wilshire
2006
This review contains spoilers
dont think i've ever been as frustrated with a game (narratively) than I was with this. there are some genuinely good moments and sequences: i think the opening few chapters are pretty decent if a bit boring. i think the CHOMP is genuinely phenomenally well delivered. i think the final battle sequence is pretty good (if so predictable that it removes any tension from itself) until the final bit with Meiya and the weird brain. from a non-narrative perspective, its pretty impressive what they manage to do with sprite movement/animation in what is clearly an extremely limited, early 2000s VN engine.
but man, other than that, this thing is a mess. insanely bad pacing, Takeru (who i didnt really mind too much in Extra/Unlimited) becomes absolutely insufferable in how often he monologues about the SAME DAMN SHIT. the twizzlers scene is god awful, unnecessary, and tactless. there's certainly a place for characters to have traumatic backstories and its not like sexual violence is inherently off-limits to talk about but its handled so poorly and for shock value when just a couple of minor changes would've made a huge difference. the ending, as i mentioned, is very predictable and the final sequence with Meiya is straight up bad lol. and then, after all this and the game's continuous emphasis on struggle and trauma and the way people change in response to those things, they send Takeru back home with no memory meaning that all those experiences/suffering/trauma were meaningless? theres some really really compelling stuff here but this game just cannot stop shooting itself in the foot. idk man
but man, other than that, this thing is a mess. insanely bad pacing, Takeru (who i didnt really mind too much in Extra/Unlimited) becomes absolutely insufferable in how often he monologues about the SAME DAMN SHIT. the twizzlers scene is god awful, unnecessary, and tactless. there's certainly a place for characters to have traumatic backstories and its not like sexual violence is inherently off-limits to talk about but its handled so poorly and for shock value when just a couple of minor changes would've made a huge difference. the ending, as i mentioned, is very predictable and the final sequence with Meiya is straight up bad lol. and then, after all this and the game's continuous emphasis on struggle and trauma and the way people change in response to those things, they send Takeru back home with no memory meaning that all those experiences/suffering/trauma were meaningless? theres some really really compelling stuff here but this game just cannot stop shooting itself in the foot. idk man
unfortunately basically the peak of the whole Naughty Dog/Sony first party/prestige games movement. a culmination of all the good ideas they had throughout the series. good story and character stuff here but its not the revolutionary stuff ppl claimed it was on release, but its fine! its an uncharted game! the nate/elena stuff is still really damn good!
Yeah man this one is it. Excellent pacing, the game’s narrative flows beautifully, characters are all likable even though every Chloe-Nate exchange is the most 2009 shit ever written. This game does a perfect job of actually making you feel like you are playing through a blockbuster movie, and there’s so many little things like animations of grabbing a gun in mid-air that really add to that feeling. Games just flat out fun, too, idk what to say. The set pieces are fantastic, the gun play is great, it’s everything everyone says it is. And all of that for a game that originally came out in 09? Unbelievable.
probably the oldest game that i still play somewhat regularly. i've been playing on and off and since launch but it was really my post high school years, long after the game was old and deprecated, that stick out to me. we accidentally recreated Tribes to some degree within UT2K4 and have now been playing this version of the game exclusively (with a limited map pool) for nigh on eight years now. thats staying power
2019
sigh i've spent like a decade not entirely hating on this game but definitely calling it overrated. i was wrong, the game is good. like all of the trends it started (every game dev seeming to draw narrative inspiration solely from cormac mccarthy's the road) suck and i hate and i think are ruining gaming and also i spent five years calling it "an HBO show version of a video game (derogatory)" and then they literally WENT AND MADE AN HBO SHOW OUT OF IT like dear god we are just eating our own tail here culturally BUT the game is good. its good! the narrative is good (couldve used more inspiration from greek epics but oh well) and it controls WAY better than I would expect a third persons shooter from 2013 that created a custom control scheme to control and im probably gonna dislike part 2 but thats fine because this is one is Actually Good
2011
2017