ItsTowersss
I give it 4 and half stars because it’s a stellar conclusion to the first main character of my favorite game franchise, but if it wasn’t the last game in Kiryu’s story I’d have given it a much lower rating. I don’t have any problems with the story; it’s cut and dry Yakuza, which is fine. The gameplay did bug me a lot though.
I believe this was the first Yakuza game to use the new Dragon Engine, which opts for more realistic and slower fights instead of what we saw in 5 or 0. It can be pretty goofy which is fine, but there were times the combos just wouldn’t connect when they looked like they should have. I also feel like there’s a lot less variety in Heat Moves due to this push to make the fighting more realistic. I did the same 4 or 5 finishers and moves throughout the entire playthrough. I liked not having loading zones in almost every location. The stamina mechanic while free-roaming is incredibly frustrating, especially because sometimes I had to chase down a guy and take frequent breaks to catch my breath, forcing me to fail the mission. The game was still absolutely beautiful when the frames weren’t dropping. Thankfully Kiwami 2 polished the Dragon Engine up a LOT.
I believe this was the first Yakuza game to use the new Dragon Engine, which opts for more realistic and slower fights instead of what we saw in 5 or 0. It can be pretty goofy which is fine, but there were times the combos just wouldn’t connect when they looked like they should have. I also feel like there’s a lot less variety in Heat Moves due to this push to make the fighting more realistic. I did the same 4 or 5 finishers and moves throughout the entire playthrough. I liked not having loading zones in almost every location. The stamina mechanic while free-roaming is incredibly frustrating, especially because sometimes I had to chase down a guy and take frequent breaks to catch my breath, forcing me to fail the mission. The game was still absolutely beautiful when the frames weren’t dropping. Thankfully Kiwami 2 polished the Dragon Engine up a LOT.
I loved the story, it had me hooked. But I hate cliffhangers.
This is a total comfort game, it's short & sweet. The music is top-notch.
2005
It's amazing that Santa Monica got Kratos' combat right on the first attempt, and the story was good enough, but the level design and overall gameplay was beyond frustrating. Whether it was spamming enemies at you that would stunlock you all the time, or very precise and punishing platforming. Hopefully GOW 2 improves on this.
Ori's movement felt super smooth, and the story was simple but effective. It was fairly short and some might say too easy - it's a good starter Metroidvania.
Put in about 600 hours and I still think this is the weakest game in the franchise. A lot of effort was put into decorating, but it seems like they abandoned everything else about the series. Over a year later it's still missing a lot of content from older games.
Interacting with villagers sucks now, it's repetitive and lacks the charm it had in older games. There's also not much else to do but decorate, which was never really my preference.
Interacting with villagers sucks now, it's repetitive and lacks the charm it had in older games. There's also not much else to do but decorate, which was never really my preference.
This game is really fun to mess around with friends, but if you really wanna do good I think it can be a little frustrating because of the controls.
Not sure if it’s my wiimotes, motion sensor, skill issue, etc. but some motions weren’t very responsive or didn’t work at all. How the hell do I move the pot for mochi
Not sure if it’s my wiimotes, motion sensor, skill issue, etc. but some motions weren’t very responsive or didn’t work at all. How the hell do I move the pot for mochi
My first "real" JRPG, I was having a great time at first but eventually it became a chore to play. I lost about an hour of progress after dying to a boss with no save points and decided to call it quits for good.
I can see it's a great game, just not for me.
I can see it's a great game, just not for me.
Overcooked is a great co-op experience while still being a bit challenging; maybe too challenging at times. The difficulty scaling across levels was all over the place, often my partner and I would scrape by on one level and then crush it the next.
I'm also not a fan of the arcade mode; I wish that we had the option to pick a specific level, not just the theme.
I'm also not a fan of the arcade mode; I wish that we had the option to pick a specific level, not just the theme.
I can’t bring myself to finish this game and I’ll just watch a recap before 8. Yakuza 7 felt like a total chore, which is disappointing because Ichiban is incredibly likeable and his team is one of the best supporting casts in Yakuza.
Y7’s combat suffers from the same repetitive issues that Yakuza’s beat-em-up gameplay supposedly had; exploiting enemy’s weaknesses, and dogpiling them until they stand up. The only difference is you have even less control of your characters and less options for variety in combat since characters only grab objects if they happen to meander over to them.
8 looks like it’ll improve on some of my gripes, so I look forward to trying it on sale.
Y7’s combat suffers from the same repetitive issues that Yakuza’s beat-em-up gameplay supposedly had; exploiting enemy’s weaknesses, and dogpiling them until they stand up. The only difference is you have even less control of your characters and less options for variety in combat since characters only grab objects if they happen to meander over to them.
8 looks like it’ll improve on some of my gripes, so I look forward to trying it on sale.
2011
An incredibly short introduction to the series.
Having played only a little bit of Monkey Ball prior, 3D was pretty disappointing. There’s 80 levels and only the last ~5 are somewhat challenging. 3D also has platform brawler and kart racing minigames but I didn’t care much for those.
Having played only a little bit of Monkey Ball prior, 3D was pretty disappointing. There’s 80 levels and only the last ~5 are somewhat challenging. 3D also has platform brawler and kart racing minigames but I didn’t care much for those.
I enjoyed the new pseudo-open world in Arceus, and it’s apparent that more effort was put into the story and characters. The new combat system and how to catch Pokémon are interesting as well. Overall the game feels like a breath of fresh air.
Unfortunately the game is pretty ugly and the zones are sparse. It seems like the game runs better handheld, with more noticeable framerate issues in the dock. The new combat system is interesting but I think the Attack stat was broken. As long as it was a super effective move I was two-shotting pokemon and getting two-shot with a ten level difference. Sometimes it didn’t even have to be super effective. It seems like everyone was able to do more damage than they should have been able to.
As someone who hasn’t played Pokemon since ORAS, if you like Pokemon you’ll probably like Arceus. It just isn’t worth full price.
Unfortunately the game is pretty ugly and the zones are sparse. It seems like the game runs better handheld, with more noticeable framerate issues in the dock. The new combat system is interesting but I think the Attack stat was broken. As long as it was a super effective move I was two-shotting pokemon and getting two-shot with a ten level difference. Sometimes it didn’t even have to be super effective. It seems like everyone was able to do more damage than they should have been able to.
As someone who hasn’t played Pokemon since ORAS, if you like Pokemon you’ll probably like Arceus. It just isn’t worth full price.
2022
Beautiful game with a ton of detail put into it for car enthusiasts. Unfortunately it’s bogged down by an obnoxious business model designed to get you to spend money as well as weird gameplay decisions.
Always having to play catch-up to first place since almost every race starts you in last or close to last. Leaving it to RNG to just earn the CHANCE to buy a car. Always-online. I get not wanting to make it too easy to buy cars, but I don’t want to grind a racing game.
Always having to play catch-up to first place since almost every race starts you in last or close to last. Leaving it to RNG to just earn the CHANCE to buy a car. Always-online. I get not wanting to make it too easy to buy cars, but I don’t want to grind a racing game.
2007
No More Heroes is a pretty interesting game. The characters and bosses were all super unique and stylish. I enjoyed everything about them(besides fighting them). You do menial chores and hits to raise money for the next boss fight, which is a cool concept in practice. The combat was also pretty fun and satsifying when you get a good flow going. The story is all over the place in a fun way, but unfortunately I stopped caring at the end - probably when it reaches its peak.
I ran out of steam playing No More Heroes around the third to last boss and just wanted it to be over. The chores became a painful grind and the last couple of bosses are sponges that could one-shot you at random. I’ve played Souls games so it’s not a foreign concept to me, but it felt super cheap and frustrating when I played this and I couldn’t wait for it to be over.
If you enjoy hack-n-slashes and have a ton of patience, it’s worth grabbing on sale. Also PLEASE upgrade your stats and weapons! You’ll thank yourself later.
I ran out of steam playing No More Heroes around the third to last boss and just wanted it to be over. The chores became a painful grind and the last couple of bosses are sponges that could one-shot you at random. I’ve played Souls games so it’s not a foreign concept to me, but it felt super cheap and frustrating when I played this and I couldn’t wait for it to be over.
If you enjoy hack-n-slashes and have a ton of patience, it’s worth grabbing on sale. Also PLEASE upgrade your stats and weapons! You’ll thank yourself later.
2012
Great hand to hand combat and a very interesting story. The music was awesome. The biggest drawback for me was the awkward gunfights, Sleeping Dogs was definitely designed to be a beat em up.