Garmygarms
This review contains spoilers
One of the best stories I've seen in a video game, full stop. The fact that the game juggles 13 playable characters while providing a consistently well-paced experience is already impressive, but the way the game wrong-foots and shocks you, OVER AND OVER AGAIN is next-level fun. The jury is out on whether it all has much of a point, but as an interactive story experience the game is god-tier material. Keeps you hooked and dishes out big reveals by the dozen.
There's also a (mandatory) RTS section of the game that runs alongside the main story. I played this on casual because I didn't care about it, I'm sure it would be fun more fun on high difficulties but the story was the main course for me so I did my best to just skip through these parts. I'm sure some people like them.
There's also a (mandatory) RTS section of the game that runs alongside the main story. I played this on casual because I didn't care about it, I'm sure it would be fun more fun on high difficulties but the story was the main course for me so I did my best to just skip through these parts. I'm sure some people like them.
2023
This review contains spoilers
Really cool concept, but the act of playing it is tedious to the point of being comical. You figure out a solution only to spend minutes rearranging orbs and putting them onto stands before the puzzle is finally solved, only for your reward to be more of the same thing.
It’s ridiculous to me how somebody can be so laser-focused on their fun concept that they forget to make an engaging game around it. Did anyone play test this? It’s so patience-testing only for there to be no real answers or story to speak of holding it together, it’s so vague.
The bosses are ok, and there’s a phenomenal moment near the end that becomes my favourite use of the world-within-world mechanic in the game, but I’m not convinced. Inside at least had the element of danger to make up for the simple and repetitive approach to puzzles.
It’s ridiculous to me how somebody can be so laser-focused on their fun concept that they forget to make an engaging game around it. Did anyone play test this? It’s so patience-testing only for there to be no real answers or story to speak of holding it together, it’s so vague.
The bosses are ok, and there’s a phenomenal moment near the end that becomes my favourite use of the world-within-world mechanic in the game, but I’m not convinced. Inside at least had the element of danger to make up for the simple and repetitive approach to puzzles.
2022
Wonderful little game. Fun combat, fun bosses, great area variety and an additional challenge at the end that rewards players for completing it. I’m so glad that I was recommended this and it stands as possibly my 2nd favourite metroidvania behind Hollow Knight. It’s not brutally difficult or anything, but it’s a balanced experience with a great look.
Recommend this to anyone, but particularly if you find some metroidvanias a little intimidating. This is such a great jumping off point for the genre.
Recommend this to anyone, but particularly if you find some metroidvanias a little intimidating. This is such a great jumping off point for the genre.
Wonderful progression of case complexity and character investment, particularly with Edgeworth, who completely steals the show amid a cast of silly, genuine characters that you either fall in love with or want to go away (I’m looking at you, Maya.)
Going through the court battles can be wild, with surprising back-and-forth interruptions and twists. The characters are the key to this but the fun of finding the perfect piece of evidence contributes too.
It’s enough to make me want to go through the occasional tedium to stream the other games in the trilogy.
Going through the court battles can be wild, with surprising back-and-forth interruptions and twists. The characters are the key to this but the fun of finding the perfect piece of evidence contributes too.
It’s enough to make me want to go through the occasional tedium to stream the other games in the trilogy.
2020
Starts extremely strong, and the point and click style manages to stay fun enough for longer than maybe it should - unfortunately it runs into eventual tedium, the final stretch in the castle being too backtracky for me.
What I do love is the story, I really invested in these people. I recommend for people who want a lovely little game to curl up with and maybe have a little cry.
What I do love is the story, I really invested in these people. I recommend for people who want a lovely little game to curl up with and maybe have a little cry.
2023
This review contains spoilers
For the developers, it seems that the concept of Tchia came first while the actual game elements came at a very distant second. Exploring the game’s version of New Caledonia is by far the most rewarding part of the experience and it stands out as a wonderful little open world.
While the transform mechanic is exceptional, the game fails to truly expand upon the mechanic beyond being able to shoot things at enemies, a concept that they take from bandit camps dotted around the world, all the way to a gloriously tedious trek through large enemy encampments at the end that sours the experience. The game becomes work, and I honestly just wish they poured all of their collective hearts into the exploration or found ways to incorporate conflict better than standard AAA “clear the enemy camp” tropes.
The story has the quality of an old wive’s tale which I like, though. I just found the game too simple to be drawn out to this length.
While the transform mechanic is exceptional, the game fails to truly expand upon the mechanic beyond being able to shoot things at enemies, a concept that they take from bandit camps dotted around the world, all the way to a gloriously tedious trek through large enemy encampments at the end that sours the experience. The game becomes work, and I honestly just wish they poured all of their collective hearts into the exploration or found ways to incorporate conflict better than standard AAA “clear the enemy camp” tropes.
The story has the quality of an old wive’s tale which I like, though. I just found the game too simple to be drawn out to this length.
This review contains spoilers
It has a better main quest than Breath of the Wild, and it’s through this part of the game that Tears of the Kingdom finds an epic sense of weight. You are completing the goal set by ancestors of long past, and discovering more about Hyrule’s history along the way. The meaning behind the game’s title is an excellent surprise.
There’s also a crazy sense of verticality to the game, exemplified perfectly when the opening title comes up as Link falls through the air. There’s three maps, with incredibly fun sky island traversal along with carving out your own path in the depths, complete with a system involving arrows and lights that stands out as a highlight for me.
It’s with these things that the game finds its own identity as a whopping, insanely huge, three-tiered world with a fittingly blockbuster story to match. Unfortunately, it’s all built on the foundation of another game, and while it might be a repetitive point by now, this game’s blatant reuse of the BOTW base map is not the best idea. You can’t just recycle like that, I don’t think it’s fair on people who have played the game before, and the addition of the depths and sky islands makes the surface map feel irrelevant and more like a chore than anything.
Speaking of chores, I would be interested to know how much time is spent in menus during TOTK, and how often one accidentally does something wrong when trying to fuse a weapon, or throw something. It’s a maze of mechanics and ideas that often feels unintuitive, and the entire weapon-fuse system doesn’t ever quite feel right. Why am I making my 15th construct horn sword?
The boss design is mostly basic, save for a fun final boss rush of sorts, and it’s easy to work out weaknesses straight away. I do wish for a bit more complexity in the boss battles but I understand if that’s not what the game is about. I just didn’t have much fun with some of them.
I think there’s a lot here to love - I also think there’s so much rehashing and repetition that if you’ve played BOTW you’ll just start fast travelling all the time. It’s a great game that pushes its luck.
There’s also a crazy sense of verticality to the game, exemplified perfectly when the opening title comes up as Link falls through the air. There’s three maps, with incredibly fun sky island traversal along with carving out your own path in the depths, complete with a system involving arrows and lights that stands out as a highlight for me.
It’s with these things that the game finds its own identity as a whopping, insanely huge, three-tiered world with a fittingly blockbuster story to match. Unfortunately, it’s all built on the foundation of another game, and while it might be a repetitive point by now, this game’s blatant reuse of the BOTW base map is not the best idea. You can’t just recycle like that, I don’t think it’s fair on people who have played the game before, and the addition of the depths and sky islands makes the surface map feel irrelevant and more like a chore than anything.
Speaking of chores, I would be interested to know how much time is spent in menus during TOTK, and how often one accidentally does something wrong when trying to fuse a weapon, or throw something. It’s a maze of mechanics and ideas that often feels unintuitive, and the entire weapon-fuse system doesn’t ever quite feel right. Why am I making my 15th construct horn sword?
The boss design is mostly basic, save for a fun final boss rush of sorts, and it’s easy to work out weaknesses straight away. I do wish for a bit more complexity in the boss battles but I understand if that’s not what the game is about. I just didn’t have much fun with some of them.
I think there’s a lot here to love - I also think there’s so much rehashing and repetition that if you’ve played BOTW you’ll just start fast travelling all the time. It’s a great game that pushes its luck.
2019
(This review is from someone who played through once, Devil Hunter difficulty, no BP, no playable Vergil)
Devil May Cry was my favourite video game series growing up, and as a kid I played it not for mastering combat, the S rankings, or the secret missions. The atmosphere was cool, I loved seeing the different bosses, the cool weapons, cool Dante. I played on Easy. legit.
So from my now grown-up, combat-enjoying, slightly more skilled perspective, I can say that playing as Dante in this game produces some of the most fun combat of the series, maybe the best overall. It is a shining light in the game and the weapon variety is great too - though I do mostly prefer sticking to Rebellion.
Nero provides a fair amount of fun too, with his mechanical arm able to be modded into a variety of satisfying secondary moves that become an integral and stylish part of your arsenal. These characters feel good to play and give you room to experiment and have fun.
V is, unfortunately, terrible to play on Devil Hunter. My battle against Cavaliere Angelo required me to stand almost entirely in one spot and mash square and triangle for a large portion of the fight. For a time I held the controller one handed.
This feels inexcusable in a series renowned for its combat and I never got very excited to play as V. He is so passive and while it's cool to see the damage output when he hits his DT, he is essentially quite broken and also not very fun to play. I've seen the argument that he gets better at higher difficulties, but considering your only choices for your first playthrough of the game are Easy and Normal mode, I don't consider waiting until he gets better to be a viable option since many gamers will likely beat the main story and then move on to a different game anyways.
Speaking of difficulty, it's hard to place this game in that conversation. There are obviously different modes, but playing on devil hunter (assumed as the 'balanced' difficulty) any sense of challenge I found was trivialized by either
a) The game's stockpile of gold orbs and red orb revives given out like candy
b) Playing as V.
Vergil seems like a hell of a challenging final boss, but the gold orb ad infinitum becomes a problem when the challenge and design of a boss like that becomes pointless when you can brute force him by reviving 10 times and never learning a single one of his attacks. I understand we all have the choice to not use them but to many players just wanting to beat the game and move on, these are seen as an easy way to get through.
Perhaps if a 1-per-attempt revive system was in place then the boss fights could be appreciated more and the combat could become smarter, more methodical and interesting when combined with the need to dodge enemy attacks more and be more careful.
The setting is disappointing to me. The first chunk of the game is mostly spent in industrial areas that very well could be generic template areas given their lack of interesting design at points. Once we go into the tree the game becomes a succession of paths leading to circular areas to fight in, leading to more paths, maybe to an elevator, to more fight rooms, all with the same demonic/underworld look. The rest of the games have much more interesting, less homogenous settings, and it feels like this game didn't really care about this in favour of combat and a weird story that kind of works but also kind of doesn't especially earlier on.
As a lifelong fan, I'm sorry, I don't get the hype. I would probably rank this as the 2nd worst game in the series.
Devil May Cry was my favourite video game series growing up, and as a kid I played it not for mastering combat, the S rankings, or the secret missions. The atmosphere was cool, I loved seeing the different bosses, the cool weapons, cool Dante. I played on Easy. legit.
So from my now grown-up, combat-enjoying, slightly more skilled perspective, I can say that playing as Dante in this game produces some of the most fun combat of the series, maybe the best overall. It is a shining light in the game and the weapon variety is great too - though I do mostly prefer sticking to Rebellion.
Nero provides a fair amount of fun too, with his mechanical arm able to be modded into a variety of satisfying secondary moves that become an integral and stylish part of your arsenal. These characters feel good to play and give you room to experiment and have fun.
V is, unfortunately, terrible to play on Devil Hunter. My battle against Cavaliere Angelo required me to stand almost entirely in one spot and mash square and triangle for a large portion of the fight. For a time I held the controller one handed.
This feels inexcusable in a series renowned for its combat and I never got very excited to play as V. He is so passive and while it's cool to see the damage output when he hits his DT, he is essentially quite broken and also not very fun to play. I've seen the argument that he gets better at higher difficulties, but considering your only choices for your first playthrough of the game are Easy and Normal mode, I don't consider waiting until he gets better to be a viable option since many gamers will likely beat the main story and then move on to a different game anyways.
Speaking of difficulty, it's hard to place this game in that conversation. There are obviously different modes, but playing on devil hunter (assumed as the 'balanced' difficulty) any sense of challenge I found was trivialized by either
a) The game's stockpile of gold orbs and red orb revives given out like candy
b) Playing as V.
Vergil seems like a hell of a challenging final boss, but the gold orb ad infinitum becomes a problem when the challenge and design of a boss like that becomes pointless when you can brute force him by reviving 10 times and never learning a single one of his attacks. I understand we all have the choice to not use them but to many players just wanting to beat the game and move on, these are seen as an easy way to get through.
Perhaps if a 1-per-attempt revive system was in place then the boss fights could be appreciated more and the combat could become smarter, more methodical and interesting when combined with the need to dodge enemy attacks more and be more careful.
The setting is disappointing to me. The first chunk of the game is mostly spent in industrial areas that very well could be generic template areas given their lack of interesting design at points. Once we go into the tree the game becomes a succession of paths leading to circular areas to fight in, leading to more paths, maybe to an elevator, to more fight rooms, all with the same demonic/underworld look. The rest of the games have much more interesting, less homogenous settings, and it feels like this game didn't really care about this in favour of combat and a weird story that kind of works but also kind of doesn't especially earlier on.
As a lifelong fan, I'm sorry, I don't get the hype. I would probably rank this as the 2nd worst game in the series.
2022
This review contains spoilers
(While I like this game quite a lot, this is very much a rant. I feel there are major issues with the game that need a look.)
Pretty much what you can expect out of a sequel - longer, more of everything, and the gang splitting up for the majority of the game.
In some ways this more-is-more approach works. The combat is greatly refreshed by more boss/enemy variety, the inclusion of a new weapon for Kratos and a second playable character in Atreus. I cannot stress how much the addition of more bosses helps the game succeed in the combat department over its predecessor when you look at the fundamentals of each fight in a vacuum. Atreus is a solid playable secondary and can get really fun with all of his extras and deployable help with summons and the floating sword.
On the other side of the coin, more is bad for Ragnarok, and it makes things overcrowded - something that can't be said for the 2018 game.
Enemy encounters and long group fights are poured all over the experience. It's hard to go a minute or two without running into one, even after you've beaten the area boss and you're making your way out. There is simply too much fighting and it takes away from a story and could be seen as artificial length. It becomes exhausting.
I also wish there were less similar sequences in which you follow another character. It almost became a meme to me, and while some characters shine in these roles (Thor, Thrud) Angrboda only served to massively slow down the pacing of the game and provided a rather wispy, uninteresting partner for Atreus.
Once the story finally gets going around the midpoint of the game, Atreus goes to Asgard to find Odin, one of the highlights of the game. We're introduced to a mystery involving a mask that hints at interesting answers about the afterlife, very existential and intriguing.... and it never gets resolved. It actively gets shut in our face, actually. Probably the single most disappointing thing about the game.
All this being said, Ragnarok feels amazing to play. The mobility is better, the combat is astoundingly good, the runic attacks are a gem, and a few boss battles (Thor, Heimdall, the twin Valkyries) stand above the rest. The dynamic between Atreus and Kratos is great as usual and there's a fun twist down the line that I liked too.
As a pure gameplay experience, GOW:R is a step up. As a full package, it reaches some great highs while offering some filler on the side and a disappointing conclusion.
Pretty much what you can expect out of a sequel - longer, more of everything, and the gang splitting up for the majority of the game.
In some ways this more-is-more approach works. The combat is greatly refreshed by more boss/enemy variety, the inclusion of a new weapon for Kratos and a second playable character in Atreus. I cannot stress how much the addition of more bosses helps the game succeed in the combat department over its predecessor when you look at the fundamentals of each fight in a vacuum. Atreus is a solid playable secondary and can get really fun with all of his extras and deployable help with summons and the floating sword.
On the other side of the coin, more is bad for Ragnarok, and it makes things overcrowded - something that can't be said for the 2018 game.
Enemy encounters and long group fights are poured all over the experience. It's hard to go a minute or two without running into one, even after you've beaten the area boss and you're making your way out. There is simply too much fighting and it takes away from a story and could be seen as artificial length. It becomes exhausting.
I also wish there were less similar sequences in which you follow another character. It almost became a meme to me, and while some characters shine in these roles (Thor, Thrud) Angrboda only served to massively slow down the pacing of the game and provided a rather wispy, uninteresting partner for Atreus.
Once the story finally gets going around the midpoint of the game, Atreus goes to Asgard to find Odin, one of the highlights of the game. We're introduced to a mystery involving a mask that hints at interesting answers about the afterlife, very existential and intriguing.... and it never gets resolved. It actively gets shut in our face, actually. Probably the single most disappointing thing about the game.
All this being said, Ragnarok feels amazing to play. The mobility is better, the combat is astoundingly good, the runic attacks are a gem, and a few boss battles (Thor, Heimdall, the twin Valkyries) stand above the rest. The dynamic between Atreus and Kratos is great as usual and there's a fun twist down the line that I liked too.
As a pure gameplay experience, GOW:R is a step up. As a full package, it reaches some great highs while offering some filler on the side and a disappointing conclusion.
2018
Pretty blown away by how much I enjoyed this and looked forward to playing this whenever I wasn't.
AAA Games are not my thing, and many of their sins are also committed by this game (quicktime events, pointless button prompts) but there is no getting past the amount of craft and effort that went into this world and these people. There's something immersive and deeply real about the way the game never seems to run out of unique dialogue, the way you are never on your own, the character work and writing.
The story is riveting and there's some good fights in here too. Getting Ragnarok ASAP.
AAA Games are not my thing, and many of their sins are also committed by this game (quicktime events, pointless button prompts) but there is no getting past the amount of craft and effort that went into this world and these people. There's something immersive and deeply real about the way the game never seems to run out of unique dialogue, the way you are never on your own, the character work and writing.
The story is riveting and there's some good fights in here too. Getting Ragnarok ASAP.
2018
A really well done piece of writing with a selection of pretty decent boss fights, fun gameplay, an excellent visual style and great humour. A great all-rounder that certainly runs into pacing problems later on but has enough to keep things positive in the end
This review contains spoilers
Very charmed.
It's not like the game has engaging mechanics or anything, it's just a really funny, charming, melancholy experience with wonderful attention to detail. It feels so lovingly put together, with an eclectic cast of characters and a well-designed incremental push towards your end destination (which you can visit pretty early in the game for some motivation!)
If anything I would say that remakes from old systems could always do with some quality-of-life updates, especially with the inventory and held item system - it's a bit of a chore to constantly change equipment in the pause menu. I also think not every dungeon was a banger, dungeon 7 specifically was an enormous pain.
Overall though I felt very pleased, it's the type of game that put me in a good mood and got me excited to keep playing and walking around that little world.
It's not like the game has engaging mechanics or anything, it's just a really funny, charming, melancholy experience with wonderful attention to detail. It feels so lovingly put together, with an eclectic cast of characters and a well-designed incremental push towards your end destination (which you can visit pretty early in the game for some motivation!)
If anything I would say that remakes from old systems could always do with some quality-of-life updates, especially with the inventory and held item system - it's a bit of a chore to constantly change equipment in the pause menu. I also think not every dungeon was a banger, dungeon 7 specifically was an enormous pain.
Overall though I felt very pleased, it's the type of game that put me in a good mood and got me excited to keep playing and walking around that little world.
2016
This review contains spoilers
Disclaimer: I had the whole story spoiled for me before playing because I watched a video about it.
Knowing that - it's a press-right simulator with way too many levers that scrapes by on the atmosphere and the shock/spectacle of its ending, and somehow ends up being a recommendable experience.
The gameplay was not very engaging, the puzzles were okay but I wouldn't call them fantastic most of the time, but there are some great moments the game throws at you - the part where you need to imitate the drones is pretty great.
Knowing that - it's a press-right simulator with way too many levers that scrapes by on the atmosphere and the shock/spectacle of its ending, and somehow ends up being a recommendable experience.
The gameplay was not very engaging, the puzzles were okay but I wouldn't call them fantastic most of the time, but there are some great moments the game throws at you - the part where you need to imitate the drones is pretty great.
Escape sequences were fantastic, as was the the general feel of the movement. Had great design and works well for younger audiences also.
I think where Ori falls short is in some of the overdesigning - It is not always easy to tell what is foreground and what is background, leading to some cheap deaths and issues. The wind escape sequence was a bit of a tough one too with the amount of stuff on screen being overwhelming for me.
What I can say is that it's an experience-focused game that is so good at making you feel awesome when you're zipping around from place to place, and the classic metroidvania elements of using your new abilities feels oh so satisfying.
I think where Ori falls short is in some of the overdesigning - It is not always easy to tell what is foreground and what is background, leading to some cheap deaths and issues. The wind escape sequence was a bit of a tough one too with the amount of stuff on screen being overwhelming for me.
What I can say is that it's an experience-focused game that is so good at making you feel awesome when you're zipping around from place to place, and the classic metroidvania elements of using your new abilities feels oh so satisfying.
2022
This review contains spoilers
Ultimately it's all about the discovery for me. Tunic provides an absolute slew of a-ha moments by combining exploration and adventure with pen and paper mystery-solving in a way that is involving and rewarding. The fact that some of these 'click' moments lead you to entirely new areas of the game leads to some wonderful realisations.
This slow change in feel from fun Zelda-like to an esoteric puzzler snaps into perfect focus when you come across the 'golden path' puzzle - perhaps the most fantastic puzzle I've ever seen in any game period, and one so broad and full of gratifying searching.
I couldn't care less about the combat (ended up turning on no fail at the end just to smash through all the fights) and I'm glad that Tunic realised how important the discovery aspects of the game are and created easy modes for players who just want to see the story through as the difficulty becomes punishing.
This slow change in feel from fun Zelda-like to an esoteric puzzler snaps into perfect focus when you come across the 'golden path' puzzle - perhaps the most fantastic puzzle I've ever seen in any game period, and one so broad and full of gratifying searching.
I couldn't care less about the combat (ended up turning on no fail at the end just to smash through all the fights) and I'm glad that Tunic realised how important the discovery aspects of the game are and created easy modes for players who just want to see the story through as the difficulty becomes punishing.