yotsuboy
2022
Happened to be reading 'Caliban and the witch' around the same time I was playing this, a great coincidence as it addresses a lot of the same historical events surrounding the game (revolts, taxes, Lutheranism, heresies... basically just about everything).
And being given even just a bit of context opens your eyes to how much care has gone into all things historical. Details, big or small, are everywhere, even those minute enough to go unnoticed by most people. Nonetheless, the sum of all these efforts gives it an atmosphere hard to replicate elsewhere. Despite spending most of your time walking from one place to another and talking to people, it's so captivating that you're as invested as the character you're playing as.
There's an interesting plot (which is hard to go into without spoilers), but that's only half of it. Because another great success is how Pentiment mixes the unusual with the mundane. In the midst of your investigations you're also exposed to the way the characters live. You learn about their views and values, their livelihood... and while at first it may come off as information for the cases, ultimately you've gotten to know them well enough and even empathize with some of them. As a historical work, it achieves its goal of familiarizing one with the past: highlighting its similarities and contrasts in order to show both the historical context of the people as well as how they're shaped by it.
In short, it makes you see the present in the past and vice versa: you can imagine how they would have fared under other circumstances (for example, not being restrained by becoming a nun).
In fact a lot of my enjoyment of the game was from stuff that may not be as important to the central story. Tiny bits of 'irrelevant' dialogue or small interactions and decisions you make throughout the which don't really affect the main plot. Yet being invested in the game makes them very satisfying. There are also enough minigames and small fun puzzles paced throughout the game to alternate with the narrative so that it never feels repetitive.
As for its style, it's amazing. Though it often aims for a more ordinary look to portray the town and its people, it can also be downright beautiful when it wants, often mimicking manuscripts or paintings. Either way it's one of the more unique looking games out there and that also extends to the menus like the map or your journal, the passing of time, and the written dialogue mechanic which also gets used nicely for the narrative.
That's because Pentiment also excels at taking fully advantage of the medium it's in. Many of the things it does and some of its best aspects work because it's a game.
It may have a well-researched bibliography during the credits but it's far from just an abridgement of that information in the form of a game. Stuff like interactivity plays a big role, because it's one thing to read that an event happened during a period of time and another to take part in it and even see how your involvement shapes the outcome. Thus I often was not only thinking about the mystery at hand being solved, but about its implications as well. Whether some lines of questioning were better left alone or if sometimes it was worth speaking the truth; and how this would impact the people around me.
It's a great game, but it also makes me happy that it's a game where it shows that they made what they wanted to do, and enjoyed doing it.
And being given even just a bit of context opens your eyes to how much care has gone into all things historical. Details, big or small, are everywhere, even those minute enough to go unnoticed by most people. Nonetheless, the sum of all these efforts gives it an atmosphere hard to replicate elsewhere. Despite spending most of your time walking from one place to another and talking to people, it's so captivating that you're as invested as the character you're playing as.
There's an interesting plot (which is hard to go into without spoilers), but that's only half of it. Because another great success is how Pentiment mixes the unusual with the mundane. In the midst of your investigations you're also exposed to the way the characters live. You learn about their views and values, their livelihood... and while at first it may come off as information for the cases, ultimately you've gotten to know them well enough and even empathize with some of them. As a historical work, it achieves its goal of familiarizing one with the past: highlighting its similarities and contrasts in order to show both the historical context of the people as well as how they're shaped by it.
In short, it makes you see the present in the past and vice versa: you can imagine how they would have fared under other circumstances (for example, not being restrained by becoming a nun).
In fact a lot of my enjoyment of the game was from stuff that may not be as important to the central story. Tiny bits of 'irrelevant' dialogue or small interactions and decisions you make throughout the which don't really affect the main plot. Yet being invested in the game makes them very satisfying. There are also enough minigames and small fun puzzles paced throughout the game to alternate with the narrative so that it never feels repetitive.
As for its style, it's amazing. Though it often aims for a more ordinary look to portray the town and its people, it can also be downright beautiful when it wants, often mimicking manuscripts or paintings. Either way it's one of the more unique looking games out there and that also extends to the menus like the map or your journal, the passing of time, and the written dialogue mechanic which also gets used nicely for the narrative.
That's because Pentiment also excels at taking fully advantage of the medium it's in. Many of the things it does and some of its best aspects work because it's a game.
It may have a well-researched bibliography during the credits but it's far from just an abridgement of that information in the form of a game. Stuff like interactivity plays a big role, because it's one thing to read that an event happened during a period of time and another to take part in it and even see how your involvement shapes the outcome. Thus I often was not only thinking about the mystery at hand being solved, but about its implications as well. Whether some lines of questioning were better left alone or if sometimes it was worth speaking the truth; and how this would impact the people around me.
It's a great game, but it also makes me happy that it's a game where it shows that they made what they wanted to do, and enjoyed doing it.
2014
MY CHILD, PERFORM DOZENS OF PUZZLES WHOSE SOLUTIONS ARE OFTEN VERY SIMILAR TO ONE AND OTHER AND COULD PROBABLY DO WITHOUT HALF OF THEM, TO GET THE KEYS TO THIS PLACE I'M CONSTANTLY TELLING YOU NOT TO GO TO. AND ONCE YOU HAVE ALL, DON'T GO THERE MY CHILD. OH, YOU DID WHAT I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO? THAT STUFF THE GAME BEATS YOUR HEAD OVER WITH? THIS RAISES DEEP QUESTIONS ABOUT FREE WILL AND INTELLIGENCE MY CHILD.
got tricked into playing mahjong
i don't want them to make a third one of this
2022
is this really inspired by blood, because it feels like it plagiarizes its aesthetics and not much more. blood has a very fresh and unique arsenal: flare gun, vodoo doll, spray can that works as flamethrower, tesla cannon... cultic has an arsenal of bullet weapons: pistol, rifle, shotgun, rifle again... and it lacks just as much in enemy variety. cultists in this game are easy fodder and again come off as a low quality imitation of blood's iconic enemies; the pistol ones may shoot you from afar if you initiate but it's still quite different. other than that there's a few bulkier sponges acting as bosses or minibosses and not much more. level design interchanges between corridors and open field areas, but excels at neither.
also it looks like shit, worse than the games that influenced it. not because pixel graphics but because it's just a superficial attempt to copy their overall look, unlike the old games themselves where people were trying to make it look as good as possible against the hardware limitations.
melee plays like shit too, there's no fun in throwing hatches with how little damage they do. throwing dynamite is again just another reminder i wish i were playing the game that does it better. and what the fuck do you need a dash for lol
just play dusk if you want something actually inspired that also has its own vision
also it looks like shit, worse than the games that influenced it. not because pixel graphics but because it's just a superficial attempt to copy their overall look, unlike the old games themselves where people were trying to make it look as good as possible against the hardware limitations.
melee plays like shit too, there's no fun in throwing hatches with how little damage they do. throwing dynamite is again just another reminder i wish i were playing the game that does it better. and what the fuck do you need a dash for lol
just play dusk if you want something actually inspired that also has its own vision
I've really tried liking this but it's atrocious design wise: 20% rpg, 10% running back and forth, 70% of shitty dialogue and cutscenes that can't even be skipped even if you are on NG+.
it's one thing to have story heavy segments and it's another to completely break every gameplay segment every 5 minutes with constant dialogues and cinematics. to start mosts quests, you'll have to go to the place where they start, interact with something, then you have go back to the office, accept the quest and go back - to the place you were at first.
the constant interruptions drag down the quality of the dungeons as well, which are not very good to begin with. simple and linear, the early game features a lot of slow back and forth where you keep running into the same lower level mons for the first hours of the game. bumping the difficulty is not more satisfying since it just makes enemies deal more damage and take less. later dungeons offer very easy puzles and put some chests in certain areas marked on your minmap to 'explore'. it's also very on rails, since harder areas are walled off by npcs that tell you to go away until the story reaches that part.
the digimon raising system leaves a lot to be desired. often it requires you to devolve them, then level them up again to evolve them, a bunch of times so that a certain stat increases and you can unlock an evolution. plus the stat requirements copuled with RNG means sometimes you can't even meet requirements on a certain digimon if they have a certain personality which does not befenit their stats. a more boring grindfest than most rpgs.
and again, the story is so fucking bad, i probably hate it even more because you're forced to sit through it.
it's one thing to have story heavy segments and it's another to completely break every gameplay segment every 5 minutes with constant dialogues and cinematics. to start mosts quests, you'll have to go to the place where they start, interact with something, then you have go back to the office, accept the quest and go back - to the place you were at first.
the constant interruptions drag down the quality of the dungeons as well, which are not very good to begin with. simple and linear, the early game features a lot of slow back and forth where you keep running into the same lower level mons for the first hours of the game. bumping the difficulty is not more satisfying since it just makes enemies deal more damage and take less. later dungeons offer very easy puzles and put some chests in certain areas marked on your minmap to 'explore'. it's also very on rails, since harder areas are walled off by npcs that tell you to go away until the story reaches that part.
the digimon raising system leaves a lot to be desired. often it requires you to devolve them, then level them up again to evolve them, a bunch of times so that a certain stat increases and you can unlock an evolution. plus the stat requirements copuled with RNG means sometimes you can't even meet requirements on a certain digimon if they have a certain personality which does not befenit their stats. a more boring grindfest than most rpgs.
and again, the story is so fucking bad, i probably hate it even more because you're forced to sit through it.
2016
while it tries to play as a mixture of melee combat and bullet hell, the swordfighting is dull, always the same "combo" of pressing the button four times in a row, or using a charged attack. it's bland but it's also slow: most enemies will start blocking your attacks if hit enough, and will gain invulnerability when knocked down. should be noted that any flashy attacks are animations that play after hitting the enemy enough with your normal attacks. good for an action game that the stuff you can watch is better than what you can perform in-game. anyway, most of the windows for hitting foes come from parrying them, and while most games manage to make parries a satisfying mechanic, the only challenge here comes from some attack animations being clunky, and that the fights are long and drawn-out, so it's more of a test of patience to parry the same 5 chain attack so that you can retaliate.
in short, it's a better idea to use your charged shot most of the time, instead of chasing down an AI that will sometimes run away indefinitely if you keep chasing it after hitting it for a while, because it's trying to do a projectile attack but it can't have you being aggressive. this just shows how the pacing of fights in this game is never up to you, and is only intended to be played with a specific approach. even when it leans into the bullet hell segments, bosses will often be invulnerable during them, and instead have you shoot the bullets that they fire to block them, essentially yet another "wait through all these attacks until you can damage the boss again". it also seems to me that the more the fights lean into projectile dodging aspect, the shittier they are. the line fight is another test of patience not in a good way; fighting against the burst is just running after them 90% of the time...
all in all i find the shooting is also mediocre, and shares many of the faults of melee combat because they are more problems of the game itself, combat is dry, for a game centered around boss fights, half of the rooster is extremely forgettable and rarely adds something that makes it feel different, and you often have to wait your turn in the fight which goes on for longer than it should.
in short, it's a better idea to use your charged shot most of the time, instead of chasing down an AI that will sometimes run away indefinitely if you keep chasing it after hitting it for a while, because it's trying to do a projectile attack but it can't have you being aggressive. this just shows how the pacing of fights in this game is never up to you, and is only intended to be played with a specific approach. even when it leans into the bullet hell segments, bosses will often be invulnerable during them, and instead have you shoot the bullets that they fire to block them, essentially yet another "wait through all these attacks until you can damage the boss again". it also seems to me that the more the fights lean into projectile dodging aspect, the shittier they are. the line fight is another test of patience not in a good way; fighting against the burst is just running after them 90% of the time...
all in all i find the shooting is also mediocre, and shares many of the faults of melee combat because they are more problems of the game itself, combat is dry, for a game centered around boss fights, half of the rooster is extremely forgettable and rarely adds something that makes it feel different, and you often have to wait your turn in the fight which goes on for longer than it should.
2022
First off, removing weapon slots was a mistake. There was so much fun in trying different combinations and seeing what worked best. Pairing a slow weapon in your hands with a fast one in your legs; using one with a lot of range and another for close quarters... even using the same weapons in different slots added some new stuff to try out. Now no matter the weapon variety you're cycling between two sets of one weapon, and the fact that you can't cover for their shortcomings as much, means there's some that are not that good to use. Even with the better ones, you still feel more limited because it's just a single weapon.
Combat is awful, doubling down on all of 1 and 2's mistakes. At least, with Umbran Climax you were just using more powerful weaves, but summoning demons is a whole new level of button mashing where now you don't even fight the enemy yourself. What's worse is that DMCV did this better years ago with V, and that was still the weakest part of the game. V felt like a more casual character designed around fighting from a distance with summons, helping players with not having to worry too much about positioning or dodging, but in doing so it also removed a bit of fun - after all those aspects are part of the gameplay too. But demons in Bayonetta 3 don't really have proper movesets, so it all comes down to watching half of (because the camera is not made for it) a giant demon stomp on enemies two slow-ass-attacks at a time.
Demon summons trivialize every fight, and there's the fact that well, you could not use them despite being the mechanic that the game is centered around, but nonetheless you're still suffering from the fact that every other combat aspect has been watered down to make way for it, like the aforementioned weapon sets. Other problems include bloated HP pools on enemies and them having so much armor that your wicked weaves have zero weight to them, just compare the ones in 1 to 3. So you can either spend three times as long fighting simple mobs or inanimate enemies that spawn other enemies, or you can press the summon button and wipe them in 20 seconds and get a perfect platinum, by not really engaging with enemies. If you want to take longer on a fight by actually fighting them yourself, bear in mind this is a game where your performance is also dependent on time. Also, magic is no longer a resource that you accumulate by performing well, but a gauge that continuously recharges so you can keep summoning demons instead of playing yourself.
I don't really have much to say about Viola other than the fact that they should have probably polished Bayo more instead of adding another character that also feels incomplete and it's just Bayonetta but with parries, something you could do in previous game. I'd say her character falls flat also but so does everything in this game.
Previous games were already generous with the fact that you didn't need to learn enemies patterns too much, the generous WT window allowed you to hit them stopped in time, bat within even allows you to get hit first, but in 3 there's not even that much of a need to know how to get openings even. Just let your giant summon stunlock them. It's not helped by the fact that you're constantly seeing the same formations of enemies that are approached in the same way throughout the game, and it's just tiring. They also have less personality than ever, in 1 & 2 at least you talked to some enemies and such, but in here they're just mindless mobs and then recolors. Their designs are also the least interesting of all games (as a whole, the game looks kinda ugly in contrast to previous entries).
But not only is the combat bad, it's a smaller aspect of the game than ever. Before, you could expect a gimmick level or two, or to have verses separated by non-combat sections. In here it seems almost every level has its own shitty segment: bad platforming, bad shmup, bad rhythm game... even not-optional side chapters consisting of dull 2d "stealth". And I fail to see how anyone could actually enjoy kaiju battles when it's just a slow rock paper scissors minigame being framed as an epic battle.
But that's more or less the whole problem behind the game, prioritizing spectacle above actual gameplay. It makes it easy to pick up, but if you're looking for an actual action game it's a huge disappointment. There's so much stuff they could've polished but instead they kept shoving all that in. Level design is worse than ever and still plagued with awful decisions like those timed chests that I believe nobody enjoys. All these bareback sections and the downgrade in combat just seems to scream that they don't actually want to make Bayonetta, or at least as an action game, and I sure as hell don't want to play it. I've been playing both this and Ninja Gaiden Black and the difference is just abysmal. Please play NGB, it's a very good action game.
Story is shit, but who gives a fuck. I'd say skip all the cutscenes but some have QTEs on them where you're forced to watch and there's also forced walking sections and stuff.
Combat is awful, doubling down on all of 1 and 2's mistakes. At least, with Umbran Climax you were just using more powerful weaves, but summoning demons is a whole new level of button mashing where now you don't even fight the enemy yourself. What's worse is that DMCV did this better years ago with V, and that was still the weakest part of the game. V felt like a more casual character designed around fighting from a distance with summons, helping players with not having to worry too much about positioning or dodging, but in doing so it also removed a bit of fun - after all those aspects are part of the gameplay too. But demons in Bayonetta 3 don't really have proper movesets, so it all comes down to watching half of (because the camera is not made for it) a giant demon stomp on enemies two slow-ass-attacks at a time.
Demon summons trivialize every fight, and there's the fact that well, you could not use them despite being the mechanic that the game is centered around, but nonetheless you're still suffering from the fact that every other combat aspect has been watered down to make way for it, like the aforementioned weapon sets. Other problems include bloated HP pools on enemies and them having so much armor that your wicked weaves have zero weight to them, just compare the ones in 1 to 3. So you can either spend three times as long fighting simple mobs or inanimate enemies that spawn other enemies, or you can press the summon button and wipe them in 20 seconds and get a perfect platinum, by not really engaging with enemies. If you want to take longer on a fight by actually fighting them yourself, bear in mind this is a game where your performance is also dependent on time. Also, magic is no longer a resource that you accumulate by performing well, but a gauge that continuously recharges so you can keep summoning demons instead of playing yourself.
I don't really have much to say about Viola other than the fact that they should have probably polished Bayo more instead of adding another character that also feels incomplete and it's just Bayonetta but with parries, something you could do in previous game. I'd say her character falls flat also but so does everything in this game.
Previous games were already generous with the fact that you didn't need to learn enemies patterns too much, the generous WT window allowed you to hit them stopped in time, bat within even allows you to get hit first, but in 3 there's not even that much of a need to know how to get openings even. Just let your giant summon stunlock them. It's not helped by the fact that you're constantly seeing the same formations of enemies that are approached in the same way throughout the game, and it's just tiring. They also have less personality than ever, in 1 & 2 at least you talked to some enemies and such, but in here they're just mindless mobs and then recolors. Their designs are also the least interesting of all games (as a whole, the game looks kinda ugly in contrast to previous entries).
But not only is the combat bad, it's a smaller aspect of the game than ever. Before, you could expect a gimmick level or two, or to have verses separated by non-combat sections. In here it seems almost every level has its own shitty segment: bad platforming, bad shmup, bad rhythm game... even not-optional side chapters consisting of dull 2d "stealth". And I fail to see how anyone could actually enjoy kaiju battles when it's just a slow rock paper scissors minigame being framed as an epic battle.
But that's more or less the whole problem behind the game, prioritizing spectacle above actual gameplay. It makes it easy to pick up, but if you're looking for an actual action game it's a huge disappointment. There's so much stuff they could've polished but instead they kept shoving all that in. Level design is worse than ever and still plagued with awful decisions like those timed chests that I believe nobody enjoys. All these bareback sections and the downgrade in combat just seems to scream that they don't actually want to make Bayonetta, or at least as an action game, and I sure as hell don't want to play it. I've been playing both this and Ninja Gaiden Black and the difference is just abysmal. Please play NGB, it's a very good action game.
Story is shit, but who gives a fuck. I'd say skip all the cutscenes but some have QTEs on them where you're forced to watch and there's also forced walking sections and stuff.
Art direction is okay but has more influences it in than anything original to say. And the gameplay aspects are mediocre and done better already by other games. The area progression is very basic, but the map sucks. Bosses are generally trivial and some also a drag. Despite the various skills there's not much reason to switch it up rather than upgrade the better ones. Having a level is also very annoying in a metroidvania where you can rush pretty fast through the game and end up underleveled dealing shit damage to enemies and taking longer on bosses. Exploration is sometimes more of a drag than anything, and sometimes not worth the rewards, but you may also miss on game-changing items. Bloodstained, Hollow Knight, Blasphemous are a few games ender lilies is reminiscent of and likely takes influences from that I recommend picking up instead.
2021
I love rhythm stuff so I can overlook the "doesn't know when to end" syndrome this game has. The replay battle feature is a wonderful addition, though I wish they had let you replay stuff you've done without finishing the game first.
Started a new game to play the DLC and got newfound love for everything in it. Though neither plane nor regular levels have as many projectiles as a shump or bullet hell game, the very fluid artstyle works in favor giving the sensation of just as much chaos with less elements. Everything on the screen is full of life and gorgeous to look at, but deadly if you get distracted by it. The DLC also adds features that apply to the base game as well, and the new character, weapons, skills... are very fun to use and replay levels.
2022
Style is nice. It's the only positive thing I can say. Seems like every other aspect came second to selling this visually.
Terrible combat: janky hitboxes and aiming, the same 3 types of enemies all over, in the same kind of repetitive auto-generated dungeons, and horrible build variety, if you can even call it that. All the weapons work the same, melee attacks, just different speed. And the game pre-selects one for you in each run; sometimes you can find another and switch it. Spells and cards don't make a difference in your build either, so after a few dungeons you're basically repeating the same run every time which is laughable for a roguelite. Unlocking "new weapons" doesn't actually do that, it just adds some modifiers to the weapons that you find, like poison or crits, which also makes no fucking difference. You just end up with a bigger pool of possibilities that all play the same.
With combat and exploration being as horrible as it is, you'd expect the cult sim and management to be engaging, but it's also terrible. Despite being a cult simulator, you'll be the one doing everything at first, not only because you lack the upgrades for your followers to do stuff, but also because the AI is so bugged, NPCs stop doing work or change activities out of nowhere. After cleaning shit for a few hours you'll unlock enough stuff for tasks to be automated, at which point there's nothing for you to do there anymore.
You can find blueprints for new stuff on your explorations, but they're all for the 'decoration' section that serves no purpose, not only that, but you'll have wished that the chest had something useful for your run instead, like health or an upgrade for something. The actual useful buildings you need to unlock by waiting and waiting until your followers produce enough faith to unlock another but it all becomes unnecessary halfway through when you're almost done with the dungeons but still haven't unlocked half the buildings. It's very stupid for a game so short to have stuff is walled behind waiting longer than it takes.
Almost all the decorations you set up have no effect on anything and can't be interacted with, nor is there any real incentive to build them. Rather, they take up valuable space for houses, buildings, shrines... so in the end it's not even fun to decorate the base knowing you're just gonna run to the same 5 spots where you'll collect stuff before heading out again.
Unlocking some areas is tied to RNG when exploring stuff, meaning maybe you have to revisit the mediocre dungeons in order to find new NPCs. But repeating stuff over and over is a key aspect of this game, and not in a good way. It desperately needs QoL improvements, it's a waste of time talking to your followers each day, you constantly need to make food yourself, moving multiple farming plots is the worst...
There's no weight in the relationships between your cultists, and no depth to them that would make you invested when talking to them, gifting them things... You can customize any cultist and give them any appearance, and they have no personality. The quests they give are few and bland: they'll keep asking you to make them eat poop (???), gather materials, build something... and other stuff you do already without quest incentives. But the rewards aren't really worth anything either. And then they die.
But it's not only a mix of roguelite slasher where the combat is horrible and city sim that's as lifeless and grindy as possible. It's also a bug-riddled mess, from small stuff to various ways of getting soft-locked:
You may kill a boss and have the bullet attacks not stop when its death animation plays, killing you and making you unable to progress. You may have unlocked the offering shrine before having the alter up to level 3, also blocking you from unlocking more buildings. You may find invisible enemies. You may have cultists giving you a quest and it failing automatically upon accepting it. You can have enemies sometimes knocked outside the map. Cultists will not eat when hungry or work when there's tasks to be done; some may even die of hunger. There's too many to list.
To an extent, that's okay, all games have bugs. If you click on the roadmap you'll get is a popup saying: "free updates will be coming soon". That's the extent, which is not really a roadmap though. So in short they had the pre-purchase / day 1 dlc more thought-out than actual updates and fixes to a game that has released as broken as it has.
In short, it's a mix of different types of games, none of them done well. It's like playing animal crossing, and hades, and binding of isaac, and frostpunk... if they all sucked really hard. Plus, it's broken.
Terrible combat: janky hitboxes and aiming, the same 3 types of enemies all over, in the same kind of repetitive auto-generated dungeons, and horrible build variety, if you can even call it that. All the weapons work the same, melee attacks, just different speed. And the game pre-selects one for you in each run; sometimes you can find another and switch it. Spells and cards don't make a difference in your build either, so after a few dungeons you're basically repeating the same run every time which is laughable for a roguelite. Unlocking "new weapons" doesn't actually do that, it just adds some modifiers to the weapons that you find, like poison or crits, which also makes no fucking difference. You just end up with a bigger pool of possibilities that all play the same.
With combat and exploration being as horrible as it is, you'd expect the cult sim and management to be engaging, but it's also terrible. Despite being a cult simulator, you'll be the one doing everything at first, not only because you lack the upgrades for your followers to do stuff, but also because the AI is so bugged, NPCs stop doing work or change activities out of nowhere. After cleaning shit for a few hours you'll unlock enough stuff for tasks to be automated, at which point there's nothing for you to do there anymore.
You can find blueprints for new stuff on your explorations, but they're all for the 'decoration' section that serves no purpose, not only that, but you'll have wished that the chest had something useful for your run instead, like health or an upgrade for something. The actual useful buildings you need to unlock by waiting and waiting until your followers produce enough faith to unlock another but it all becomes unnecessary halfway through when you're almost done with the dungeons but still haven't unlocked half the buildings. It's very stupid for a game so short to have stuff is walled behind waiting longer than it takes.
Almost all the decorations you set up have no effect on anything and can't be interacted with, nor is there any real incentive to build them. Rather, they take up valuable space for houses, buildings, shrines... so in the end it's not even fun to decorate the base knowing you're just gonna run to the same 5 spots where you'll collect stuff before heading out again.
Unlocking some areas is tied to RNG when exploring stuff, meaning maybe you have to revisit the mediocre dungeons in order to find new NPCs. But repeating stuff over and over is a key aspect of this game, and not in a good way. It desperately needs QoL improvements, it's a waste of time talking to your followers each day, you constantly need to make food yourself, moving multiple farming plots is the worst...
There's no weight in the relationships between your cultists, and no depth to them that would make you invested when talking to them, gifting them things... You can customize any cultist and give them any appearance, and they have no personality. The quests they give are few and bland: they'll keep asking you to make them eat poop (???), gather materials, build something... and other stuff you do already without quest incentives. But the rewards aren't really worth anything either. And then they die.
But it's not only a mix of roguelite slasher where the combat is horrible and city sim that's as lifeless and grindy as possible. It's also a bug-riddled mess, from small stuff to various ways of getting soft-locked:
You may kill a boss and have the bullet attacks not stop when its death animation plays, killing you and making you unable to progress. You may have unlocked the offering shrine before having the alter up to level 3, also blocking you from unlocking more buildings. You may find invisible enemies. You may have cultists giving you a quest and it failing automatically upon accepting it. You can have enemies sometimes knocked outside the map. Cultists will not eat when hungry or work when there's tasks to be done; some may even die of hunger. There's too many to list.
To an extent, that's okay, all games have bugs. If you click on the roadmap you'll get is a popup saying: "free updates will be coming soon". That's the extent, which is not really a roadmap though. So in short they had the pre-purchase / day 1 dlc more thought-out than actual updates and fixes to a game that has released as broken as it has.
In short, it's a mix of different types of games, none of them done well. It's like playing animal crossing, and hades, and binding of isaac, and frostpunk... if they all sucked really hard. Plus, it's broken.
2020
I love you blood. I love you organs. I love you violence. I love you explosions. I love you stomps. I love you punches. I love you fire. I love you piercing. I love you bullets. I love you hell. I love you stomping enemies into the air and airshooting them. I love you shotgun blasts to the face for heals. I love you bunnyhopping. I love you railgun coinflips. I love you loud ass music playing during the onslaught. I love you V-1. I love you ULTRAKILL.
2018
Initially it feels like a rather easy, retro inspired horror shooter. In the first episode nothing poses a threat even on cero miedo, and the bosses are mostly sponges. Plus, you'll hardly be using the scythes, pistols, once you gain access to new weapons. It's fun to move around and kill stuff, but most of the time it can't kill you back.
But once it reaches the second episode it starts to get the ball rolling. Though still simple to breeze through, the horror elements escalate little by little, the atmosphere becomes more oppressive and you feel drawn to go deeper into the levels. By the third act, the feel of the game is way more hostile than you'd have expected, and I found the levels themselves: the darkness, jumpscaring enemies, surprise encounters... a bigger challenge than just the enemy fights, which is actually a rather fun feeling. Reminds me of bloodborne, where you also have the tools to destroy anything the game presents you, but despite that, sometimes you're still hesitant to advance.
But once it reaches the second episode it starts to get the ball rolling. Though still simple to breeze through, the horror elements escalate little by little, the atmosphere becomes more oppressive and you feel drawn to go deeper into the levels. By the third act, the feel of the game is way more hostile than you'd have expected, and I found the levels themselves: the darkness, jumpscaring enemies, surprise encounters... a bigger challenge than just the enemy fights, which is actually a rather fun feeling. Reminds me of bloodborne, where you also have the tools to destroy anything the game presents you, but despite that, sometimes you're still hesitant to advance.
Started it a year ago, in Japanese, in order to practice and improve my vocabulary and reading comprehension. It's a useful game because there's both single and dual language transcripts out there that make it easy to look up kanji you can't read, or sentences you don't understand; and the fact that JP language isn't region locked (this not true of TGAA as it needs an external patch).
Both scripts don't differ that much in information, though there's some differences in tone (Japanese version tries to be more serious, even if it still has jokes) and setting (character's names, countries of origin, foods...). In this regard, it's a good tool for learning. And it's also interesting seeing the localization differences, jokes that can't be translated... The only setback being the game itself, which I found subpar.
1-1 is super easy and obvious, fair enough being the tutorial. Only afterwards you have the same structure, but longer. 1-2, originally designed as the tutorial, also holds your hand all the time. It introduces investigations, which boil down to clicking on everything, talking with people and presenting everything in your inventory. With it you gain evidence for the next trial. I've often seen the distinction that ace attorney isn't a VN because of this, but it's so railroaded that it's almost as mindless as pressing 'next' when reading. Once you pick up all the pieces of evidence, the day will conclude and trial will start. Pressing witnesses and using evidence is just as shallow as investigations. And often, as is the case with 1-2, the case isn't won by this but by an asspull by some other character.
By 1-3 it starts being more fluid. You're not told the perpetrator outright, and situations have a bit more mystery behind them. Unfortunately it's also when it starts feeling formulaic due to the game repeating the same clichés. It's like you're replaying the same trial(s) no matter the case. Always the witnesses which you catch lying and contradicting. The judge being ready to dismiss the case and declare your client guilty until suddenly you manage to make an assessment that turns the tables (which are then turned back again, and once again you're in trouble). The cartoon villain breakdowns from the culprits, and the fact that you can identify them long before because the game tries to hint subtlety at them but just makes it obvious. Plus, their name is something like "Mr. Urder Killpeople". Each case and trial tries to make the stakes higher but only manages to desensitize you to these scenarios and make them routine.
Another part of the formula is crazy twists and sudden discoveries, often far-fetched and requiring even more suspension of disbelief than the base game already does with its world (attorneys having to investigate in cases but not really given much leeway to do so; the fact that even if you prove Will is innocent, he will go to jail unless you can name the perpetrator...). Plot-wise a lot of these cases withhold information from you for the sake of stretching the mystery, with areas unlocking only when it's relevant or cases like 1-4 or 1-5, where even your own clients won't tell you basic information about the case until after a certain point. This bundled with photographs that are blurry, ones where the identity of the person isn't clear... it's just underwhelming how the game plays the same cards every time. So in the end even more 'developed' cases like 1-4 and 1-5 are the same as the first ones, just with an even more convoluted plot and beating around the bush.
Fans sometimes acknowledge the ridiculousness of some plots, and also that it's just as much about the mysteries as it's about the characters, but I found that aspect just as badly executed. One-dimensional, generic personalities akin to a shounen anime: your rival gets presented as a terrible guy but turns out, just misunderstood. Also you are childhood friends. Also you end up working together in the name of justice.
It's not actually deep development to have him 'turn' good between chapters, or retroactively show "he actually didn't do all those bad things, it was actually another bad guy" It just shows the biggest pitfalls of this game when it comes to characters: 1. white-and-black morality: good characters do no wrong and bad characters are capable of any crime; 2. making up character development as it goes along especially by flashbacks: oh, actually phoenix wanted to be a lawyer because of miles, oh miles was a good kid until adopted by A Bad Guy™, oh Mia is your mentor and very important to you, but there's no weight to her death because development also comes later.
Phoenix himself barely has an arc, and I really don't wanna boot up the next game just to see him be a rookie lawyer again, struggling in the tutorial case. Other capcom games, which are not character driven, like RE or DMC present more changes in characters between games.
Anyway, if someone has actually read all of this word salad and agrees with some stuff, I'd recommend Disco Elysium.
Both scripts don't differ that much in information, though there's some differences in tone (Japanese version tries to be more serious, even if it still has jokes) and setting (character's names, countries of origin, foods...). In this regard, it's a good tool for learning. And it's also interesting seeing the localization differences, jokes that can't be translated... The only setback being the game itself, which I found subpar.
1-1 is super easy and obvious, fair enough being the tutorial. Only afterwards you have the same structure, but longer. 1-2, originally designed as the tutorial, also holds your hand all the time. It introduces investigations, which boil down to clicking on everything, talking with people and presenting everything in your inventory. With it you gain evidence for the next trial. I've often seen the distinction that ace attorney isn't a VN because of this, but it's so railroaded that it's almost as mindless as pressing 'next' when reading. Once you pick up all the pieces of evidence, the day will conclude and trial will start. Pressing witnesses and using evidence is just as shallow as investigations. And often, as is the case with 1-2, the case isn't won by this but by an asspull by some other character.
By 1-3 it starts being more fluid. You're not told the perpetrator outright, and situations have a bit more mystery behind them. Unfortunately it's also when it starts feeling formulaic due to the game repeating the same clichés. It's like you're replaying the same trial(s) no matter the case. Always the witnesses which you catch lying and contradicting. The judge being ready to dismiss the case and declare your client guilty until suddenly you manage to make an assessment that turns the tables (which are then turned back again, and once again you're in trouble). The cartoon villain breakdowns from the culprits, and the fact that you can identify them long before because the game tries to hint subtlety at them but just makes it obvious. Plus, their name is something like "Mr. Urder Killpeople". Each case and trial tries to make the stakes higher but only manages to desensitize you to these scenarios and make them routine.
Another part of the formula is crazy twists and sudden discoveries, often far-fetched and requiring even more suspension of disbelief than the base game already does with its world (attorneys having to investigate in cases but not really given much leeway to do so; the fact that even if you prove Will is innocent, he will go to jail unless you can name the perpetrator...). Plot-wise a lot of these cases withhold information from you for the sake of stretching the mystery, with areas unlocking only when it's relevant or cases like 1-4 or 1-5, where even your own clients won't tell you basic information about the case until after a certain point. This bundled with photographs that are blurry, ones where the identity of the person isn't clear... it's just underwhelming how the game plays the same cards every time. So in the end even more 'developed' cases like 1-4 and 1-5 are the same as the first ones, just with an even more convoluted plot and beating around the bush.
Fans sometimes acknowledge the ridiculousness of some plots, and also that it's just as much about the mysteries as it's about the characters, but I found that aspect just as badly executed. One-dimensional, generic personalities akin to a shounen anime: your rival gets presented as a terrible guy but turns out, just misunderstood. Also you are childhood friends. Also you end up working together in the name of justice.
It's not actually deep development to have him 'turn' good between chapters, or retroactively show "he actually didn't do all those bad things, it was actually another bad guy" It just shows the biggest pitfalls of this game when it comes to characters: 1. white-and-black morality: good characters do no wrong and bad characters are capable of any crime; 2. making up character development as it goes along especially by flashbacks: oh, actually phoenix wanted to be a lawyer because of miles, oh miles was a good kid until adopted by A Bad Guy™, oh Mia is your mentor and very important to you, but there's no weight to her death because development also comes later.
Phoenix himself barely has an arc, and I really don't wanna boot up the next game just to see him be a rookie lawyer again, struggling in the tutorial case. Other capcom games, which are not character driven, like RE or DMC present more changes in characters between games.
Anyway, if someone has actually read all of this word salad and agrees with some stuff, I'd recommend Disco Elysium.