Pleased as punch to say that this game's more enjoyable here than on Wii U, thanks in part to the 'easy mode' that gives you 3 hearts and lets you keep the things you've collected during the current stage after you die. It actually balances the game in a way that makes it fun to get through, rather than tedious and annoying! I noticed that they fixed a certain thing with the final boss, making it much, MUCH less of a downer to end the game on.

Outside of that? Just another solid 2D sidescroller from Retro Studios. It isn't the Best Platformer of All Time as a lot of people seem to claim it is (not with how dragged out the boss battles tend to be), but still worth playing if you're hankering for something in the genre.

Graphically, it holds up super well, looking just as good now as it did in 2014. I was never particularly into the Dreamworks' Madagascar look Retro went with for the characters, I still adore how rich and deep the locales are. I just want to reach in and explore these massive, crumbling ruins for myself, screw whatever's happening on stage!

Alas, I'm a bit torn on the music, as what's good is really good, but I'm afraid that Dave Wise kinda found a 'style' and stuck to it, leaving a lot of the tunes to bleed together. It's all very pleasant, mind, but I can't see myself going out and meditating to it like the Rareware stuff, you know?

It feels weird to come around to this game after disliking it for so long, but idk, it's better this way. It's nice to be wrong sometimes...

Fantastic gameplay-wise. While WD1 was pretty limited in how it utilized hacking and offen just diverged from a shitty stealth game into an alright TPS, Watch Dogs 2 is all about hacking, making you use all the drones and cameras you can find in order to execute your mission as efficiently as possible. You can still run&gun, but with little combat abilities and with how abundant heavy guys are throughout the levels, you're heavily discouraged from going in, guns blazing. And, again, it's not like combat is unviable. In fact, all the tools you use for hacking are crucial in a good offensive. I especially enjoyed, in the case of fucking up a stealth route, carpet-bombing swats of enemies with a flying drone, tazing others with a little car one, running around the battlefield and creating distractions. Unlike the first game, Watch Dogs 2 truly is about embodying a hacker that can be a soldier and pack a punch if neccesary, and not the other way around.

And besides that, another pleasant surprise was the story. Honestly! Characters like Wrench, Sitara and Josh are super endearing, and they do grow on you over the course of the game. Their relationships with Marcus (who is sympathetic and fun to play as) is believable and fun to watch. This cunt with glasses and a crew cut was super fun, and Dusan has a surprisingly low level of cringe to him, and actually manages to be a good villian.
I don't think the whole anti-system hacker theme was developed the best, though, as while Watch Dogs 2 is perfectly willing to describe and discuss the ways in which tech companies affect our lives in a bad way, it's not super interested in adressing the moral ambivilance of actions comitted by the good guys. Nevertheless, the story was, at the very least, entertaining, and I really hope that in a hypothetical Watch Dogs 3 we could return to a story more like this one, instead of whatever the fuck Legions was.









P.S.
I must say - I think a story in the setting of Legions but with actual characters would be great as well

Can't wait for NeiR Replicant ver. 3.1415926535 8979323846 2643383279 5028841971 6939937510 5820974944 5923078164 0628620899 8628034825 3421170679 8214808651 3282306647 0938446095 5058223172 5359408128 4811174502 8410270193 8521105559 6446229489 5493038196 4428810975 6659334461 2847564823 3786783165 2712019091 4564856692 3460348610 4543266482 1339360726 0249141273 7245870066 0631558817 4881520920 9628292540 9171536436 7892590360 0113305305 4882046652 1384146951 9415116094 3305727036 5759591953 0921861173 8193261179 3105118548 0744623799 6274956735 1885752724 8912279381 8301194912 9833673362 4406566430 8602139494 6395224737 1907021798 6094370277 0539217176 2931767523 8467481846 7669405132 0005681271 4526356082 7785771342 7577896091 7363717872 1468440901 2249534301 4654958537 1050792279 6892589235 4201995611 2129021960 8640344181 5981362977 4771309960 5187072113 4999999837 2978049951 0597317328 1609631859 5024459455 3469083026 4252230825 3344685035 2619311881 7101000313 7838752886 5875332083 8142061717 7669147303 5982534904 2875546873 1159562863 8823537875 9375195778 1857780532 1712268066 1300192787 6611195909 2164201989

Returning to this game after playing it when it came out, I find I still quite enjoy it, warts and all. I like the setting and I think Connor is a good protagonist despite him not being well liked among the fanbase. Haytham is great too. Overall, the story it tells is satisfying even though it manages to be really slow in some parts and then feel rushed in others. I appreciate the willingness to portray the founding fathers in a negative light and point out their hypocrisy.

The combat has a bit more flair compared to the Ezio trilogy but the stealth feels a bit broken and unusable. The Homestead portion of the game is wonderful. The naval combat is fun and I enjoyed it more as a side activity then when it became a full feature of the following two games. Boston and New York can be a little dull to explore but the frontier is a cool location.

I had only ever played the shareware version of Blood until I finally decided to sort this massive hole in my classic FPS knowledge out. It is a game that sits on a pedestal among the best in the genre and for the most part, is fully deserving of that place.

The setting is fantastic, a strange, timeless mix of present day and the old West via a particularly grim Tales from the Crypt episode. The enemy types are mostly great, with clear weaknesses and strengths that require you to weapon switch, be aware of the environment and prioritise targets way more than many other games in the genre. The weapons are memorable and satisfying to use, from one of the best shotguns around to a bloody can of deodorant and a lighter.

The level design... fuck me, the LEVEL DESIGN in this one, lads. The BUILD engine tends to be at its best when it is delivering these approximations of a real life location and Blood features some of the very best. Some levels are rapid fire gauntlets of enemies, some are almost Doom-esque puzzles boxes to solve while some are quite happy for you to get lost in, searching for keys and switches in some memorable locations.

Towards the back end of the game, I found the level design to drop off a bit, as you find yourself in caverns and temples instead of say, haunted manors and fucked up hospitals. The sheer amount of hit-scanning Cultist enemies can cause a few frustratingly unfair deaths and the boss enemies at the end of each chapter are a bit underwhelming when compared to Duke 3D and Shadow Warrior but these are all small complaints in the grand scheme of things. Blood is a belter, probably the hardest of the trinity of classic BUILD shooters so tailor the difficulty to your tastes appropriately (I'd probably say knock it down two settings from where you can comfortably play Doom).

Also: BUILD engine explosions are one of gaming's greatest pleasures and the ones found in Blood are truly top tier. There's a tangible sense of weight and force to them, with enemies and even you being knocked backwards from the centre of the blast and perfectly charging the strength of a dynamite throw so one lands in-between a pack of zombies and sends entrails skyward is life-affirming shit.

Well, to get this out of the way quickly, the game is by no means as terrible as some people here tend to point out. In fact, it was quite enjoyable in the sense that there were some really good characters, the protagonists are fun and the game knows where to be lighthearted.

The translation is rough at some places, namely the 3rd or 4th chapter, but the plot and the interactions are completely understandable and each character portrays their unique personality. I really don't get why people would complain about it if they are able to enjoy SNES era rpgs to be honest.

The story is interesting enough to keep you wanting to know more about the world and all the scattered lore about the Moonlight Witch, hyping her up quite well.

The combat is plain, straightforward and kinda slow, though you'll rarely need to grind at all as long as you kill some 3-4 monsters in each highway screen. The game is that easy. There's practically 5 bossfights in the whole game and if you reach the final dungeon at lvl 36 then the game is as good as beaten. The game being piss easy is a plus to me, because the combat being as lame as it is, the major attraction to this trilogy would be going quick into the story.

The only big disappointment was the OST, because aside from the Shrine theme, this rearranged, more symphonic take on the original PC-98 soundtrack really pales in comparition to any other OST I've heard from the Falcom sound team. But well, whatever.

My honest opinion is that you'll be completely fine playing this game if you have any experience with SNES era rpgs and don't come expecting a Trails-level game, which this game is absolutely not. I would strongly disencourage playing this as a standalone game though, since it's just not worth it against any other major game you might want to play at the moment. If you want to play this to dive into the Gagharv trilogy, then be my guest, I myself am going to continue with A Tear of Vermillion and keep writing about Gagharv, but if you don't want to compromise on playing 3 pretty dated games just for the story, then don't lose your time and play something objectively better.

For anyone wanting to get into the older Dragon Quest titles, IV seems like the best starting point, personally. Think about this: You have an RPG that originally came out in 1990 for the NES, with an actual attempt at character development. Not only that, but they took it a step further by dividing it up into chapters. The first four specifically focus on certain characters, giving you a nice introduction to each one and their basic jobs in a party setting. As an introduction to the series, this works really well, as the chapter system allows for a big window of time to familiarize yourself with the world exploration and battle mechanics in a relatively linear fashion. Many RPGs from this era can be intimidating due to the lack of direction, but DQ IV makes it feel accessible and welcoming. For reference, there are five main chapters in this remake (with an optional post-game chapter), and it took me around 10 hours to finish the first 4. The fifth chapter is where everyone finally comes together and the real journey begins. By that point, you've spent a good chunk of time with the game and opening up the world is no
longer so intimidating.

Granted, while dividing up the game like this is a very innovative storytelling technique for the time, some may be curious if drags out for too long. I will admit, some character's chapters are certainly more interesting than others. Chapter 3 in particular is pretty slow as you take control of a merchant character who goes about his day selling weapons at a shop to make some money. You'll be doing this for a while at the start of it just to afford proper gear to go out and fight some baddies. While certain sections like this can be rather sluggish, they often don't drag on for too long, and they provide some really cool immersion into these characters' lives. By the time you reach Chapter 5, I feel that you will be invested enough in these characters (provided you are enjoying the game), to make the final chapter all the more interesting.

I spent enough time trying to sell you on the game's main storytelling gimmick, but how does the game itself play? If you've never played a Dragon Quest game, it's pretty standard classic JRPG fare. You talk to people and receive valuable hints, traverse dungeons, fight bosses, the works. DQ IV's bright and colorful world keeps things fun. No dungeons ever truly feel tedious, and while grinding is certainly necessary at points, it's nothing too bad. The great thing about this series in general is how valuable level ups can be. Leveling up even once can make all the difference when confronted with a difficult area/boss. And with the ability to swap out characters even during battle once you have your full team with you in the latter half of the game, the game feels quite forgiving for the most part. With this remake, you get some great quality of life improvements too, such as quick saving in most places, even within dungeons. Besides this, you also get full party control in the final two chapters (this includes the post-game chapter). In the original game, you could only control the hero while the rest of your party was AI-controlled. The option is still there for anyone that wants to go the traditional route, though.

Overall, while I think some of the chapters could have benefitted from being a bit more fleshed out or cutting some minor fluff, it still does a great job on worldbuilding and keeping things fresh with some variety in its gameplay and character POV. The world is vibrant and charming, boss fights are a joy to conquer, and the story and characters have enough depth for a 30+ year old game to be worth the time. Also, this game seriously has one of the coolest final boss fights I've ever encountered in any JRPG. I recommend the mobile version due to it including the party chat feature, which serves to slightly flesh out character personalities more through fun side banter. It's not necessary to enjoy the game, but the option is there. Whichever version you play, you're still in for a great classic DQ experience, just with the added modern QOL improvements.