Rhoddie
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Sometimes a game is so middle of the road it hurts. Ghost of Tsushima was one of those for me. I admit that I'm partially responsible for my own woes with it, given that I was expeting more "Sekiro" and less "Assassin's Creed", but I still feel like GoT is so half-hearted in its execution of almost everything that it just ends up being a really bland experience. Maybe that changes in the third island, I don't know. I don't think I'm likely to finish it anytime soon.
The game's got its good points. The way everything looks is excellent, the way armour and sheaths and things like that are designed is very visually appealing, I like the flavour of a lot of side activities (duels, haikus, etc.), but after this I run out of nice things to say. I know that the story apparently gets good at the third act, but everything I've played up to that point feels unenthusiastic. The opening is bombastic and dramatic but then it becomes your average Ubisoft-esque sneaking mission and after that, as you mill around Tsushima it runs out of steam completely for me.
The combat is fine but there's kind of nothing to it. I never feel particularly challenged, nor do I look forward to engaging in battle due to how repetitive I found it was. The stealth, comparatively, feels like an afterthought. It isn't made by Ubisoft, but it feels like it suffers from many of the same issues as the likes of Assassin's Creed have been for a while. Samey combat, samey story, and a lack of any kind of focus in level or encounter design, resulting in a homogeneous paste of an experience. I wish I could go without comparing it to AC, take it on its own merits, but it really does not beat the allegations.
It's fine, but it's only fine. Inoffensive. Mild. A year ago I would've suggested playing it if you wanted Assassin's Creed set in feudal Japan, but it seems now it's going to be losing that selling point too.
The game's got its good points. The way everything looks is excellent, the way armour and sheaths and things like that are designed is very visually appealing, I like the flavour of a lot of side activities (duels, haikus, etc.), but after this I run out of nice things to say. I know that the story apparently gets good at the third act, but everything I've played up to that point feels unenthusiastic. The opening is bombastic and dramatic but then it becomes your average Ubisoft-esque sneaking mission and after that, as you mill around Tsushima it runs out of steam completely for me.
The combat is fine but there's kind of nothing to it. I never feel particularly challenged, nor do I look forward to engaging in battle due to how repetitive I found it was. The stealth, comparatively, feels like an afterthought. It isn't made by Ubisoft, but it feels like it suffers from many of the same issues as the likes of Assassin's Creed have been for a while. Samey combat, samey story, and a lack of any kind of focus in level or encounter design, resulting in a homogeneous paste of an experience. I wish I could go without comparing it to AC, take it on its own merits, but it really does not beat the allegations.
It's fine, but it's only fine. Inoffensive. Mild. A year ago I would've suggested playing it if you wanted Assassin's Creed set in feudal Japan, but it seems now it's going to be losing that selling point too.
This review contains spoilers
It's certainly impossible to deny that Hypnospace Outlaw is unique. I wasn't alive or cognizant enough to remember the internet at the turn of the millennium, so I'll leave the descriptions about that to people who are more knowledgeable, but Hypnospace Outlaw absolutely nails the atmosphere it's going for. It's lovingly made and put together, reveling unapologetically in its nostalgia, but as always comes with nostalgia there's a note of sadness. At what was lost as websites grew in complexity until the idea of making something yourself with HTML over a couple of weekends was no longer enough.
The core gameplay of Hypnospace Outlaw is, as other people have pointed out, the kind of thing that seems so incredibly obvious now that this game has done it. Yeah, of course being an internet moderator is a perfect backdrop to set a puzzle/mystery game around. People get weird online, and it leverages that to create a memorable cast and a storyline that couldn't have been done anywhere else.
Unfortunately I can't give this game a full 5 stars because of its tendency to fall into puzzle game moon logic, though this is more pronounced in the end. I did use a guide to solve some problems starting at about the halfway mark, and I'm gonna be honest I have no idea how you're supposed to figure out the final puzzle by yourself. Still, it always feels inventive and refreshing - there was never a point where I'd felt like the game had run out of tricks.
I also was not expecting the story I got out of this game. It starts more or less as you'd expect, featuring all the same problems you're familiar with, but then it escalates in a way that I could not have seen coming. The sudden tonal shift in the third act is impressive stuff, given that for most of your time with the game, you're almost accustomed to take it as a joke. And then suddenly there are real consequences, real people wound up dead because of a complete moron's bug-riddled pet project. I'm impressed with the direction the story took; I'm even more impressed it stuck the landing.
I'm in a strange place regarding this game's music. There's a huge amount of it and a similarly huge amount of variety, but I never really found something I like. I'm stunned by the amount of work that must have gone into it, though - that the game is able to pivot effortlessly between chiptune and 90s nu-metal in the space of a few seconds is phenomenal.
Although Hypnospace Outlaw sells itself predominantly on being a recreation of what once was, it's smart enough to not rely on that. Instead it marries its aesthetics and gameplay with a great story that could only have been told in this medium, and with all those components working as one it becomes so much more. Hypnospace Outlaw is really good
The core gameplay of Hypnospace Outlaw is, as other people have pointed out, the kind of thing that seems so incredibly obvious now that this game has done it. Yeah, of course being an internet moderator is a perfect backdrop to set a puzzle/mystery game around. People get weird online, and it leverages that to create a memorable cast and a storyline that couldn't have been done anywhere else.
Unfortunately I can't give this game a full 5 stars because of its tendency to fall into puzzle game moon logic, though this is more pronounced in the end. I did use a guide to solve some problems starting at about the halfway mark, and I'm gonna be honest I have no idea how you're supposed to figure out the final puzzle by yourself. Still, it always feels inventive and refreshing - there was never a point where I'd felt like the game had run out of tricks.
I also was not expecting the story I got out of this game. It starts more or less as you'd expect, featuring all the same problems you're familiar with, but then it escalates in a way that I could not have seen coming. The sudden tonal shift in the third act is impressive stuff, given that for most of your time with the game, you're almost accustomed to take it as a joke. And then suddenly there are real consequences, real people wound up dead because of a complete moron's bug-riddled pet project. I'm impressed with the direction the story took; I'm even more impressed it stuck the landing.
I'm in a strange place regarding this game's music. There's a huge amount of it and a similarly huge amount of variety, but I never really found something I like. I'm stunned by the amount of work that must have gone into it, though - that the game is able to pivot effortlessly between chiptune and 90s nu-metal in the space of a few seconds is phenomenal.
Although Hypnospace Outlaw sells itself predominantly on being a recreation of what once was, it's smart enough to not rely on that. Instead it marries its aesthetics and gameplay with a great story that could only have been told in this medium, and with all those components working as one it becomes so much more. Hypnospace Outlaw is really good
Hyper Light Drifter is good but I struggle to find more to say about it. The art direction and ambiance is generally stellar, but the underground sections kind of blend into one after a while, and it might just not be my kind of thing but I didn't really catch onto any tracks that I'd say were standout. I might just have to revisit it at another time.
The gameplay is solid, but there's a few weird bits about it. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how i-frames were supposed to work for most of the game, if indeed there were any, and I have a bone to pick with the fact that the dash goes in the direction of your mouse and not where you're moving. The combat loop is satisfying and does what it needs to, but it feels like there's a thin layer of jank it never manages to fully throw off. Good thing I love jank.
The way Hyper Light Drifter presents its story is I think one of its biggest strengths, given how much it allows you to fill in versus how much is outright confirmed. The environment does a great job filling you in on the background of this mysterious, ruined yet beautiful world, and the few moments where you do get to interact with NPCs can go a long way towards making it feel more inhabited. Also, I just needed a story about standing up to seemingly inevitable fate and cutting your victory out of it bit by bit.
I think Hyper Light Drifter for me is saved by the fact that it's a pretty short experience (about 7 hours for me), so anything I didn't like didn't have the opportunity to stick around long enough to become truly maddening. If you're looking for something old-school Zelda style, I'd recommend it. If you like games with good art direction I'd recommend it. I'd just recommend it overall, despite some of my own misgivings about it.
The gameplay is solid, but there's a few weird bits about it. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how i-frames were supposed to work for most of the game, if indeed there were any, and I have a bone to pick with the fact that the dash goes in the direction of your mouse and not where you're moving. The combat loop is satisfying and does what it needs to, but it feels like there's a thin layer of jank it never manages to fully throw off. Good thing I love jank.
The way Hyper Light Drifter presents its story is I think one of its biggest strengths, given how much it allows you to fill in versus how much is outright confirmed. The environment does a great job filling you in on the background of this mysterious, ruined yet beautiful world, and the few moments where you do get to interact with NPCs can go a long way towards making it feel more inhabited. Also, I just needed a story about standing up to seemingly inevitable fate and cutting your victory out of it bit by bit.
I think Hyper Light Drifter for me is saved by the fact that it's a pretty short experience (about 7 hours for me), so anything I didn't like didn't have the opportunity to stick around long enough to become truly maddening. If you're looking for something old-school Zelda style, I'd recommend it. If you like games with good art direction I'd recommend it. I'd just recommend it overall, despite some of my own misgivings about it.