J__R
The Callisto Protocol landed on PS Plus at the perfect time for me. I had just finished up some other games and I had been waiting for the price to drop on this because I wanted to try it for myself, despite the less than stellar response it received. So I jumped in straight away and even though it’s derivative and not a perfect game I still ended up having a pretty good time.
The Callisto Protocol was met with a mixed reception which I think was in big part to the wrong expectations. I think people were expecting a literal Dead Space clone, which this game is a ‘spiritual successor’ to, but it’s kind of a different experience. The Callisto Protocol is a very deliberate, focused, linear experience. It’s the type of game that is constantly trying to nudge you forward and doesn’t offer much in the way of exploration or backtracking. It’s also not a straight up third person shooter. It’s more intimate than that and focuses a more on melee than shooting. So if you haven’t played it yet I would recommend throwing your expectations out the window. Go into this open minded, let the game do what it wants to do and try to enjoy it for what it is.
It didn’t make the best first impression on me as I had to get through the agreements and a DLC advertisement before starting but that was quickly forgotten when I was hit with those impressive visuals. Wow, this game looks good. The characters, environments and attention to detail are some of the best I’ve seen. It’s also really graphic and gory. Sound is top notch too and the game works well. I only noticed a few small issues the whole game. (Occasionally a dead enemy limb would go nuts on the ground and a few times I broke some glass and there was no sound to go with it. Enemy and friendly AI aren’t too sharp as well). It is an impressive, polished game that pulls you into its world and atmosphere.
However, despite this it has a big issue, it’s just not scary. The jump scares just do not land. They wash over you while you barely manage to let out a ‘meh’ in response. It gets worse as the game goes on because they keep trying it and it changes from ‘meh’ to ‘this is annoying.’ There is no proper build up or creativity and the game isn’t creepy either. But I think there is something The Callisto Protocol can succeed really well at and that is making the player feel uncomfortable. This game is dirty and gross. The gore is detailed and in your face. The atmosphere is thick, heavy and oppressive. The camera is up close and so is the combat. The way you move feels heavy and deliberate. There are a lot of tight spaces. It’s claustrophobic, intimate and unpleasant. It is not a world you want to be in. Perfect for a horror game and was enjoyable in the worst/best way when playing in the dark without distraction.
So The Callisto Protocol looks and sounds really good and while it may fail at being scary or creepy it succeeds at creating discomfort. But how does it play? I would say it’s like a pizza that doesn’t quite have enough toppings. You walk or run slowly through linear areas, picking up items, stopping to upgrade your gear and sometimes wander into little extra side areas. You can hop over some waist high things, climb up in some spots, crawl through vents and squeeze through tight spots. It’s fine but get’s repetitive and needs variety. I think this game might actually be a bit too long. It feels like the developers were worried about it being too short and decided to pad it out. I don’t want to go in too far to avoid spoilers but there are many bits throughout the game that overstay their welcome. One section in particular is a later part that strongly encourages stealth and it just drags on, especially when the stealth in this game is very basic. I think the game could have been shortened and/or tightened and had some stuff replaced with puzzles (which this game doesn’t have). The other issue is too much lazy stuff we’ve seen a lot before, like – get the power back on, find the keycode, find a fuse, getting separated from the other characters, etc.
I’ve seen the combat be described as simple and just dodging left and right and mashing attack. I think you could play the game this way but you would be doing yourself a disservice and making things more frustrating (Dodging is too simple and should require more timing though). You are meant to be aiming for perfect dodges and you also have a block, counter hit and heavy attack on top of your basic short melee combo. Often after some melee hits you’ll get a chance to do some quick lock on shots with your guns too. Speaking of guns, that’s the other major part of combat. You shoot at enemies like a regular TPS and you can sneak in some shots up close in melee range too. So it becomes about juggling an enemy or small group of enemies by mixing these two killing methods and it’s pretty satisfying. Then on top of this you have a GRP (telekinesis) that can throw objects or enemies and of course there some conveniently placed, but repetitive, gory traps to send foes into. It reminded me a bit of MadWorld (Wii), which is never a bad thing. You also have a limited inventory space, ammo isn’t super common and your telekinesis requires time or an item to recharge. This means you’re forced to mix these three elements (guns, melee and telekinesis) together, with a little stealth thrown in, constantly for the best play experience and it’s not a bad recipe.
Overall I think the gameplay has an enjoyable, solid base and even some sauce and cheese, it just needed some quality toppings. The combat needs a little more strategy. The game needs more enemy variety and more weapon variety – both melee and guns. It should be more demanding when it comes to blocks and dodges. It is a good time, even with repetition setting in too early and some occasional frustration. I think if the developers build on this gameplay in a sequel we could have something special.
The last thing to discuss is the story and it’s just good enough, but nothing to write much about. I think it is typical sci-fi, horror stuff with pretty decent world building. This doesn’t bother me too much for two reasons. First is that it is carried by some really good performances and visuals. Second, this type of experience is also carried more by the atmosphere, moment to moment action and character interactions rather than some bigger narrative and/or deep lore. It’s fleshed out a bit through audio logs found throughout the game and there’s some good environmental story telling. The locations are very detailed and you get a good sense of what the spaces were like and how they were lived in, along with what recently took place there. The biggest sin this game commits as far as I can tell is that the ending is somewhat incomplete and left to the DLC.
The clearly talented developers at Striking Distance Studios didn’t deserve for The Callisto Protocol to be dunked on. I think it deserves a lukewarm to quite positive response, with high hopes for a sequel or follow up. I think if they can push a sequel in the right directions, maybe even make it a survival horror game, then there is the potential here for something exceptional. As The Callisto Protocol currently is, I think it’s a solid, but not top tier horror game and I think I’m going to grab a physical copy for my collection. I’d recommend it to almost all PS Plus subscribers and most big horror fans. For everyone else maybe wait for a bit of a price drop.
7.0/10
Just an extra note:
This review is based on a single normal playthrough but I liked it enough that I’m considering a second run. I haven’t played the other modes or DLC. Also I obviously just played the game more recently so it’s likely that it is in better shape now than it was at launch. I forgot a couple of points too - The bosses are underwhelming and it has a cool photo mode.
The Callisto Protocol was met with a mixed reception which I think was in big part to the wrong expectations. I think people were expecting a literal Dead Space clone, which this game is a ‘spiritual successor’ to, but it’s kind of a different experience. The Callisto Protocol is a very deliberate, focused, linear experience. It’s the type of game that is constantly trying to nudge you forward and doesn’t offer much in the way of exploration or backtracking. It’s also not a straight up third person shooter. It’s more intimate than that and focuses a more on melee than shooting. So if you haven’t played it yet I would recommend throwing your expectations out the window. Go into this open minded, let the game do what it wants to do and try to enjoy it for what it is.
It didn’t make the best first impression on me as I had to get through the agreements and a DLC advertisement before starting but that was quickly forgotten when I was hit with those impressive visuals. Wow, this game looks good. The characters, environments and attention to detail are some of the best I’ve seen. It’s also really graphic and gory. Sound is top notch too and the game works well. I only noticed a few small issues the whole game. (Occasionally a dead enemy limb would go nuts on the ground and a few times I broke some glass and there was no sound to go with it. Enemy and friendly AI aren’t too sharp as well). It is an impressive, polished game that pulls you into its world and atmosphere.
However, despite this it has a big issue, it’s just not scary. The jump scares just do not land. They wash over you while you barely manage to let out a ‘meh’ in response. It gets worse as the game goes on because they keep trying it and it changes from ‘meh’ to ‘this is annoying.’ There is no proper build up or creativity and the game isn’t creepy either. But I think there is something The Callisto Protocol can succeed really well at and that is making the player feel uncomfortable. This game is dirty and gross. The gore is detailed and in your face. The atmosphere is thick, heavy and oppressive. The camera is up close and so is the combat. The way you move feels heavy and deliberate. There are a lot of tight spaces. It’s claustrophobic, intimate and unpleasant. It is not a world you want to be in. Perfect for a horror game and was enjoyable in the worst/best way when playing in the dark without distraction.
So The Callisto Protocol looks and sounds really good and while it may fail at being scary or creepy it succeeds at creating discomfort. But how does it play? I would say it’s like a pizza that doesn’t quite have enough toppings. You walk or run slowly through linear areas, picking up items, stopping to upgrade your gear and sometimes wander into little extra side areas. You can hop over some waist high things, climb up in some spots, crawl through vents and squeeze through tight spots. It’s fine but get’s repetitive and needs variety. I think this game might actually be a bit too long. It feels like the developers were worried about it being too short and decided to pad it out. I don’t want to go in too far to avoid spoilers but there are many bits throughout the game that overstay their welcome. One section in particular is a later part that strongly encourages stealth and it just drags on, especially when the stealth in this game is very basic. I think the game could have been shortened and/or tightened and had some stuff replaced with puzzles (which this game doesn’t have). The other issue is too much lazy stuff we’ve seen a lot before, like – get the power back on, find the keycode, find a fuse, getting separated from the other characters, etc.
I’ve seen the combat be described as simple and just dodging left and right and mashing attack. I think you could play the game this way but you would be doing yourself a disservice and making things more frustrating (Dodging is too simple and should require more timing though). You are meant to be aiming for perfect dodges and you also have a block, counter hit and heavy attack on top of your basic short melee combo. Often after some melee hits you’ll get a chance to do some quick lock on shots with your guns too. Speaking of guns, that’s the other major part of combat. You shoot at enemies like a regular TPS and you can sneak in some shots up close in melee range too. So it becomes about juggling an enemy or small group of enemies by mixing these two killing methods and it’s pretty satisfying. Then on top of this you have a GRP (telekinesis) that can throw objects or enemies and of course there some conveniently placed, but repetitive, gory traps to send foes into. It reminded me a bit of MadWorld (Wii), which is never a bad thing. You also have a limited inventory space, ammo isn’t super common and your telekinesis requires time or an item to recharge. This means you’re forced to mix these three elements (guns, melee and telekinesis) together, with a little stealth thrown in, constantly for the best play experience and it’s not a bad recipe.
Overall I think the gameplay has an enjoyable, solid base and even some sauce and cheese, it just needed some quality toppings. The combat needs a little more strategy. The game needs more enemy variety and more weapon variety – both melee and guns. It should be more demanding when it comes to blocks and dodges. It is a good time, even with repetition setting in too early and some occasional frustration. I think if the developers build on this gameplay in a sequel we could have something special.
The last thing to discuss is the story and it’s just good enough, but nothing to write much about. I think it is typical sci-fi, horror stuff with pretty decent world building. This doesn’t bother me too much for two reasons. First is that it is carried by some really good performances and visuals. Second, this type of experience is also carried more by the atmosphere, moment to moment action and character interactions rather than some bigger narrative and/or deep lore. It’s fleshed out a bit through audio logs found throughout the game and there’s some good environmental story telling. The locations are very detailed and you get a good sense of what the spaces were like and how they were lived in, along with what recently took place there. The biggest sin this game commits as far as I can tell is that the ending is somewhat incomplete and left to the DLC.
The clearly talented developers at Striking Distance Studios didn’t deserve for The Callisto Protocol to be dunked on. I think it deserves a lukewarm to quite positive response, with high hopes for a sequel or follow up. I think if they can push a sequel in the right directions, maybe even make it a survival horror game, then there is the potential here for something exceptional. As The Callisto Protocol currently is, I think it’s a solid, but not top tier horror game and I think I’m going to grab a physical copy for my collection. I’d recommend it to almost all PS Plus subscribers and most big horror fans. For everyone else maybe wait for a bit of a price drop.
7.0/10
Just an extra note:
This review is based on a single normal playthrough but I liked it enough that I’m considering a second run. I haven’t played the other modes or DLC. Also I obviously just played the game more recently so it’s likely that it is in better shape now than it was at launch. I forgot a couple of points too - The bosses are underwhelming and it has a cool photo mode.
Here’s my review/rant about Separate Ways and Resident Evil 4 2023 as a whole. Before I start I want to make it clear that this DLC is fun, polished and worth playing.
Why is this paid DLC? It should have been part of the package at launch just like the Mercenaries mode and all the content for it. At least Capcom didn’t charge that much for it I guess. It seems very deliberate to me. Staggering the release of the games content helps keep the game relevant, gets everyone talking about the game again and helps sales. It also gave them an opportunity to slip in those little microtransactions that are ‘pay to make the game easier’ on top of the day one stuff that was already there. I guess the next step will be to release the Game of the Year or Gold Edition. Now that this content is only available digitally Separate Ways and the Mercenaries mode will potentially disappear at some point. Unless it’s on the actual disc of the next edition released; does that mean I have to buy this again if I always want access to it? It all seems pretty gross for a full priced, single player game, which should be completely enjoyable without an internet connection. I’m guessing by the reaction that we’re all just numb to this now. I can’t talk too much though; I paid for it and played it too.
Why did a bunch of the cut moments/set pieces/bosses of the main campaign end up here? (Still plenty of stuff missing) They took things from the main campaign, which weakened that experience, and put it in Ada’s campaign to strengthen it. Awful decision, why not, I don’t know this might sound crazy, make new, amazing, memorable moments just for Ada, which her character definitely deserves.
Speaking of Ada, what did they do to her? Ada was once a cool, scene stealing character, despite not seeing that much of her. Leon can spend all day jumping out windows and suplexing dudes with a smirk on his face and a great line up his sleeve but as soon as Ada enters he is no longer the biggest badass on screen. Ada always came across as one of the smarter Resident Evil characters (maybe that’s not saying much but it’s meant to be a compliment). Maybe she couldn’t win a straight up fight against Leon but she’s always two steps ahead. This new Ada is just fine; she’s okay, kind of cool but a big step down.
Lily Gao can’t pull off this character. I can’t believe I need to mention it but this is no reason to harass her or say anything derogatory about her as a person and that is not okay. Let’s keep the criticisms to the work. It isn’t even her fault. She didn’t cast herself, she didn’t make most of the voice direction decisions, and she didn’t write this story or dialogue. It’s disappointing but not awful.
Where’s Krauser? Where’s the ship? Why is Wesker here in person? This game is meant to be linear but it feels super linear and scripted too. I think this comes down to many small areas being unnecessary blocked off, Ada using her grapple gun to get around and it seems built to encourage more stealth (why?). Why am I tracking footprints? - just what I wanted in Resident Evil 4. The Black Robe is a bit lame, even if parts concerning him are a nod to older versions of RE4 we never got. He comes across as padding and the final fight with him is underwhelming. The dull, pointless, run time padding Merchant missions and the goofy yellow paint make their triumphant return, yay!
Alright let’s talk about the good because there’s still plenty to like here. You get to play as Ada and her grapple gun is fun, even if you don’t have any freedom in how or where it’s used. Luis gets more screen time, which is great to see and I think I heard some returning music. There are more documents to find and more lore gets added. As you play through there are constant nods to what is going with Leon’s campaign at that time and there’s also some nods to other Resident Evil games. It’s fun enough, replayable and looks and works just as good as the main game.
Even though it is more fleshed out, it’s still such a missed opportunity. This was a chance to make Separate Ways something way better and more substantial.
This DLC has just further cemented how disappointing the whole Resident Evil 4 re-imagining is. Don’t get me wrong it is undeniably fun, polished and worth playing. I would still buy it again although if I had the chance I might have waited for a ‘complete edition.’ However this new Resident Evil 4 is a great example of what’s wrong with current AAA gaming. It is so damn safe and will forever live in the enormous shadow cast by the original too. Capcom did not want to take the risk of doing a remake or re-imagining that kept the original games controls, gameplay, tone, sense of fun and style. They also did not want to take the risk of creating a bold, fresh new take on Resident Evil 4. They gave us something safe, comfortable, and enjoyable enough without really being special and it looks like the majority stood up and cheered; calling it a masterpiece and a 10/10. It makes me sad but hopefully after some time has passed people will come back and re-evaluate this game. I’m in a torn place right now because this is enjoyable, fun and replayable. It does give these characters a different way to shine and there’s stuff here that I like. But I cannot shake this deep disappointment I feel and I don’t see myself revisiting this.
I’m really concerned about the future. Capcom has provided a perfect lesson here on how to take a GOAT and turn it into 7/10 game with microtransactions and get praised for it. AAA games are already pretty much, with some exceptions, just 6 or 7 out of 10 games with high production values, that’s if they aren’t broken, buggy and/or riddled with microtransactions. What if the Silent Hill 2 remake comes out and it’s a neutered, inferior version of that game and the majority loves it. What if we see a wave of re-imaginings that are just better looking but rounded down, blander versions of classics and people praise it. The lack of respect or understanding I see for older games, gameplay and design is really starting to bother me. I’m sorry but video games, game design, mechanics and style has not been getting better year after year. In fact I’d say it’s stagnated or even gotten worse in a lot of ways.
The best thing about Resident Evil 4 2023 is it further highlights just how good the original is. The fact that a changed, neutered, toned down version of Resident Evil 4 is still this fun just shows how damn strong the original is. Maybe I should just be quiet, lie down and be grateful for what we got because this could have turned out a lot worse - my condolences to all the really big Resident Evil 3 fans out there.
I don’t know maybe I’ve just become old and have started yelling ‘things were better in my day.’
7.8/10 for the whole Resident Evil 4 2023 re-imagining package.
Why is this paid DLC? It should have been part of the package at launch just like the Mercenaries mode and all the content for it. At least Capcom didn’t charge that much for it I guess. It seems very deliberate to me. Staggering the release of the games content helps keep the game relevant, gets everyone talking about the game again and helps sales. It also gave them an opportunity to slip in those little microtransactions that are ‘pay to make the game easier’ on top of the day one stuff that was already there. I guess the next step will be to release the Game of the Year or Gold Edition. Now that this content is only available digitally Separate Ways and the Mercenaries mode will potentially disappear at some point. Unless it’s on the actual disc of the next edition released; does that mean I have to buy this again if I always want access to it? It all seems pretty gross for a full priced, single player game, which should be completely enjoyable without an internet connection. I’m guessing by the reaction that we’re all just numb to this now. I can’t talk too much though; I paid for it and played it too.
Why did a bunch of the cut moments/set pieces/bosses of the main campaign end up here? (Still plenty of stuff missing) They took things from the main campaign, which weakened that experience, and put it in Ada’s campaign to strengthen it. Awful decision, why not, I don’t know this might sound crazy, make new, amazing, memorable moments just for Ada, which her character definitely deserves.
Speaking of Ada, what did they do to her? Ada was once a cool, scene stealing character, despite not seeing that much of her. Leon can spend all day jumping out windows and suplexing dudes with a smirk on his face and a great line up his sleeve but as soon as Ada enters he is no longer the biggest badass on screen. Ada always came across as one of the smarter Resident Evil characters (maybe that’s not saying much but it’s meant to be a compliment). Maybe she couldn’t win a straight up fight against Leon but she’s always two steps ahead. This new Ada is just fine; she’s okay, kind of cool but a big step down.
Lily Gao can’t pull off this character. I can’t believe I need to mention it but this is no reason to harass her or say anything derogatory about her as a person and that is not okay. Let’s keep the criticisms to the work. It isn’t even her fault. She didn’t cast herself, she didn’t make most of the voice direction decisions, and she didn’t write this story or dialogue. It’s disappointing but not awful.
Where’s Krauser? Where’s the ship? Why is Wesker here in person? This game is meant to be linear but it feels super linear and scripted too. I think this comes down to many small areas being unnecessary blocked off, Ada using her grapple gun to get around and it seems built to encourage more stealth (why?). Why am I tracking footprints? - just what I wanted in Resident Evil 4. The Black Robe is a bit lame, even if parts concerning him are a nod to older versions of RE4 we never got. He comes across as padding and the final fight with him is underwhelming. The dull, pointless, run time padding Merchant missions and the goofy yellow paint make their triumphant return, yay!
Alright let’s talk about the good because there’s still plenty to like here. You get to play as Ada and her grapple gun is fun, even if you don’t have any freedom in how or where it’s used. Luis gets more screen time, which is great to see and I think I heard some returning music. There are more documents to find and more lore gets added. As you play through there are constant nods to what is going with Leon’s campaign at that time and there’s also some nods to other Resident Evil games. It’s fun enough, replayable and looks and works just as good as the main game.
Even though it is more fleshed out, it’s still such a missed opportunity. This was a chance to make Separate Ways something way better and more substantial.
This DLC has just further cemented how disappointing the whole Resident Evil 4 re-imagining is. Don’t get me wrong it is undeniably fun, polished and worth playing. I would still buy it again although if I had the chance I might have waited for a ‘complete edition.’ However this new Resident Evil 4 is a great example of what’s wrong with current AAA gaming. It is so damn safe and will forever live in the enormous shadow cast by the original too. Capcom did not want to take the risk of doing a remake or re-imagining that kept the original games controls, gameplay, tone, sense of fun and style. They also did not want to take the risk of creating a bold, fresh new take on Resident Evil 4. They gave us something safe, comfortable, and enjoyable enough without really being special and it looks like the majority stood up and cheered; calling it a masterpiece and a 10/10. It makes me sad but hopefully after some time has passed people will come back and re-evaluate this game. I’m in a torn place right now because this is enjoyable, fun and replayable. It does give these characters a different way to shine and there’s stuff here that I like. But I cannot shake this deep disappointment I feel and I don’t see myself revisiting this.
I’m really concerned about the future. Capcom has provided a perfect lesson here on how to take a GOAT and turn it into 7/10 game with microtransactions and get praised for it. AAA games are already pretty much, with some exceptions, just 6 or 7 out of 10 games with high production values, that’s if they aren’t broken, buggy and/or riddled with microtransactions. What if the Silent Hill 2 remake comes out and it’s a neutered, inferior version of that game and the majority loves it. What if we see a wave of re-imaginings that are just better looking but rounded down, blander versions of classics and people praise it. The lack of respect or understanding I see for older games, gameplay and design is really starting to bother me. I’m sorry but video games, game design, mechanics and style has not been getting better year after year. In fact I’d say it’s stagnated or even gotten worse in a lot of ways.
The best thing about Resident Evil 4 2023 is it further highlights just how good the original is. The fact that a changed, neutered, toned down version of Resident Evil 4 is still this fun just shows how damn strong the original is. Maybe I should just be quiet, lie down and be grateful for what we got because this could have turned out a lot worse - my condolences to all the really big Resident Evil 3 fans out there.
I don’t know maybe I’ve just become old and have started yelling ‘things were better in my day.’
7.8/10 for the whole Resident Evil 4 2023 re-imagining package.
2022
Valkyrie Elysium was a pleasant surprise and is an interesting game too. On one hand it is a lower budget, action RPG, published by Square Enix and is part of the Valkyrie franchise. On the other hand it is a, sort of, character action game, with some quirks, developed by Soleil, that has a shorter than expected run time.
The first thing you’ll notice is how this game looks. It has some beautiful art work but is lower budget and looks kind of bland at first. However as you progress through the game and visit more areas you begin to see a lot of beauty in this dying world. The character, boss and enemy designs are good, even if the enemies are reused too often. Fighting mostly looks very flashy and smooth. I ended up enjoying the look of this game quite a bit and think it creates the right mood and atmosphere. It has a pleasant soundtrack that fits the world and tone of the game too. Everything worked pretty smoothly for me but there are a couple of visual issues. Sometimes when there is a lot going on, the screen is just a mess of things with too much happening. Then there is the camera, do yourself a favour and never go near a wall or corner. This camera was never meant to work in tight spaces but for some reason there are indoor fights.
Valkyrie Elysium’s story starts off kind of bland too but thankfully begins to pick up once you start meeting some of your companions called Einherjar. These companions are a highlight and bring some much needed heart and personality to the game. It’s really worth doing their subquests and viewing their memories. I wish I could say the same about the rest of the subquests but they really don’t add much and aren’t worth your time, outside making you stronger. The world, lore and story build as you progress but it doesn’t truly get going until the last third. You play as a Valkyrie working for Odin and you are tasked with trying to save the world. I won’t say more than that but it does get more complex and I enjoyed it. There are also multiple endings with a true ending. It’s all worth seeing not just for the story but the fights too. If you enjoy the story and characters at all then push through to the true end, I recommend it.
The gameplay, despite a good tutorial, yep you guessed it, also starts of a bit bland before getting really fun. Making your way through locations is very straight forward. Areas are linear with some side areas/paths to find collectables, items and extra fights. Occasionally your Einherjar with have to use an ability so you can progress and there’s some basic platforming. There is your usual RPG stuff – numbers go up, skills to unlock, multiple weapons to use and gain proficiency in, runes to attach to those weapons for different increases and items to use. It could have maybe used some puzzles and more complex platforming but on the other hand this game knows what it’s about and that is the story, characters, atmosphere and combat.
Combat in this game probably surprised many that bothered to learn it and experiment a little. It blends RPG stuff with hack n slash. You have to cast magic of different elements, summon the right Einherjar and use the right weapon to hit enemy weaknesses. Do this enough and they’ll be crushed (staggered) and you get much quicker kills. While doing this you need to be hacking your way through enemies with somewhat basic combos and moves. You’ve also got a soul chain which works like a grapple gun thing that pulls you towards enemies. There’s a bunch of important skills and upgrades to unlock and put to good use like chained attack, soul burst (charged attack), counter, parry, quick evade, double evade, precision guard, ranged attack, soul steal, reversal, automatic summons, finishers and stat boosts. Combine this with the fact that you can also do a lot of this in the air too, seriously, summons, and magic, combos and soul chain in the air. You can jump up hit a combo, and then jump again because you get a double jump, hit another combo, fling yourself to the next enemy and keep those attacks coming. You’ll be ripping yourself around from enemy to enemy, whether on the ground or in the air, dodging attacks, while not forgetting to also be using the correct magic and summons and raking up huge hit counts. The game rewards you for keeping up your pace up and being aggressive. Attacks refill your magic and killing enemies will give you drops that refill health and soul for summons. It works well and is damn fun but it’s not without some issues.
I already mentioned the camera and that the screen can get too busy at times. The difficulty is too easy right up until it’s suddenly not. The regular enemies are often too easy to get through but then a boss or special fight will happen and all of a sudden the game demands you know what you’re doing. This makes for uneven experience with things getting tiresome after too many waves of normal opponents and has you constantly wanting those more interesting fights. It could be worth playing on hard difficulty if you’re really comfortable with this type of game. The items are useless most of the time as they just aren’t needed and you get penalised for using them. Also the game gives you so much to use against your foes that it would be nice to be able to have more things equipped at once. It’s still a great time though for about 15 to 20+ hours depending on how much you choose to do. You can enjoy it even longer than that with replays, plus there’s also been a free update with more content. Hilde’s vengeance is a side mode for one of the characters, Seraphic Gate offers some extra challenges and there is a new harder difficulty too.
I think Valkyrie Elysium could strike a very sweet spot for many people. It’s an action RPG without the length and some of the time wasting stuff. It’s sort of a character action game without being as full on and with a longer run time then what those games usually offer. Its story and gameplay are enjoyable once they get going and the soundtrack and visuals tie everything together into a worthy package. It’s also likely to be very reasonably priced by now too. I think Valkyrie Elysium does enough right that I would consider it a hidden gem and I’d recommend giving it a chance.
7.4/10
The first thing you’ll notice is how this game looks. It has some beautiful art work but is lower budget and looks kind of bland at first. However as you progress through the game and visit more areas you begin to see a lot of beauty in this dying world. The character, boss and enemy designs are good, even if the enemies are reused too often. Fighting mostly looks very flashy and smooth. I ended up enjoying the look of this game quite a bit and think it creates the right mood and atmosphere. It has a pleasant soundtrack that fits the world and tone of the game too. Everything worked pretty smoothly for me but there are a couple of visual issues. Sometimes when there is a lot going on, the screen is just a mess of things with too much happening. Then there is the camera, do yourself a favour and never go near a wall or corner. This camera was never meant to work in tight spaces but for some reason there are indoor fights.
Valkyrie Elysium’s story starts off kind of bland too but thankfully begins to pick up once you start meeting some of your companions called Einherjar. These companions are a highlight and bring some much needed heart and personality to the game. It’s really worth doing their subquests and viewing their memories. I wish I could say the same about the rest of the subquests but they really don’t add much and aren’t worth your time, outside making you stronger. The world, lore and story build as you progress but it doesn’t truly get going until the last third. You play as a Valkyrie working for Odin and you are tasked with trying to save the world. I won’t say more than that but it does get more complex and I enjoyed it. There are also multiple endings with a true ending. It’s all worth seeing not just for the story but the fights too. If you enjoy the story and characters at all then push through to the true end, I recommend it.
The gameplay, despite a good tutorial, yep you guessed it, also starts of a bit bland before getting really fun. Making your way through locations is very straight forward. Areas are linear with some side areas/paths to find collectables, items and extra fights. Occasionally your Einherjar with have to use an ability so you can progress and there’s some basic platforming. There is your usual RPG stuff – numbers go up, skills to unlock, multiple weapons to use and gain proficiency in, runes to attach to those weapons for different increases and items to use. It could have maybe used some puzzles and more complex platforming but on the other hand this game knows what it’s about and that is the story, characters, atmosphere and combat.
Combat in this game probably surprised many that bothered to learn it and experiment a little. It blends RPG stuff with hack n slash. You have to cast magic of different elements, summon the right Einherjar and use the right weapon to hit enemy weaknesses. Do this enough and they’ll be crushed (staggered) and you get much quicker kills. While doing this you need to be hacking your way through enemies with somewhat basic combos and moves. You’ve also got a soul chain which works like a grapple gun thing that pulls you towards enemies. There’s a bunch of important skills and upgrades to unlock and put to good use like chained attack, soul burst (charged attack), counter, parry, quick evade, double evade, precision guard, ranged attack, soul steal, reversal, automatic summons, finishers and stat boosts. Combine this with the fact that you can also do a lot of this in the air too, seriously, summons, and magic, combos and soul chain in the air. You can jump up hit a combo, and then jump again because you get a double jump, hit another combo, fling yourself to the next enemy and keep those attacks coming. You’ll be ripping yourself around from enemy to enemy, whether on the ground or in the air, dodging attacks, while not forgetting to also be using the correct magic and summons and raking up huge hit counts. The game rewards you for keeping up your pace up and being aggressive. Attacks refill your magic and killing enemies will give you drops that refill health and soul for summons. It works well and is damn fun but it’s not without some issues.
I already mentioned the camera and that the screen can get too busy at times. The difficulty is too easy right up until it’s suddenly not. The regular enemies are often too easy to get through but then a boss or special fight will happen and all of a sudden the game demands you know what you’re doing. This makes for uneven experience with things getting tiresome after too many waves of normal opponents and has you constantly wanting those more interesting fights. It could be worth playing on hard difficulty if you’re really comfortable with this type of game. The items are useless most of the time as they just aren’t needed and you get penalised for using them. Also the game gives you so much to use against your foes that it would be nice to be able to have more things equipped at once. It’s still a great time though for about 15 to 20+ hours depending on how much you choose to do. You can enjoy it even longer than that with replays, plus there’s also been a free update with more content. Hilde’s vengeance is a side mode for one of the characters, Seraphic Gate offers some extra challenges and there is a new harder difficulty too.
I think Valkyrie Elysium could strike a very sweet spot for many people. It’s an action RPG without the length and some of the time wasting stuff. It’s sort of a character action game without being as full on and with a longer run time then what those games usually offer. Its story and gameplay are enjoyable once they get going and the soundtrack and visuals tie everything together into a worthy package. It’s also likely to be very reasonably priced by now too. I think Valkyrie Elysium does enough right that I would consider it a hidden gem and I’d recommend giving it a chance.
7.4/10
2023
F-Zero 99 hits you with two doses of nostalgia straight out the gate. As soon as you fire it up you get the first dose from those familiar visuals and sounds. Then the second dose hits after a few races when you realize that this reminds you of the fun Death Race mode from F-Zero X. However, despite this healthy hit of nostalgia the game also feels fresh. F-Zero 99 may not be the F-Zero many were hoping for but it’s still a really good game.
F-Zero 99 plays how you would expect. You need to learn those tracks, know when to back off the acceleration, when to slide and when to boost. You need to time those spins because you can’t spam it. You need to nail those corners and keep that speed up. You have some control over the vehicles flight and landing too. It’s the same fast, slick racing you remember that rewards skill and practice. Only now this has been combined with the chaos and a little strategy of having 99 racers pushing hard for top spot.
At times things can be an absolute mess as you get smashed around the track by all the other racers and the tricky course itself. It sucks to receive a good bump and then get caught up in a shit storm which drops you back many places. It sucks to blow up just before the finish. But god damn do those top 10 finishes feel good. Weaving your way through the chaos and picking up places is rewarding. So is delivering your own good bump or getting a KO. KOs also get you a health increase. There’s also that bit of strategy I mentioned. You need to manage your health with boosting as it’s the same bar. You need to collect the little super sparks and hit golden vehicles to fill a meter to get that skyway, which means not always driving on the fastest or safest line. Choosing when to activate that skyway, so you can safely cruise above the competition, is important too as you can skip by the most chaotic parts of the track. Another important thing to consider is when to hang back a bit or when to push hard or when to be defensive. The whole thing is just good, satisfying fun, even when things haven’t gone your way. It has that very strong ‘just one more go’ energy.
Hopefully this game continues to exist with good support because I can see myself having at least a few races almost every time I turn on my Switch for a long time. I am also hopeful that this may lead to Nintendo finally giving us an F-Zero GX remaster or remake or a totally new game in this deserving series. My only real issues are it needs more content and Nintendo is going to have to find a way to keep it fresh so people keep coming back. If you can access F-Zero 99 there is no reason not to try it.
8.2/10 (for now)
F-Zero 99 plays how you would expect. You need to learn those tracks, know when to back off the acceleration, when to slide and when to boost. You need to time those spins because you can’t spam it. You need to nail those corners and keep that speed up. You have some control over the vehicles flight and landing too. It’s the same fast, slick racing you remember that rewards skill and practice. Only now this has been combined with the chaos and a little strategy of having 99 racers pushing hard for top spot.
At times things can be an absolute mess as you get smashed around the track by all the other racers and the tricky course itself. It sucks to receive a good bump and then get caught up in a shit storm which drops you back many places. It sucks to blow up just before the finish. But god damn do those top 10 finishes feel good. Weaving your way through the chaos and picking up places is rewarding. So is delivering your own good bump or getting a KO. KOs also get you a health increase. There’s also that bit of strategy I mentioned. You need to manage your health with boosting as it’s the same bar. You need to collect the little super sparks and hit golden vehicles to fill a meter to get that skyway, which means not always driving on the fastest or safest line. Choosing when to activate that skyway, so you can safely cruise above the competition, is important too as you can skip by the most chaotic parts of the track. Another important thing to consider is when to hang back a bit or when to push hard or when to be defensive. The whole thing is just good, satisfying fun, even when things haven’t gone your way. It has that very strong ‘just one more go’ energy.
Hopefully this game continues to exist with good support because I can see myself having at least a few races almost every time I turn on my Switch for a long time. I am also hopeful that this may lead to Nintendo finally giving us an F-Zero GX remaster or remake or a totally new game in this deserving series. My only real issues are it needs more content and Nintendo is going to have to find a way to keep it fresh so people keep coming back. If you can access F-Zero 99 there is no reason not to try it.
8.2/10 (for now)
Maybe one day I will write a proper review of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. A lot has already been said about this game as well though so for now I’m just going to leave these ramblings.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time is one of the most important games ever and is considered the best of all time by many for good reason. I think it might be one of the greatest hero’s journeys humans have ever created. It’s also a great coming of age/facing adulthood experience too. There’s a reason why, even if you have never played it before, if you play it today for the first time ever it will still feel nostalgic.
The gameplay and controls were an important breakthrough and a stand out for the time. It left an influence that can still be seen today, I think pretty much all 3D action/adventure games since owe this game. It still holds up too and is great to play now. It’s great game design and ridiculously impressive when you remember it was Nintendo’s first go at a 3D Zelda.
Visually it was breath taking at the time and surprisingly holds up really well for an earlier 3D game. It doesn’t matter how much graphics have improved since it has a great art style and so much charm and atmosphere.
The soundtrack is phenomenal and I would happily throw out entire, well known and liked game franchises to keep it. And those classic sounds, like opening a chest or finding a secret, god damn, so good.
It has one of the best beginnings to any game ever as well. The opening cinematic is great and the village and Deku tree work as a perfect tutorial. By the time you run out onto Hyrule Field the game has perfectly introduced you to the world, the story and gameplay and filled you with wonder and anticipation. The great pacing continues throughout as well.
There are some flaws though, I’m not completely blind. Navi can be annoying and the owl is way to chatty but nostalgia has rounded off this problem. It’s also too easy, although I didn’t think this as a kid. There is also some quality of life improvements needed, like being able to change items/equipment quicker. It has this weird issue too, were at times the game can feel too hand hold-y but then lean more obtuse at other times.
I think this game is pretty much as good as it could possibly be when you factor in the limitations of the time and the N64 hardware.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time blew me away as a kid when it was new and I played it a lot. I played it again as a teen and fell in love and developed a deeper appreciation for it. I played it again as an adult and it solidified its place as the best, even if there are other games I like more. I revisited it again more recently and I still love it. I will be playing this game at least every ten years until they bury me.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time was one of the key games that made me fall in love with this medium. I think it might be time to do another play through.
9.8/10
Zelda: Ocarina of Time is one of the most important games ever and is considered the best of all time by many for good reason. I think it might be one of the greatest hero’s journeys humans have ever created. It’s also a great coming of age/facing adulthood experience too. There’s a reason why, even if you have never played it before, if you play it today for the first time ever it will still feel nostalgic.
The gameplay and controls were an important breakthrough and a stand out for the time. It left an influence that can still be seen today, I think pretty much all 3D action/adventure games since owe this game. It still holds up too and is great to play now. It’s great game design and ridiculously impressive when you remember it was Nintendo’s first go at a 3D Zelda.
Visually it was breath taking at the time and surprisingly holds up really well for an earlier 3D game. It doesn’t matter how much graphics have improved since it has a great art style and so much charm and atmosphere.
The soundtrack is phenomenal and I would happily throw out entire, well known and liked game franchises to keep it. And those classic sounds, like opening a chest or finding a secret, god damn, so good.
It has one of the best beginnings to any game ever as well. The opening cinematic is great and the village and Deku tree work as a perfect tutorial. By the time you run out onto Hyrule Field the game has perfectly introduced you to the world, the story and gameplay and filled you with wonder and anticipation. The great pacing continues throughout as well.
There are some flaws though, I’m not completely blind. Navi can be annoying and the owl is way to chatty but nostalgia has rounded off this problem. It’s also too easy, although I didn’t think this as a kid. There is also some quality of life improvements needed, like being able to change items/equipment quicker. It has this weird issue too, were at times the game can feel too hand hold-y but then lean more obtuse at other times.
I think this game is pretty much as good as it could possibly be when you factor in the limitations of the time and the N64 hardware.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time blew me away as a kid when it was new and I played it a lot. I played it again as a teen and fell in love and developed a deeper appreciation for it. I played it again as an adult and it solidified its place as the best, even if there are other games I like more. I revisited it again more recently and I still love it. I will be playing this game at least every ten years until they bury me.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time was one of the key games that made me fall in love with this medium. I think it might be time to do another play through.
9.8/10
2018
God of War (2018) is a really good game but it’s hard to not be cynical, disappointed, frustrated and annoyed. This is what happens when you put presentation and story above gameplay and player experience.
First of all I have to say that anyone that ever said anything like ‘God of War is grown up now’ or ‘God of War is now mature’ has a bad memory, didn’t play the older games or is being dishonest. Second, why is this a God of War game with Kratos? I get that using that name and character brings some history, depth and built in fan base but this could have been its own new IP with new characters. We all know how much the AAA gaming industry likes to take risks so of course they are rebooting something instead. Third, why the hell is this being considered as one of the greatest games of all time and getting such high praise? God of War is the perfect game to pair with popcorn and soda. It is a blockbuster game – big budget, fun, highly polished but kind of shallow and not really special, amazing or interesting. If God of War is peak gaming then are good super hero movies peak film?
Let’s get the obvious out the way this game has really high production values. It looks and sounds excellent and made my PS4 Pro roar like a jet. The voice acting, sound effects and music is great. Everything is highly polished but it’s not that interesting. I’m not a big fan of the games art direction, a lot of the environments feel very similar and level design is kind of bland. It mostly loses the original God of War trilogy’s personality, variety, epicness, scale, over the top action and gore.
The story is fine but left me a bit cold. It starts off okay, although too slowly, and it ends well. However the majority of the game is just meh. I didn’t connect with things at all and wasn’t interested in the characters. Don’t get me wrong there were some good moments, humour and I liked seeing their take on the Norse mythology, unfortunately though it’s mostly forgettable and this why the ending probably didn’t hit as it was intended to for me. Also Atreus is annoying.
The game play has some problems and choices I just don’t get and didn’t enjoy. The commitment to the camera and the close over the shoulder view just doesn’t work for the gameplay. Not being able to see what you need too isn’t fun and it gets even worse in close spaces or near walls. Why can’t Kratos jump? It removes verticality from level design and combat and means platforming is just put in the bin. Kratos climbs so slowly too. Puzzles are underwhelming. The difficulty curve is poor with spongy enemies at first and then things just get too easy. There is all this different stuff to find and so much for Kratos to equip. Why is this crap even here, what does it add other than monotony and padding? I do like the way combat feels. The axe is fun and it hits hard. Everything feels like it has great weight and momentum to it. It doesn’t reward you for playing well though and starts to feel like you’re just going through the motions before the games end.
I think the original God of War trilogy is better than this and enjoyed those older games a lot more. It’s sad to see God of War lose its personality and uniqueness and become another big, homogeneous, cinematic, story driven, single player experience like the others by Sony. For me God of War (2018) is kind of forgettable and doesn’t have any replay value. Of course it is a delight for your eyes and ears. Of course it is impressive. Of course it is enjoyable, worth playing and I recommend it. But it is definitely not top shelf gaming or deserving of a place next to the all time greats.
7.8/10
First of all I have to say that anyone that ever said anything like ‘God of War is grown up now’ or ‘God of War is now mature’ has a bad memory, didn’t play the older games or is being dishonest. Second, why is this a God of War game with Kratos? I get that using that name and character brings some history, depth and built in fan base but this could have been its own new IP with new characters. We all know how much the AAA gaming industry likes to take risks so of course they are rebooting something instead. Third, why the hell is this being considered as one of the greatest games of all time and getting such high praise? God of War is the perfect game to pair with popcorn and soda. It is a blockbuster game – big budget, fun, highly polished but kind of shallow and not really special, amazing or interesting. If God of War is peak gaming then are good super hero movies peak film?
Let’s get the obvious out the way this game has really high production values. It looks and sounds excellent and made my PS4 Pro roar like a jet. The voice acting, sound effects and music is great. Everything is highly polished but it’s not that interesting. I’m not a big fan of the games art direction, a lot of the environments feel very similar and level design is kind of bland. It mostly loses the original God of War trilogy’s personality, variety, epicness, scale, over the top action and gore.
The story is fine but left me a bit cold. It starts off okay, although too slowly, and it ends well. However the majority of the game is just meh. I didn’t connect with things at all and wasn’t interested in the characters. Don’t get me wrong there were some good moments, humour and I liked seeing their take on the Norse mythology, unfortunately though it’s mostly forgettable and this why the ending probably didn’t hit as it was intended to for me. Also Atreus is annoying.
The game play has some problems and choices I just don’t get and didn’t enjoy. The commitment to the camera and the close over the shoulder view just doesn’t work for the gameplay. Not being able to see what you need too isn’t fun and it gets even worse in close spaces or near walls. Why can’t Kratos jump? It removes verticality from level design and combat and means platforming is just put in the bin. Kratos climbs so slowly too. Puzzles are underwhelming. The difficulty curve is poor with spongy enemies at first and then things just get too easy. There is all this different stuff to find and so much for Kratos to equip. Why is this crap even here, what does it add other than monotony and padding? I do like the way combat feels. The axe is fun and it hits hard. Everything feels like it has great weight and momentum to it. It doesn’t reward you for playing well though and starts to feel like you’re just going through the motions before the games end.
I think the original God of War trilogy is better than this and enjoyed those older games a lot more. It’s sad to see God of War lose its personality and uniqueness and become another big, homogeneous, cinematic, story driven, single player experience like the others by Sony. For me God of War (2018) is kind of forgettable and doesn’t have any replay value. Of course it is a delight for your eyes and ears. Of course it is impressive. Of course it is enjoyable, worth playing and I recommend it. But it is definitely not top shelf gaming or deserving of a place next to the all time greats.
7.8/10
This review is going to be blunt and straight to the point. Marvel's Spider-Man is about as deep as a creek. It’s a very pretty and polished creek that I had fun splashing around in. But it’s still just a creek.
Web slinging and combat is basic. Good looking but dull open world with a list chores to complete. It’s bloated and too long. Story and characters are just fine but not memorable. You can’t really blame Insomniac though. With a character this important and a budget this big it is not surprising they played it safe and kept things a bit bland and easy. They would have had people watching this game very closely and people would have been breathing down their neck if anything went wrong.
It is still a fine game with many moments of fun. The action sequences and cut scenes are well done. As I said it is highly polished and looks good. I can’t lie as well there is something about these bland open world checklist/collectathons that my brain enjoys on a very basic level. But this probably isn’t a good thing and we shouldn’t be settling for games like this. At the same time though if people just want a big, simple, shallow, fun, blockbuster game I’m not going to stand in the way or be too critical. If you really like this and think it’s fantastic then you do you and enjoy yourself.
Marvel's Spider-Man is well made and a decent distraction. I would recommend giving it a play through especially if you’re into Spiderman. I just hope that one day a developer tries something really cool and risky with the Spiderman universe and combat.
6.7/10
Web slinging and combat is basic. Good looking but dull open world with a list chores to complete. It’s bloated and too long. Story and characters are just fine but not memorable. You can’t really blame Insomniac though. With a character this important and a budget this big it is not surprising they played it safe and kept things a bit bland and easy. They would have had people watching this game very closely and people would have been breathing down their neck if anything went wrong.
It is still a fine game with many moments of fun. The action sequences and cut scenes are well done. As I said it is highly polished and looks good. I can’t lie as well there is something about these bland open world checklist/collectathons that my brain enjoys on a very basic level. But this probably isn’t a good thing and we shouldn’t be settling for games like this. At the same time though if people just want a big, simple, shallow, fun, blockbuster game I’m not going to stand in the way or be too critical. If you really like this and think it’s fantastic then you do you and enjoy yourself.
Marvel's Spider-Man is well made and a decent distraction. I would recommend giving it a play through especially if you’re into Spiderman. I just hope that one day a developer tries something really cool and risky with the Spiderman universe and combat.
6.7/10
The discourse around The Last of Us Part 2 went really well didn’t it. On one side we have many mainstream critics in their own world that didn't critically engage with the game well and ended up just giving it 10s. Then on the other side we have a large chunk of the gaming community behaving the way they did and being unable to deal with a piece of media/art. The truth is The Last of Us Part 2 is a well made and ambitious game. But unfortunately the developers may have bit off more than they could chew and the game is a bit of a mess that didn’t land right.
The most important thing to say about The Last of Us Part 2 is I am so glad they tried and that they were allowed to try. Most games in the AAA space are so safe. The fact that nobody stepped in at any point to say just give us a safe, predictable sequel and that Naughty Dog was permitted to do their thing is excellent. Naughty Dog could have just given us a basic journey across the country with Joel and Ellie on some simple revenge quest but instead they aimed higher and tried to deliver a grand, ambitious game about hate. I really hope the backlash to this game doesn’t cause future AAA games to be even more risk averse because that would be sad to see as AAA games are already, typically too frightened of interesting characters/stories, challenging and/or new gameplay, real puzzles, bold style, old genres, etc.
The most obvious thing is this game looks phenomenal. This is as good as it gets on PS4. The attention to detail is staggering. The number of unique objects and animations in this game is ridiculous. I cannot stress enough how impressive it is. I don’t think anyone else is even close to being on the same level as Naughty Dog. All aspects of the presentation including visuals, attention to detail, atmosphere, sound, acting performances, how well it runs, etc, is all top notch and if this was the only thing games were rated on then maybe a 10/10 wouldn’t be so silly.
The gameplay is exactly what you expect if you have played the first game. It is solid and enjoyable but not exceptional. They make a number of sensible improvements over the first game, like going prone to hide under things and to crawl through grass. I really enjoyed that the areas are larger and more vertical which allowed combat encounters to be more dynamic and free. Resources are just limited enough to keep you changing up your weapon and approach. The combat is very violent and visceral and the AI reacts pretty well to what you are doing both verbally and mechanically. I had a good time jumping out of stealth causing some horrific carnage and then diving back into stealth. The environmental puzzles felt more varied this time too. However the game regularly wasted my time and the gameplay just isn’t enough to keep me coming back for multiple playthroughs. It also feels like a missed opportunity. They could have done more with the gameplay especially with two playable characters.
Now for the games biggest issues; story, characters and pacing. First of all this game is a bloater, god damn why is it so long? An editor needed to come along a just cut so much fat off this game. The pacing is a complete mess and most of the time feels too slow. It starts off way too long and slow. Then there are two middle sections both of which are a little too long, then a long lead up to the end and then the actual end. The returning characters are great but the new ones are just nothing. I still remember Tess, Bill, David, Sam, Henry, Marlene and even Ish from the first game. But I can’t remember the names of these side characters and I don’t care enough to look them up. The story is a mix of highs and lows there are some excellent moments and I really liked the ending. But there are plenty of moments that just do not land at all and so much that I just didn’t connect with. The whole thing is too contrived as well.
The other big issues I have are no multiplayer and no replayability. The Factions multiplayer was so damn good in the first game and I know a lot of people won’t understand it but for me it was one the best multiplayer experiences ever and a big part of why I bought the remaster. It hurts that it just isn’t here and still to this day there is no new multiplayer released. I also can’t bring myself to play through this more than twice, which was enough to get the platinum trophy, even though I finished the first game 7 times. It’s too long and bloated and wastes too much time and the gameplay isn’t enough to pull me back in.
The Last of Us Part 2 is a must play for anyone that played the first game and if you haven’t then what are you doing here, go play the first one. You really should play this for yourself. Don’t listen to the mainstream critics or the angry gamers. Play it and form your own opinions. I think it is a really good but uneven game and I would still easily recommend it.
7.5/10
The most important thing to say about The Last of Us Part 2 is I am so glad they tried and that they were allowed to try. Most games in the AAA space are so safe. The fact that nobody stepped in at any point to say just give us a safe, predictable sequel and that Naughty Dog was permitted to do their thing is excellent. Naughty Dog could have just given us a basic journey across the country with Joel and Ellie on some simple revenge quest but instead they aimed higher and tried to deliver a grand, ambitious game about hate. I really hope the backlash to this game doesn’t cause future AAA games to be even more risk averse because that would be sad to see as AAA games are already, typically too frightened of interesting characters/stories, challenging and/or new gameplay, real puzzles, bold style, old genres, etc.
The most obvious thing is this game looks phenomenal. This is as good as it gets on PS4. The attention to detail is staggering. The number of unique objects and animations in this game is ridiculous. I cannot stress enough how impressive it is. I don’t think anyone else is even close to being on the same level as Naughty Dog. All aspects of the presentation including visuals, attention to detail, atmosphere, sound, acting performances, how well it runs, etc, is all top notch and if this was the only thing games were rated on then maybe a 10/10 wouldn’t be so silly.
The gameplay is exactly what you expect if you have played the first game. It is solid and enjoyable but not exceptional. They make a number of sensible improvements over the first game, like going prone to hide under things and to crawl through grass. I really enjoyed that the areas are larger and more vertical which allowed combat encounters to be more dynamic and free. Resources are just limited enough to keep you changing up your weapon and approach. The combat is very violent and visceral and the AI reacts pretty well to what you are doing both verbally and mechanically. I had a good time jumping out of stealth causing some horrific carnage and then diving back into stealth. The environmental puzzles felt more varied this time too. However the game regularly wasted my time and the gameplay just isn’t enough to keep me coming back for multiple playthroughs. It also feels like a missed opportunity. They could have done more with the gameplay especially with two playable characters.
Now for the games biggest issues; story, characters and pacing. First of all this game is a bloater, god damn why is it so long? An editor needed to come along a just cut so much fat off this game. The pacing is a complete mess and most of the time feels too slow. It starts off way too long and slow. Then there are two middle sections both of which are a little too long, then a long lead up to the end and then the actual end. The returning characters are great but the new ones are just nothing. I still remember Tess, Bill, David, Sam, Henry, Marlene and even Ish from the first game. But I can’t remember the names of these side characters and I don’t care enough to look them up. The story is a mix of highs and lows there are some excellent moments and I really liked the ending. But there are plenty of moments that just do not land at all and so much that I just didn’t connect with. The whole thing is too contrived as well.
The other big issues I have are no multiplayer and no replayability. The Factions multiplayer was so damn good in the first game and I know a lot of people won’t understand it but for me it was one the best multiplayer experiences ever and a big part of why I bought the remaster. It hurts that it just isn’t here and still to this day there is no new multiplayer released. I also can’t bring myself to play through this more than twice, which was enough to get the platinum trophy, even though I finished the first game 7 times. It’s too long and bloated and wastes too much time and the gameplay isn’t enough to pull me back in.
The Last of Us Part 2 is a must play for anyone that played the first game and if you haven’t then what are you doing here, go play the first one. You really should play this for yourself. Don’t listen to the mainstream critics or the angry gamers. Play it and form your own opinions. I think it is a really good but uneven game and I would still easily recommend it.
7.5/10
2022
F the mainstream gaming media and Youtubers for ignoring, dismissing or s**tting on this game. Gungrave G.O.R.E. might be lower budget and rough around the edges but it is a blast to play.
Gungrave G.O.R.E. is in third person and a shooter but don’t think that it is going to be like the third person shooters you’re used to. Gungrave G.O.R.E. is an arcade action shooter and has more in common with games like rail shooters, beat ‘em ups and shmups.
You move Grave, the main character through linear stages in a slow and deliberately designed way that works with how the game plays. He has plenty of actions at his disposal to deal with the waves of enemies. First up is his regular shooting which auto targets or can be more controlled and doesn’t need reloading. You can do a charged shot too which is handy for shielded enemies at a distance. He can jump and dodge. The dodge doesn’t just get you out the way but also gives you a small invincibility window and you can shoot during it too. The jump can also double as a dodge and again you can shoot during it. Grave has melee attacks and starts with a basic combo for breaking shields and deflecting rockets. Grapple ability lets you hold enemies as a shield while still shooting and then throw them and there is a chase which is like a charge forward.
There’s fury mode which when activated pushes close enemies back and gives you a temporary damage boost but you need to have earned it first. Killing enemies in this mode also builds your art score. The art score is one part of getting a good rank at the end of the stage. Burst mode is stationary rapid fire with camera control for dealing with crowds. Storm Barrage is similar to this but needs to be earned and is way faster and as long as you have shield it can’t be interrupted. Executing stunned enemies builds art score and recovers your shield. Finally there are demolition shots, that need to be earned, which are like special attacks that give you a brief window of invincibility and can be devastating to crowds, knock enemies down and gives health back.
All of this works really well together and the game is about constantly moving forward while keeping your beat going (hit counter). When no enemies are present the beat can be kept up by destroying objects. While doing this you need to always be picking the right actions at the right time and the right targets too. Then on top of that you need to build your art score and keep an eye on your shield, health and actions earned. Gungrave G.O.R.E. rewards you for playing well during the action and after stages with a rank and points that can be spent on upgrades and new abilities. Stages are a short blast, about 10 minutes or less and it is fun and addictive.
Unfortunately gameplay can be held back at times by a lack of polish, poor AI and spawns happening too slowly. I got stuck on the environment twice and enemies were frozen and unkillable a couple of times too. The constant onslaught of gameplay, bullets and explosions can be tiring and repetitive. There are two side characters as well which go underused and in Quartz’s case is underdeveloped too. Gameplay would have benefited from a shorter run time with less but more highly polished stages.
I can’t say how well Gungrave G.O.R.E. does presenting the source material because I haven’t played the previous games or seen the anime. I found the story, characters, dialogue and cutscenes to be pretty bland and didn’t get into it at all. Don’t get me wrong it can be freaking cool from time to time but mostly it’s just not. It lacks charm and charisma. Cutscenes can often feel lifeless and the whole experience exudes low budget. The voice acting doesn’t help either. Gungrave G.O.R.E. could have benefited a lot from just going all out silly and way more over the top. At least the sound effects and music are fun and pretty well done.
The visuals of Gungrave G.O.R.E. are not too impressive. It looks like an older game that has been polished up a little for a PS5 release. The developers have done a good job making up for this with style and variety. There are 31 stages that take you different places in the world with different types of settings. It also has a diverse line up of enemies to blast away and multiple bosses too. The old anime/ PS2 era style is cool and a bit nostalgic.
I hope that the developers of Gungrave G.O.R.E. are well aware that there are plenty of gamers out there that still appreciate this type of game and that what they have achieved here is pretty cool. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on this developer to see what they do next. I’m having plenty of fun with Gungrave G.O.R.E. but I know many players will bounce off this game quickly. I would still give it a strong recommendation to anyone that enjoys arcade and action games.
7.0/10
Gungrave G.O.R.E. is in third person and a shooter but don’t think that it is going to be like the third person shooters you’re used to. Gungrave G.O.R.E. is an arcade action shooter and has more in common with games like rail shooters, beat ‘em ups and shmups.
You move Grave, the main character through linear stages in a slow and deliberately designed way that works with how the game plays. He has plenty of actions at his disposal to deal with the waves of enemies. First up is his regular shooting which auto targets or can be more controlled and doesn’t need reloading. You can do a charged shot too which is handy for shielded enemies at a distance. He can jump and dodge. The dodge doesn’t just get you out the way but also gives you a small invincibility window and you can shoot during it too. The jump can also double as a dodge and again you can shoot during it. Grave has melee attacks and starts with a basic combo for breaking shields and deflecting rockets. Grapple ability lets you hold enemies as a shield while still shooting and then throw them and there is a chase which is like a charge forward.
There’s fury mode which when activated pushes close enemies back and gives you a temporary damage boost but you need to have earned it first. Killing enemies in this mode also builds your art score. The art score is one part of getting a good rank at the end of the stage. Burst mode is stationary rapid fire with camera control for dealing with crowds. Storm Barrage is similar to this but needs to be earned and is way faster and as long as you have shield it can’t be interrupted. Executing stunned enemies builds art score and recovers your shield. Finally there are demolition shots, that need to be earned, which are like special attacks that give you a brief window of invincibility and can be devastating to crowds, knock enemies down and gives health back.
All of this works really well together and the game is about constantly moving forward while keeping your beat going (hit counter). When no enemies are present the beat can be kept up by destroying objects. While doing this you need to always be picking the right actions at the right time and the right targets too. Then on top of that you need to build your art score and keep an eye on your shield, health and actions earned. Gungrave G.O.R.E. rewards you for playing well during the action and after stages with a rank and points that can be spent on upgrades and new abilities. Stages are a short blast, about 10 minutes or less and it is fun and addictive.
Unfortunately gameplay can be held back at times by a lack of polish, poor AI and spawns happening too slowly. I got stuck on the environment twice and enemies were frozen and unkillable a couple of times too. The constant onslaught of gameplay, bullets and explosions can be tiring and repetitive. There are two side characters as well which go underused and in Quartz’s case is underdeveloped too. Gameplay would have benefited from a shorter run time with less but more highly polished stages.
I can’t say how well Gungrave G.O.R.E. does presenting the source material because I haven’t played the previous games or seen the anime. I found the story, characters, dialogue and cutscenes to be pretty bland and didn’t get into it at all. Don’t get me wrong it can be freaking cool from time to time but mostly it’s just not. It lacks charm and charisma. Cutscenes can often feel lifeless and the whole experience exudes low budget. The voice acting doesn’t help either. Gungrave G.O.R.E. could have benefited a lot from just going all out silly and way more over the top. At least the sound effects and music are fun and pretty well done.
The visuals of Gungrave G.O.R.E. are not too impressive. It looks like an older game that has been polished up a little for a PS5 release. The developers have done a good job making up for this with style and variety. There are 31 stages that take you different places in the world with different types of settings. It also has a diverse line up of enemies to blast away and multiple bosses too. The old anime/ PS2 era style is cool and a bit nostalgic.
I hope that the developers of Gungrave G.O.R.E. are well aware that there are plenty of gamers out there that still appreciate this type of game and that what they have achieved here is pretty cool. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on this developer to see what they do next. I’m having plenty of fun with Gungrave G.O.R.E. but I know many players will bounce off this game quickly. I would still give it a strong recommendation to anyone that enjoys arcade and action games.
7.0/10
2021
A modern survival horror made by people who not only know what survival horror is but understand it as well.
If you have played survival horror before than you’ll have a good idea of what’s in store with Tormented Souls. The gameplay is a mix of exploration, puzzles and combat with tank like controls, fixed camera angles, back tracking and limited resources. It does a pretty good job with movement and exploration. You’ll find yourself steadily unlocking your way further into the atmospheric mansion/hospital and learning the layout. But there are a couple of drawbacks. I didn’t like the map at all and did not find it good to use. There are also times when there is too much to keep track of, especially if you take breaks during your playthrough. Puzzles are mostly very good but at times they can be too obtuse and there is probably a few too many of them. Combat is solid and I liked the weapons but there is room for improvement here. There is just the right amount of resources to keep you playing carefully and considering your saves but inventory management wasn’t really here. Darkness is used very well as you need your lighter equipped to see in some places but then can’t have a weapon out. It’s a cool, well executed idea that is right at home in survival horror. The gameplay experience is absolutely more positive than negative and survival horror fans are in for a good time.
Visually this game is outstanding for a lower budget title. The environments and lighting is fantastic and the fixed but often tracking camera frames it all beautifully. The objects and menus are well done too, excluding the map. Sadly the characters and enemies are not on the same level. There is something off about them both technically and in style. It’s almost like they are from a slightly different game. They lack expression and personality too. It’s not really that much of an issue though and Tormented Souls still superbly delivers unsettling atmosphere, gore and body horror. The music and sound design is really damn good too. The only issue there is they didn’t know when to use restraint and have silence.
The story, lore and characters are not that great. It’s fine but forgettable and predictable. There wasn’t any hook or interesting background that pulled me in. It’s like a bunch of different horror ideas somewhat poorly put together. The dialogue isn’t written well and is poorly voice acted. And it’s not in that cheesy, camp and/or charming way you might expect from an older horror game. It is just subpar. It is certainly no disaster or deal breaker though and I still found some enjoyment in it.
The biggest issue I had with Tormented Souls was that I only did one play through. I planned on doing more and there are trophies that encourage you to. However once I finished it I wasn’t in the mood to do it again. I know this might sound vague or bit unhelpful but something put me off playing again. Maybe it’s the flow or pacing. Maybe it is a bit too long with a few too many puzzles. Maybe it was just my backlog staring at me. I don’t know exactly but I will try to revisit it again for sure.
Overall none of the flaws detracted too much from my experience and it was one of my favourite games to come out in 2021. Of course I am willing to be forgiving to as it is lower budget and one of my favourite genres. Tormented Souls is a fantastic survival horror by a clearly passionate team. It’s a must play for any survival horror fan and I would give it a good recommendation even if you’re not.
8.0/10
If you have played survival horror before than you’ll have a good idea of what’s in store with Tormented Souls. The gameplay is a mix of exploration, puzzles and combat with tank like controls, fixed camera angles, back tracking and limited resources. It does a pretty good job with movement and exploration. You’ll find yourself steadily unlocking your way further into the atmospheric mansion/hospital and learning the layout. But there are a couple of drawbacks. I didn’t like the map at all and did not find it good to use. There are also times when there is too much to keep track of, especially if you take breaks during your playthrough. Puzzles are mostly very good but at times they can be too obtuse and there is probably a few too many of them. Combat is solid and I liked the weapons but there is room for improvement here. There is just the right amount of resources to keep you playing carefully and considering your saves but inventory management wasn’t really here. Darkness is used very well as you need your lighter equipped to see in some places but then can’t have a weapon out. It’s a cool, well executed idea that is right at home in survival horror. The gameplay experience is absolutely more positive than negative and survival horror fans are in for a good time.
Visually this game is outstanding for a lower budget title. The environments and lighting is fantastic and the fixed but often tracking camera frames it all beautifully. The objects and menus are well done too, excluding the map. Sadly the characters and enemies are not on the same level. There is something off about them both technically and in style. It’s almost like they are from a slightly different game. They lack expression and personality too. It’s not really that much of an issue though and Tormented Souls still superbly delivers unsettling atmosphere, gore and body horror. The music and sound design is really damn good too. The only issue there is they didn’t know when to use restraint and have silence.
The story, lore and characters are not that great. It’s fine but forgettable and predictable. There wasn’t any hook or interesting background that pulled me in. It’s like a bunch of different horror ideas somewhat poorly put together. The dialogue isn’t written well and is poorly voice acted. And it’s not in that cheesy, camp and/or charming way you might expect from an older horror game. It is just subpar. It is certainly no disaster or deal breaker though and I still found some enjoyment in it.
The biggest issue I had with Tormented Souls was that I only did one play through. I planned on doing more and there are trophies that encourage you to. However once I finished it I wasn’t in the mood to do it again. I know this might sound vague or bit unhelpful but something put me off playing again. Maybe it’s the flow or pacing. Maybe it is a bit too long with a few too many puzzles. Maybe it was just my backlog staring at me. I don’t know exactly but I will try to revisit it again for sure.
Overall none of the flaws detracted too much from my experience and it was one of my favourite games to come out in 2021. Of course I am willing to be forgiving to as it is lower budget and one of my favourite genres. Tormented Souls is a fantastic survival horror by a clearly passionate team. It’s a must play for any survival horror fan and I would give it a good recommendation even if you’re not.
8.0/10
2022
An excellent game brought down by greed and deliberately bad choices.
I have loved Gran Turismo since the PS1 days and I think this is another great entry in the series. Gran Turismo has always been more than just a racing game. It is car porn. Gran Turismo 7 continues this tradition. The cars look stunning and are highly detailed inside and out. There is a great line up of diverse cars ready to collect, modify, customise, tune, race, learn about and love. There is an in depth photo mode with its own community to share, like and discuss photos and the same for livery designs too. There is so much here to learn about cars and the history of car makers and it also teaches the broader historical context as well. It is a dream for anyone that likes cars and is easy to get into whether you’re a veteran or newcomer.
Presentation wise Gran Turismo 7 is outstanding. As I already said cars are super detailed and beautiful. Tracks look great and have plenty of detail too. I like the style and menus. Weather looks good, skies look good, and tire smoke looks good. The game runs well and loads quickly. Sound design is impressive and the music selection is cool. There isn’t much to complain about here. Being a cross gen game I don’t think they pushed everything as far as they could with the PS5, obviously car damage is an area that still needs work but overall though I’m really happy with presentation and performance.
Gameplay is fun. Cars feel great and they did well making use of the PS5 controller features. Car handling and physics are what you expect. I know when a car is on the limit of grip and when it’s gone beyond that limit. There is a good sense of speed, weight and momentum. I can feel the road and the unevenness of the surface. Weather and puddles of water are done well and greatly impact driving. Tuning is rewarding. The game as a whole is mostly very rewarding, challenging and fun. I enjoyed slowly getting better and improving my times, making my way through the challenges, earning licenses, learning in the circuit experiences and testing myself against others online. There is lots of content here and they have been continuing to add to it. There are some weaknesses like the main campaign, café mode, being underdeveloped and underwhelming and I didn’t get music rally at all.
Now unfortunately I need to discuss this games big issues and a lot of people will already know what’s coming. Why the hell do I always need to be online for single player? I guess my disc will be useless in the future when it’s all taken down and I’m just screwed anytime I don’t have internet or there is maintenance. Then there is the fact that this game becomes a horrible grind to get and upgrade the more expensive cars. Things start off okay with regular currency and car rewards but once you get further along and everything gets more expensive it just ruins the game. I put around 80 hours in and I would still be playing if not for this bulls**t. Cars are too expensive and rewards are too low so your progress grinds to a halt. This was done on purpose to push people into spending real money on the very over priced in game currency and Gran Turismo 7 is a full priced Sony game too. Why would you do this to your own creation? Imagine making something excellent and then deliberately ruining it. Why would you do this to your brand? Is it really worth it? If you need to make more money off Gran Turismo 7 then find another way, I would rather pay a little extra up front then put up with this crap. To the people that made these decisions and to every person that buys this games currency get away from videogames you are ruining it for the rest of us.
Gran Turismo 7 is really enjoyable and well made even with the horrible issues I still got plenty of time out of it. I just wish I could still be playing it and continuing to build my car collection. I would have rated it way higher if not for this and it could have been one of the absolute best PS5 games. I recommend getting Gran Turismo 7 if you’re into cars just don’t buy those expensive micro transactions and know that at some point it will become an awful grind.
7.8/10
I have loved Gran Turismo since the PS1 days and I think this is another great entry in the series. Gran Turismo has always been more than just a racing game. It is car porn. Gran Turismo 7 continues this tradition. The cars look stunning and are highly detailed inside and out. There is a great line up of diverse cars ready to collect, modify, customise, tune, race, learn about and love. There is an in depth photo mode with its own community to share, like and discuss photos and the same for livery designs too. There is so much here to learn about cars and the history of car makers and it also teaches the broader historical context as well. It is a dream for anyone that likes cars and is easy to get into whether you’re a veteran or newcomer.
Presentation wise Gran Turismo 7 is outstanding. As I already said cars are super detailed and beautiful. Tracks look great and have plenty of detail too. I like the style and menus. Weather looks good, skies look good, and tire smoke looks good. The game runs well and loads quickly. Sound design is impressive and the music selection is cool. There isn’t much to complain about here. Being a cross gen game I don’t think they pushed everything as far as they could with the PS5, obviously car damage is an area that still needs work but overall though I’m really happy with presentation and performance.
Gameplay is fun. Cars feel great and they did well making use of the PS5 controller features. Car handling and physics are what you expect. I know when a car is on the limit of grip and when it’s gone beyond that limit. There is a good sense of speed, weight and momentum. I can feel the road and the unevenness of the surface. Weather and puddles of water are done well and greatly impact driving. Tuning is rewarding. The game as a whole is mostly very rewarding, challenging and fun. I enjoyed slowly getting better and improving my times, making my way through the challenges, earning licenses, learning in the circuit experiences and testing myself against others online. There is lots of content here and they have been continuing to add to it. There are some weaknesses like the main campaign, café mode, being underdeveloped and underwhelming and I didn’t get music rally at all.
Now unfortunately I need to discuss this games big issues and a lot of people will already know what’s coming. Why the hell do I always need to be online for single player? I guess my disc will be useless in the future when it’s all taken down and I’m just screwed anytime I don’t have internet or there is maintenance. Then there is the fact that this game becomes a horrible grind to get and upgrade the more expensive cars. Things start off okay with regular currency and car rewards but once you get further along and everything gets more expensive it just ruins the game. I put around 80 hours in and I would still be playing if not for this bulls**t. Cars are too expensive and rewards are too low so your progress grinds to a halt. This was done on purpose to push people into spending real money on the very over priced in game currency and Gran Turismo 7 is a full priced Sony game too. Why would you do this to your own creation? Imagine making something excellent and then deliberately ruining it. Why would you do this to your brand? Is it really worth it? If you need to make more money off Gran Turismo 7 then find another way, I would rather pay a little extra up front then put up with this crap. To the people that made these decisions and to every person that buys this games currency get away from videogames you are ruining it for the rest of us.
Gran Turismo 7 is really enjoyable and well made even with the horrible issues I still got plenty of time out of it. I just wish I could still be playing it and continuing to build my car collection. I would have rated it way higher if not for this and it could have been one of the absolute best PS5 games. I recommend getting Gran Turismo 7 if you’re into cars just don’t buy those expensive micro transactions and know that at some point it will become an awful grind.
7.8/10
2022
I am an idiot because this is my first Tactics Ogre game. I should not have missed this series in the past and should have played this already. So I'm grateful for this re-release but also unfortunately that means I can't compare it to previous releases.
I love the visuals and art style. The game play is really satisfying. I really enjoyed taking my time and planning my moves. The story and characters are good with plenty of twists and drama. Loved the setting, world and lore. Sound track is great. Plenty of content here too.
There are a few issues though. There is a level cap which I'm guessing is to stop you getting over powered but it's too restrictive. I wanted to try everything this game had to offer but some of the side stuff just felt like a dull grind. There is an uneven difficulty incline. Sometimes you breeze through a bunch of battles and then there's an occasional difficulty spike.
Tactics Ogre is getting pretty old now but still leaves the majority of modern games in it's dust. If you have enjoyed games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem then this should be on your games to play next list. So glad I finally played it. Tactics Ogre: Reborn is pretty damn great.
8.8/10
I love the visuals and art style. The game play is really satisfying. I really enjoyed taking my time and planning my moves. The story and characters are good with plenty of twists and drama. Loved the setting, world and lore. Sound track is great. Plenty of content here too.
There are a few issues though. There is a level cap which I'm guessing is to stop you getting over powered but it's too restrictive. I wanted to try everything this game had to offer but some of the side stuff just felt like a dull grind. There is an uneven difficulty incline. Sometimes you breeze through a bunch of battles and then there's an occasional difficulty spike.
Tactics Ogre is getting pretty old now but still leaves the majority of modern games in it's dust. If you have enjoyed games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem then this should be on your games to play next list. So glad I finally played it. Tactics Ogre: Reborn is pretty damn great.
8.8/10
2021
No More Heroes 3 is not the best looking or the most technically impressive game. It does not tell an incredible story or have the strongest gameplay. But it has way more heart, personality, style and charm than most games.
How do I even begin describing its style and vibe? No More Heroes 3 is a punk game. It’s anti mainstream and proudly does its own thing. It takes inspiration and shows love for a lot of pop culture things like anime, videogames, films, wrestling and music and at the same time it also parodies this stuff too. It is very self aware, fourth wall breaking and a bit cheeky and I love it. No More Heroes 3 has so many cool ideas in it like for example when it just stops to discuss Miike films. (Hopefully this gets more people into Miike films; I would recommend Gozu, 13 Assassins, Visitor Q, Ichi the Killer, Audition and the miniseries MPD Psycho). Of course there are problems with this approach the main ones being not all the ideas thrown in are excellent or work really well and you are also relying on your audience to just ‘get it’ and roll with it.
Visually No More Heroes 3 is a mixed bag. On one hand it’s really stylish and has some awesome character designs. On the other hand there are a lot quite simple and bland looking objects and locations. I am not a huge fan of the enemy designs and I think the bosses are a bit lacking too, especially when compared to the first two games. The game works well enough and loads quickly, I am definitely glad I waited and played the PS5 version. There was an issue at launch where the trophies were not working but they eventually fixed it. The game is not big budget and does lack some polish.
Gameplay is mostly pretty fun. The combat is solid and looks cool with a combination of sword, melee, dodge, wrestling, a combo counter, skills and slots activated specials. Travis, the main character, has a skill tree and things called Death Glove Chips that allow you to upgrade and personalise your play style as well. Exploration does start to drag and isn’t very rewarding and Travis’ bike isn’t as fun as it looks. There are things to collect and do in the world. There are seeds to plant, scorpions to catch, alien shells, T-shirts, doppelgangers, kittens, capsule toys and Deathman cards. It is a bit much and starts to feel like a chore. There are also defence missions and mini games. The defence missions are just fights and they get repetitive. The mini games are a laugh at first but quickly become repetitive too. This over the top action game can quickly grind to a halt if you do a lot of this at once. Luckily you are not forced to do too much of this but it’s there for the completionists or people that just want a little more. The main story parts and boss fights are great and the gimmicks mostly deliver.
When it comes to the story and characters it is generally a pretty good time. There is a lot here for returning fans but it is still possible for newcomers to jump in and follow along. It is about Travis returning home to face a new threat and that’s all I’ll say to avoid spoilers. Travis and the returning cast are great and the new villain is cool too. Things move along at good pace. Scenes are well directed and the voice actors nail the larger than life characters. It’s not perfect but I enjoyed the journey. The music is good too. Most of the new bosses are pretty forgettable though and as I said not every idea lands. I love No More Heroes 3’s style and humour but I know a lot of people won’t like it.
The problem with playing and reviewing Suda 51 games is they are subversive. A lot of this game’s ‘flaws’ could be deliberate choices. Like the tedious collectables, the ‘chore like mini games,’ the empty open world and bland looking locations. Lots of it could be Suda’s commentary on modern gaming; he is a mischievous creator that likes to take the piss. Some things are obvious and some not so much. It is up to the player to interpret it all and then decide if you like it and think it’s worth it because deliberately bad is still bad but also fun if that makes sense.
I enjoyed No More Heroes 3 enough to play though it more than once and even considered going for the platinum trophy for a while. The biggest issue with No More Heroes 3 is that after waiting this long and when you compare it to the first two games it is a bit disappointing. It just doesn’t hit as hard and is not as memorable as the first two. For No More Heroes veterans and Suda 51 fans it is still a must play. For everyone else I would recommend you play the other games first but if you really want to jump in here then go for it. No More Heroes 3 is nowhere near a perfect game but who cares it’s still cool as f**k.
7.6/10
How do I even begin describing its style and vibe? No More Heroes 3 is a punk game. It’s anti mainstream and proudly does its own thing. It takes inspiration and shows love for a lot of pop culture things like anime, videogames, films, wrestling and music and at the same time it also parodies this stuff too. It is very self aware, fourth wall breaking and a bit cheeky and I love it. No More Heroes 3 has so many cool ideas in it like for example when it just stops to discuss Miike films. (Hopefully this gets more people into Miike films; I would recommend Gozu, 13 Assassins, Visitor Q, Ichi the Killer, Audition and the miniseries MPD Psycho). Of course there are problems with this approach the main ones being not all the ideas thrown in are excellent or work really well and you are also relying on your audience to just ‘get it’ and roll with it.
Visually No More Heroes 3 is a mixed bag. On one hand it’s really stylish and has some awesome character designs. On the other hand there are a lot quite simple and bland looking objects and locations. I am not a huge fan of the enemy designs and I think the bosses are a bit lacking too, especially when compared to the first two games. The game works well enough and loads quickly, I am definitely glad I waited and played the PS5 version. There was an issue at launch where the trophies were not working but they eventually fixed it. The game is not big budget and does lack some polish.
Gameplay is mostly pretty fun. The combat is solid and looks cool with a combination of sword, melee, dodge, wrestling, a combo counter, skills and slots activated specials. Travis, the main character, has a skill tree and things called Death Glove Chips that allow you to upgrade and personalise your play style as well. Exploration does start to drag and isn’t very rewarding and Travis’ bike isn’t as fun as it looks. There are things to collect and do in the world. There are seeds to plant, scorpions to catch, alien shells, T-shirts, doppelgangers, kittens, capsule toys and Deathman cards. It is a bit much and starts to feel like a chore. There are also defence missions and mini games. The defence missions are just fights and they get repetitive. The mini games are a laugh at first but quickly become repetitive too. This over the top action game can quickly grind to a halt if you do a lot of this at once. Luckily you are not forced to do too much of this but it’s there for the completionists or people that just want a little more. The main story parts and boss fights are great and the gimmicks mostly deliver.
When it comes to the story and characters it is generally a pretty good time. There is a lot here for returning fans but it is still possible for newcomers to jump in and follow along. It is about Travis returning home to face a new threat and that’s all I’ll say to avoid spoilers. Travis and the returning cast are great and the new villain is cool too. Things move along at good pace. Scenes are well directed and the voice actors nail the larger than life characters. It’s not perfect but I enjoyed the journey. The music is good too. Most of the new bosses are pretty forgettable though and as I said not every idea lands. I love No More Heroes 3’s style and humour but I know a lot of people won’t like it.
The problem with playing and reviewing Suda 51 games is they are subversive. A lot of this game’s ‘flaws’ could be deliberate choices. Like the tedious collectables, the ‘chore like mini games,’ the empty open world and bland looking locations. Lots of it could be Suda’s commentary on modern gaming; he is a mischievous creator that likes to take the piss. Some things are obvious and some not so much. It is up to the player to interpret it all and then decide if you like it and think it’s worth it because deliberately bad is still bad but also fun if that makes sense.
I enjoyed No More Heroes 3 enough to play though it more than once and even considered going for the platinum trophy for a while. The biggest issue with No More Heroes 3 is that after waiting this long and when you compare it to the first two games it is a bit disappointing. It just doesn’t hit as hard and is not as memorable as the first two. For No More Heroes veterans and Suda 51 fans it is still a must play. For everyone else I would recommend you play the other games first but if you really want to jump in here then go for it. No More Heroes 3 is nowhere near a perfect game but who cares it’s still cool as f**k.
7.6/10
2017
Highly polished and technically impressive mediocrity. But I don't hate this game. I played it to completion and even did the Frozen Wilds too.
Horizon Zero Dawn takes so many AAA game ideas/mechanics that have been done to death during the PS3-PS4 era and throws them all together in a big, bland bowl of soup. Then makes it look real nice and throws in some cool enemies. The open world, collectables, things to pick up, crafting, climbing, traversal, side quests, side activities and light RPG elements are all borrowed from other games and uninspired. Almost every character interaction and cut scene caused my neck to lose all strength, my head rolled back and I let out an intense groan of boredom.
The absolute high points of this game are the mystery and details of what happened to the world and the mystery of who the main character is. The other great thing is of course fights with the machine enemies. But even this which was so fun at first becomes a little tiresome as the game over stays it's welcome.
This might all sound pretty negative but it's still good enough that I finished it and then had a little more. It is a perfectly fine game that scratches some kind of itch I have in my brain. Just don't play too many games like this too often or you'll get burnt out.
6.8/10
Horizon Zero Dawn takes so many AAA game ideas/mechanics that have been done to death during the PS3-PS4 era and throws them all together in a big, bland bowl of soup. Then makes it look real nice and throws in some cool enemies. The open world, collectables, things to pick up, crafting, climbing, traversal, side quests, side activities and light RPG elements are all borrowed from other games and uninspired. Almost every character interaction and cut scene caused my neck to lose all strength, my head rolled back and I let out an intense groan of boredom.
The absolute high points of this game are the mystery and details of what happened to the world and the mystery of who the main character is. The other great thing is of course fights with the machine enemies. But even this which was so fun at first becomes a little tiresome as the game over stays it's welcome.
This might all sound pretty negative but it's still good enough that I finished it and then had a little more. It is a perfectly fine game that scratches some kind of itch I have in my brain. Just don't play too many games like this too often or you'll get burnt out.
6.8/10
A great remaster of an absolute classic.
Metroid Prime is one of the greatest Gamecube games and one of the best games of that generation. It’s great to see it get a quality remaster for old fans to revisit it and so new players can jump in easily. They did an excellent job with this remaster by taking an already good looking game that was still holding up well after all this time and making it look beautiful. The game works perfectly too. They also added new control options without getting rid of the old controls. One thing to keep in mind though is this is a Gamecube game so it was made within the limitations of that time and hardware. Not that it really matters as I still enjoyed this more than the majority of current games but it’s still worth remembering when going into Metroid Prime remastered.
Metroid Prime is one of those games that can be hard to put down after starting it. The exploration is so satisfying and enjoyable. Every time you find a new ability it triggers your memory of all the things you went past that can now be reached/unlocked. The exploration is also elevated so much by the atmosphere, beautiful visuals and great soundtrack. The environments are a joy to become familiar with and all the small details, like reflections and moisture on the visor, add so much. Combat is good with a variety of great looking enemies to dispatch. There is also a good variety of weapons at your disposal, once unlocked, that you are regularly forced to switch between. Things really work well when faced with a small number of different creatures. There are some puzzles to solve too and the developers trusted players to pay attention to the environment and use the tools available. There is plenty of scanning to do and lore to discover which adds another layer of depth to the experience.
Metroid Prime does have some things to nitpick though. First of all I think the design could be a little tighter or the locations more interconnected to reduce backtracking slightly. It is also on the smaller/shorter side and could have benefited from one more location. I think most first time players will probably finish it in around 11 to 13 hours. On top of this, while it is definitely worth revisiting, it doesn’t have a lot of immediate replayability. You could try for 100% or do a different difficulty but Metroid Prime could be a one weekend game for many people. It does lack a little in challenge and the enemy AI could be better. Another thing is that some of the bosses don’t take quite enough damage which means the fight drags on a tad too long. However none of this brings down the whole experience too much.
Metroid Prime is a beautiful, fantastic game with very minor faults and this is a really well done remaster. I hope Metroid Prime 2 can get the same remaster treatment soon too. Metroid Prime Remastered is a must own Switch game. If you’ve never played this before then go grab yourself copy, this is one of the greats.
9.3/10
Metroid Prime is one of the greatest Gamecube games and one of the best games of that generation. It’s great to see it get a quality remaster for old fans to revisit it and so new players can jump in easily. They did an excellent job with this remaster by taking an already good looking game that was still holding up well after all this time and making it look beautiful. The game works perfectly too. They also added new control options without getting rid of the old controls. One thing to keep in mind though is this is a Gamecube game so it was made within the limitations of that time and hardware. Not that it really matters as I still enjoyed this more than the majority of current games but it’s still worth remembering when going into Metroid Prime remastered.
Metroid Prime is one of those games that can be hard to put down after starting it. The exploration is so satisfying and enjoyable. Every time you find a new ability it triggers your memory of all the things you went past that can now be reached/unlocked. The exploration is also elevated so much by the atmosphere, beautiful visuals and great soundtrack. The environments are a joy to become familiar with and all the small details, like reflections and moisture on the visor, add so much. Combat is good with a variety of great looking enemies to dispatch. There is also a good variety of weapons at your disposal, once unlocked, that you are regularly forced to switch between. Things really work well when faced with a small number of different creatures. There are some puzzles to solve too and the developers trusted players to pay attention to the environment and use the tools available. There is plenty of scanning to do and lore to discover which adds another layer of depth to the experience.
Metroid Prime does have some things to nitpick though. First of all I think the design could be a little tighter or the locations more interconnected to reduce backtracking slightly. It is also on the smaller/shorter side and could have benefited from one more location. I think most first time players will probably finish it in around 11 to 13 hours. On top of this, while it is definitely worth revisiting, it doesn’t have a lot of immediate replayability. You could try for 100% or do a different difficulty but Metroid Prime could be a one weekend game for many people. It does lack a little in challenge and the enemy AI could be better. Another thing is that some of the bosses don’t take quite enough damage which means the fight drags on a tad too long. However none of this brings down the whole experience too much.
Metroid Prime is a beautiful, fantastic game with very minor faults and this is a really well done remaster. I hope Metroid Prime 2 can get the same remaster treatment soon too. Metroid Prime Remastered is a must own Switch game. If you’ve never played this before then go grab yourself copy, this is one of the greats.
9.3/10