zachmaycry
2020
it wanted to be GTA 6 as an RPG.
it wound up being Fallout 5 with cars. or kind of just Rage 2 with real characters and better gameplay.
even if you didn't follow the pre-release the hype, I think you could tell this game was unfinished and not everything it wanted to be. kind of a shallow take on cyberpunk. and even narratively it sort of fizzles out.
but i really enjoyed the Panam and Judy of it all (and Claire, Misty and River) and I think nestled inside this messy, half-baked open world RPG there's a lot of really thoughtful, carefully directed character moments that put some similiar games to shame (notably Assassin's Creed and GTA). i guess I just really enjoyed the Panam
it wound up being Fallout 5 with cars. or kind of just Rage 2 with real characters and better gameplay.
even if you didn't follow the pre-release the hype, I think you could tell this game was unfinished and not everything it wanted to be. kind of a shallow take on cyberpunk. and even narratively it sort of fizzles out.
but i really enjoyed the Panam and Judy of it all (and Claire, Misty and River) and I think nestled inside this messy, half-baked open world RPG there's a lot of really thoughtful, carefully directed character moments that put some similiar games to shame (notably Assassin's Creed and GTA). i guess I just really enjoyed the Panam
2011
spooky
i loved the atmosphere, the lighting, the unique industrial designs of the armor and weapons coupled with the seamless use of futuristic HUDs. the sound design is out of this world frightening. never felt uneasy and uncomfortable just standing in a hallway. even as the game gradually became more action-oriented and the tension dripped away a little bit, i was on the edge of seat the whole time.
not a horror game guy but i dug this a lot
i loved the atmosphere, the lighting, the unique industrial designs of the armor and weapons coupled with the seamless use of futuristic HUDs. the sound design is out of this world frightening. never felt uneasy and uncomfortable just standing in a hallway. even as the game gradually became more action-oriented and the tension dripped away a little bit, i was on the edge of seat the whole time.
not a horror game guy but i dug this a lot
2010
2019
the game is absolute fire.
maybe not as good as bayonetta
but i think it's the absolute peak platinum games game. everything vanquish, metal gear rising and nier automata promised they could be - astral chain is. enjoyed pretty much every moment of this, except maybe the parts where you had to carry ice cream or move boxes (that kind of sucked0.
maybe not as good as bayonetta
but i think it's the absolute peak platinum games game. everything vanquish, metal gear rising and nier automata promised they could be - astral chain is. enjoyed pretty much every moment of this, except maybe the parts where you had to carry ice cream or move boxes (that kind of sucked0.
2019
finally - a contemporary star wars property that understands the coolest, most appealing aspect of the saga are the various cult-like weirdos with sword skills, force powers and dope ass robes.
the game kind of fails to deliver a really stand out memorable gameplay experience with its sekiro-like combat (bosses are all underwhelming). and it couldn't have hurt to have some hard puzzles. but it's a satisfying, polished single-player only metroid-like with some okay traversal aspects. really my kind of jam when i am in a lazy mood. and i dug the star wars of it more than i thought i would.
good enough.
the game kind of fails to deliver a really stand out memorable gameplay experience with its sekiro-like combat (bosses are all underwhelming). and it couldn't have hurt to have some hard puzzles. but it's a satisfying, polished single-player only metroid-like with some okay traversal aspects. really my kind of jam when i am in a lazy mood. and i dug the star wars of it more than i thought i would.
good enough.
This review contains spoilers
controls and camera date this. funny to rewind 13 years and realise the basic formula for Uncharted pretty much remained unchanged. but i guess if you have a decent working blueprint you can spend more time thinking up new, crazy setpieces and pushing the tech on it further. which, fine - cool.
wish the series didn't always have to get supernatural at the end. even with all the glamour and hollywood superficiality, i find once creatures start crawling out of vents in the wall and out of catacombs, all the human drama the series at least partially wants me to care about just sort of vanishes out the window. same problem with the tomb raider games. these games don't need to turn into the descent in order to keep my attention, but alas. :(
wish the series didn't always have to get supernatural at the end. even with all the glamour and hollywood superficiality, i find once creatures start crawling out of vents in the wall and out of catacombs, all the human drama the series at least partially wants me to care about just sort of vanishes out the window. same problem with the tomb raider games. these games don't need to turn into the descent in order to keep my attention, but alas. :(
played on switch, technically
might be the funniest game i've ever played line-for-line. the most operatic too. a new twist every hour. feels like this game is to the visual novel what a platinum game is to an action game; that is, pure insane and beautifully chaotic.
where this game really shines for me though are with its characters. i love them all. it's impressive for a game with no voice acting how well it manages to convey personality through a limited range of still animations and expertly crafted dialogue. by the end of the game i was in love with the whole crew and could feel the affection in the room emanating out of my switch. don't want to spend another day without these characters in my life.
can't wait to see where it goes from here but no matter where i'll always have phoenix cross-examining a bird to remember the pure blissful joy that was ace attorney.
might be the funniest game i've ever played line-for-line. the most operatic too. a new twist every hour. feels like this game is to the visual novel what a platinum game is to an action game; that is, pure insane and beautifully chaotic.
where this game really shines for me though are with its characters. i love them all. it's impressive for a game with no voice acting how well it manages to convey personality through a limited range of still animations and expertly crafted dialogue. by the end of the game i was in love with the whole crew and could feel the affection in the room emanating out of my switch. don't want to spend another day without these characters in my life.
can't wait to see where it goes from here but no matter where i'll always have phoenix cross-examining a bird to remember the pure blissful joy that was ace attorney.
few things in gaming as badass as slicing a cyborg in half and ripping its neon spine out in order to recharge yourself up
metal gear rising falls into the same exact hole i'd place vanquish into: a stupidly insane, silly, exhilarating action hiding a fairly politically poignant story that is ultimately let down by some unpolished general gameplay sections. in vanquish, it was the cover system that was a bit of a let down. in revengeance, it's the shoddy free-running mechanic and the poor parry system.
if this were remade today with some quality of life improvements it'd be a real GOTY kind of game. i think ultimately, the best version of metal gear rising: revengeance is what fromsoftware did with sekiro: shadows die twice.
one of the coolest games ever made as is though, no doubt about it.
metal gear rising falls into the same exact hole i'd place vanquish into: a stupidly insane, silly, exhilarating action hiding a fairly politically poignant story that is ultimately let down by some unpolished general gameplay sections. in vanquish, it was the cover system that was a bit of a let down. in revengeance, it's the shoddy free-running mechanic and the poor parry system.
if this were remade today with some quality of life improvements it'd be a real GOTY kind of game. i think ultimately, the best version of metal gear rising: revengeance is what fromsoftware did with sekiro: shadows die twice.
one of the coolest games ever made as is though, no doubt about it.
2017
2009
2010
i thought vanquish was almost too generic for its reputation for a while there, and while i don't believe its mission structure ever gets creative enough to justify its cool slide boost mechanic it is ultimately a work of pure joy story-wise and really comes into its own on the last two acts.
i think this game needed to be fused with titanfall 2 so you could run on walls and shit but obviously replace the silly american pathos of boy and his robot story with this japanese depiction of US interventionism and over the top machismo.
i am hyped to play metal gear rising after this because it feels like platinum may have funneled what they had lying for this game's never-materialised sequel into that. this game itself wears its metal gear solid influence on its sleeve already.
i think this game needed to be fused with titanfall 2 so you could run on walls and shit but obviously replace the silly american pathos of boy and his robot story with this japanese depiction of US interventionism and over the top machismo.
i am hyped to play metal gear rising after this because it feels like platinum may have funneled what they had lying for this game's never-materialised sequel into that. this game itself wears its metal gear solid influence on its sleeve already.
2011
A game about a murderous AI's inability to address its feelings and move on from a toxic co-dependant relationship.
So much emotion in the ending, partly from the thrill of the escape, but GLaDOS' song is genuinely heartbreaking. Her arc from wanting Chell dead to simply out of her life pack a real punch.
I found the entire second half of the game and its lifeless depths of a long abandoned facility incredibly depressing as hell. Just thinking of all the lives that went into constructing each area, placing each sign; each terrified and victimised test subject; all the souls that once occupied this site, now forgotten. All that's left are rusted remnants of an industrial scientific horror-house.
I don't know. I can't help but think it's one of the best games about regret and death.
So much emotion in the ending, partly from the thrill of the escape, but GLaDOS' song is genuinely heartbreaking. Her arc from wanting Chell dead to simply out of her life pack a real punch.
I found the entire second half of the game and its lifeless depths of a long abandoned facility incredibly depressing as hell. Just thinking of all the lives that went into constructing each area, placing each sign; each terrified and victimised test subject; all the souls that once occupied this site, now forgotten. All that's left are rusted remnants of an industrial scientific horror-house.
I don't know. I can't help but think it's one of the best games about regret and death.