2023
Man, I hate how this game became the posterchild for 'any press is good press' -- I don't wanna get into the controversy but I promise I got this at a discounted price :p
Hogwarts Legacy is pretty good ngl. I completely understand how some (many) may call this a typical overpopulated open world game, filled to the brim with 603 collectibles which is at least 400 too many yada yada, but idk, it just clicked for me.
A few years ago I had a similar experience with Assassin's Creed Odyssey where I just got so sucked into the world, so addicted that spending 10 hours collecting shit went by in a flash because it just never stopped being fun, right up until I platinumed it after what was essentially a 3-week binge.
If you can't tell already, the similarities in structure between this and that had me hooked instantly. It looked overwhelming at first but once I was in it finding 10 field guide pages within seconds of each other, oh yeah, it was all coming together. [side note I did play AC Valhalla too but I dropped it bc holy shit that was too much]
Hogwarts was not too much :) In fact, it's about 1/3 the length of AC Odyssey, so honestly I'm sorry but this game was tailor made for me lol.
I've already talked too much and I've been lost in this game for so long I'm just gunna speed through the actual points I have to make.
The story is fairly safe overall, the ancient magic angle works well to explain how your lil protag can be so strong in a way that doesn't feel out of place. What does feel out of place, however, is how little the characters react to some of the things that happen. One of the first scenes in the game has someone die in front of their friend and literally 2 mins later he's just like "ahhh, so this is what he died for" -BRO!? Your boy literally just bit it right in front of you😭
The setting is pretty great in my opinion, the open world gets a bit samey but it's not humungous or anything so you can still find your way around. Hogwarts Castle though? Chefs kiss honestly. There are little hidden passageways and secrets and shit all over the place. The magic definitely wears off over time, but even when it does it's still just, neat. There's nothing annoying or whatever, no waiting 20 mins for stairs to move, very well crafted.
The nostalgia is undeniable, inevitable, it's the whole reason this game was given a Hogwarts theme at all lets be honest. It's not overdone, it's not in your face, it's (for the most part) its own thing that us millenials and older zoomers can be like "ayo, it's the thing!" but than widdle baby zoomers can just be like "lol frogs in a choir" - everybody wins :p
The combat was actually a lot better than I expected. This, again, worked similarly to AC Odyssey but the variety of spells and combinations you can do with them was fun. Enemies having shields that needed certain types of attack to break was nice and the duel challenges in every battle were a great way to keep you trying new things without being distracting or overbearing.
The characters are kinda funny in this, a lot of them are pretty stiff or seem like they're gunna be more important than they are lol. But others are pretty well fleshed out and the three relationship questlines especially were nicely done. Sebastian is sure to be a favourite due to his arc but Poppy is my child and I hope she's in every sequel until she passes the torch to Molly Weasley as sweetest bean.
I think that'll do it anyway I've already turned my short review into a short novel. Overall I think this is a genuinely decent, maybe even good game that many people can and should enjoy, even if not as much as I did :)
P.S. This game has a glitched quest that's preventing me from getting 4 trophies, and a glitched trophy that's not recognising my final merlin trial. These 5 trophies are all I have left and I'm going to cry.
Fuck J.K. Rowling.
Hogwarts Legacy is pretty good ngl. I completely understand how some (many) may call this a typical overpopulated open world game, filled to the brim with 603 collectibles which is at least 400 too many yada yada, but idk, it just clicked for me.
A few years ago I had a similar experience with Assassin's Creed Odyssey where I just got so sucked into the world, so addicted that spending 10 hours collecting shit went by in a flash because it just never stopped being fun, right up until I platinumed it after what was essentially a 3-week binge.
If you can't tell already, the similarities in structure between this and that had me hooked instantly. It looked overwhelming at first but once I was in it finding 10 field guide pages within seconds of each other, oh yeah, it was all coming together. [side note I did play AC Valhalla too but I dropped it bc holy shit that was too much]
Hogwarts was not too much :) In fact, it's about 1/3 the length of AC Odyssey, so honestly I'm sorry but this game was tailor made for me lol.
I've already talked too much and I've been lost in this game for so long I'm just gunna speed through the actual points I have to make.
The story is fairly safe overall, the ancient magic angle works well to explain how your lil protag can be so strong in a way that doesn't feel out of place. What does feel out of place, however, is how little the characters react to some of the things that happen. One of the first scenes in the game has someone die in front of their friend and literally 2 mins later he's just like "ahhh, so this is what he died for" -BRO!? Your boy literally just bit it right in front of you😭
The setting is pretty great in my opinion, the open world gets a bit samey but it's not humungous or anything so you can still find your way around. Hogwarts Castle though? Chefs kiss honestly. There are little hidden passageways and secrets and shit all over the place. The magic definitely wears off over time, but even when it does it's still just, neat. There's nothing annoying or whatever, no waiting 20 mins for stairs to move, very well crafted.
The nostalgia is undeniable, inevitable, it's the whole reason this game was given a Hogwarts theme at all lets be honest. It's not overdone, it's not in your face, it's (for the most part) its own thing that us millenials and older zoomers can be like "ayo, it's the thing!" but than widdle baby zoomers can just be like "lol frogs in a choir" - everybody wins :p
The combat was actually a lot better than I expected. This, again, worked similarly to AC Odyssey but the variety of spells and combinations you can do with them was fun. Enemies having shields that needed certain types of attack to break was nice and the duel challenges in every battle were a great way to keep you trying new things without being distracting or overbearing.
The characters are kinda funny in this, a lot of them are pretty stiff or seem like they're gunna be more important than they are lol. But others are pretty well fleshed out and the three relationship questlines especially were nicely done. Sebastian is sure to be a favourite due to his arc but Poppy is my child and I hope she's in every sequel until she passes the torch to Molly Weasley as sweetest bean.
I think that'll do it anyway I've already turned my short review into a short novel. Overall I think this is a genuinely decent, maybe even good game that many people can and should enjoy, even if not as much as I did :)
P.S. This game has a glitched quest that's preventing me from getting 4 trophies, and a glitched trophy that's not recognising my final merlin trial. These 5 trophies are all I have left and I'm going to cry.
Fuck J.K. Rowling.
2009
Honestly speaking, this game isn't even all that good. The levels and combat are both decent enough, but the bosses just take too long. That said, I struggle to think of a game I've had more fun playing with someone else.
I've played this so much since it's release, but here I am 13 years later playing it with my best partner yet and it's more fun than it's ever been.
I've played this so much since it's release, but here I am 13 years later playing it with my best partner yet and it's more fun than it's ever been.
Unmatched. I would die for Ellie and I'd take the planet with me if I had to.
Absolutely fantastic expansion. The smaller scale lends itself really well to the story and the new combat system compensates for the smaller cast by allowing each member to have 2 blades each.
The battle system itself is really fun to use, being mostly similar to the main title but with some differences both better and, not worse, but not as good imo. The blade combos being more flexible makes them easier to understand on a base level but the secrecy behind which combos grant bonus damage is a bit disappointing.
Anyway besides that almost every complaint I had about XC2 is gone from this, and while I prefer the cast/story overall of the main game as a standalone expansion this is great in both those regards. The only reason I'm giving this 4.5 instead of 5 is due to the baffling decision to force the Community Level being increased to Level 4 to progress the story.
In order to progress this: you need to complete side quests... -_- Most of these weren't that bad to be fair, leveling from 1 to 2 at the first block was perfectly fine, just 2 hours of mostly combat or exploration, no problem. But having to then go and recruit 32 more supporters (twice as many as the first time) was just bruh. It took twice as long, and the more quests you do the fewer options there are, until by the end you're almost forced to do one of the far-too-many "hey go collect a shit load of this thing for me" quests which I really do not enjoy. Shifting that down to Level 3 in order to force players to do more combat/exploration through side quests (and just spend more time with the party in general) would've been perfectly acceptable, but requiring Level 4 is just bizarre and sours an otherwise near perfect expansion.
Overall, this is probably a little better than XC2 in terms of structure and being far less frustrating as a whole. If you played that then this is 100% worth your time :)
The battle system itself is really fun to use, being mostly similar to the main title but with some differences both better and, not worse, but not as good imo. The blade combos being more flexible makes them easier to understand on a base level but the secrecy behind which combos grant bonus damage is a bit disappointing.
Anyway besides that almost every complaint I had about XC2 is gone from this, and while I prefer the cast/story overall of the main game as a standalone expansion this is great in both those regards. The only reason I'm giving this 4.5 instead of 5 is due to the baffling decision to force the Community Level being increased to Level 4 to progress the story.
In order to progress this: you need to complete side quests... -_- Most of these weren't that bad to be fair, leveling from 1 to 2 at the first block was perfectly fine, just 2 hours of mostly combat or exploration, no problem. But having to then go and recruit 32 more supporters (twice as many as the first time) was just bruh. It took twice as long, and the more quests you do the fewer options there are, until by the end you're almost forced to do one of the far-too-many "hey go collect a shit load of this thing for me" quests which I really do not enjoy. Shifting that down to Level 3 in order to force players to do more combat/exploration through side quests (and just spend more time with the party in general) would've been perfectly acceptable, but requiring Level 4 is just bizarre and sours an otherwise near perfect expansion.
Overall, this is probably a little better than XC2 in terms of structure and being far less frustrating as a whole. If you played that then this is 100% worth your time :)
2012
Amazing. The dungeon structure/combat hasn’t aged all that well imo and some of the dialogue is clearly outdated by today’s standards, but overall this was really enjoyable and easily stands up against the much newer and more polished Persona 5
The characters themselves aren’t quite as fulfilling, and some of the minor social links especially aren't satisfying at all, but the main group dynamic as a whole surpasses that of the Phantom Thieves. The party members are still fun and the story is great, so while it could never hope to be as smooth or stylish as its successor, Persona 4 Golden’s overall quality doesn’t feel very much like a step down at all.
The characters themselves aren’t quite as fulfilling, and some of the minor social links especially aren't satisfying at all, but the main group dynamic as a whole surpasses that of the Phantom Thieves. The party members are still fun and the story is great, so while it could never hope to be as smooth or stylish as its successor, Persona 4 Golden’s overall quality doesn’t feel very much like a step down at all.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was a game that I adored so, so much, that I couldn't bring myself to start writing a review for it. I could talk about that game for hours, and yet, I'm lost for words.
There is no way to properly explain the way this series hits any more. Half the reason I never tried writing about XC3 was that so much of what I wanted to say would touch on spoilers in one way or another, and given the nature of this expansion the same is going to apply here. (So this is more a rant summarising my feelings on this series as a whole)
One thing I will say, however, is that I am honestly devastated that my memory is as bad as it can be, in particular with this franchise. I have loved, loved all 3 parts of this trilogy but if you asked me to even summarise one of the first 2 games I'd get maybe 5% of the story right, it kinda sucks😭
I'm pretty confident that 3 is my favourite, and not just for recency bias, but the combat, the party, the world, the story, the relationships and development of the characters.. It is truly deserving of the label peak because it genuinely sits at the top of the JRPG mountain in my opinion. I fucking love that game dude, they even added a navigation line to follow!
(Unfortunatley, this expansion removes that again 😭 2 games and 2 expansions to finally stop me from getting lost only to rob me of it again, wounded!)
Anyway if you can't tell I'm already losing myself, these games have got me bad, man. It is all heart, I have no brain, no thoughts (no memory 😔) - I barely understand myself how they've touched me this much, but there's an undeniable charm and sincerity to them that's really just 😩
To make some comments about Future Redeemed specifically, I fully understand the reasoning behind Matthew et al, but I can't help but wonder if I'd have preferred somehow getting to bring things to fruition with familiar faces. Matthew is great don't get me wrong, but his specific personality archetype is an interesting one to go with for the main character of this expansion lol.
Also, without saying anything else: Holy shit the glow up, the future is not the only thing being redeemed god damn.
Final thoughts I think I preferred the combat and overall dynamics in the main game vs this, and locking arts and accessory slots behind finding rare items instead of your player level is kinda oof, but I got by. It felt a bit like XC3 but stripped back a little instead of further improved which is a shame, but with the bar set by XC3 I really don't think there was anywhere to go but backwards anyway.
Difficulty wise there was one boss near the end that was a huge spike for me, but admittedly I'd been playing somewhat lazily until then anyway and it didn't take too long to overcome it.
Overall: this is insane. This series is nothing short of beautiful and if you don't believe me then the soundtrack alone can prove you wrong with ease. I don't know if I want more or not but I definitely want more of something from this team. Do not let British voice acting put y'all off these games bro, yes I know XC2 sounds kinda goofy but you can play in Japanese if you must and even if you don't I guarantee that the voicework does not detract from how good they are. (Also Mio and Nia's accents are too good to pass up on smh shame on you)
Thanks for reading to all who did, hope it's okay that this is just word vomit but I really wasn't kidding when I said I have no words. Hope you're all having a wonderful December and enjoy any festivities you may or may not partake in. Until next time🙏
There is no way to properly explain the way this series hits any more. Half the reason I never tried writing about XC3 was that so much of what I wanted to say would touch on spoilers in one way or another, and given the nature of this expansion the same is going to apply here. (So this is more a rant summarising my feelings on this series as a whole)
One thing I will say, however, is that I am honestly devastated that my memory is as bad as it can be, in particular with this franchise. I have loved, loved all 3 parts of this trilogy but if you asked me to even summarise one of the first 2 games I'd get maybe 5% of the story right, it kinda sucks😭
I'm pretty confident that 3 is my favourite, and not just for recency bias, but the combat, the party, the world, the story, the relationships and development of the characters.. It is truly deserving of the label peak because it genuinely sits at the top of the JRPG mountain in my opinion. I fucking love that game dude, they even added a navigation line to follow!
(Unfortunatley, this expansion removes that again 😭 2 games and 2 expansions to finally stop me from getting lost only to rob me of it again, wounded!)
Anyway if you can't tell I'm already losing myself, these games have got me bad, man. It is all heart, I have no brain, no thoughts (no memory 😔) - I barely understand myself how they've touched me this much, but there's an undeniable charm and sincerity to them that's really just 😩
To make some comments about Future Redeemed specifically, I fully understand the reasoning behind Matthew et al, but I can't help but wonder if I'd have preferred somehow getting to bring things to fruition with familiar faces. Matthew is great don't get me wrong, but his specific personality archetype is an interesting one to go with for the main character of this expansion lol.
Also, without saying anything else: Holy shit the glow up, the future is not the only thing being redeemed god damn.
Final thoughts I think I preferred the combat and overall dynamics in the main game vs this, and locking arts and accessory slots behind finding rare items instead of your player level is kinda oof, but I got by. It felt a bit like XC3 but stripped back a little instead of further improved which is a shame, but with the bar set by XC3 I really don't think there was anywhere to go but backwards anyway.
Difficulty wise there was one boss near the end that was a huge spike for me, but admittedly I'd been playing somewhat lazily until then anyway and it didn't take too long to overcome it.
Overall: this is insane. This series is nothing short of beautiful and if you don't believe me then the soundtrack alone can prove you wrong with ease. I don't know if I want more or not but I definitely want more of something from this team. Do not let British voice acting put y'all off these games bro, yes I know XC2 sounds kinda goofy but you can play in Japanese if you must and even if you don't I guarantee that the voicework does not detract from how good they are. (Also Mio and Nia's accents are too good to pass up on smh shame on you)
Thanks for reading to all who did, hope it's okay that this is just word vomit but I really wasn't kidding when I said I have no words. Hope you're all having a wonderful December and enjoy any festivities you may or may not partake in. Until next time🙏
2010
Let's fucking gooooo!!
This was so fucking awesome I'm still coming down from it. So much to say, all words lost to awe (and Miranda's ass)
This game started strong, with one of the best introductions to a game I've played, well, ever. The plot is set up superbly, and the changes to the core game make the whole thing feel familiar enough, but also set it aside from the first game. All in ways that feel natural and make sense. God it's maybe a perfect sequel honestly? Fuck I'm so hyped right now the adrenaline !!
While a perfect sequel, it's by no means a perfect game, let's get that outta the way, there were more glitches in the first 5-10 hours of this than in all of ME1, the most noticeable of which being characters cutting off their own sentences as if you'd hit the skip button. The combat still isn't amazing, but it's an improvement, and there are some funky animations and stuff but honestly I cared so little about all that shit because the game and its world are just so. damn. cool. Admittedly I prefer ME1's version of certain areas, but there's way too much about this game that I loved for me to shit on it.
The new locations and characters were (almost) all wins. Jacob is lame and is ruining our good name, but almost all of the other squadmates were ones I was happy talking to and enjoyed getting to know. The lack of Mako planet exploration meant no more copy+paste maps to run around on, thank God. And the levels themselves may not have been phenomenally designed across the board, but I liked em :)
Typically I juggle a few games, playing only an hour or two of each at a time, but this week it's been pretty much all ME2, all the fucken time baybeeee. I can't get enough. This review is so biased, I don't even care. Anyway I've rambled long enough, I love this game, easy 5/5, shame on teenage Jake for sleeping on it, pathetic little dweeb
Overall yes please more of this gimme.
P.S. Seriously tho Miranda did not need that much ass lmao
This was so fucking awesome I'm still coming down from it. So much to say, all words lost to awe (and Miranda's ass)
This game started strong, with one of the best introductions to a game I've played, well, ever. The plot is set up superbly, and the changes to the core game make the whole thing feel familiar enough, but also set it aside from the first game. All in ways that feel natural and make sense. God it's maybe a perfect sequel honestly? Fuck I'm so hyped right now the adrenaline !!
While a perfect sequel, it's by no means a perfect game, let's get that outta the way, there were more glitches in the first 5-10 hours of this than in all of ME1, the most noticeable of which being characters cutting off their own sentences as if you'd hit the skip button. The combat still isn't amazing, but it's an improvement, and there are some funky animations and stuff but honestly I cared so little about all that shit because the game and its world are just so. damn. cool. Admittedly I prefer ME1's version of certain areas, but there's way too much about this game that I loved for me to shit on it.
The new locations and characters were (almost) all wins. Jacob is lame and is ruining our good name, but almost all of the other squadmates were ones I was happy talking to and enjoyed getting to know. The lack of Mako planet exploration meant no more copy+paste maps to run around on, thank God. And the levels themselves may not have been phenomenally designed across the board, but I liked em :)
Typically I juggle a few games, playing only an hour or two of each at a time, but this week it's been pretty much all ME2, all the fucken time baybeeee. I can't get enough. This review is so biased, I don't even care. Anyway I've rambled long enough, I love this game, easy 5/5, shame on teenage Jake for sleeping on it, pathetic little dweeb
Overall yes please more of this gimme.
P.S. Seriously tho Miranda did not need that much ass lmao
2013
By far the best Dead Rising game in my opinion, and quite possibly the most fun zombie game I've ever played.
The infamous deadlines are much more generous than the first games, with a 7 day deadline lasting so long that I beat the game with 2+ days to spare, even while saving every survivor I found (23/25 total), killing every psycho, and spending hours just pissing about.
The amount of zombies on screen is super fun, and the map is a lot more accommodating to faster transportation than the previous games as well, getting around takes a lot less time in general but it doesn't feel too big nor too small.
I never got to play this back on release because I haven't owned an Xbox since the 360 and it's a real shame it hasn't come to PS, but I'm glad I was able to finally play through it on PC. If it ever does come to PS I may even grab it again honestly, great way to kill time.
This game is perfect for playing while watching something on your offscreen as well, I got through most of it in a long weekend while binging TWD in an attempt to catch up before it ends and can honestly say that it was not only addictive the whole time but it was engaging enough that I'd always pause the show to watch the game's cutscenes, which I didn't really expect to care about.
The weapon selection and combinations are at their best in this game also, honestly can't recommend it enough if you wanna just kill zombies. I haven't played 4 yet but having seen the trailers I expect this is the best the series has to offer.
In conclusion, really enjoyed my time with this, only complaints at all are to do with the audio mixing which I think was a me-problem anyway. I s'pose there's a problem with assets popping-in too but frankly idc about that.
If you haven't played this and you have the means to- give it a try :)
The infamous deadlines are much more generous than the first games, with a 7 day deadline lasting so long that I beat the game with 2+ days to spare, even while saving every survivor I found (23/25 total), killing every psycho, and spending hours just pissing about.
The amount of zombies on screen is super fun, and the map is a lot more accommodating to faster transportation than the previous games as well, getting around takes a lot less time in general but it doesn't feel too big nor too small.
I never got to play this back on release because I haven't owned an Xbox since the 360 and it's a real shame it hasn't come to PS, but I'm glad I was able to finally play through it on PC. If it ever does come to PS I may even grab it again honestly, great way to kill time.
This game is perfect for playing while watching something on your offscreen as well, I got through most of it in a long weekend while binging TWD in an attempt to catch up before it ends and can honestly say that it was not only addictive the whole time but it was engaging enough that I'd always pause the show to watch the game's cutscenes, which I didn't really expect to care about.
The weapon selection and combinations are at their best in this game also, honestly can't recommend it enough if you wanna just kill zombies. I haven't played 4 yet but having seen the trailers I expect this is the best the series has to offer.
In conclusion, really enjoyed my time with this, only complaints at all are to do with the audio mixing which I think was a me-problem anyway. I s'pose there's a problem with assets popping-in too but frankly idc about that.
If you haven't played this and you have the means to- give it a try :)
Admittedly, for as much as I love this game and will always adore it for having one of the strongest vocal soundtracks ever, this playthrough wasn't my favourite.
I wonder if maybe I was too strong on NG+ or something because it really stood out to me just how much time you spend slow walking to a door while having a comm-versation, often getting to the door early anyway and having to just wait and listen. I'm all for the lore and story, but I'd have preferred to just put the controller down and watch, or at least let me walk further or go through doors while talking!
(This isn't nearly so bad normally, but when the fights take no time at all it's harder to ignore)
Also, for some reason I played on mouse and keyboard which was fine for the most part (aside from super wonky sensitivity during the comms calls) but it wouldn't let me remap to my mouse buttons even tho holding Shift and Ctrl so much hurts my pinky😠
Still a great game, had a great time, I'm mostly just salty that I didn't get to listen to the vocals much during the bosses bc I'd kill them too quickly. #sufferingfromsuccess I s'pose
If you haven't played it, you should. It's fkn awesome 😌
I wonder if maybe I was too strong on NG+ or something because it really stood out to me just how much time you spend slow walking to a door while having a comm-versation, often getting to the door early anyway and having to just wait and listen. I'm all for the lore and story, but I'd have preferred to just put the controller down and watch, or at least let me walk further or go through doors while talking!
(This isn't nearly so bad normally, but when the fights take no time at all it's harder to ignore)
Also, for some reason I played on mouse and keyboard which was fine for the most part (aside from super wonky sensitivity during the comms calls) but it wouldn't let me remap to my mouse buttons even tho holding Shift and Ctrl so much hurts my pinky😠
Still a great game, had a great time, I'm mostly just salty that I didn't get to listen to the vocals much during the bosses bc I'd kill them too quickly. #sufferingfromsuccess I s'pose
If you haven't played it, you should. It's fkn awesome 😌
2022
Signalis is 'old school' survival horror done well.. Too well honestly.
The limited inventory was a really big hurdle for me (and it seems many others) in the early hours of this game, applying a level of difficulty that very quickly becomes more frustrating than anything. Bringing a healing item, a weapon and a flashlight takes up half your inventory alone, leading me personally to an endless cycle of backtracking just to drop something off, or worse - having to go all the way back through rooms of enemies just to get a torch so you can see a new room with more enemies... And so many items than you can't carry them all since you have a torch now 🥹
Once you adapt to this restriction it becomes a lot easier though I think. I'm very much a resource hoarder in these games, convinced that I'll need a million health kits and 30 guns for the final boss alone, so I often left more enemies standing than I should've, only to run into them on every trip through a room.. I also kept pack-muling things back to the chest 'just in case' despite going the whole game without using some items at all... Don't be like me and I'm sure you'll have a much easier time :p
Besides the inventory/difficulty, there were some technical shortcomings in terms of doors not working if I turned slightly, taking so long to pick items up that I take free damage, or simply aiming my weapon (did not like that)
- but for a game made by two people it's pretty solid on the whole. It's a bit abstract in it's storytelling for a decent chunk of its runtime, but by the end things come together and are made a lot clearer. I definitely wouldn't say I understood everything, what with how long I wasted backtracking and getting lost giving me time to forget, but I feel like I took away enough that even on the surface level I liked the story.
All that said I don't want to ramble too long because I've got a busy night ahead -- short version is that if you're at all interested you should give this game a try, with it being on Gamepass as well it deserves at least a shot to win you over.
Thanks for reading as always, quicker one today because I'm hoping to finish off the last couple of chapters of FF7 Remake before bed as well, doubt I'll review it cause I couldn't do it justice, but tl;dr it's my all time favourite 😌
Enjoy your spooky season everyone, upcoming completions are hopefully Sea of Stars, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (slowly but surely) and I'm considering starting Clock Tower 3 once I beat FF7R, we'll see. Until next time!
The limited inventory was a really big hurdle for me (and it seems many others) in the early hours of this game, applying a level of difficulty that very quickly becomes more frustrating than anything. Bringing a healing item, a weapon and a flashlight takes up half your inventory alone, leading me personally to an endless cycle of backtracking just to drop something off, or worse - having to go all the way back through rooms of enemies just to get a torch so you can see a new room with more enemies... And so many items than you can't carry them all since you have a torch now 🥹
Once you adapt to this restriction it becomes a lot easier though I think. I'm very much a resource hoarder in these games, convinced that I'll need a million health kits and 30 guns for the final boss alone, so I often left more enemies standing than I should've, only to run into them on every trip through a room.. I also kept pack-muling things back to the chest 'just in case' despite going the whole game without using some items at all... Don't be like me and I'm sure you'll have a much easier time :p
Besides the inventory/difficulty, there were some technical shortcomings in terms of doors not working if I turned slightly, taking so long to pick items up that I take free damage, or simply aiming my weapon (did not like that)
- but for a game made by two people it's pretty solid on the whole. It's a bit abstract in it's storytelling for a decent chunk of its runtime, but by the end things come together and are made a lot clearer. I definitely wouldn't say I understood everything, what with how long I wasted backtracking and getting lost giving me time to forget, but I feel like I took away enough that even on the surface level I liked the story.
All that said I don't want to ramble too long because I've got a busy night ahead -- short version is that if you're at all interested you should give this game a try, with it being on Gamepass as well it deserves at least a shot to win you over.
Thanks for reading as always, quicker one today because I'm hoping to finish off the last couple of chapters of FF7 Remake before bed as well, doubt I'll review it cause I couldn't do it justice, but tl;dr it's my all time favourite 😌
Enjoy your spooky season everyone, upcoming completions are hopefully Sea of Stars, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (slowly but surely) and I'm considering starting Clock Tower 3 once I beat FF7R, we'll see. Until next time!
2022
Really high quality, I'd almost forgotten how much I love these games having not played any since Man of Medan. I've only done one run so far because it's so long, but I really enjoyed my time with this game and basically never felt "safe" when making a decision.
There were a couple of characters whose overall stories were pretty underwhelming, but I'm sure they can play out very differently depending on your actions so it's hard to criticise.
Overall a well written cast with (mostly) likeable characters, the ones I spent most time with all came out of their shells a bit too and I got to learn more which was nice. The plot is good, I liked it. It's got a lot of classic horror tropes and cracks but it's not exactly hiding it's inspiration lol. It's a great time :)
There were a couple of characters whose overall stories were pretty underwhelming, but I'm sure they can play out very differently depending on your actions so it's hard to criticise.
Overall a well written cast with (mostly) likeable characters, the ones I spent most time with all came out of their shells a bit too and I got to learn more which was nice. The plot is good, I liked it. It's got a lot of classic horror tropes and cracks but it's not exactly hiding it's inspiration lol. It's a great time :)
I don't know if watching Sphere Hunter vids and/or talking with my gf has made me bias but for the 3rd time this past month I've revisited yet another Resident Evil title I wasn't big on and come away with a much higher appreciation for it than I did on release.
It's telling that I gave this a 3/5 but couldn't even remember why, besides a vague memory of the molded enemies being annoying af and the boat section being kinda weak - which they both absolutely are - but to take away from the rest of the game so much as to knock 2 full stars off seems crazy now.
This entry revived the franchise after the shitshow that was RE6, took a new direction with First Person Horror and re-implemented some of the things that had slowly crept out of the series over the decades. With a focus on exploration, tense atmosphere, resource management and puzzles throughout the Baker House and it's extensions.
The early half of the game is by far my favourite, and with the exception of the basement area being so brutal when you first start, I really enjoyed my time there. As touched on earlier the later half drops off a bit in my opinion, going more shooter than horror again but eh, at least the combat feels good even if I suck at it.
Last thing to mention is the bosses: Disappointingly enough, they're kind of awful. Don't get me wrong I love the bosses themselves, and many of the environments and designs/attacks are really cool! But fuck me they're all such bullet sponges, there's really no need for them to walk off so many shots to weak spots even on Normal. Makes them feel less fun and more tedious imo.
Anyway, I'm gunna try my damnedest to speedrun through this on easy with my newly earned items in the hopes of bagging that circular saw and attempting Madhouse... My partner says I can do it so, here's hoping she's right!
It's telling that I gave this a 3/5 but couldn't even remember why, besides a vague memory of the molded enemies being annoying af and the boat section being kinda weak - which they both absolutely are - but to take away from the rest of the game so much as to knock 2 full stars off seems crazy now.
This entry revived the franchise after the shitshow that was RE6, took a new direction with First Person Horror and re-implemented some of the things that had slowly crept out of the series over the decades. With a focus on exploration, tense atmosphere, resource management and puzzles throughout the Baker House and it's extensions.
The early half of the game is by far my favourite, and with the exception of the basement area being so brutal when you first start, I really enjoyed my time there. As touched on earlier the later half drops off a bit in my opinion, going more shooter than horror again but eh, at least the combat feels good even if I suck at it.
Last thing to mention is the bosses: Disappointingly enough, they're kind of awful. Don't get me wrong I love the bosses themselves, and many of the environments and designs/attacks are really cool! But fuck me they're all such bullet sponges, there's really no need for them to walk off so many shots to weak spots even on Normal. Makes them feel less fun and more tedious imo.
Anyway, I'm gunna try my damnedest to speedrun through this on easy with my newly earned items in the hopes of bagging that circular saw and attempting Madhouse... My partner says I can do it so, here's hoping she's right!
Excellent. Looking forward to the next one!
Jedi Survivor is better than Fallen Order in just about every way in my opinion. I enjoyed the first game for sure, but I was never really 'excited' for it, nor this. After beating this one, well let's just say the reveal for the next one is going to be hype 😌
The story (while starting a little weird considering where FO left off) was pretty straightforward, but is told in such a way that I think this worked to its benefit. There were still twists, some more obvious than others, and only one moment that was egregiously silly. One reveal in particular seemed so glaringly obvious that I spent the whole game calling it out and then questioning whether I was just being cynical or if it was a red herring, and while I am of course a genius who clearly knows everything, my favourite thing about this was that the game handled this event in such a way that it was possible for me to have this ongoing struggle, and I think that's cool as shit. When I was proven right it wasn't with a sigh and an "of course", it was an "I FUCKING KNEW IT!!" - and if a game can get me that invested and excited over a "cliche" or an "obvious" reveal then it must be doing something better than everything else I'm just sayin'.
The characters in particular shine bright in this entry. Cal is a genuinely interesting protagonist and while a lot of the arcs and tropes he goes through in this can be compared to similar stories, some as recent as this year, that doesn't detract from how much of a blast it was to experience his. Cameron Monaghan's performance is as great as expected and by the end I really found myself invested in Cal's story, and I will be there when the next chapter of it releases.
Quickfire some other comments now the gush is over:
The environments felt much less overwhelming in this entry, and the navigation assist was a godsend in helping me not get lost. The maps are still pretty big and while I could understand people complaining about bouncing between the same few planets it didn't bother me at all.
The combat felt better as well, it's still not amazing with the stances being limited to so few combos, but having them at all was a nice touch. I do agree with the masses that only being able to switch between two of them at a time is a shame but it is what it is.
And most importantly: Merrin 😌
That'll do it, don't sleep on this one folks, in a year absolutely stacked with bangers this definitely sits up in the upper echelons, don't let the fact that it's still buried under other GOATs stop you from playing it!
Thanks for reading to all who did, hope you're have a great week. After I'm done with the P5T DLC story I'm gunna be going on a brief PS5 hiatus to focus on some Switch and PC games, not sure if or what I'll review of those but first up is XC3 Future Redeemed so stay tuned 🙏
P.S. I don't know whose idea it was to make the enemies in this game so pitiful that I feel bad for killing them but it's equal parts hilarious and 'aw :(' ... Hearing someone ask if Jedi wound people because they don't want to get wounded and then having to cut them in half moments later is 😔 RIP Rick, bud. ✊
Jedi Survivor is better than Fallen Order in just about every way in my opinion. I enjoyed the first game for sure, but I was never really 'excited' for it, nor this. After beating this one, well let's just say the reveal for the next one is going to be hype 😌
The story (while starting a little weird considering where FO left off) was pretty straightforward, but is told in such a way that I think this worked to its benefit. There were still twists, some more obvious than others, and only one moment that was egregiously silly. One reveal in particular seemed so glaringly obvious that I spent the whole game calling it out and then questioning whether I was just being cynical or if it was a red herring, and while I am of course a genius who clearly knows everything, my favourite thing about this was that the game handled this event in such a way that it was possible for me to have this ongoing struggle, and I think that's cool as shit. When I was proven right it wasn't with a sigh and an "of course", it was an "I FUCKING KNEW IT!!" - and if a game can get me that invested and excited over a "cliche" or an "obvious" reveal then it must be doing something better than everything else I'm just sayin'.
The characters in particular shine bright in this entry. Cal is a genuinely interesting protagonist and while a lot of the arcs and tropes he goes through in this can be compared to similar stories, some as recent as this year, that doesn't detract from how much of a blast it was to experience his. Cameron Monaghan's performance is as great as expected and by the end I really found myself invested in Cal's story, and I will be there when the next chapter of it releases.
Quickfire some other comments now the gush is over:
The environments felt much less overwhelming in this entry, and the navigation assist was a godsend in helping me not get lost. The maps are still pretty big and while I could understand people complaining about bouncing between the same few planets it didn't bother me at all.
The combat felt better as well, it's still not amazing with the stances being limited to so few combos, but having them at all was a nice touch. I do agree with the masses that only being able to switch between two of them at a time is a shame but it is what it is.
And most importantly: Merrin 😌
That'll do it, don't sleep on this one folks, in a year absolutely stacked with bangers this definitely sits up in the upper echelons, don't let the fact that it's still buried under other GOATs stop you from playing it!
Thanks for reading to all who did, hope you're have a great week. After I'm done with the P5T DLC story I'm gunna be going on a brief PS5 hiatus to focus on some Switch and PC games, not sure if or what I'll review of those but first up is XC3 Future Redeemed so stay tuned 🙏
P.S. I don't know whose idea it was to make the enemies in this game so pitiful that I feel bad for killing them but it's equal parts hilarious and 'aw :(' ... Hearing someone ask if Jedi wound people because they don't want to get wounded and then having to cut them in half moments later is 😔 RIP Rick, bud. ✊
Use brings about wear, tear, and rust... So use Costly Punch :p
Man, as a huge fan of Final Fantasy VII and the remake in particular, I went into this with such deep skepticism. I already know the gist of the plot thanks to VII, and my love for the world and characters was amplified well beyond my expectations in VIIR, so it was important to me not to overhype this in my head for fear of sitting down to learn that it's "just a PSP spin-off and it shows"... Now, this isn't all to say that that isn't true per se, but I am so happy with how this turned out.
I’ve tried putting my thoughts down properly a few times now but they all turn into directionless rambles or I spend way too long praising the VAs for VII Remake, so this can be a short(er) one with possible expansion later.
I'm sure you can tell by now I'm a bit of a Final Fantasy simp. I haven't played too many of the games, but the ones I have all live in a very special part of my heart and can do no wrong, (even the ones that are bullshit and I hate them) - So of course this is coming from a place of bias. I do try to be fair, but also Tifa is wearing a cowgirl hat, it's hard enough thinking of anything beyond “I love it, this game is adorable, where is VII Rebirth? I am going to cry”
I really enjoyed this game, much more than I expected to. The combat proved to be simple but effective, with the DMW slot thingy making for an interesting way to make every fight different rather than the confusing mess I was worried it might be. The story is obviously restricted by the prequel-status, and the villains aren’t the most original ever written, but that doesn’t stop it from being an emotional journey at all. Also, being as easy-to-please as I am, even just spending short amounts of time in locations from Gaia that we haven’t seen yet in the remake had me giddily announcing to my gf that “!!! We’re in Junon!” and “Ayo! It’s Costa Del Sol!” with excitement that couldn’t be fazed by her cluelessness as to what I was talking about.
Zack himself is a great protagonist, I do feel as though his puppy-like dialogue and delivery from the early game leaks out into the later game a bit more than it should, but this was never enough to ruin a serious or sincere scene. Seeing pre-VII Cloud and Aerith in particular was really cool. I loved that a lot. Tifa obviously is great as well, if used a little less than I was expecting. Oh yeah and even Yuffie got some time to shine, her “questline” was cute.
Speaking of… At first I thought that 300 optional side missions was outrageous, nay, disgusting! How dare they populate this beloved game with a 70/30 split of mid copy/paste levels to the actual game. But then I started doing them, and I literally could not stop. They’re all the same maps and you can beat pretty much all of them using only 2 attacks over and over but my god they’re addictive. I beat them all, including the super mega ‘fuck you’ boss that has 10 million hp, I had fun :)
As I write this I’ve got the combat AFK downstairs, I’ve become so addicted that I burned through right up to the platinum and now all I’m waiting on is maxing the % for a couple of the DMW things, making my biggest complaint at the current time the reliance on RNG for a trophy. I’ve played the entire game, all 300 missions and then NG+ up to mid-chapter 9 and I still have 3 characters on the DMW board with 90%, 80% and fucking 10% to their names… I’ve gotten each of them so many times, how are they so low !?
Anyway ramble Jake is creeping back in so I’m gunna call it here lol. This was a surprisingly great time and only reinforced my love for the franchise and the VII-verse in particular. Definitely worth playing if only as a buffer between Remake and Rebirth. (Just maybe don’t bother with all 300 missions)
P.S. It's not that long either! It only took me around 30 hours to beat including doing 150+ missions, with another 6 hours to do the remaining missions. You could beat this in 20 hours with relative ease I bet.
Update: Finally got the DMW trophy after about 3 hours of letting it run with buffed odds, jeez. Platinum #89
Man, as a huge fan of Final Fantasy VII and the remake in particular, I went into this with such deep skepticism. I already know the gist of the plot thanks to VII, and my love for the world and characters was amplified well beyond my expectations in VIIR, so it was important to me not to overhype this in my head for fear of sitting down to learn that it's "just a PSP spin-off and it shows"... Now, this isn't all to say that that isn't true per se, but I am so happy with how this turned out.
I’ve tried putting my thoughts down properly a few times now but they all turn into directionless rambles or I spend way too long praising the VAs for VII Remake, so this can be a short(er) one with possible expansion later.
I'm sure you can tell by now I'm a bit of a Final Fantasy simp. I haven't played too many of the games, but the ones I have all live in a very special part of my heart and can do no wrong, (even the ones that are bullshit and I hate them) - So of course this is coming from a place of bias. I do try to be fair, but also Tifa is wearing a cowgirl hat, it's hard enough thinking of anything beyond “I love it, this game is adorable, where is VII Rebirth? I am going to cry”
I really enjoyed this game, much more than I expected to. The combat proved to be simple but effective, with the DMW slot thingy making for an interesting way to make every fight different rather than the confusing mess I was worried it might be. The story is obviously restricted by the prequel-status, and the villains aren’t the most original ever written, but that doesn’t stop it from being an emotional journey at all. Also, being as easy-to-please as I am, even just spending short amounts of time in locations from Gaia that we haven’t seen yet in the remake had me giddily announcing to my gf that “!!! We’re in Junon!” and “Ayo! It’s Costa Del Sol!” with excitement that couldn’t be fazed by her cluelessness as to what I was talking about.
Zack himself is a great protagonist, I do feel as though his puppy-like dialogue and delivery from the early game leaks out into the later game a bit more than it should, but this was never enough to ruin a serious or sincere scene. Seeing pre-VII Cloud and Aerith in particular was really cool. I loved that a lot. Tifa obviously is great as well, if used a little less than I was expecting. Oh yeah and even Yuffie got some time to shine, her “questline” was cute.
Speaking of… At first I thought that 300 optional side missions was outrageous, nay, disgusting! How dare they populate this beloved game with a 70/30 split of mid copy/paste levels to the actual game. But then I started doing them, and I literally could not stop. They’re all the same maps and you can beat pretty much all of them using only 2 attacks over and over but my god they’re addictive. I beat them all, including the super mega ‘fuck you’ boss that has 10 million hp, I had fun :)
As I write this I’ve got the combat AFK downstairs, I’ve become so addicted that I burned through right up to the platinum and now all I’m waiting on is maxing the % for a couple of the DMW things, making my biggest complaint at the current time the reliance on RNG for a trophy. I’ve played the entire game, all 300 missions and then NG+ up to mid-chapter 9 and I still have 3 characters on the DMW board with 90%, 80% and fucking 10% to their names… I’ve gotten each of them so many times, how are they so low !?
Anyway ramble Jake is creeping back in so I’m gunna call it here lol. This was a surprisingly great time and only reinforced my love for the franchise and the VII-verse in particular. Definitely worth playing if only as a buffer between Remake and Rebirth. (Just maybe don’t bother with all 300 missions)
P.S. It's not that long either! It only took me around 30 hours to beat including doing 150+ missions, with another 6 hours to do the remaining missions. You could beat this in 20 hours with relative ease I bet.
Update: Finally got the DMW trophy after about 3 hours of letting it run with buffed odds, jeez. Platinum #89
2009
I remember trying the free demo for Bayonetta way back in 2009 on my friend's Xbox 360 and, being dogshit at these types of combo-driven hack-n-slash games, struggled with the tutorial alone and left it at that... Fool ;-;
Playing this recently (and more importantly, playing this after DMCV) it definitely feels dated tbh. Which is about as much as I'd expected really, but makes it hard to score any higher because the longer I spent playing it, the more I wanted to get back to the not-playing. Not because it wasn't fun, by any stretch, I just preferred the everything else so much more.
Unfortunately for me, I'm still ass at hack-n-slash games, so I tried my hand at playing this on normal and I wasn't exactly struggling, it just felt like I went down too fast and everything else too slow, so I dropped it to easy in order to move things along a bit. Immediately after, I was having a much better time, feeling cool and less like my time was being wasted. But as I played on it was almost too far on the other end of the scale. My hand was being held so much that it felt like I only had to mash buttons and even bosses would fall in no time at all. To think there's an even easier setting as well!
Another issue I had was that because Easy automatically finishes combos for you, I kept trying to replicate what I was doing on Normal, only for the game to use a different attack pattern that I guess was more appropriate? Just felt like I had a bit less control, in a negative way as well as a positive one.
This is hardly the game's fault, but it's a shame I wasn't able to find a difficulty that was both challenging and fun, hopefully the sequels improve on that.
Aside from the combat, the levels themselves were just, so 2009... On-rails bike levels, an entire level where you're piloting a missile and shooting identical waves of enemies for near 5 minutes, god I really hope they ditch or tone those down as well lol. The set pieces were fantastic I will say, but so much of the game felt drawn out or prolongued and when the levels are only 5-15 mins each anyway they shouldn't really feel like they're dragging. The worst case of this was the final boss, which ends with a far-too-long sequence of just maneuvering something for what must have been 20-30 seconds of avoiding obstacles. The climax was so awesome why drag it out so long!? D':
With that said, Bayonetta is undeniably deserving of its status and following because the characters are just so goddamn lovable. Bayo herself carried the game with ease and the overall campy tone worked perfectly to keep me interested and wanting more from a plot that was honestly just.. I don't even know lol it wasn't exactly confusing but at the same time it felt like there were pieces of information missing that everyone knew but me. I'm gunna have to watch a smarter person explain all the shit I missed, but at the same time credit to the game for making me care regardless of what was going on.
In conclusion, Bayonetta is a PS3 game, and it's got all the rust and clunk to prove it. But nothing can take away from just how charismatic it is. I can confidently say that even though I barely followed the plot and I'm only giving it 4/5 stars, I am absolutely excited to play the 2nd one :)
Playing this recently (and more importantly, playing this after DMCV) it definitely feels dated tbh. Which is about as much as I'd expected really, but makes it hard to score any higher because the longer I spent playing it, the more I wanted to get back to the not-playing. Not because it wasn't fun, by any stretch, I just preferred the everything else so much more.
Unfortunately for me, I'm still ass at hack-n-slash games, so I tried my hand at playing this on normal and I wasn't exactly struggling, it just felt like I went down too fast and everything else too slow, so I dropped it to easy in order to move things along a bit. Immediately after, I was having a much better time, feeling cool and less like my time was being wasted. But as I played on it was almost too far on the other end of the scale. My hand was being held so much that it felt like I only had to mash buttons and even bosses would fall in no time at all. To think there's an even easier setting as well!
Another issue I had was that because Easy automatically finishes combos for you, I kept trying to replicate what I was doing on Normal, only for the game to use a different attack pattern that I guess was more appropriate? Just felt like I had a bit less control, in a negative way as well as a positive one.
This is hardly the game's fault, but it's a shame I wasn't able to find a difficulty that was both challenging and fun, hopefully the sequels improve on that.
Aside from the combat, the levels themselves were just, so 2009... On-rails bike levels, an entire level where you're piloting a missile and shooting identical waves of enemies for near 5 minutes, god I really hope they ditch or tone those down as well lol. The set pieces were fantastic I will say, but so much of the game felt drawn out or prolongued and when the levels are only 5-15 mins each anyway they shouldn't really feel like they're dragging. The worst case of this was the final boss, which ends with a far-too-long sequence of just maneuvering something for what must have been 20-30 seconds of avoiding obstacles. The climax was so awesome why drag it out so long!? D':
With that said, Bayonetta is undeniably deserving of its status and following because the characters are just so goddamn lovable. Bayo herself carried the game with ease and the overall campy tone worked perfectly to keep me interested and wanting more from a plot that was honestly just.. I don't even know lol it wasn't exactly confusing but at the same time it felt like there were pieces of information missing that everyone knew but me. I'm gunna have to watch a smarter person explain all the shit I missed, but at the same time credit to the game for making me care regardless of what was going on.
In conclusion, Bayonetta is a PS3 game, and it's got all the rust and clunk to prove it. But nothing can take away from just how charismatic it is. I can confidently say that even though I barely followed the plot and I'm only giving it 4/5 stars, I am absolutely excited to play the 2nd one :)