Derchweil
Keep in mind that this is a PSP game deep within. Therefor the game almost feels like it is an "early access Final Fantasy".. the character movements are dated, the gameplay is pretty ruff. This is not in any means comparable to the FF7 Remake. It is weaker.. by a lot. But if you are into the characters (or Zack... who to me was a bit too premature) you can give this a try. 3* is not a bad game.. but it is nothing I would come back for.
2013
Well... i think Beyond is just an average game. The story was weak, the gameplay even worse. I guess if you are a fan of Quantic Dream you will find some enjoyment here.. but to me it was kind of a waste of time.
2010
I have mixed feelings for Heavy Rain.
The gameplay is aweful. The only thing you do is walk in slow motion and compete in quick time events. And some of these quicktime events use sometimes 3-4 buttons at the same time. That's not really good. So the gameplay is clearly the downside of Heavy Rain. Thankfully it is not very long so you don't have to break your controller too often.
On the positive side: The story is fine. This is mainly a story game (a walking simulator if you want), that tells a "ok" story.
It sure has some plotholes and if you replay the game some aspects of the story don't make sense (which is wild for a game that is almost about the story). But it has some memorable moments in it and therefor slips just about average.
The gameplay is aweful. The only thing you do is walk in slow motion and compete in quick time events. And some of these quicktime events use sometimes 3-4 buttons at the same time. That's not really good. So the gameplay is clearly the downside of Heavy Rain. Thankfully it is not very long so you don't have to break your controller too often.
On the positive side: The story is fine. This is mainly a story game (a walking simulator if you want), that tells a "ok" story.
It sure has some plotholes and if you replay the game some aspects of the story don't make sense (which is wild for a game that is almost about the story). But it has some memorable moments in it and therefor slips just about average.
To be honest I don't know what all the buzz is about.
This game reminded me a bit of the newgrounds browsergames from the early 2000s. You have a comparably flat game with a shocker element to it. Just like the newgrounds games back then. But they where free. And this one wants your money. 2.5/5.0
This game reminded me a bit of the newgrounds browsergames from the early 2000s. You have a comparably flat game with a shocker element to it. Just like the newgrounds games back then. But they where free. And this one wants your money. 2.5/5.0
2010
I like Twin Peaks. Therefor I like Alan Wake.
It's all there: Dark woods, the log/lamp lady, a trailerpark, FBI, strange citizens and a bad mysterious force.
Is Alan Wake perfect? Just like Twin Peaks it is not. But I will keep coming back to both time and time again.
It's all there: Dark woods, the log/lamp lady, a trailerpark, FBI, strange citizens and a bad mysterious force.
Is Alan Wake perfect? Just like Twin Peaks it is not. But I will keep coming back to both time and time again.
2013
Well what can I say about a game that is almost everybody's darling?
- I start with the terrible understatement ending! I finished The Last of Us 3x times.. and everytime the credits roll I feel robbed of a better ending. In lack of a better word: It feels like the writer drank his/her chai latte while writing the ending and thought "How about that gaming world?!" -pencil drop-
But nobody except the writing person thinks it is anywhere near cool/fresh/satisfying. It leaves you totally unsatisfied in front of your tv. And sorry: Thats just garbage.
Then we have typical Naughty Dog "Arena Shooting Fest" where you enter a slightly larger part of the level. As soon as you see more than two objects to get cover behind you know that 6-15 enemies will spawn and you have to kill them all to progress to the next part of the level. This happens again and again mixed with story or stealth sections. So the overall game will play like this: story -> stealth -> shoot - > story -> stealth -> shoot,... and so on.
Does really not sound like a masterpieces, does it?
BUT the character development is so good, the story has so many good parts, the gameplay works totally fine for what it is. The game tries so hard to be "mature" and thank god it totally delivers a good, mature, experience!
To me Last of Us is a very good game but not the masterpiece almost everyone feels it is.
- I start with the terrible understatement ending! I finished The Last of Us 3x times.. and everytime the credits roll I feel robbed of a better ending. In lack of a better word: It feels like the writer drank his/her chai latte while writing the ending and thought "How about that gaming world?!" -pencil drop-
But nobody except the writing person thinks it is anywhere near cool/fresh/satisfying. It leaves you totally unsatisfied in front of your tv. And sorry: Thats just garbage.
Then we have typical Naughty Dog "Arena Shooting Fest" where you enter a slightly larger part of the level. As soon as you see more than two objects to get cover behind you know that 6-15 enemies will spawn and you have to kill them all to progress to the next part of the level. This happens again and again mixed with story or stealth sections. So the overall game will play like this: story -> stealth -> shoot - > story -> stealth -> shoot,... and so on.
Does really not sound like a masterpieces, does it?
BUT the character development is so good, the story has so many good parts, the gameplay works totally fine for what it is. The game tries so hard to be "mature" and thank god it totally delivers a good, mature, experience!
To me Last of Us is a very good game but not the masterpiece almost everyone feels it is.
1999
FF8 has not aged well.
Of all the older Final Fantasy games I think 8 is in need of a remake the most.
For 1999 it was groundbreaking with it's graphics, soundtrack and the cutscenes. But now it is kind of hard to explain anyone the magic we felt back then.
But the game deserves much better than looking at it and thinking "yeah it looks okay, but why would I want to waste my time with a PS1-Game? ".
Aside from the poor ending and the total garbage-design of esthar city this is a really good JRPG.
I liked most of the cast, almost every city/village design and the many hidden secrets on the overworld map.
Triple Triad has to be best mini-game in all of gaming. A card game which is absolutely addicting and it adds so much to the main game (you can transform cards into important items).
If the ending (and the last overall ~5-10 hours) was better and the game would not feel like a almost 25 year old game, it would be one of the best JRPGs.
Of all the older Final Fantasy games I think 8 is in need of a remake the most.
For 1999 it was groundbreaking with it's graphics, soundtrack and the cutscenes. But now it is kind of hard to explain anyone the magic we felt back then.
But the game deserves much better than looking at it and thinking "yeah it looks okay, but why would I want to waste my time with a PS1-Game? ".
Aside from the poor ending and the total garbage-design of esthar city this is a really good JRPG.
I liked most of the cast, almost every city/village design and the many hidden secrets on the overworld map.
Triple Triad has to be best mini-game in all of gaming. A card game which is absolutely addicting and it adds so much to the main game (you can transform cards into important items).
If the ending (and the last overall ~5-10 hours) was better and the game would not feel like a almost 25 year old game, it would be one of the best JRPGs.
2001
Final Fantasy X is the best Final Fantasy to me.
It almost feels like going on vacation. The world is full of memorable places and they are special enough to give you this "vacation in another part of the world"-feeling.
The battle system is maybe the best JRPGs ever had. It works well, is fast and just complex enough to keep you entertained throughout.
But is also has some downsides. The characters. Yes, you heard me right. The characters.
I think Tidus is annoying. 70% of the things he says annoy me. His english voice almost gives me headaches.
Yuna is the emo girl (for a reason). This is tiring.
Wakka is (except Kimahri) the only character with slang. THE ONLY. Why? And his relationship with Lulu is just bad writing. Why would she (rational & intelligent) want dumb and silly Wakka as a partner? The brother of her passed away husband. So stupid and clearly there because of the silliness JRPGs use to have now and then.
And then we have Seymour. The "bad" archetype of JRPG-characters with his fancy hair and his almost feminine touch.
Rikku is loud, squeaky and a bit annoying, too.
Auron and Kimahri are fine with their oneliners.
And to top it all: Over here in germany we have english voices & subtitles translated from the japanese version of the game. So what they say and what the subtitle reads are different. Even names are different. This is bad. It pulls you out of the scene and out of the story.
Yeah.. and then there is Biltzball.. by far the worst side activity in every Final Fantasy Game. It's slow, sluggish and no fun at all.
But "enough" (as Auron would say) complained. FFX is aside from the reasons above maybe the best JRPG there is. And sometimes I ask myself why they can not replicate the "vacation"-feeling I had with FFX: Because there is only one FFX.One Final Fantasy they got the world "right". At least in my opinion.
It almost feels like going on vacation. The world is full of memorable places and they are special enough to give you this "vacation in another part of the world"-feeling.
The battle system is maybe the best JRPGs ever had. It works well, is fast and just complex enough to keep you entertained throughout.
But is also has some downsides. The characters. Yes, you heard me right. The characters.
I think Tidus is annoying. 70% of the things he says annoy me. His english voice almost gives me headaches.
Yuna is the emo girl (for a reason). This is tiring.
Wakka is (except Kimahri) the only character with slang. THE ONLY. Why? And his relationship with Lulu is just bad writing. Why would she (rational & intelligent) want dumb and silly Wakka as a partner? The brother of her passed away husband. So stupid and clearly there because of the silliness JRPGs use to have now and then.
And then we have Seymour. The "bad" archetype of JRPG-characters with his fancy hair and his almost feminine touch.
Rikku is loud, squeaky and a bit annoying, too.
Auron and Kimahri are fine with their oneliners.
And to top it all: Over here in germany we have english voices & subtitles translated from the japanese version of the game. So what they say and what the subtitle reads are different. Even names are different. This is bad. It pulls you out of the scene and out of the story.
Yeah.. and then there is Biltzball.. by far the worst side activity in every Final Fantasy Game. It's slow, sluggish and no fun at all.
But "enough" (as Auron would say) complained. FFX is aside from the reasons above maybe the best JRPG there is. And sometimes I ask myself why they can not replicate the "vacation"-feeling I had with FFX: Because there is only one FFX.One Final Fantasy they got the world "right". At least in my opinion.
2022
Looks absolutely basic, sounds aweful and is not made for me. It's chaotic and I had no good time at all.
2021
With a little more polish this could have been one of my favourite Indies.
It's all there: Nice music, Nice graphics, addicting gameplay.
The game wants to be challenging but this is also one of the downpoints I have with it. It tries to be challenging by putting you into arenalike fights with spawning enemies. This is lazy to me. And in this moment it needs more polish. Why can enemies hit through obstacles and I don't? Why does every enemy hit stagger me but I can't stagger them?
To put this into perspective: In these arena fights it is usually 1 vs 5/1 vs 4/1 vs 3/1 vs 1 (bigger enemy).
You can not heal. So you better play your A-game perfectly!
This is not the kind of game I want to play anymore. I'm to old for this stuff..
It's all there: Nice music, Nice graphics, addicting gameplay.
The game wants to be challenging but this is also one of the downpoints I have with it. It tries to be challenging by putting you into arenalike fights with spawning enemies. This is lazy to me. And in this moment it needs more polish. Why can enemies hit through obstacles and I don't? Why does every enemy hit stagger me but I can't stagger them?
To put this into perspective: In these arena fights it is usually 1 vs 5/1 vs 4/1 vs 3/1 vs 1 (bigger enemy).
You can not heal. So you better play your A-game perfectly!
This is not the kind of game I want to play anymore. I'm to old for this stuff..
2005
RE4 revolutionized the genre.
Without it we would have never got Gears or any other good third person Actiongame.
It still holds up today!
Without it we would have never got Gears or any other good third person Actiongame.
It still holds up today!
2023
The RE4 Remake shows again that Capcom is capable of bringing their classics to a new generation of players.
RE2 Remake was great, RE3 Remake was short but also good and RE4 Remake is a great game as well.
I don't think it is perfect. It lacks a bit of charme when compared to the original.
Is it as impactful as the original? - No. Sure not. How could it? But it is right there with some of the best 3rd person games available AND it is for sure one of the best remakes ever made.
RE2 Remake was great, RE3 Remake was short but also good and RE4 Remake is a great game as well.
I don't think it is perfect. It lacks a bit of charme when compared to the original.
Is it as impactful as the original? - No. Sure not. How could it? But it is right there with some of the best 3rd person games available AND it is for sure one of the best remakes ever made.
2019
I don't like the setting, I don't like the sounddesign and I don't really like gameplay (not nearly as good as DS).
I'd rather play DS1-3 for the 50th time than waste my time and nerves on any of these mediocre soulslikes.
I'd rather play DS1-3 for the 50th time than waste my time and nerves on any of these mediocre soulslikes.
First of all I want to say that I finished DS1-3, Bloodborne, Steel Rising, and some other soulslikes.
So I think I spent enough time with this genre to know that these games can be hard but rewarding.
But with every hour I put into the Nioh Franchise I simply can not understand why so many people seem to love it. It has so many flaws.
Almost everything is designed to p** you off. In difference to the first Nioh I spent almost every lvl into health - now I die after two hits from the bigger yokai/bosses. AFTER TWO HITS (!). Do I really have to grind for several hours to put up a fair fight?
And as if that is not enough I have to farm healing items?
I have to grind before every new Bosstry because my "god" is not ready?
Why do I even have to grind this much BEFORE getting my a* whopped again? It's just frustrating! Nioh can be unfair/unbalanced at times. And this is reason why it is so frustrating when you have to grind.
Sure there are some people beating this game using a vegetables-controller... but I have a job and I don't have time to grind for hours and hours.
Then there is still the thing with those amrita-memories being japanese with subtitles. Why? In a soulslike you don't have the time to stop walking and READ the subtitles. Why are those oneliners even there? Do they add to the story? Not really. Do they provide interesting lore? No. So why even include them?
And if you include them why keep them japanese with subtitles? It just makes no sense.
The game has so few different enemies that it feels lazy. Why do they recycle so many enemies from Nioh 1?
Nioh has also the bad taste of DS2.. either it throws 5-6 enemies at you or 1-2 of the bigger yokai (yeah the same enemies in every level..).
And the game is not ashamed to put you in arena-like side missions where you have to survive multiple waves (is this supposed to be fun?).
Then there are the Yokai...I just don't think they're cool. Not a bit. I don't want to be disrespectful for japanese culture but I wish Nioh had cooler enemies..
I have not found any cool/likeable/frightening NPC/Enemy in over 35 hours I put into the Nioh-Franchise. DS or Bloodborne had such cool enemies/bosses.
And Nioh is right there with Borderlands or Diablo lootwise.
You get a.lot.of.stuff. sometimes over 100 weapons/armorsets per level. Yes this is a soulslike, but you can pause the game every 2 mins to check the new stuff if you want. Thats just not what I want from a soulslike.
Why 3*? Because it is not a bad game after all.
But it is nothing I would recommend to anybody. There are enough positive reviews regarding Nioh 2 that will give you a better insight on the good sides of the game.
PS: After all this negative energy I must admit that I will give it another try soon... I just want to see what's all the buzz around Nioh. But at the moment I don't think it's my kind of game.
2023
What a nice open world that was.
Usually I don't really like open world games because they don't seem to "need" the open world but they "force" the game into an open world because it is hype.
BUT to me Hogwarts Legacy is not that kind of game.
To me Hogwarts and it's surroundings need to be discovered. They feel beautiful and interesting.
So to me Hogwarts Legacy has to be open world. Any other genre would have felt like a lacy movie tie-in game.
So now that we have this out of the way.. technical aspects first:
I finished the game on a windows PC and even with my specs (I7, 16GB RAM, RTX3060, 512 SSD) it looked stunning in fullHD and ran well. Had 1x game crash and 1x bug in about 50-60 hours.
Nothing to complain there.
I don't want to spoil anyting about the story or the world or even the spells.
So everything I can say is: If you like the Potterverse (without Potter) you can really have a good time here. If you read the books or saw the movies and thought "wow I wish I could explore this world" - now you can!
Who is the star of the game?
- not the story
- not the gameplay
- It is the world.
Usually I don't really like open world games because they don't seem to "need" the open world but they "force" the game into an open world because it is hype.
BUT to me Hogwarts Legacy is not that kind of game.
To me Hogwarts and it's surroundings need to be discovered. They feel beautiful and interesting.
So to me Hogwarts Legacy has to be open world. Any other genre would have felt like a lacy movie tie-in game.
So now that we have this out of the way.. technical aspects first:
I finished the game on a windows PC and even with my specs (I7, 16GB RAM, RTX3060, 512 SSD) it looked stunning in fullHD and ran well. Had 1x game crash and 1x bug in about 50-60 hours.
Nothing to complain there.
I don't want to spoil anyting about the story or the world or even the spells.
So everything I can say is: If you like the Potterverse (without Potter) you can really have a good time here. If you read the books or saw the movies and thought "wow I wish I could explore this world" - now you can!
Who is the star of the game?
- not the story
- not the gameplay
- It is the world.