tryagainlater
I was perhaps expecting a bit more after all the praise this game has got. It's a well made Metroidvania that has all the positive traits of that genre. Unlocking new areas is fun and getting new abilities that improve traversal feels satisfying. There's nothing wrong with it but I was left feeling it was merely OK. It has a really nice artstyle and although I liked the varied looks of the different biomes, I did find myself getting lost a lot because a lot the areas within one biome just looked too similar. That might be more a me problem though. The bosses are pretty good. I had my share of frustration with them but they didn't feel cheap and could be overcome my learning their pattern and changing out some charms. I did not like the charm system so much because I found they rarely helped outside of a few utility ones like marking your position on a map or collecting the Geo currency for you but I may just not have found the good ones. I hit credits but I was nowhere near the full 112% completion. I might return to it some day and find the depth that it's lauded for. But for now, I did enjoy my time with it but was not overly impressed.
2019
Some games follow a lot of industry trends and end up great like a few Sony first party games. Others like Days Gone, use a lot of the same industry trends and just end up being painfully mediocre if not simply dull. The game does have a couple things going for it. The Horde stuff is actually a lot of fun. It's impressive how many of the zombies can be chasing you at once and, at least on PS5, it doesn't seem to affect the performance at all. Figuring out the best way to bottleneck them so you can take out as many as possible. For what seems like the selling point for the title, it takes most of the game till you actually get to fight them. There's a few optional hordes you can face earlier on but you'll probably feel like you have to wait till you get better weapons. Riding around on the bike and upgrading it is also pretty fun. I even liked refueling it with gas canisters which playing on the mode that deactivates the fast travel, I did a whole lot of that.
As for the rest of the game, it's just fairly standard stuff. You can fight, sneak and use melee weapons against your enemies. There isn't anything wrong with the mechanics but they're not that interesting. There's an open world with camps to clear out and dull collectibles to find. There is character progression and weapon upgrades and although it isn't particularly exciting, it is a bit satisfying to turn Deacon into a god by the end of the game, especially on higher difficulties.
I found myself pretty bored by the story and characters. The writing is pretty embarassing at times and Deacon doesn't do much to endear me to him. His constant muttering to himself is really off-putting. Oddly enough, Boozer was the character I most connected when he made a very bad first impression. The story is also way too long. You could cut out half of the story missions and not lose anything. I thought the amount of side content was fine but the main narrative felt like it was spinning its wheels for most of the game. Overall, the game is mostly OK. If you're absolutely desperate for some open-world zombies, I suppose it's serviceable.
As for the rest of the game, it's just fairly standard stuff. You can fight, sneak and use melee weapons against your enemies. There isn't anything wrong with the mechanics but they're not that interesting. There's an open world with camps to clear out and dull collectibles to find. There is character progression and weapon upgrades and although it isn't particularly exciting, it is a bit satisfying to turn Deacon into a god by the end of the game, especially on higher difficulties.
I found myself pretty bored by the story and characters. The writing is pretty embarassing at times and Deacon doesn't do much to endear me to him. His constant muttering to himself is really off-putting. Oddly enough, Boozer was the character I most connected when he made a very bad first impression. The story is also way too long. You could cut out half of the story missions and not lose anything. I thought the amount of side content was fine but the main narrative felt like it was spinning its wheels for most of the game. Overall, the game is mostly OK. If you're absolutely desperate for some open-world zombies, I suppose it's serviceable.
I found the first Spider-Man game to be a bit bland while having some fun swinging and I feel mostly the same way here. It's not without some refinement though. The combat feels a bit better with the addition of the venom moves. The stealth sections are also a bit better designed. The shorter length really helps with the pacing of the story because obvious villain twists are less of a problem when they're not building up to it for hours. The music is also quite a step up from the previous entry. The side content is still a bit uniteresting. I must say that the fidelity mode running with VRR for 120Hz monitors looks damn great. I hope that becomes an industry standard. I wish I liked these games more because they certainly make me marvel at how expensive they look but I rarely feel much excitement while playing them. It's a decent game but I won't be rushing to the next one.
2018
If ever there was a video game series that either needed to do something new or just stop completely, it was God of War. Ascension in 2013 was an uninteresting prequel that felt like it was just made because the PS3 gen had stretched on so long. It was too early to make something for the PS4 after God of War 3 in 2010 but they didn't have much passion to make something worthwhile. Sony Santa Monica had a lot to prove with a return to such a tired series and BOY, did they succeed.
A lot can be said for execution in game development because on paper, God of War isn't doing anything special in the realm of AAA video games. Honestly, describing elements of it just sounds like you're going through the checklist of modern gaming. You got levels, skill trees, loot, crafting, stats, gear, gems to slot into gear all wrapped into a narrative driven cinematic package. It isn't open world like most games these days but has a sizeable hub that offers plenty of exploration off the beaten path and side quests. They bring it all together into a really entertaining and engaging experience and feels better than most of the other games that have all these elements.
Not only did this game have a lot to prove in bringing back the series but also in bringing back Kratos as the protagonist. The more God of War games that came out, the more unlikeable he became. I'm not sure he ever started as likeable but he definitely got worse as the series went on. He became entirely defined as a constantly mad rage machine that wanted to kill everything in the name of revenge. After running out of things to kill in the Greek world, he needed a change of scenery and emigrated to the Norse world. They do a much better job with the character here without completely rewriting his past. What would be the point of bringing back an old character if you just ignore everything that came before? He still is the monster he always was and can't be forgiven for what he's done but he's showing some room for growth and wants to contain some of his rage. He doesn't go looking for a fight; it quite literally comes knocking on his door. They humanize him a lot by having him go on a journey with his son. Atreus, outside of one portion that's pretty bad, is developed quite well and wouldn't be a bad choice if they ever want to pass on the torch. They do ultimately tell a very small story here despite the epic setting which worked really well for this reboot although I worry about the need to possibly up the ante for a sequel.
Combat and boss fights were always the highlight of the series for me. Unfortunately, this game is lacking in grandiose boss fights but the new combat system is fun as Hel. The Leviathan Axe is just as satisfying to swing around as the original Chaos Blades and is certainly not lacking in range since you can throw it and recall it back whenever you want. Doing the cleaving heavy attack never gets old. There isn't a deluge of combos to learn but I still felt they gave you a fairly wide range of attacks to use. The game has a skill tree but you are going to unlock everything in it long before the end of the game. I'm not against skill trees being used as a means to pace out your ability unlocks as for me it does encourage me to use my new moves and learn how it works when I unlock them. I have a tendency to be boring and only use a few moves when they're all unlocked at the start of the game. Still, the modern use of skill trees in games can be kind of annoying if you want to use them for unique builds and player expression.
That said, I do think there's some interesting things you can do with the gear system to make your own builds. Sure, it won't be as diverse as a good RPG and you'll still be mainly using the same strategies in combat but I found it satisfying to go for gear and upgrades depending on the playstyle I wanted. You can focus on vitality and make a really tanky build or put everything in strength and make a glass cannon. I liked enhancing the runic stat which are essentially magic abilities from the axe's ice attacks. There also a lot of useful abilities from gems and talisman's that have a chance of activating so you can go all in on a luck build to get them to proc regularly. It's not tremendously deep but I was very engaged with the system. There's a lot of looking through menus which I get people hate but I don't mind that. You're not inundated with constant gear drops. A lot of the armour feels pretty unique so you won't be constantly switching stuff out for a 1% improvement. I also really liked that a lot of the upgrade materials were fairly bespoke and you had a guaranteed way of getting it by doing a certain side quest or optional boss. There's no doing something difficult for a small chance of getting what you to drop. There's a few more general currencies that you may have to grind for but I generally enjoyed the grind.
It's definitely one of the best looking games on the PS4 which is rarely surprising for a Sony first party game. It has an excellent art direction and Santa Monica really brings Norse mythology to life but still making it their own from a visual standpoint.The game is presented as one long tracking shot with no cuts which is cool but I don't think it really added much to the game. It's 20 or so hours long and even more if you do side content so it's not like people are playing it in one shot. There's a cut every time I turn the game off for the night. It's impressive but not really worth the effort in my opinion. The great visuals are accompanied by a fantastic score by Bear McCreary; a man who has never taken a day off in his life since he works on everything.
Overall, this is a wonderful game that brought the series back into the spotlight in a spectacular fashion. If you're looking for an action adventure game with melee combat, there's no finer example.
A lot can be said for execution in game development because on paper, God of War isn't doing anything special in the realm of AAA video games. Honestly, describing elements of it just sounds like you're going through the checklist of modern gaming. You got levels, skill trees, loot, crafting, stats, gear, gems to slot into gear all wrapped into a narrative driven cinematic package. It isn't open world like most games these days but has a sizeable hub that offers plenty of exploration off the beaten path and side quests. They bring it all together into a really entertaining and engaging experience and feels better than most of the other games that have all these elements.
Not only did this game have a lot to prove in bringing back the series but also in bringing back Kratos as the protagonist. The more God of War games that came out, the more unlikeable he became. I'm not sure he ever started as likeable but he definitely got worse as the series went on. He became entirely defined as a constantly mad rage machine that wanted to kill everything in the name of revenge. After running out of things to kill in the Greek world, he needed a change of scenery and emigrated to the Norse world. They do a much better job with the character here without completely rewriting his past. What would be the point of bringing back an old character if you just ignore everything that came before? He still is the monster he always was and can't be forgiven for what he's done but he's showing some room for growth and wants to contain some of his rage. He doesn't go looking for a fight; it quite literally comes knocking on his door. They humanize him a lot by having him go on a journey with his son. Atreus, outside of one portion that's pretty bad, is developed quite well and wouldn't be a bad choice if they ever want to pass on the torch. They do ultimately tell a very small story here despite the epic setting which worked really well for this reboot although I worry about the need to possibly up the ante for a sequel.
Combat and boss fights were always the highlight of the series for me. Unfortunately, this game is lacking in grandiose boss fights but the new combat system is fun as Hel. The Leviathan Axe is just as satisfying to swing around as the original Chaos Blades and is certainly not lacking in range since you can throw it and recall it back whenever you want. Doing the cleaving heavy attack never gets old. There isn't a deluge of combos to learn but I still felt they gave you a fairly wide range of attacks to use. The game has a skill tree but you are going to unlock everything in it long before the end of the game. I'm not against skill trees being used as a means to pace out your ability unlocks as for me it does encourage me to use my new moves and learn how it works when I unlock them. I have a tendency to be boring and only use a few moves when they're all unlocked at the start of the game. Still, the modern use of skill trees in games can be kind of annoying if you want to use them for unique builds and player expression.
That said, I do think there's some interesting things you can do with the gear system to make your own builds. Sure, it won't be as diverse as a good RPG and you'll still be mainly using the same strategies in combat but I found it satisfying to go for gear and upgrades depending on the playstyle I wanted. You can focus on vitality and make a really tanky build or put everything in strength and make a glass cannon. I liked enhancing the runic stat which are essentially magic abilities from the axe's ice attacks. There also a lot of useful abilities from gems and talisman's that have a chance of activating so you can go all in on a luck build to get them to proc regularly. It's not tremendously deep but I was very engaged with the system. There's a lot of looking through menus which I get people hate but I don't mind that. You're not inundated with constant gear drops. A lot of the armour feels pretty unique so you won't be constantly switching stuff out for a 1% improvement. I also really liked that a lot of the upgrade materials were fairly bespoke and you had a guaranteed way of getting it by doing a certain side quest or optional boss. There's no doing something difficult for a small chance of getting what you to drop. There's a few more general currencies that you may have to grind for but I generally enjoyed the grind.
It's definitely one of the best looking games on the PS4 which is rarely surprising for a Sony first party game. It has an excellent art direction and Santa Monica really brings Norse mythology to life but still making it their own from a visual standpoint.The game is presented as one long tracking shot with no cuts which is cool but I don't think it really added much to the game. It's 20 or so hours long and even more if you do side content so it's not like people are playing it in one shot. There's a cut every time I turn the game off for the night. It's impressive but not really worth the effort in my opinion. The great visuals are accompanied by a fantastic score by Bear McCreary; a man who has never taken a day off in his life since he works on everything.
Overall, this is a wonderful game that brought the series back into the spotlight in a spectacular fashion. If you're looking for an action adventure game with melee combat, there's no finer example.
The Hidden Ones was a decent bite-sized DLC of Origins with nothing really new to show. The Curse of the Pharaohs is certainly a bit more Origins but they have something new to show, i.e the afterlife. Bayek ventures into the mythological lands and fights more fantastical creatures. At least in terms of visuals, it's certainly new for the series and the four different afterlifes all look great. That said, you're still doing all the same stuff you've already been doing throughout the main game. You're still climbing viewpoints, clearing out forts and doing fetch quests. I'm not entirely certain what was happening in the story in regards to the mythology. It may have been an all been an illusion but I'm not sure. I didn't find it particularly interesting regardless. I still had a decent fun but I was growing tired of the loop especially after having played so much of Origins.
2020
There's very few games that are pure first person shooters that make me that interested to play but it's hard to deny the fun that's in these new Doom games. Eternal expands on the gameplay from Doom 2016 in a really interesting way. It keeps the strengths of the previous game with keeping you constantly moving and encourages you to stay aggressive and close to the demons to use glory kills to get health, chainsaw kills to get ammo and the newly added flamethrower to get armour. They've changed how you deal with each enemy. Every demon has some sort of weakness or main tactic to fighting them which adds a lot for me. I have a tendency to use the same strategy or weapon if I'm not incentivized to do otherwise. Having to use the grenades for the floaty eye demon or use the blood punch on the chargy demon gets you to use all of your arsenal. There's a real rhythm to the combat and keeps the battles really fun and dynamic. Sure, it can get a little Simon Says but you can still use any weapon for almost any demon so you're not entirely forced to use the main tactics if you don't want to except for possibly on higher difficulties.
The level design is pretty good with a large amount of secrets hidden therein. The combat arenas are decently sized and are easy to run circles around with power-ups, ammo, health strewn about whihc encourages you to constantly keep moving which benefits the combat greatly. The areas are nice looking too and there's a bit more more visual variety than the previous game. I still find it hard to care about any of the story or lore in Doom but they sure are trying to make you care. They try to add a bit more to Doomguy even though they still rightly keep his main motivation of just wanting to kill demons. The multiplayer is a bit more interesting than the standard deathmatch of the previous game with two demons against one slayer mode but I'll doubt I'll put much time into it. Overall, it's a very fun game. I'm not in love with it but I'll keep playing them if they continue like this.
The level design is pretty good with a large amount of secrets hidden therein. The combat arenas are decently sized and are easy to run circles around with power-ups, ammo, health strewn about whihc encourages you to constantly keep moving which benefits the combat greatly. The areas are nice looking too and there's a bit more more visual variety than the previous game. I still find it hard to care about any of the story or lore in Doom but they sure are trying to make you care. They try to add a bit more to Doomguy even though they still rightly keep his main motivation of just wanting to kill demons. The multiplayer is a bit more interesting than the standard deathmatch of the previous game with two demons against one slayer mode but I'll doubt I'll put much time into it. Overall, it's a very fun game. I'm not in love with it but I'll keep playing them if they continue like this.
If you're in the mood for a bite-sized Assassin's Creed: Origins, then this is for you. It probably serves more as an origin to the Assassin Order than the base game where it felt like an afterthought. The new area doesn't have anything new to offer that you didn't already see in the main game. The outposts and camps do feel a bit better designed to support the three main ways of playing, i.e. warrior, ranged and stealth. Perhaps I only feel this because there's less of them but the ones there do seem more interesting to navigate. It's a solid DLC but it's not particularly exciting.
This series has sure come a long way since Nintendo didn't even plan to release it outside of Japan over 10 years ago. What was an incredibly ambitious game for the Wii now has a nice sheen over it with some quality of life updates and an extra epilogue. Xenoblade Chronicles is one of my favourite video games of all time and I still absolutely adore it.
Exploration is the star of the show here. The game takes place on two gods paused in battle which is an instantly fascinating setting for a game. You run across these gorgeous environments and there's quite a lot of variety to them. Although there's certainly some pop-in with NPC's, the world itself has a really impressive draw distance as well as always trying to frame you where you are in the world itself, i.e. what part of the titan you're currently on, which keeps you grounded in the world Monolith Soft have crafted. There's tons of nooks and crannies to poke around in and there's always another great sight to see. Some of the areas have a very different feel between night and day which is enhanced by the field music having a version for a night and day theme for every major area. The music is sublime across the board and I never get tired of hearing the tracks no matter how long I'ven been playing. The side quests that you populate the game aren't great by any stretch but they serve the purpose of getting you to explore this wonderful world.
The combat is similar to an MMO where it is real-time where you select abilities on a bar which have a cooldown. You can build up a meter for a unique ability using auto-attacks and positioning is important. This is not going to be for everyone but I really enjoy it. I love the character progression where even though it's fairly clear what each character is good at, working towards a build to focus on their strengths is really fun. People don't like the gem crafting but I find it really satisfying to work on gems to enhance the characters' strengths even more. You eventually get seven characters of which you can have three active at a time in combat. Figuring out what characters grouping compliment each other well is very enjoyable to me. You can link skills between other character based on building up affinity between them which is another aspect where I find it really fun to enhance a certain character's strength even more. There really is a lot of mechanics in the game and I feel they all work.
The story certainly has some anime nonsense so your tolerance levels towards that can certainly affect your appreciation of it. I do like the story. The setting is just so interesting to me. The characters, although not as well drawn as some of those seen in the Xenoblade sequels, are a loveable bunch and it's easy to get behind them. Melia and Dunban are the clear standouts to me though. They all have their quirks though and the performances are generally pretty good with the British accents certainly adding to their memorability. Even if it is definitely some anime nonsense, I really like the final hour twist and how it recontextualizes the world you've spent the last tens of hours exploring. There's a decent number of twists throughout the generous runtime but the final one stands out to me.
In terms of what this Definitive Edition adds, there isn't a whole lot. It certainly looks between than the Wii version, and the 3DS version for that matter, but it is not a massive jump in visuals. The resolution isn't particularly high and there's some frame drops which may just be the Switch being underpowered in this day and age. The quality of life additions are nice which make questing a lot easier. Leveling down is nice since it's very easy to get overleveled in this game. It adds a new epilogue to the game which is good albeit nothing special but it's certainly more than most remasters add to a game. To me, it's one of the best games ever made and this gives a better way to play it on a modern console so it's very much worth it.
Exploration is the star of the show here. The game takes place on two gods paused in battle which is an instantly fascinating setting for a game. You run across these gorgeous environments and there's quite a lot of variety to them. Although there's certainly some pop-in with NPC's, the world itself has a really impressive draw distance as well as always trying to frame you where you are in the world itself, i.e. what part of the titan you're currently on, which keeps you grounded in the world Monolith Soft have crafted. There's tons of nooks and crannies to poke around in and there's always another great sight to see. Some of the areas have a very different feel between night and day which is enhanced by the field music having a version for a night and day theme for every major area. The music is sublime across the board and I never get tired of hearing the tracks no matter how long I'ven been playing. The side quests that you populate the game aren't great by any stretch but they serve the purpose of getting you to explore this wonderful world.
The combat is similar to an MMO where it is real-time where you select abilities on a bar which have a cooldown. You can build up a meter for a unique ability using auto-attacks and positioning is important. This is not going to be for everyone but I really enjoy it. I love the character progression where even though it's fairly clear what each character is good at, working towards a build to focus on their strengths is really fun. People don't like the gem crafting but I find it really satisfying to work on gems to enhance the characters' strengths even more. You eventually get seven characters of which you can have three active at a time in combat. Figuring out what characters grouping compliment each other well is very enjoyable to me. You can link skills between other character based on building up affinity between them which is another aspect where I find it really fun to enhance a certain character's strength even more. There really is a lot of mechanics in the game and I feel they all work.
The story certainly has some anime nonsense so your tolerance levels towards that can certainly affect your appreciation of it. I do like the story. The setting is just so interesting to me. The characters, although not as well drawn as some of those seen in the Xenoblade sequels, are a loveable bunch and it's easy to get behind them. Melia and Dunban are the clear standouts to me though. They all have their quirks though and the performances are generally pretty good with the British accents certainly adding to their memorability. Even if it is definitely some anime nonsense, I really like the final hour twist and how it recontextualizes the world you've spent the last tens of hours exploring. There's a decent number of twists throughout the generous runtime but the final one stands out to me.
In terms of what this Definitive Edition adds, there isn't a whole lot. It certainly looks between than the Wii version, and the 3DS version for that matter, but it is not a massive jump in visuals. The resolution isn't particularly high and there's some frame drops which may just be the Switch being underpowered in this day and age. The quality of life additions are nice which make questing a lot easier. Leveling down is nice since it's very easy to get overleveled in this game. It adds a new epilogue to the game which is good albeit nothing special but it's certainly more than most remasters add to a game. To me, it's one of the best games ever made and this gives a better way to play it on a modern console so it's very much worth it.
I was a bit more into Little Hope at the start of the game compared to Man of Medan because I liked the set-up of being trapped in a foggy town that won't let you leave (as a fan of Silent Hill) and Will Poulter is always great. It pretty quickly devloves into wandering down empty roads with nothing interesting to see with a few interiors peppered in. The quick time event sequences were a bit more exciting here and the system of using dialogue options to unlock traits is presented a bit more clearly here compared to Man of Medan. It was still ultimately kind of uninteresting. I got all but one character killed similar to my first playthrough of Man of Medan which again makes me curious to dig into how to change outcomes.
I always like the idea of these narrative driven games where you can make significant choices and alter the fates of certain characters but these Dark Pictures games are a bit dull. Horror lends itself well to anthologies and shorter stories but Man of Medan just feels very basic. A creepy abandoned ship is certainly a good setting for horror but I quickly grew tired of wandering down the same looking halls. Perhaps I'm misremembering Until Dawn but the level of interactivity in Man of Medan seems pretty limited. It's mostly just deciding between two dialogue options (three if you count "say nothing") and some wandering around and looking at notes with a quick time event thrown in here and there. It seems more built for a co-op experience which is cool but it's just not something I'm personally interested in. I didn't hate my time with it and getting four of the five characters killed maes me curious to dig into how to change certain outcomes.
There was a time when entire trilogies of games from the same studio could come out on the same generation and all be reasonably high quality. It rarely happens these days. I'm not saying that's a good or bad thing but games do just take longer to make these days. Admittedly, Mass Effect 3 could have used a bit more time in the oven but that's an oft-repeated complaint at this point.
As a whole, Bioware crafted a great trilogy with some fantastic world-building and wonderful characters. Despite it not sticking the landing, it's easy to get sucked into the narrative. Perhaps the first mistake was in the first game and starting your series with a galaxy ending threat. I suppose when you start a series, you want to give a big hook. Unfortunately, it's always hard to end those types of stories in a satisfying way and you're probably going to end up falling back on chosen one tropes. ME3 tried to hard to wrap up everything in a bow where Shepard is solving century old conflicts in a matter of days. Still, there are a lot of great stories throughout the trilogy that are worth seeing through and the history between the various alien races is always interesting to explore. Developing Shepard's relationships with their squadmates is incredibly endearing. There's a lot of choices and changes that can be made throughout the series and even when most of them only have very minor consequences, it's always satisfying to see something you did in one game referenced in the next. The biggest changes come in the middle with the Suicide Mission at the end of ME2 which is very fun to see how prior decisions affect the outcome.
When it comes to the combat, you can certainly feel the refinement throughout the trilogy. A lot of people say that ME1 leaned harder into the RPG genre whereas the latter two were shooters. It's not an entirely wrong assessment as you can certainly see in the level up screen how you have way more options to enhance abilities and stats in the first game. It still mostly plays like a shooter though. Even with less options to select in character progression, the six different classes gain more of an identity in ME2 and are refined further in ME3. By the third game, the combat is really fun to play. I certainly understand the desire for RPG mechanics but what we get in ME2 and ME3 still works really well.
When comparing ME1 with the other two games, the Mako always needs to be brought up. It certainly adds an exploration element to the game that's lost in the sequels but what's there isn't great. It controls better in the Legendary Edition but it's still pretty awkward and the planets themselves are pretty dull. I would have liked to see it developed more rather than just cut. ME2 has a couple of hubs that you can walk around but they're pretty small and uninteresting. ME3 has one decent hub but it is just one.
So what does the Legendary Edition have to offer? It is nice to have it packaged in one launcher to make it feel more coherent especially when importing a character across the games. It comes with all the DLC (bar one for ME1) which are mostly high quality and were pretty expensive to buy before this collection. It brings a more consistent look across the trilogy using the more refined character models and textures from ME3. And it's just nice to have a high framrate and resolution version for consoles. It feels close enough to being the definitive way to play the trilogy even if I think there's some mods I'd like to get for the PC version such as the one that ports the one mission DLC. I definitely think it's worth buying for new and old players alike.
As a whole, Bioware crafted a great trilogy with some fantastic world-building and wonderful characters. Despite it not sticking the landing, it's easy to get sucked into the narrative. Perhaps the first mistake was in the first game and starting your series with a galaxy ending threat. I suppose when you start a series, you want to give a big hook. Unfortunately, it's always hard to end those types of stories in a satisfying way and you're probably going to end up falling back on chosen one tropes. ME3 tried to hard to wrap up everything in a bow where Shepard is solving century old conflicts in a matter of days. Still, there are a lot of great stories throughout the trilogy that are worth seeing through and the history between the various alien races is always interesting to explore. Developing Shepard's relationships with their squadmates is incredibly endearing. There's a lot of choices and changes that can be made throughout the series and even when most of them only have very minor consequences, it's always satisfying to see something you did in one game referenced in the next. The biggest changes come in the middle with the Suicide Mission at the end of ME2 which is very fun to see how prior decisions affect the outcome.
When it comes to the combat, you can certainly feel the refinement throughout the trilogy. A lot of people say that ME1 leaned harder into the RPG genre whereas the latter two were shooters. It's not an entirely wrong assessment as you can certainly see in the level up screen how you have way more options to enhance abilities and stats in the first game. It still mostly plays like a shooter though. Even with less options to select in character progression, the six different classes gain more of an identity in ME2 and are refined further in ME3. By the third game, the combat is really fun to play. I certainly understand the desire for RPG mechanics but what we get in ME2 and ME3 still works really well.
When comparing ME1 with the other two games, the Mako always needs to be brought up. It certainly adds an exploration element to the game that's lost in the sequels but what's there isn't great. It controls better in the Legendary Edition but it's still pretty awkward and the planets themselves are pretty dull. I would have liked to see it developed more rather than just cut. ME2 has a couple of hubs that you can walk around but they're pretty small and uninteresting. ME3 has one decent hub but it is just one.
So what does the Legendary Edition have to offer? It is nice to have it packaged in one launcher to make it feel more coherent especially when importing a character across the games. It comes with all the DLC (bar one for ME1) which are mostly high quality and were pretty expensive to buy before this collection. It brings a more consistent look across the trilogy using the more refined character models and textures from ME3. And it's just nice to have a high framrate and resolution version for consoles. It feels close enough to being the definitive way to play the trilogy even if I think there's some mods I'd like to get for the PC version such as the one that ports the one mission DLC. I definitely think it's worth buying for new and old players alike.
As much as I enjoyed the older Assassin Creed games in the Ezio days, they had clearly run that formula into the ground over the years so the series needed a change. Was the transition to an RPG a successful one? Well, moderately so. If you are viewing it as an RPG, I wouldn't say it's particularly deep in terms of builds or choices. You have a skill tree but you'll probably get everything in it by the end of the game. There is decent amount of loot and at least early on, you will have to choose what to upgrade so you can focus in on the three core tenets that the skill tree is built around, i.e. melee, ranged and stealth. I personally had a lot of fun focusing on bow combat. It's not a great RPG but it's a pretty fun action adventure.
Comparing it to the old AC games, there definitely is a lot more going on mechanically with the combat and stealth. The combat is definitely improved to need a bit more skill than parry kill streak hordes of enemies. The various weapons feel quite different so you can pick what suits you. Even though I saw there's more to the stealth mechanics here, I find it a whole lot less satisfying than the older games. This is probably more due to how they build the areas. Every area that you can sneak into is a wide open space that can be approached from all angles. This sounds like it provides you with a ton of options but it usually just leads to much less interesting spaces to infiltrate and exfiltrate from. The parkour being greatly diminished leads to this. The parkour in the older games was always a bit awkward and unwieldy but they could at least build a few areas that were fun to figure out how to move around in. Origins has you climbing the walls like Spider-Man which is much less interesting to me.
The open world is beautiful and fun to explore. I really liked delving into the pyramids dotted around the map. The cities aren't that well developed especially considering some of the past games but there was an attempt to give them each their own character. The side quests are pretty boring but they suffice enough to get you to move around the world. The story itself is fine but it's pretty weak as an origin story for the series. It is easy to get behind Bayek as the protagonist and the actor's performance deserves some praise. You can really feel the anger and passion that the character carries. Overall, the game is good even if I wish the series would focus more on stealth rather than action.
Comparing it to the old AC games, there definitely is a lot more going on mechanically with the combat and stealth. The combat is definitely improved to need a bit more skill than parry kill streak hordes of enemies. The various weapons feel quite different so you can pick what suits you. Even though I saw there's more to the stealth mechanics here, I find it a whole lot less satisfying than the older games. This is probably more due to how they build the areas. Every area that you can sneak into is a wide open space that can be approached from all angles. This sounds like it provides you with a ton of options but it usually just leads to much less interesting spaces to infiltrate and exfiltrate from. The parkour being greatly diminished leads to this. The parkour in the older games was always a bit awkward and unwieldy but they could at least build a few areas that were fun to figure out how to move around in. Origins has you climbing the walls like Spider-Man which is much less interesting to me.
The open world is beautiful and fun to explore. I really liked delving into the pyramids dotted around the map. The cities aren't that well developed especially considering some of the past games but there was an attempt to give them each their own character. The side quests are pretty boring but they suffice enough to get you to move around the world. The story itself is fine but it's pretty weak as an origin story for the series. It is easy to get behind Bayek as the protagonist and the actor's performance deserves some praise. You can really feel the anger and passion that the character carries. Overall, the game is good even if I wish the series would focus more on stealth rather than action.
2015
I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of the Fallout series. I mostly think it's OK and Fallout 4 is another just OK entry in the series. It does seem a bit simplified in comparison to other Bethesda games in terms of dialogue and leveling, although that has been an increasing problem since Morrowind. The dialogue choices were reduced to accomodate an actual voiced protagonist. Although I admire the ambition, I can see how it can be quite disappointing for some. Instead of leveling up individual traits, you essentially just picking perks. The selection of which is based upon your overall level and your points in S.P.E.C.I.A.L. This diminished the role-playing aspect for some but I do think there are a decent number of fun perks in there that does allow for some build variety.
The main new feature for Fallout 4 in the base building which I mostly just ignored. It seemed more of a nuisance than anything for the few times the story wants you to interact with it but maybe there's some fun to be had in there if I dived into it. There are a number of different factions to work your way through which leads to different endings which adds to the role-playing aspect. The world is big with lots of interiors to explore and people to meet but I grow tired of the Fallout post-apocalyptic world fairly quickly.
The main new feature for Fallout 4 in the base building which I mostly just ignored. It seemed more of a nuisance than anything for the few times the story wants you to interact with it but maybe there's some fun to be had in there if I dived into it. There are a number of different factions to work your way through which leads to different endings which adds to the role-playing aspect. The world is big with lots of interiors to explore and people to meet but I grow tired of the Fallout post-apocalyptic world fairly quickly.
2016
Sometimes you can admire the ambition of a game without necessarily enjoying every aspect. The Last Guardian definitely fits that description for me. The interaction between the boy who is the playable character and Trico is pretty incredible and I see why the game was delayed into another generation. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work all that well mixed in with some janky controls where you're never sure if you're going to grab onto what you want despite the game reminding you of the controls every four seconds leads to a frustrating experience.
Some amount of frustration is by design I imagine. Trico is an animal and like an animal, you can't just tell him to do something and he does it easily without hesitation. It's a cool detail to sell the relationship between the boy and Trico but it can be very annoying when you don't know if Trico isn't able to jump up to a certain spot or if he just hasn't decided to do it yet. There's a lot of these section especially towards the end of the game where you are essentially just waiting for Trico to jump from place to place. It's easy to hate Trico while you play but just as easily love him. He almost seems scientifically engineered to be the cutest animal ever. He has features from enough animals that you can see any of your pets in him. He doesn't have any obvious physical rabbit features but I was sure thinking of my rabbit when Trico was sticking his nose into everything or the way he prepares himself when he's getting ready to jump.
Although the environments can feel a little repetitive after a while and is already reminiscent of architecture seen in previous Team Ico games, The Nest is a cool setting. It's an interesting geographical space and you can see clearly where you're heading and where you've come from. There's some backtracking but they attempt to change up the areas so it's not monotonous. There's some decent set pieces too. Although I think the game is just ok and is far from the masterpiece that is Shadow of the Colossus, I really want Fumito Ueda to keep making games. There's very few people making games like him and the industry is better for having him in it.
Some amount of frustration is by design I imagine. Trico is an animal and like an animal, you can't just tell him to do something and he does it easily without hesitation. It's a cool detail to sell the relationship between the boy and Trico but it can be very annoying when you don't know if Trico isn't able to jump up to a certain spot or if he just hasn't decided to do it yet. There's a lot of these section especially towards the end of the game where you are essentially just waiting for Trico to jump from place to place. It's easy to hate Trico while you play but just as easily love him. He almost seems scientifically engineered to be the cutest animal ever. He has features from enough animals that you can see any of your pets in him. He doesn't have any obvious physical rabbit features but I was sure thinking of my rabbit when Trico was sticking his nose into everything or the way he prepares himself when he's getting ready to jump.
Although the environments can feel a little repetitive after a while and is already reminiscent of architecture seen in previous Team Ico games, The Nest is a cool setting. It's an interesting geographical space and you can see clearly where you're heading and where you've come from. There's some backtracking but they attempt to change up the areas so it's not monotonous. There's some decent set pieces too. Although I think the game is just ok and is far from the masterpiece that is Shadow of the Colossus, I really want Fumito Ueda to keep making games. There's very few people making games like him and the industry is better for having him in it.
I'm always happy to run around in a world designed by Monolith Soft and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is no exception. The setting isn't as instantly intriguing as some of their previous worlds with XC1 being set on two massive gods, XC2 being set on living titans and XCX having you explore this crazy alien planet. This game does have the hook of being made up of the XC1 and XC2 worlds smashing together which is somewhat exciting as a fan of the series but it doesn't light up your imagination like the previous games. All that said, the world design is absolutely up to the excellent standard of Monolith Soft and is a joy to explore.
The individual biomes that make up the world are massive and quite a bit more varied than previous games. Whereas previous games had fairly seperated areas that were disgnated as the grassy plains area or snowy area, they feel a bit more mixed up here. I kept being surprisde but just how extensive each biome was. Somes areas take a while to reveal themselves. The first area in the game appears pretty linear which is fine for the more story driven opening but going back to explore more afterwards, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger with nooks and crannies you wouldn't have noticed the first time.
The MMO like combat is not going to be for everyone and it can be a bit overwhelming especially when you have six characters fighting at the same time. I did really enjoy it. There is a class system that encourages you to keep switching which can possibly get a bit tedious and can be quite slow to level when you make little XP when you're over-leveled which is going to be for most of the game. There is a ton of classes and I really liked finding the best way to use a class. It was the most I've been into theory crafting and working on builds in a game in quite some time. The classes definitely don't play astronomically different from one another but there's enough there for them to be distinctive. The tank classes are lacking a bit but there's plenty of cool stuff to do with damage dealers and healers; the latter of which feeling a first for the series since their healers are usually terrible.
There are a lot of systems that you probably don't have to dive too deep into since the game isn't that challenging since you'll be over leveled but I had fun digging into them. Working out how to get the most out of your chain attacks is really fun even if it can get a bit repetitive throughout the long game and you'll likely get sick of the music that plays during it by the end. Speaking of music, it is excellent throughout. The tracks may not be as bombastic and instantly memorable as those heard in previous games but there is a lot of great stuff in there.
Although you have to be willing to stomach some anime nonsense, the Xenoblade stories have all been really fun with some crazy twists in them. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 probably has some of the more mature writing in the series especially in regards to the main cast. It's easily the strongest cast of main characters in the series even if one or two are a bit underwritten. Unfortunately, the strength of the main cast is not extended to the villains who range from uninteresting non-characters to stupidly over-the-top moustache twirling villains. I suppose they wanted a set of villains that they could easily slot into side content to make it more interconnected with the main story but they're just boring. XC2 had a fantastic set of villains so it feels like quite a downgrade.
I did really enjoy the story. It has an amazing peak three quarters of the way into story and fizzles a bit out at the end. I don't think they make good on the set-up of the worlds fom XC1 and XC2 crashing into each other. Still, with the main characters being so good, you can still emotionally invested all the way up to the final cutscene. There was a bit of annoying cutscene pacing with one popping up every few steps when I just wanted to explore this beautiful world but the cutscene quality is high. The writing for the side quests is also of high quality and is some of the best content in the series. It's actually surprising that some of it isn't mandatory. There's a lot of good side characters (dumb villains aside) that give you the new classes and you can put them on your team and they have a ton of unique dialogue for different scenarios.
Overall, the game is fantastic. The story may be a bit disappointing if you were expecting a climatic end to a trilogy (although we'll see if they'll continue the story or start a new one for future games) but the game is exemplary of all the strengths of the series. Absolutely one of the best JRPGs you can play.
The individual biomes that make up the world are massive and quite a bit more varied than previous games. Whereas previous games had fairly seperated areas that were disgnated as the grassy plains area or snowy area, they feel a bit more mixed up here. I kept being surprisde but just how extensive each biome was. Somes areas take a while to reveal themselves. The first area in the game appears pretty linear which is fine for the more story driven opening but going back to explore more afterwards, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger with nooks and crannies you wouldn't have noticed the first time.
The MMO like combat is not going to be for everyone and it can be a bit overwhelming especially when you have six characters fighting at the same time. I did really enjoy it. There is a class system that encourages you to keep switching which can possibly get a bit tedious and can be quite slow to level when you make little XP when you're over-leveled which is going to be for most of the game. There is a ton of classes and I really liked finding the best way to use a class. It was the most I've been into theory crafting and working on builds in a game in quite some time. The classes definitely don't play astronomically different from one another but there's enough there for them to be distinctive. The tank classes are lacking a bit but there's plenty of cool stuff to do with damage dealers and healers; the latter of which feeling a first for the series since their healers are usually terrible.
There are a lot of systems that you probably don't have to dive too deep into since the game isn't that challenging since you'll be over leveled but I had fun digging into them. Working out how to get the most out of your chain attacks is really fun even if it can get a bit repetitive throughout the long game and you'll likely get sick of the music that plays during it by the end. Speaking of music, it is excellent throughout. The tracks may not be as bombastic and instantly memorable as those heard in previous games but there is a lot of great stuff in there.
Although you have to be willing to stomach some anime nonsense, the Xenoblade stories have all been really fun with some crazy twists in them. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 probably has some of the more mature writing in the series especially in regards to the main cast. It's easily the strongest cast of main characters in the series even if one or two are a bit underwritten. Unfortunately, the strength of the main cast is not extended to the villains who range from uninteresting non-characters to stupidly over-the-top moustache twirling villains. I suppose they wanted a set of villains that they could easily slot into side content to make it more interconnected with the main story but they're just boring. XC2 had a fantastic set of villains so it feels like quite a downgrade.
I did really enjoy the story. It has an amazing peak three quarters of the way into story and fizzles a bit out at the end. I don't think they make good on the set-up of the worlds fom XC1 and XC2 crashing into each other. Still, with the main characters being so good, you can still emotionally invested all the way up to the final cutscene. There was a bit of annoying cutscene pacing with one popping up every few steps when I just wanted to explore this beautiful world but the cutscene quality is high. The writing for the side quests is also of high quality and is some of the best content in the series. It's actually surprising that some of it isn't mandatory. There's a lot of good side characters (dumb villains aside) that give you the new classes and you can put them on your team and they have a ton of unique dialogue for different scenarios.
Overall, the game is fantastic. The story may be a bit disappointing if you were expecting a climatic end to a trilogy (although we'll see if they'll continue the story or start a new one for future games) but the game is exemplary of all the strengths of the series. Absolutely one of the best JRPGs you can play.