GymbeanNZ
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83 Reviews liked by GymbeanNZ
A Plague Tale: Requiem takes a bunch of big swings. This is what leads to some of its strongest parts, both as a sequel and existing on its own. But as a result of its compensatory misses, this game is a lot messier than its predecceor, Innocence.
Once again Plague Tale is visually stunning, from the nature scenes to the busy cities to the deep dark caves. Music is solid. Voice acting is great. Although I had hoped the lip syncing would be improved since Innocence, its still just as bad. They've also renovated some of the characters faces from Innocence, I never fully got used to this.
The new characters don't match the heights of those in the first, but one stands out as being almost at that level. But most importantly, the journey of Amicia and Hugo is what is most successful. I had my ups and downs with the story. The beginning chapters felt like a rehash of Innocence. As did the use of the main villain, although it is much weaker here. The very end had me emotional, feeling the weight of the journey but it wasn't tied together seamlessly. And lots of the steps along with way were messy or otherwise unsatisfactory. At the end of the day, story is still the strongest element of the game.
The other elements being exploration, puzzle solving, stealth and combat. They completely redid the equipment, putting the special alchemies as universal powerups on the different action types, the sling, free throw, pots and the new addition, the crossbow. Giving the player more freedom and options of course appears like a welcome change but the game is still far to linear in its puzzles that the few times I felt like I could get creative, I would be shut out without logic. Other times I was left confused as I would say, try to extinguish fire to move past it, get stuck, check a guide only to realize, 'no you have to extinguish with a different action type'. Not a great feeling.
The combat is given a few more inches of depth, along with embracing killing in whatever quantity you wish. Unfortunately, the combat, for lack of a better word, sucks. the lack of a proper hit point system makes it feel unfair. Limited movement options and no dodge makes it feel sluggish. And boring enemy types make the sling and crossbow feel alright, but more of a foundation than a properly fleshed out combat system.
Stealth and navigating rats have no substantive changes since Innocence. They are good enough but nothing special.
My favorite section of the game is when you are let out on the island. While it isn't an open world (and shouldn't be), it is the largest open area in either of the games. It was a breathe of fresh air. A long break from stealth, combat and set pieces to let you just take in this wonderfully crafted world, admire the sights and sounds. This becomes a hub of sorts and you crisscross through it many times, backtracking I was happy to do.
I had a rocky time with A Plague Tale: Requiem. It is a game that suffers from both not making enough changes from its predecessor and wrongly choosing which elements to double down on. Still its beauty, tragedy and adventure compelled me to blast through it in just a few days. Amicia and Hugo are all time great video game characters as far as I'm concerned and with what is teased towards the end of the game, I cannot wait to see what lies over the next wave.
Once again Plague Tale is visually stunning, from the nature scenes to the busy cities to the deep dark caves. Music is solid. Voice acting is great. Although I had hoped the lip syncing would be improved since Innocence, its still just as bad. They've also renovated some of the characters faces from Innocence, I never fully got used to this.
The new characters don't match the heights of those in the first, but one stands out as being almost at that level. But most importantly, the journey of Amicia and Hugo is what is most successful. I had my ups and downs with the story. The beginning chapters felt like a rehash of Innocence. As did the use of the main villain, although it is much weaker here. The very end had me emotional, feeling the weight of the journey but it wasn't tied together seamlessly. And lots of the steps along with way were messy or otherwise unsatisfactory. At the end of the day, story is still the strongest element of the game.
The other elements being exploration, puzzle solving, stealth and combat. They completely redid the equipment, putting the special alchemies as universal powerups on the different action types, the sling, free throw, pots and the new addition, the crossbow. Giving the player more freedom and options of course appears like a welcome change but the game is still far to linear in its puzzles that the few times I felt like I could get creative, I would be shut out without logic. Other times I was left confused as I would say, try to extinguish fire to move past it, get stuck, check a guide only to realize, 'no you have to extinguish with a different action type'. Not a great feeling.
The combat is given a few more inches of depth, along with embracing killing in whatever quantity you wish. Unfortunately, the combat, for lack of a better word, sucks. the lack of a proper hit point system makes it feel unfair. Limited movement options and no dodge makes it feel sluggish. And boring enemy types make the sling and crossbow feel alright, but more of a foundation than a properly fleshed out combat system.
Stealth and navigating rats have no substantive changes since Innocence. They are good enough but nothing special.
My favorite section of the game is when you are let out on the island. While it isn't an open world (and shouldn't be), it is the largest open area in either of the games. It was a breathe of fresh air. A long break from stealth, combat and set pieces to let you just take in this wonderfully crafted world, admire the sights and sounds. This becomes a hub of sorts and you crisscross through it many times, backtracking I was happy to do.
I had a rocky time with A Plague Tale: Requiem. It is a game that suffers from both not making enough changes from its predecessor and wrongly choosing which elements to double down on. Still its beauty, tragedy and adventure compelled me to blast through it in just a few days. Amicia and Hugo are all time great video game characters as far as I'm concerned and with what is teased towards the end of the game, I cannot wait to see what lies over the next wave.
Stray
2022
Before 2022, if you asked me what the cutest post-apocalytic game was, it would have obviously been Pikmin 3. But now we've got Kirby and the Forgotten Land AND Stray??
Stray is great! It felt at first like it was going to be a straightforward exploration-focused game, but there's a lot more Early 90s Sierra influence than I expected. The world is beautiful and just the right size; each time I started to feel like an area was too big to not get lost in, I would suddenly start to get my bearings. The environments are well laid-out enough that I could now point you towards any location of interest from memory. I still wouldn't have said no to a Metroid Prime-esque map, but it's not as harmful of an omission here as it was in something like Supraland or The Gunk.
Anyhow. Stray emphasizes that it's nice to go outside. That there's a need to escape from the city now and then. Which means THIS banger kept popping into my head during my playthrough (sorry @Alexizaki it's not what you're thinking): https://youtu.be/Yvg8p0wKiJo
Stray is great! It felt at first like it was going to be a straightforward exploration-focused game, but there's a lot more Early 90s Sierra influence than I expected. The world is beautiful and just the right size; each time I started to feel like an area was too big to not get lost in, I would suddenly start to get my bearings. The environments are well laid-out enough that I could now point you towards any location of interest from memory. I still wouldn't have said no to a Metroid Prime-esque map, but it's not as harmful of an omission here as it was in something like Supraland or The Gunk.
Anyhow. Stray emphasizes that it's nice to go outside. That there's a need to escape from the city now and then. Which means THIS banger kept popping into my head during my playthrough (sorry @Alexizaki it's not what you're thinking): https://youtu.be/Yvg8p0wKiJo
Stray
2022
Stray is a very respectable game. For a game who's credits arent rolling long enough to demand multiple credits songs and 3 point font, it is astounding in terms of visuals, technical design, and to an extent game direction. It achieves seemingly everything it goes for with only minor "objective" issues. You could have told me that this game was made by naughty dog as a little side project and i'd only need two drinks in me to believe you.
And it really is a very ND-style game, down to the straight up game flow. Linear platforming where you snap from location to location, chase sequences, extremely light puzzling, general level-to-level structure and the occasional quiet bit where you just get to explore a very small area - it's like Uncharted 4 but drake is small and there's no ludonarrative dissonance trophy. Even has the very naughty dog thing of having a conspicous landmark in the horizon you always work towards in the levels. I swear im not crazy, it's really noticeable when you catch onto it.
The problem with Stray is that, for my money, you don't feel like a cat. Which is a pretty big issue for a game where that's the hook. There's a few good gags, the animation passes muster for the most part, but the behaiour of the cat and in particular the interactions it has with others don't. You could practically replace the cat with a small dog, hell, it would probably make more sense for the things the characters demand and how they treat you.
My favourite moment in the game, is, when in what is ostensibly a tense, high-stakes situation where you're meant to solve a puzzle, the cat can simply lie down by a record player in a comfy alcove, as long as you and they want. It's lovely. And there's just not enough of it. The adventures of cats are crescendos to lives spent revelling in comfort and warmth - even in wild and big cats - and you can let me meow as much as you like but the pure action adventure betrays the nature of cats. I feel like small creature. I don't feel like cat.
On top of that the sci fi narrative is very bland. Fortunately the environments are excellent and carry the game pretty hard. Again, the naughty dog influence is well integrated, with fantastic subtle signposting of areas that feels naturalistic whilst ensuring you're never really lost.
Again, the game is very competent, and a frankly remarkable facsimile of games with hundreds of times the budget. It's well paced and i appreciate it's brevity, and i would be remiss not to touch on it's excellent soundtrack. And it's that extreme competence that makes it dissapointing for me that it doesnt actually get it's hook. And without it, it's ultimately forgettable, as good as it is.
And it really is a very ND-style game, down to the straight up game flow. Linear platforming where you snap from location to location, chase sequences, extremely light puzzling, general level-to-level structure and the occasional quiet bit where you just get to explore a very small area - it's like Uncharted 4 but drake is small and there's no ludonarrative dissonance trophy. Even has the very naughty dog thing of having a conspicous landmark in the horizon you always work towards in the levels. I swear im not crazy, it's really noticeable when you catch onto it.
The problem with Stray is that, for my money, you don't feel like a cat. Which is a pretty big issue for a game where that's the hook. There's a few good gags, the animation passes muster for the most part, but the behaiour of the cat and in particular the interactions it has with others don't. You could practically replace the cat with a small dog, hell, it would probably make more sense for the things the characters demand and how they treat you.
My favourite moment in the game, is, when in what is ostensibly a tense, high-stakes situation where you're meant to solve a puzzle, the cat can simply lie down by a record player in a comfy alcove, as long as you and they want. It's lovely. And there's just not enough of it. The adventures of cats are crescendos to lives spent revelling in comfort and warmth - even in wild and big cats - and you can let me meow as much as you like but the pure action adventure betrays the nature of cats. I feel like small creature. I don't feel like cat.
On top of that the sci fi narrative is very bland. Fortunately the environments are excellent and carry the game pretty hard. Again, the naughty dog influence is well integrated, with fantastic subtle signposting of areas that feels naturalistic whilst ensuring you're never really lost.
Again, the game is very competent, and a frankly remarkable facsimile of games with hundreds of times the budget. It's well paced and i appreciate it's brevity, and i would be remiss not to touch on it's excellent soundtrack. And it's that extreme competence that makes it dissapointing for me that it doesnt actually get it's hook. And without it, it's ultimately forgettable, as good as it is.
Stray
2022
Cyberkitty Oedo 808.
Stray was one of the initial PS5 games Sony revealed before the system launch and I've been looking forward to it ever since. I love both cats, owning one, and cyberpunk as a genre so it's a perfect mix right? Surprisingly so. You play the role of a stray cat that on a perilous jump is separated from their family and finds themselves in a forgotten dystopian cyberpunk city and needs to find their way out meeting a host of odd characters and unraveling the story of its existence as you go.
Far greater writers than I will talk about this game I'm sure, but what I really want to highlight is how great the animations are. You really feel like a cat. The way you scratch objects, jump, crouch, slink is perfect. In one scene the cat stares at something that catches their attention before padding over to it, it's something I've seen my cat do and it's that attention to detail in the game that really brings it to life. That same level of detail is brought to the environments, characters and rest of the world too. Make no mistake this is a very good looking title. Brilliant use of colour, lighting crisp image quality and art design make it a gorgeous world to explore, especially impressive as an indie game on a lower budget.
The actual game plays like an adventure game where you explore, talk, collect items. Being a cat you have in certain places more vertical exploration being able to jump up buildings, shelves, air con units etc especially in the hubs. The jumping itself is more contextual when you are near an object you can jump up the X prompt will come up. While it does make the jumping animations look far smoother and makes all your jumps perfect, with the agility of lets say...a cat, it also can be a little finicky at times.
Overall I had a great time with this little game. I got the platinum in 11 hours in two play throughs but most importantly I can press circle to meow!
+ Fantastic animations.
+ Gorgeous visual design.
+ Interesting world to explore.
+ Meow!
- jumping isn't always the best.
Stray was one of the initial PS5 games Sony revealed before the system launch and I've been looking forward to it ever since. I love both cats, owning one, and cyberpunk as a genre so it's a perfect mix right? Surprisingly so. You play the role of a stray cat that on a perilous jump is separated from their family and finds themselves in a forgotten dystopian cyberpunk city and needs to find their way out meeting a host of odd characters and unraveling the story of its existence as you go.
Far greater writers than I will talk about this game I'm sure, but what I really want to highlight is how great the animations are. You really feel like a cat. The way you scratch objects, jump, crouch, slink is perfect. In one scene the cat stares at something that catches their attention before padding over to it, it's something I've seen my cat do and it's that attention to detail in the game that really brings it to life. That same level of detail is brought to the environments, characters and rest of the world too. Make no mistake this is a very good looking title. Brilliant use of colour, lighting crisp image quality and art design make it a gorgeous world to explore, especially impressive as an indie game on a lower budget.
The actual game plays like an adventure game where you explore, talk, collect items. Being a cat you have in certain places more vertical exploration being able to jump up buildings, shelves, air con units etc especially in the hubs. The jumping itself is more contextual when you are near an object you can jump up the X prompt will come up. While it does make the jumping animations look far smoother and makes all your jumps perfect, with the agility of lets say...a cat, it also can be a little finicky at times.
Overall I had a great time with this little game. I got the platinum in 11 hours in two play throughs but most importantly I can press circle to meow!
+ Fantastic animations.
+ Gorgeous visual design.
+ Interesting world to explore.
+ Meow!
- jumping isn't always the best.
Stray
2022
Lures you in with the entertaining promise of letting you do funny cat things, which it does deliver on for about half an hour, but then throws you into a bland melancholic cyberpunk adventure where the fact that you're a feline critter is basically irrelevant save for brief cutesy button prompts. Sorry what I meant to say was You Can Meow And Pet The Heckin Kitterino 11/10
Watch Dogs 2
2016
Watch Dogs 2 manages, somehow, to be both better than the first and Legion.
It has, unlike both others, a strong cast of characters that help to carry the ‘just-okay’ plotline.
I’m slightly disappointed about the lack of use of the ‘main’ antagonist, limited to just a few (maybe 3 at the max) cutscenes spread throughout the game which left the finale feeling quite underwhelming.
I also took issue with the combat. I kinda expected as a hacker to be able to take multiple routes to complete a mission, rather than 9/10 ending up having to go in guns blazing or knocking out enemies - let me use my remote gadgets / camera hacking to do the work damn it!
The driving, also, isn’t the best experience ever. Ubisoft have yet to impress me with any kind of driving experience in their games.
I will say though, the rest of the game makes up, somewhat, for these faults and if they do make a fourth I hope to god it’s like this one.
(Also, bring back Marcus as he, along with Wrench, are the best characters this series has to offer)
It has, unlike both others, a strong cast of characters that help to carry the ‘just-okay’ plotline.
I’m slightly disappointed about the lack of use of the ‘main’ antagonist, limited to just a few (maybe 3 at the max) cutscenes spread throughout the game which left the finale feeling quite underwhelming.
I also took issue with the combat. I kinda expected as a hacker to be able to take multiple routes to complete a mission, rather than 9/10 ending up having to go in guns blazing or knocking out enemies - let me use my remote gadgets / camera hacking to do the work damn it!
The driving, also, isn’t the best experience ever. Ubisoft have yet to impress me with any kind of driving experience in their games.
I will say though, the rest of the game makes up, somewhat, for these faults and if they do make a fourth I hope to god it’s like this one.
(Also, bring back Marcus as he, along with Wrench, are the best characters this series has to offer)
Naraka: Bladepoint
2021
Beautiful and surprisingly intuitive. The first battle royal to ever attract my attention and, undoubtedly, the most interesting one out there.
A great addition to Game Pass and the Xbox platform in general.
A great addition to Game Pass and the Xbox platform in general.
freezing a wave as kayle for 20 minutes so you can be full build against some chumps who probably just queued for a quickie during their school recess really makes you question your life choices
Really cool game, but it's not for everyone. I had my fun just doing silly stuff in between "quests", and it was such a relaxing and unique experience for me.
Sadly, it doesn't really feel like a TLOZ game at all, and it could've definitely been improved for a better experience, but I guess that's for BOTW 2.
I didn't have the time to fully complete it (all shrines, seeds, quests), but it was well worth the time.
4/5 because I had fun but it wasn't perfect.
Sadly, it doesn't really feel like a TLOZ game at all, and it could've definitely been improved for a better experience, but I guess that's for BOTW 2.
I didn't have the time to fully complete it (all shrines, seeds, quests), but it was well worth the time.
4/5 because I had fun but it wasn't perfect.
This is neat, and manages to maintain the fun aspect of the Horizon series. The master builder quest in which you have to earn a number of Lego bricks to progress - is a cool idea, and some of the milestone targets such as race the McClaren Senna with its Lego counterpart is excellent.
My kids appreciated this more than the main game. It's amazing what difference smashing plastic bricks as opposed to stone walls dotted around the English countryside can make.
The main drawback with this is that it's a bit flat after a while. I'd have like to have seen a bit more innovation along the lines of the master builder quest. Destroying Lego alien artifacts is a good idea, but for some bizarre reason, they're only accessible at certain times of day or with a particular weather pattern which is a bit annoying.
It's a good add on but I wouldn't say it's essential.
My kids appreciated this more than the main game. It's amazing what difference smashing plastic bricks as opposed to stone walls dotted around the English countryside can make.
The main drawback with this is that it's a bit flat after a while. I'd have like to have seen a bit more innovation along the lines of the master builder quest. Destroying Lego alien artifacts is a good idea, but for some bizarre reason, they're only accessible at certain times of day or with a particular weather pattern which is a bit annoying.
It's a good add on but I wouldn't say it's essential.
This actually gave me a reason to play Forza, wow. I wasn't unimpressed but I wish the goofiness of Lego was at the forefront some more. The game definitely got old after a few hours but I think I'd gotten my fill without it ever feeling bad to play. I think the biggest L this game takes is having only a few Lego cars available at all. This coulda been the prime opportunity to let the player make fully custom Lego cars in a way that would surpass Lego Racers, but we got the relatively dull based-on-real-llife models instead. I don't mind it too much but this game in general has a ton of missed opportunities like that all over the place. I figure if this were a full game instead of a (large) DLC those sorts of things probably would have been included, but I guess I'll never know.
Of course, unless Lego finally drops a new Lego Racers game...
Of course, unless Lego finally drops a new Lego Racers game...
Really just another grindy - Pay to win mobile game.
The only reason I've played so much of this game is because it's Star Wars and I'm a sucker for it. I loved collecting my favorite characters and building a badass team, but you eventually just hit a wall where it's like the game desperately wants you to pay some money to progress faster.
Shame! game is OK as far as mobile games go these days.
(See all my Star Wars Rankings and reviews on my profile here, the list is titled "Star Wars Ranked.")
The only reason I've played so much of this game is because it's Star Wars and I'm a sucker for it. I loved collecting my favorite characters and building a badass team, but you eventually just hit a wall where it's like the game desperately wants you to pay some money to progress faster.
Shame! game is OK as far as mobile games go these days.
(See all my Star Wars Rankings and reviews on my profile here, the list is titled "Star Wars Ranked.")
An immaculate remake of the original trilogy. Preserves the feeling of the originals perfectly but with huge upgrades to visuals, audio, and quality-of-life features. Some of the best platforming I've ever played.
Trek to Yomi
2022
A decent little game that mainly serves as a means of showing you that the often-ridiculed Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub Zero was actually a pretty good idea, just badly executed.
Maneater
2020
Deadly shark
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
Deadly Shark
doo doo doo doo doo doo
Deadly shark
doo doo doo doo doo doo
Deadly shark
doo doo doo doo doo doo
DEADLY SHARK
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
Deadly Shark
doo doo doo doo doo doo
Deadly shark
doo doo doo doo doo doo
Deadly shark
doo doo doo doo doo doo
DEADLY SHARK