Dezo
2023
The brilliance of Pikmin lies in its replayability.
The premise of collecting 30 ship parts in 30 days while initially daunting becomes the games greatest strength. The short length allows players to use their experience and mastery of the mechanics to breeze through the game in record time. Decreasing a run from 24 days to 17 day through clever resource+ time management is immensely gratifying to accomplish.
Each Pikmin type has its uses in exploration and combat creating a satisfying gameplay loop even over multiple playthroughs. The game is visually and musically charming from stem to stern.
The games only major disappointment is the Pikmin AI which can be unresponsive and unruly especially compared to later entires. The challenge mode to grow as many Pikmin in a day in slightly remixed campaign areas is a minor distraction at best.
Overall Pikmin is a great foundation and a fun time
The premise of collecting 30 ship parts in 30 days while initially daunting becomes the games greatest strength. The short length allows players to use their experience and mastery of the mechanics to breeze through the game in record time. Decreasing a run from 24 days to 17 day through clever resource+ time management is immensely gratifying to accomplish.
Each Pikmin type has its uses in exploration and combat creating a satisfying gameplay loop even over multiple playthroughs. The game is visually and musically charming from stem to stern.
The games only major disappointment is the Pikmin AI which can be unresponsive and unruly especially compared to later entires. The challenge mode to grow as many Pikmin in a day in slightly remixed campaign areas is a minor distraction at best.
Overall Pikmin is a great foundation and a fun time
2023
This review contains spoilers
Remaking RE4 must have been a daunting task. To update one of the most beloved games of all time is a banana skin if I ever saw one. However Capcom found a way by both staying faithful and branching off in it's own direction. Making a game that feels like RE4 and a new experience at the same time.
Controlling Leon has never felt better with stellar gunplay, but the knife updates are a game changer. Stealth kills to conserve resources and the ability to parry attacks which never got old. The durability meter is a small price to pay for these new tools in Leon's arsenal.
The game still has the high octane action of the original but mixes in more traditional RE atmospere and light puzzles that do wonders for pacing out the action imo. Many classic set pieces return some faithful some with new twists to make them more enjoyable in a modern context. The remake also adds entirely new setpieces which kept me guessing throughout. Boss fights have been updated to take advantage of modern tech creating epic encounters that will test your mastery of the games mechanics. The addition of sidequests in a very FF7R manner feels clunky but still welcome as it gives you more reason to keep playing this amazing game.
The merchant adds a level of personalisation and replability to the game as how Leon is kitted out is down to you. The game rewards explorers with more tools to deal with the waves of cultists in your way, creating a eternal gameplay loop. New enemy types and updates to existing enemies keep players on there toes and adds to the combat sandbox seen in the original. Ashley gameplay changes make her a little less of a hassle to deal with as you no longer need to consider upgrading her health instead of Leon's.
What makes Ashley far less of a hassle tho is the change in story. The more serious tone to put in line with the other remakes greatly benefits Ashely and Luis to be more fleshed out and likeable. The cheesy tone may be diminished but not completly lost as there are still plenty of one liners thrown out by our leading man. Which take you prefer will come down to personal taste.
The same can be said about the games as a whole. Both versions are amazing games and which you prefer comes down primarily to taste. I personally prefer this more modern take but have great respect for the original.
Controlling Leon has never felt better with stellar gunplay, but the knife updates are a game changer. Stealth kills to conserve resources and the ability to parry attacks which never got old. The durability meter is a small price to pay for these new tools in Leon's arsenal.
The game still has the high octane action of the original but mixes in more traditional RE atmospere and light puzzles that do wonders for pacing out the action imo. Many classic set pieces return some faithful some with new twists to make them more enjoyable in a modern context. The remake also adds entirely new setpieces which kept me guessing throughout. Boss fights have been updated to take advantage of modern tech creating epic encounters that will test your mastery of the games mechanics. The addition of sidequests in a very FF7R manner feels clunky but still welcome as it gives you more reason to keep playing this amazing game.
The merchant adds a level of personalisation and replability to the game as how Leon is kitted out is down to you. The game rewards explorers with more tools to deal with the waves of cultists in your way, creating a eternal gameplay loop. New enemy types and updates to existing enemies keep players on there toes and adds to the combat sandbox seen in the original. Ashley gameplay changes make her a little less of a hassle to deal with as you no longer need to consider upgrading her health instead of Leon's.
What makes Ashley far less of a hassle tho is the change in story. The more serious tone to put in line with the other remakes greatly benefits Ashely and Luis to be more fleshed out and likeable. The cheesy tone may be diminished but not completly lost as there are still plenty of one liners thrown out by our leading man. Which take you prefer will come down to personal taste.
The same can be said about the games as a whole. Both versions are amazing games and which you prefer comes down primarily to taste. I personally prefer this more modern take but have great respect for the original.
2023
Cool Arcady fun. Hope this leads to more for the starving F-zero fandom
Valhalla is a cool way of getting more milage out of the stellar combat system found in the base game through well implemented rogue like elements. The references to past games and the end boss fight being one of the series best definitely makes this worth a few playthroughs. The story is nothing special but seeing more of these characters is always a plus. Doesn't quite have the special sauce to keep players coming back again and again like the peak of the genre but still worth playing for anyone itching for more after beating the main game
2010
Heavy rain is a game that certainly shows it age. Whether It be the dated visuals, the occasionally horrible acting particularly of ethan Mars, wonky control scheme that has awful motion controls that don't work half the time and yet still manages to be an enjoyable murder mystery, where you really want to find out who the killer is and what their motivations are. The characters are mostly likeable and your own input on the story shapes them as well as the story itself as you progress through it. The level of choices are what David Cage games are praised for and this game does a fine job of it in my opinion. While the controls where occasionally an issue the desire to figure out the mystery of the origami killer got be through this "Good" adventure and the diffrent ways it can play out may be enough to pull me back or at least a binge of YouTube videos to see the other scenarios. Guess I will check out the rest of Cages work