Playing this in 2024 on the Series X and in French. From my understanding, the original release in 2014 was not very good. What I will say is I'm having a pretty good time early on in the first act. The movement mechanics are a little wonky. This is the first AC game I've picked up since Brotherhood at launch, so it feels mostly similar to that experience.

The voice acting is solid in French. It's fun to jump in and out of these quick missions. The detail of the city of Versailles and Paris is so impressive. The buildings, the architecture, it's pretty surreal for a 2014 Ubisoft game; of course the crowd and NPCs on the other hand are almost entirely carboard cutout stand-ins, but that was expected. The FPS on the X makes this really nice.

What is somewhat interesting to me about this game, is it sort of a relic of the "downfall", bit of a dramatic term", that gaming took in the early mid-2010s with bizarre microtransactions in game. It is so silly that when you go to upgrade equipment, it pulls up options to spend real money on single player gear. Very glad I don't see that in games nowadays, at least the ones I play. So distasteful.

Also, the map is hilarious. Hundreds of unnecessary icons, what a UI clusterfuck. But still mostly functional. Look forward to getting deeper in and seeing more of this one.

Hellblade 2 Senua's Saga is a delusion, for me. You would immediately say: "how can this be?" Since I assign the game 4 stars. Well, the high quality of the production, which I remark using the stars, should not be confused with the emotions and sensations the game left on me. Let's start by saying that Hellblade 1 is one of the best games I have ever played, mainly for the ability of mixing together the creepy and realistic representation of mental illness and psychosis, and the construction of a hopeful story set in the viking age, all mutated by a game design constantly in contraposition with the player. A genius idea inspired by the work of authors like Hideo Kojima and Yoko Taro, the first who tried to actively involve the fanbase granting every little detail and every strange frustration a narrative sense of great prestige. If Hellblade 2 would have followed the same path, creating this sort of dark fantasy journey so personal to appear as a powerful hymn of hope, I would have loved it. But, instead, Hellblade 2 proposes an all-in in the technical achievement granting the narrative a larger yet disturbing breath. Inside Hellblade 2 we don't find this love for the Nordic world as the previous chapter showed, but the incredible technical department worked so hard to show Senua and the other characters at the maximum expression of their performance inside a photorealistic setting. Hellblade 2 is, in this sense, a new reference for technical feature in videogames, and I really wanted the same attention for the contents the game shows. Hellblade 2 tries in every way to explore furthermore the condition lived by the protagonist, talking about it in a so rational way to provoke pure terror in whoever plays the title. Instead of ancient myths and gods of hell, we find here gigantic creature with rotting bodies, sacrifices in which the attention is put on every flap of meat and a research for the past in which all the evolution seems turned into a worse treatment of the past of Senua, a creepier one for sure. This is a shame, really, because the choreographed fights with swords and powers, associated with the traditional rune puzzles of the franchise, were a strong bond with a past Hellblade 2 has completely forgotten.

Gameplay: 4
Game Design: 5
Technical Feature: 5
Narrative: 3,5
Protagonists: 5
Villains: 5
Multiplayer: Absent
Score and Music: 5
Artistic Feature: 3,5
Atmosphere: 5
Emotional Impact: 0,5

Final Verdict: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Minish Cap is another strong entry in the Zelda series. The dungeons are probably where the game shines the most. All six are solid with the Temple of Droplets and Palace of Winds being particular standouts. They feel much more substantial and are certainly longer than most of the dungeons I have played in the 2D Zeldas. The bosses are hit or miss, but I did like the Palace of Winds boss and the final bosses. They also have some decent puzzles that make good use of the shrinking mechanic.

Speaking of the shrinking mechanic, it's a pretty neat gimmick that allows for some cool ways to explore the overworld and dungeons. It can get a bit annoying to have to shrink and grow all the time as it slows the game down a bit, but it creates some neat visual moments as you see the world from the size of a tiny minish. A lot of the charm of this game comes from this mechanic and the minish themselves, so I am glad it's present all things considered. I really like the minish's design, and I am kinda hoping they come back some day. The mountain minish were especially cool. The story itself is whatever. I sort of like the premise of the minish stopping by once every century, but Vati as a villain doesn't exactly give you a lot to be fired up about. It probably could have been cooler if they gave him more of a backstory with Ezlo and his minish roots.

Gameplay in between dungeons is a mixed bag in this one. I applaud these sections for typically being fairly creative and different than you're everyday zelda, but sometimes they just aren't that fun. It can also sometimes be confusing as to what you even need to do. The game does a good job of pointing you were to go but if you are missing the item you need or there was a missing step you can get a bit lost. I felt like these sections early on with mount crenal and minish village were much stronger than some of the later ones. Castor wilds pre-dungeon was especially not so good imo. Side content is probably where this game is at its weakest though. I 100%'d the game but it's not exactly a pleasant experience and I used speed up quite a bit to do it. I kinda got some fun out of it because I simply enjoy completing zelda games especially, but it's pretty brutal. Kinstone fusions is an okay idea but in execution pressing L periodically, schizophrenically on every passing sentient being gets a bit annoying. Not to mention that some of the stuff you get from these fusions aren't even worth picking up. Half of them just lead to more kinstones. Also, slowly getting every figurine is obviously a chore. The OST is decent. I really liked the minish village, minish forest, Hyrule town, and palace of winds themes but outside of that fairly mid. Also, I dig this game's visual style, just look at the parrots!

Unequivocally the easiest and simplest game of the franchise, but sometimes there's nothing wrong with that. I don't think there's really any storytelling or thematical reason for the shrinking gimmick of this game, and honestly it's my only criticism of the game, is that it's a lot emptier than most of the franchise. But what it sacrifices in storytelling it very much makes up for it in gameplay. 2D Hyrule has never been easier and more fun to explore, notably with the concept of Kinstones, which are amazing. It really doesn't reach the highs of the franchise, but it's not trying to, and perhaps that's exactly what makes it so cool

The Order: 1886 is both a game that has been unjustly lost under the radar of many players but also a forgettable, mediocre game without much gameplay value. How is that possible? On the one hand, there is an incredibly interesting and atmospherically designed game world in 19th century London. The slums are filthy, the noble classes live in nicely decorated mansions and Jack the Ripper roams the nights. In this world, which is also accompanied by a fantastic underlying soundtrack reminiscent of Bloodborne, we play Daniel Day Lewis, I mean Sir Galahad, a member of a secret order that has dedicated itself to the fight against half-breeds for centuries. Thrown into the mix is a dash of steampunk, real-life locations and personalities such as Nikola Tesla and a bit of Arthurian legend. Yes, The Order is not lacking in interesting content. Instead, the gameplay is lacking in all areas. The game is a mix between a mediocre cover shooter and passages that are almost reminiscent of Walking Simulator in which we almost stroll through rooms and corridors. Often the camera is glued to our shoulder. Then there are little mini-games such as picking locks or hotwiring circuits and a very rudimentary sneak level, which was a bit of a pain in the arse, as you're immediately dead if you're discovered. Oh and quicktime events, because who doesn't love quicktime events? The shootouts offer the best gameplay. The weapons, however, are relatively normal genre standards. But in addition to pistols, revolvers, rifles and submachine guns, there is also the atypical Thermite Rifle, which shoots flammable magnesium. Apart from 1-2 arenas in which enemies with shotguns (two shots and you're dead) and thermite rifle carriers are thrown at you in the smallest of spaces, the shooter sections are not too difficult and are easy to handle. But it doesn't really do anything special. The story, which is the real highlight of the game, is also very slow to get going, then brings up some twists and aha moments, but still leaves out many points that would have been really interesting for understanding and further worldbuilding. And then the game simply stops at a climax. The Order: 1886 therefore lags far behind its competitors in terms of gameplay, but thanks to its fantastic, albeit not fully utilised potential, setting, it manages to leave many wanting more. More London, more of the secret order, of monsters and myths. Because that's what makes the game stand out. Maybe we'll get a predecessor at some point which, in addition to a well-rounded story, also focuses on fun gameplay. I, at least, would love to wander the streets and underworld of London with Sir Galahad again.

Borre la antigua reseña, simplemente la escribí en el segundo 0 cuando lo termine y me dí cuenta de una estupidez que dije, que la obra no explora al 100 el escapismo y su creo que se podría haberse hablado más, realmente firewatch si lo hace bien, los tres "personajes" están escapando de algo de cierta manera y simplemente esa resolución tan poco satisfactoria que yo decía, eeeem aún lo es lo siento pero lastimosamente, es la correcta, si lo juegan de verdad recomiendo que se queden mirando el abismo y reflexionen sobre lo que jugaron, que por eso escribí una mamada sobre la historia, aún encuentro que me falla un poco en lo argumental pero es que quizás simplemente aún no era mi momento para sentirme totalmente uno con el mensaje de la obra quizás por eso aún no me lo tome tna fuerte como otros jugadores.
Lo demás de la antigua reseña lo mantengo, es relajante simplemente caminar por ahí y ver el paisaje, las intenciones entre los personajes son geniales y me alegraban el camino junto a una banda sonora que sale poco pero es muy efectiva para acompañar el ambiente.
La otra cosa que debo comentar es que la versión de switch como que tiene uno que otro bajón de ffps y no sé si será solo de esta oh en general pero ví el equivalente de los mamuts voladores del Skyrim con los árboles, no siempre pasa y si eres despistado demás que ni te das cuenta pero ojo con eso.