JixianOW
2022
No, I don't actually think that this is a 5-star game, but I play it so much that you'd think I do.
Pros:
+ Very polished in terms of character models, sound and visual effects, artwork, animation, etc.
Cons:
- Not very polished in anything else:
- Map design is generally pretty poor, as I am unsure anyone likes most maps apart from King's Row and Lijiang Tower
- Hero balance is even poorer because they cannot make up their mind if they want to be a casual or competitive game, so it ends up being neither
- Hero designs (referring to their kits) have become increasingly uninspiring and over-tuned, and they keep creating characters that exacerbate existing chronic issues (i.e. burst healing and damage, tank counter-picking, ultimates with limited counterplay potential, and the list goes on)
- Monetization
- Souvenirs (who asked for these, and does anyone even use them?)
- Over-promising and under-delivering (sometimes never-delivering)
- Could not balance 6v6 so they tried to mask it by forcing 5v5 and called it Overwatch 2
- The general player base is miserable and therefore makes everyone else miserable
Overall, I think most people still playing Overwatch are here because at its best, it is a game unlike any other. Unfortunately, it has not been at its best for years now, and the negativity surrounding the game is a direct result of the developers' lack of transparency, poor treatment of its communities (pros, streamers, competitive players, and casuals), and inability to understand the fundamental potential of their own game.
Pros:
+ Very polished in terms of character models, sound and visual effects, artwork, animation, etc.
Cons:
- Not very polished in anything else:
- Map design is generally pretty poor, as I am unsure anyone likes most maps apart from King's Row and Lijiang Tower
- Hero balance is even poorer because they cannot make up their mind if they want to be a casual or competitive game, so it ends up being neither
- Hero designs (referring to their kits) have become increasingly uninspiring and over-tuned, and they keep creating characters that exacerbate existing chronic issues (i.e. burst healing and damage, tank counter-picking, ultimates with limited counterplay potential, and the list goes on)
- Monetization
- Souvenirs (who asked for these, and does anyone even use them?)
- Over-promising and under-delivering (sometimes never-delivering)
- Could not balance 6v6 so they tried to mask it by forcing 5v5 and called it Overwatch 2
- The general player base is miserable and therefore makes everyone else miserable
Overall, I think most people still playing Overwatch are here because at its best, it is a game unlike any other. Unfortunately, it has not been at its best for years now, and the negativity surrounding the game is a direct result of the developers' lack of transparency, poor treatment of its communities (pros, streamers, competitive players, and casuals), and inability to understand the fundamental potential of their own game.
DISCLAIMER: This review is incomplete. I will update it upon finishing with my final thoughts.
Pros:
+ Story and dialogue is honestly pretty cringey but in a cute and refreshing way (usually)
+ Combat feels nice and melee combat in particular is comparable to other Ubisoft titles
+ Exploration is enhanced by the beautiful and colorful scenery throughout the game
Cons:
- This game feels like AC Odyssey and BotW had a baby, but it definitely doesn't feel nearly as polished or satisfying as either of those titles, and I personally found it challenging to refrain from comparing it to both at times
Pros:
+ Story and dialogue is honestly pretty cringey but in a cute and refreshing way (usually)
+ Combat feels nice and melee combat in particular is comparable to other Ubisoft titles
+ Exploration is enhanced by the beautiful and colorful scenery throughout the game
Cons:
- This game feels like AC Odyssey and BotW had a baby, but it definitely doesn't feel nearly as polished or satisfying as either of those titles, and I personally found it challenging to refrain from comparing it to both at times
2021
DISCLAIMER: This review is incomplete. I will update it upon finishing with my final thoughts.
Pros:
+ Artwork is beautiful, especially the character designs
+ Combat has quite a bit of depth that feels very customizable and challenging to master
+ Starting cast of 8 characters is overwhelming in terms of story and characterization, but it's also very fun to have all 8 to utilize from the beginning; experimenting with lineups and play-styles from the start is exciting
Cons:
- Speaking strictly from the Switch, the game feels poorly optimized, like the extreme input lag in certain menus, and controls overall could feel more responsive, which is a pretty major gripe in a game that is $40 USD MSRP
Pros:
+ Artwork is beautiful, especially the character designs
+ Combat has quite a bit of depth that feels very customizable and challenging to master
+ Starting cast of 8 characters is overwhelming in terms of story and characterization, but it's also very fun to have all 8 to utilize from the beginning; experimenting with lineups and play-styles from the start is exciting
Cons:
- Speaking strictly from the Switch, the game feels poorly optimized, like the extreme input lag in certain menus, and controls overall could feel more responsive, which is a pretty major gripe in a game that is $40 USD MSRP
2022
DISCLAIMER: This review is incomplete. I will update it upon finishing with my final thoughts.
Pros:
+ Surprisingly comical dialogue and story-telling along with a pleasant soundtrack
+ Having health and action points restored after every battle is great; encourages using your resources and it's refreshing not having to hoard and expend items between battles
+ Lack of RNG encounters makes the world and combat feel purposeful
Cons:
Pros:
+ Surprisingly comical dialogue and story-telling along with a pleasant soundtrack
+ Having health and action points restored after every battle is great; encourages using your resources and it's refreshing not having to hoard and expend items between battles
+ Lack of RNG encounters makes the world and combat feel purposeful
Cons:
Pros:
+ The best AC installment yet in terms of town customization, furniture and clothing variety, and plentiful content to keep each play session fresh
+ Visuals are stylish and clean, maintaining the aesthetics of its predecessors for the most part
+ Versatile gameplay that allows you to take everything at your own pace and set your own goals
+ DLC is great and fully incorporates the Happy Home series into the main game
Cons:
- Crafting may not be a con for all, but having to make tools over and over is at best tedious
- Interactions with the villagers are not quite as charming as in previous installments, which contributes to an underlying sterility that plagues this iteration of a once weird and quirky series
- One reviewer, takcube, likened the player's position in ACNH to that of an overlord rather than a member of the town's community, which I think is a criticism not without merit, as the vast customizability can be a double-edged sword
+ The best AC installment yet in terms of town customization, furniture and clothing variety, and plentiful content to keep each play session fresh
+ Visuals are stylish and clean, maintaining the aesthetics of its predecessors for the most part
+ Versatile gameplay that allows you to take everything at your own pace and set your own goals
+ DLC is great and fully incorporates the Happy Home series into the main game
Cons:
- Crafting may not be a con for all, but having to make tools over and over is at best tedious
- Interactions with the villagers are not quite as charming as in previous installments, which contributes to an underlying sterility that plagues this iteration of a once weird and quirky series
- One reviewer, takcube, likened the player's position in ACNH to that of an overlord rather than a member of the town's community, which I think is a criticism not without merit, as the vast customizability can be a double-edged sword
Pros:
+ Combat feels surprisingly fluid, more reminiscent of hack-and-slash than a traditional fighter
+ Lots of characters to choose from, each with their own fighting style
+ Variety of customization options, made more fun with the diorama mode
+ Kind of shameless, but I platinumed it so I guess that's really more of a personal fault than the game's
Cons:
- Not very challenging, which may not appeal to more experienced gamers
- Visuals are mediocre, though not overly offensive
- Replayability is lacking due to the stale content outside of the main campaign
- Story is very obviously not the focus of this game
+ Combat feels surprisingly fluid, more reminiscent of hack-and-slash than a traditional fighter
+ Lots of characters to choose from, each with their own fighting style
+ Variety of customization options, made more fun with the diorama mode
+ Kind of shameless, but I platinumed it so I guess that's really more of a personal fault than the game's
Cons:
- Not very challenging, which may not appeal to more experienced gamers
- Visuals are mediocre, though not overly offensive
- Replayability is lacking due to the stale content outside of the main campaign
- Story is very obviously not the focus of this game
2020
Pros:
+ Visuals are crisp and clean
+ Character designs and models are vibrant and memorable (usually more so than their personalities)
+ Abilities feel satisfying, especially when crafting a team that resonates well together
+ All characters are viable in base content
+ Full cutscenes are beautiful and well produced
+ Large player-base means a great variety of external content like guides, as well as a dependable source of people to co-op with, making farming a bit easier
Cons:
- For the love of God, just add a skip button
- Story and dialogue are mediocre at best with some questionable voice acting depending on your chosen language
- Not very free-to-play friendly
- Stamina limitation makes long play sessions less plausible
- Lack of variety in co-op content, especially considering quests cannot be completed together
- Open world is sometimes rather barren
- RNG artifact stats make farming 90% of your gameplay if you like reaching peak potential with your characters
- Bad for my wallet
+ Visuals are crisp and clean
+ Character designs and models are vibrant and memorable (usually more so than their personalities)
+ Abilities feel satisfying, especially when crafting a team that resonates well together
+ All characters are viable in base content
+ Full cutscenes are beautiful and well produced
+ Large player-base means a great variety of external content like guides, as well as a dependable source of people to co-op with, making farming a bit easier
Cons:
- For the love of God, just add a skip button
- Story and dialogue are mediocre at best with some questionable voice acting depending on your chosen language
- Not very free-to-play friendly
- Stamina limitation makes long play sessions less plausible
- Lack of variety in co-op content, especially considering quests cannot be completed together
- Open world is sometimes rather barren
- RNG artifact stats make farming 90% of your gameplay if you like reaching peak potential with your characters
- Bad for my wallet
2015
Pros:
+ Gameplay is simple but leaves plenty of room for strategy in team composition and resource/cooldown management
+ Does not get bogged down by overly complex equipment systems, unlike many gachas
+ Servant art designs are excellent, as well as their NP animations
+ All servants in the game are viable if they are given the proper support and investment, even free 1 - 3 star servants
+ Events grant access to very powerful free servants that can easily fill holes in free-to-play rosters
+ Stamina system is not overly limiting, especially with how many stamina boosters you can accumulate in the game
Cons:
- The story... that's all
- Gacha system can be very unforgiving to both paid and free players alike
- Most events are HEAVY grinds in order to get the most out of the free rewards
- QOL updates are way too few and far between
- This game is really just not for everyone, and honestly if you don't like it, you may be better off for it
+ Gameplay is simple but leaves plenty of room for strategy in team composition and resource/cooldown management
+ Does not get bogged down by overly complex equipment systems, unlike many gachas
+ Servant art designs are excellent, as well as their NP animations
+ All servants in the game are viable if they are given the proper support and investment, even free 1 - 3 star servants
+ Events grant access to very powerful free servants that can easily fill holes in free-to-play rosters
+ Stamina system is not overly limiting, especially with how many stamina boosters you can accumulate in the game
Cons:
- The story... that's all
- Gacha system can be very unforgiving to both paid and free players alike
- Most events are HEAVY grinds in order to get the most out of the free rewards
- QOL updates are way too few and far between
- This game is really just not for everyone, and honestly if you don't like it, you may be better off for it
2013
Pros:
+ Lovable and charming main cast that feels fully realized thanks to the character interactions in both the main story and in side dialogues
+ Job system is incredible, allowing you to fully customize your team strategically and aesthetically
+ Brave and default system makes it easy to wipe out small enemies yet exciting and challenging when facing bosses
+ The plot twist, the betrayal, wow
Cons:
- At a certain point in the story, it is glaringly repetitive and should have been executed in such a way that the gameplay did not suffer because of it (keeping it spoiler-free)
- Leveling can feel very grind-y, and while some QOL settings help mitigate this, it can still be tiresome
- Equipment feels a bit stale due to the lack of upgradability (gaining new equipment in a new region just to end up selling it to get even stronger equipment in the next); would have loved to see a bit more investment opportunity and viable variety in equipment pieces
+ Lovable and charming main cast that feels fully realized thanks to the character interactions in both the main story and in side dialogues
+ Job system is incredible, allowing you to fully customize your team strategically and aesthetically
+ Brave and default system makes it easy to wipe out small enemies yet exciting and challenging when facing bosses
+ The plot twist, the betrayal, wow
Cons:
- At a certain point in the story, it is glaringly repetitive and should have been executed in such a way that the gameplay did not suffer because of it (keeping it spoiler-free)
- Leveling can feel very grind-y, and while some QOL settings help mitigate this, it can still be tiresome
- Equipment feels a bit stale due to the lack of upgradability (gaining new equipment in a new region just to end up selling it to get even stronger equipment in the next); would have loved to see a bit more investment opportunity and viable variety in equipment pieces
2022
Pros:
+ Visually stunning with beautiful and intricate pixel art
+ NPCs are teeming with life thanks to the plentiful interactions with them, as well as between each other
+ Lots of cute mini games that make accomplishing tasks more fun and relaxing
+ Refreshing to see a rural life sim without farming
Cons:
- Tasks can get repetitive each day, especially if you are rushing to progress the main story
- Lack of variety in character and building customization
+ Visually stunning with beautiful and intricate pixel art
+ NPCs are teeming with life thanks to the plentiful interactions with them, as well as between each other
+ Lots of cute mini games that make accomplishing tasks more fun and relaxing
+ Refreshing to see a rural life sim without farming
Cons:
- Tasks can get repetitive each day, especially if you are rushing to progress the main story
- Lack of variety in character and building customization