough of a Platinum game is just the tutorial.
Ori, as a Metroidvania and platformer, does the main things you want out of these types of games. You get new abilities that allows you to move around the world in new ways which feels satisfying and the movement itself feels really good. It's also very gorgeous to look at. I was enjoying it quite a bit more at the start though. The combat, which admittedly isn't a massive portion of the game, involves firing a bunch of orbs at enemies which feels tedious and wore me down more and more as the game went on. That may be partly my fault as I didn't develop the combat ability tree that much but the utility tree which focuses on movement and survival and the efficiency tree which focuses on abilities that serve exploration were more attractive to me. Still very much worth a playthrough.
I had a lot of fun with this game back in 2011 and now playing over ten years later in this remaster, it doesn't entirely hold up. It still is a decently good time though. There's a nice array of side activities with the highlight being Insurance Fraud which will always feel like the crowning achievement of the series. It's been a while since I've played Saints Row 2 but I do remember there being a bit more varierty in the side activities but what is there in 3 is still good. The story missions throw you into a lot of different scenarios ranging from shooting from a freefalling tank or running around as a toilet in a computer simulation to fighting a zombie apocalypse. The cast of characters are very entertaining and the game is actually pretty damn funny even if every joke does not land these days. Unfortunately, it's still quite glitchy which is disappointing for a remaster. Also, the DLC is pretty uninteresting. Still probably a better game than Skyrim. Why do I bring that up? Who knows?
It may be a bit pointless to write a review on a game that has changed quite a lot since its launch and has even changed a decent amount since I started playing over 4 years ago with quite a lot of new content. But since I just got around to finishing the main campaign and the base game zones recently, I thought I'd write something.
I do really like this game. I don't have too much to compare it to in terms of MMORPG's because this is the first one I've ever really played so that may colour my impressions. My love of The Elder Scrolls world and lore is mainly from Morrowind since I feel its two sequels were lacking. ESO is definitely more of a theme park ride rather than a deep world to explore but I enjoy trotting around the breadth of zones that are just in the base game and they've added quite a lot more over the years. I like the questing and although the writing isn't amazing by any stretch, there's enough dialogue to keep you engaged. There is a lot of voiced dialogue too which is probably not very important for the MMO crowd but it's impressive. There is a bit of repetition in terms of quest setup with a lot of villages overcome by daedric monsters or possessed by something but I hear they have gotten better with that in the expansions. I do like how your exploration of a zone is guided by the main zone quests but gives you lots of jumping off points such as villages or caves that offer their own little side story and often are connected to the main story of the zone. It makes fully completing the zones feel satisfying.
The combat is pretty fun albeit can feel a little rote after the tens, if not hundreds, of hours you'll spend playing the game. The main criticism it gets is the light attack weaving which I do enjoy once I got the hang of it and it keeps you engaged with the combat rather than just waiting for ability cooldowns. There's a lot of build variety with the six, and soon to be seven, classes that are in the game right now. There's lot of abilities to use regardless of your class so you can hone in on something specific you want to do with a build.There's a number of different sets that do interesting things although with an MMO, there can be a lot of pressure to just follow the meta. Especially since a lot of good sets are behind 12 person trials or 4 person dungeons and you will want to be following some sort of meta to not get completely carried by a team. That said, and this is anecdotal on my part, the community in the game is pretty positive and helpful. I can barely think of any bad encounters I've had with other players which is more than I can say for other online games I've played.
When ever games have huge worlds, I always want there to be more than just combat as a means of interacting with it. If we are talking strictly about the base game, there was not a whole lot there. You could fish and you could craft. I do quite enjoy the crafting so at least that's something. I suppose you could talk to lots of NPC's but that usually came in the form of questing that would more often than not lead to something to fight. They have expanded this decently over the years. They improved the stealing mechanics and gave you more to do with it in the Thieves Guild DLC. They've continually added more to the housing system which goes along with the crafting system. There's also antiquities for finding unique treasures and a recent addition of a card game. I might not use all these additions that much but I always appreciate them being there to give the world more flavour.
I'm not that big into PvP in general in games but it really is not great here. Moreso because of performance and a lack of investment which has lead to a low player interest in it. I think there is a generally cool idea with the Cyrodiil area (where a lot of TES4 takes place). You have a series of keeps that players start sieges with ballistae and battering rams to control and then you can defend it from other players. It's an interesting push-pull of maintaining control over an area or expanding and it can really be exhilarating being part of a big team taking a keep. But there can be a lot of lag and I think the developers have given up with trying to improve it. In terms of more co-operative ventures with other players, the trials and dungeons are fun with some decent mechanics on them. The main thing that is bothers me here is that they clearly work hard on making a story and interesting visuals for them but I can barely experience it because the rest of the team is going to run past everything so I can really enjoy it. They should add some sort of solo mode for them.
Overall, it has some problems but I really do enjoy the game the running around the ever expanding world they've crafted. I am happy to keep playing through the large amounts of DLC they have added and continue to add. It feels weird to like this so much when I'm so down on Oblivion and Skyrim in relation to how brilliant Morrowind is but ESO is different enough that I can enjoy submerging myself in Elder Scrolls lore without making the unfavourable comparisons.
I do really like this game. I don't have too much to compare it to in terms of MMORPG's because this is the first one I've ever really played so that may colour my impressions. My love of The Elder Scrolls world and lore is mainly from Morrowind since I feel its two sequels were lacking. ESO is definitely more of a theme park ride rather than a deep world to explore but I enjoy trotting around the breadth of zones that are just in the base game and they've added quite a lot more over the years. I like the questing and although the writing isn't amazing by any stretch, there's enough dialogue to keep you engaged. There is a lot of voiced dialogue too which is probably not very important for the MMO crowd but it's impressive. There is a bit of repetition in terms of quest setup with a lot of villages overcome by daedric monsters or possessed by something but I hear they have gotten better with that in the expansions. I do like how your exploration of a zone is guided by the main zone quests but gives you lots of jumping off points such as villages or caves that offer their own little side story and often are connected to the main story of the zone. It makes fully completing the zones feel satisfying.
The combat is pretty fun albeit can feel a little rote after the tens, if not hundreds, of hours you'll spend playing the game. The main criticism it gets is the light attack weaving which I do enjoy once I got the hang of it and it keeps you engaged with the combat rather than just waiting for ability cooldowns. There's a lot of build variety with the six, and soon to be seven, classes that are in the game right now. There's lot of abilities to use regardless of your class so you can hone in on something specific you want to do with a build.There's a number of different sets that do interesting things although with an MMO, there can be a lot of pressure to just follow the meta. Especially since a lot of good sets are behind 12 person trials or 4 person dungeons and you will want to be following some sort of meta to not get completely carried by a team. That said, and this is anecdotal on my part, the community in the game is pretty positive and helpful. I can barely think of any bad encounters I've had with other players which is more than I can say for other online games I've played.
When ever games have huge worlds, I always want there to be more than just combat as a means of interacting with it. If we are talking strictly about the base game, there was not a whole lot there. You could fish and you could craft. I do quite enjoy the crafting so at least that's something. I suppose you could talk to lots of NPC's but that usually came in the form of questing that would more often than not lead to something to fight. They have expanded this decently over the years. They improved the stealing mechanics and gave you more to do with it in the Thieves Guild DLC. They've continually added more to the housing system which goes along with the crafting system. There's also antiquities for finding unique treasures and a recent addition of a card game. I might not use all these additions that much but I always appreciate them being there to give the world more flavour.
I'm not that big into PvP in general in games but it really is not great here. Moreso because of performance and a lack of investment which has lead to a low player interest in it. I think there is a generally cool idea with the Cyrodiil area (where a lot of TES4 takes place). You have a series of keeps that players start sieges with ballistae and battering rams to control and then you can defend it from other players. It's an interesting push-pull of maintaining control over an area or expanding and it can really be exhilarating being part of a big team taking a keep. But there can be a lot of lag and I think the developers have given up with trying to improve it. In terms of more co-operative ventures with other players, the trials and dungeons are fun with some decent mechanics on them. The main thing that is bothers me here is that they clearly work hard on making a story and interesting visuals for them but I can barely experience it because the rest of the team is going to run past everything so I can really enjoy it. They should add some sort of solo mode for them.
Overall, it has some problems but I really do enjoy the game the running around the ever expanding world they've crafted. I am happy to keep playing through the large amounts of DLC they have added and continue to add. It feels weird to like this so much when I'm so down on Oblivion and Skyrim in relation to how brilliant Morrowind is but ESO is different enough that I can enjoy submerging myself in Elder Scrolls lore without making the unfavourable comparisons.
I have a weird relationship with this game where I think it has many faults and I would rate it low but I still always find myself returning to it and starting a new playthrough. In the case of my most recent playthrough, it didn't last very long. All the problems of boring world and mission design are still there. It really is a massive drop in quality from Morrowind with even less thought to complete missions as you just follow a marker. You do have tons of places to go and people to talk to and things to poke at which is the strength of the series but it's fairly uninteresting in Oblivion. I installed like 400 mods in the Oblivion Rebirth package on Nexus Mods which is a great collection that the author put a lot of work into but it doesn't do much to salvage the game. All this negativity yet I'll still probably return to the game again at some point. Or I should really just wait till the Skyblivion release. I have many problems with Skyrim too but it's a little bit more fun mechanically. Or just continue to play Morrowind which is still a masterpiece and the absolute highlight of the series.
2022
It's always a bit disheartening when you are not as enamoured with something the way the rest of the world is. That is to say, I think Elden Ring is OK, pretty good even but I don't think it is great. I don't want to sound too negative about it because I still am quite impressed with what From Software managed to achieve with its world. Descending into a massive cavern with mysteries to uncover and items to find from a random hole in a rock wall you stumbled by is what exploration in games is all about. It is something that Elden Ring has to offer in spades. Wth the wide array of items to find such as weapons, armour, spells, ashes of war (which are special weapon attacks), summon spirits, consumables and upgrade materials, there is always something to find and there are diverse builds you can work towards.
Now this is going to seem hypocritical but the things I just praised the game for with its world also lead to some of the drawbacks. The bigger world means that the level design suffers. There are some areas that feel similar to locations from the Souls games but nothing reaches the heights of in From's older work. I think there are some areas that are just straight up awful such as the Farum Azula near the end. Granted, every From game has a bad area so maybe I shouldn't hold it against Elden Ring so much. As great as the diverse builds are, if you are working on a specific build, it can be quite annoying to work your way through a difficult optional area to get an item you will never use. I don't think there is a good fix for something like that because it would ruin the exploration if every dungeon told you upfront what you would unlock so perhaps it is not a fair complaint. The game being so challenging does exasperate that issue. The repetitive nature of the dungeons and bosses does get a bit annoying after a while. I'm not one to complain too much about open world games having repetition since I enjoy Assassin's Creed games but it does make the wonder of discovery lose its lustre.
As impressive as it can be, I'm not sure bringing the Souls template to open world was actually a good decision. They did make quite a lot of those games though so I don't begrudge From trying to do something different. I go back and forth on how positive the strengths of the game are and how negative the weaknesses are. Ultimately, my feelings seem somewhere in the middle.
Now this is going to seem hypocritical but the things I just praised the game for with its world also lead to some of the drawbacks. The bigger world means that the level design suffers. There are some areas that feel similar to locations from the Souls games but nothing reaches the heights of in From's older work. I think there are some areas that are just straight up awful such as the Farum Azula near the end. Granted, every From game has a bad area so maybe I shouldn't hold it against Elden Ring so much. As great as the diverse builds are, if you are working on a specific build, it can be quite annoying to work your way through a difficult optional area to get an item you will never use. I don't think there is a good fix for something like that because it would ruin the exploration if every dungeon told you upfront what you would unlock so perhaps it is not a fair complaint. The game being so challenging does exasperate that issue. The repetitive nature of the dungeons and bosses does get a bit annoying after a while. I'm not one to complain too much about open world games having repetition since I enjoy Assassin's Creed games but it does make the wonder of discovery lose its lustre.
As impressive as it can be, I'm not sure bringing the Souls template to open world was actually a good decision. They did make quite a lot of those games though so I don't begrudge From trying to do something different. I go back and forth on how positive the strengths of the game are and how negative the weaknesses are. Ultimately, my feelings seem somewhere in the middle.
2022
It's odd when a game has clear improvements over its predecessor but I still come away from it feeling like it wasn't as good an experience. That may sound too negative as I still greatly really enjoyed my time with God of War Ragnarök. I really loved the 2018 entry and this game still has a lot of the stuff I liked about it so I very much don't consider it a disappointment.
It has the same crunchy combat as the first game and with some improvements here and there. A lot of the combat takes part in more arena like areas so you're encouraged to move around. With more space and different levels to the arenas, you have a bit more freedom of movement and attacking. There are contextual actions such as jump attacks from a higher level or giant rocks you can throw at enemies. It does make the combat feel a bit more dynamic. One of the major drawbacks of the first game was the lack of variety in enemy types and especially the bosses. Ragnarok fixes this quite soundly. You don't even have to fight one of those different coloured trolls that you see many times throughout the previous game. On top of more variety, they also add a third weapon which is just as fun as the other two and feels distinct. The bosses and set pieces may not reach some of the heights of the Greek games but they are still a lot of fun and there's a decent amount of them. The titular Ragnarok is not as epic as you might want but it still offers some spectacle.
I know a lot of people don't think the character progression and gear management adds much to the game but I still really like it here. Maybe I'm simple and just like it when the numbers go up but the loop is satisfying. A lot of skill tree is gated by the story so the progression there can feel a bit slow but it gives you time you try out the new moves rather then being inundated with them all at once. There's a new mastery system to your skills that gives you a buff after you use it a certain number of times. The actual significance to gameplay that this buff adds is pretty minor but I always appreciate encouragement to use different moves. You also have an option of what buff to apply so it gives you a somewhat personalised way of building your Kratos. The gear options are fun to work through and there isn't an absolute loot vomit so the armour generally feels unique. The way the game doles out upgrade materials may seem limiting but with the different tiers of materials depending on the level of the gear, it made it so I was never unwilling to spend it in the worry of wasting it when I find something better. Plus you can dismantle any gear to get your upgrade materials back which is most welcome. I'm not saying the game has as diverse character building as a good RPG but with the different armour sets, gems, shields, runic attacks and some personalisation in the skill tree, I was able to enjoy focusing in on the playstyle I wanted. I enjoyed going for a status effect build and it really worked for me.
Exploration is still a key part of the game and it is rewarding to go off the beaten track to find various upgrades. It also has the soft Metroidvania angle of being able to discover new things in previously explored areas. There's a decent amount of puzzles to find here which I do enjoy although there was one type of puzzle involving shooting arrows that could get very tedious. Unfortunately, you have very little time to actually solve the puzzle yourself before the NPC's blurt out the solution. This got a little less prevalent as the game goes on but there really is a weird amount of hand holding that you can't toggle off in the menu. It is fortunate that the game has an impressive amount of accessibility options in the menu which I'll always support. You venture into all nine realms this time which all have a distinct visual style. Not all of them are large fully explorable areas but there's at least a little bit of story in all of them rather than two being designated challenge room areas.
The story and the way it is told is will feel pretty familiar if you're used the Sony cinematic game. It is well written with fantastic performances and still has that one take approach to the direction which I still don't think adds that much. I wonder when they decided that this would be the end of the Norse saga because the first game feels like it inched forward in comparison. Perhaps that worked better for that game because we needed something slower to get used to the new Kratos. I'll give Santa Monica credit for sticking to their guns with the new Kratos. It maybe is why the Ragnarok event wasn't as epic as it could be but they want Kratos to not want to just murder everything which makes him more compelling. The main thing I didn't enjoy with the game was the shift to another character. I mostly didn't like that character's moveset when comparing to Kratos but it messes with the pacing of the story and I'm not sure much would be lost if a lot of it was turned into shorter cutscenes. Having completed the game, it doesn't take up that much of the runtime but I was definitely more negative on it earlier on when I thought I was going to spend a lot more time with it.
I clearly really like the game and talked about things I like more than the first one so why do I feel I don't like it as much. Maybe it just as simple as it not feeling as fresh. Still, if you want a game with a good story and fun melee combat, God of War Ragnarök would be one of your better options.
It has the same crunchy combat as the first game and with some improvements here and there. A lot of the combat takes part in more arena like areas so you're encouraged to move around. With more space and different levels to the arenas, you have a bit more freedom of movement and attacking. There are contextual actions such as jump attacks from a higher level or giant rocks you can throw at enemies. It does make the combat feel a bit more dynamic. One of the major drawbacks of the first game was the lack of variety in enemy types and especially the bosses. Ragnarok fixes this quite soundly. You don't even have to fight one of those different coloured trolls that you see many times throughout the previous game. On top of more variety, they also add a third weapon which is just as fun as the other two and feels distinct. The bosses and set pieces may not reach some of the heights of the Greek games but they are still a lot of fun and there's a decent amount of them. The titular Ragnarok is not as epic as you might want but it still offers some spectacle.
I know a lot of people don't think the character progression and gear management adds much to the game but I still really like it here. Maybe I'm simple and just like it when the numbers go up but the loop is satisfying. A lot of skill tree is gated by the story so the progression there can feel a bit slow but it gives you time you try out the new moves rather then being inundated with them all at once. There's a new mastery system to your skills that gives you a buff after you use it a certain number of times. The actual significance to gameplay that this buff adds is pretty minor but I always appreciate encouragement to use different moves. You also have an option of what buff to apply so it gives you a somewhat personalised way of building your Kratos. The gear options are fun to work through and there isn't an absolute loot vomit so the armour generally feels unique. The way the game doles out upgrade materials may seem limiting but with the different tiers of materials depending on the level of the gear, it made it so I was never unwilling to spend it in the worry of wasting it when I find something better. Plus you can dismantle any gear to get your upgrade materials back which is most welcome. I'm not saying the game has as diverse character building as a good RPG but with the different armour sets, gems, shields, runic attacks and some personalisation in the skill tree, I was able to enjoy focusing in on the playstyle I wanted. I enjoyed going for a status effect build and it really worked for me.
Exploration is still a key part of the game and it is rewarding to go off the beaten track to find various upgrades. It also has the soft Metroidvania angle of being able to discover new things in previously explored areas. There's a decent amount of puzzles to find here which I do enjoy although there was one type of puzzle involving shooting arrows that could get very tedious. Unfortunately, you have very little time to actually solve the puzzle yourself before the NPC's blurt out the solution. This got a little less prevalent as the game goes on but there really is a weird amount of hand holding that you can't toggle off in the menu. It is fortunate that the game has an impressive amount of accessibility options in the menu which I'll always support. You venture into all nine realms this time which all have a distinct visual style. Not all of them are large fully explorable areas but there's at least a little bit of story in all of them rather than two being designated challenge room areas.
The story and the way it is told is will feel pretty familiar if you're used the Sony cinematic game. It is well written with fantastic performances and still has that one take approach to the direction which I still don't think adds that much. I wonder when they decided that this would be the end of the Norse saga because the first game feels like it inched forward in comparison. Perhaps that worked better for that game because we needed something slower to get used to the new Kratos. I'll give Santa Monica credit for sticking to their guns with the new Kratos. It maybe is why the Ragnarok event wasn't as epic as it could be but they want Kratos to not want to just murder everything which makes him more compelling. The main thing I didn't enjoy with the game was the shift to another character. I mostly didn't like that character's moveset when comparing to Kratos but it messes with the pacing of the story and I'm not sure much would be lost if a lot of it was turned into shorter cutscenes. Having completed the game, it doesn't take up that much of the runtime but I was definitely more negative on it earlier on when I thought I was going to spend a lot more time with it.
I clearly really like the game and talked about things I like more than the first one so why do I feel I don't like it as much. Maybe it just as simple as it not feeling as fresh. Still, if you want a game with a good story and fun melee combat, God of War Ragnarök would be one of your better options.
Some games are just a pleasant experience and Kirby and the Forgotten Land is one of them. It's a platformer that is very much lacking in difficulty but it looks cute, the music is nice and is enjoyable to play. The levels are decent and they do some cool creative things with the Mouthful Mode. There's a lot of variety to the copy abilities and they were satisfying to upgrade.
With Kirby being able to float after a jump and him having a lot of health, you'd have to try pretty hard to die. Like a lot of Nintendo games, there is a post-game and optional content that provides a bit more challenge. Trying to hit the target time in the treasure road was probably the hardest thing in the game and I wish there was a bit more incentive to do it. I did enjoy the town building aspect and minigames which I wouldn't have minded if there was a bit more to that stuff. I haven't played any of the previous Kirby games but as his first foray into 3D, it was pretty good and I'd be willing to play more.l
With Kirby being able to float after a jump and him having a lot of health, you'd have to try pretty hard to die. Like a lot of Nintendo games, there is a post-game and optional content that provides a bit more challenge. Trying to hit the target time in the treasure road was probably the hardest thing in the game and I wish there was a bit more incentive to do it. I did enjoy the town building aspect and minigames which I wouldn't have minded if there was a bit more to that stuff. I haven't played any of the previous Kirby games but as his first foray into 3D, it was pretty good and I'd be willing to play more.l
2022
As far as twin stick shooters go, which admittedly I'm not the biggest fan of, this seems like a perfectly serviceable one. It has a nice look to it and I like the creature designs. They're all pretty distinctive looking which is certainly helpful since they all have a different attack pattern you have to contend with. You will just be shooting 100% of the time when you're in combat which can be fun to a point. The game can be challenging at times but it is very generous with its economy. You mostly don't lose any currency when you die which you can use to get upgrades and new weapons which you'll need to do everytime you reach a new act, of which there are four. There's nothing else that really stands out about it but I had a decent time in the few hours it took me to complete. I was glad it wasn't any longer than that though.
2022
I was playing with the DLSS set at ultra performance so I don't know how much benefit I was really getting out of the RTX with some of the low resolution but at least it ran at 60fps or more. I suppose there was some cool lighting and reflections but I didn't really take that much notice of it to be honest. Maybe it will be more jaw dropping if I get something better than a 3060.
As for the game itself, I've never been that enamoured with the first Portal. It had cool ideas that I thought were better developed in the more well rounded sequel. The humour is funny but it was ruined by the internet. Still, as a game you can finish in an hour or so, it's decently fun time.
As for the game itself, I've never been that enamoured with the first Portal. It had cool ideas that I thought were better developed in the more well rounded sequel. The humour is funny but it was ruined by the internet. Still, as a game you can finish in an hour or so, it's decently fun time.