Currently re-playing on PC.
I should say that despite this getting 4/5, it's among my all-time favorite video games. I can't rate this a perfect 5 down to a form of design that I tend to find entirely exhausting and mind-numbingly boring: The Ubisoft formula. It's all over this game and in good conscience, I can't pretend otherwise ...
...even if in this iteration, I actually find that it works mostly pretty fine. When I say that, I mean possibly the best way it has been implemented since the legendary Far Cry 3 (which is a game that is both an all-timer and heavily responsible for this type of bloat design that has plagued so many games).
I feel that a Ghost of Tsushima sequel that reins in the open-world bloat a bit while providing more substantial / meaningful encounters would hit the top of the mountain. The first game though, it's not perfect but for what so much it IS doing, it's like fucking candy to me. Satisfying combat, stunning artwork/design and killer voice work (two of my buddies played this in English and hey, different strokes right ... but i'll never understand why anybody would do that).
Also, yes, I adore Kurosawa and Kobayashi so no shit this hits a particular chord with me haha. All the great, and some of the bad. One of my favorites.
I should say that despite this getting 4/5, it's among my all-time favorite video games. I can't rate this a perfect 5 down to a form of design that I tend to find entirely exhausting and mind-numbingly boring: The Ubisoft formula. It's all over this game and in good conscience, I can't pretend otherwise ...
...even if in this iteration, I actually find that it works mostly pretty fine. When I say that, I mean possibly the best way it has been implemented since the legendary Far Cry 3 (which is a game that is both an all-timer and heavily responsible for this type of bloat design that has plagued so many games).
I feel that a Ghost of Tsushima sequel that reins in the open-world bloat a bit while providing more substantial / meaningful encounters would hit the top of the mountain. The first game though, it's not perfect but for what so much it IS doing, it's like fucking candy to me. Satisfying combat, stunning artwork/design and killer voice work (two of my buddies played this in English and hey, different strokes right ... but i'll never understand why anybody would do that).
Also, yes, I adore Kurosawa and Kobayashi so no shit this hits a particular chord with me haha. All the great, and some of the bad. One of my favorites.
2015
Been on my replay of this one the last few weeks and just a little thought so far but ... it's the little things in Fallout, you know?
This is a really fun, really great game in so many ways that also manages to drive me nuts sometimes. I came here to write this because of one particular 'little moment' where attention to detail was lost:
While speaking to Jack Cabot upon arriving at his home, he asks the player character if they believe in other intelligent life in the universe. An hour before I began this quest, I killed a 'little green man' extraterrestrial and then took its little Alien Blaster in which I had it equipped at the moment of chatting with Mr. Cabot. None of that reflected a dialogue choice with him that not only do I believe in them, I straight-up shredded one into the ground.
Had this been a moment in Fallout 1 / 2 / New Vegas, there's a really good chance you'd have been able to go "Well shit yeah I do, his green goo-blood is under my fucking boot!" or something of the sort haha.
Alas...
This is a really fun, really great game in so many ways that also manages to drive me nuts sometimes. I came here to write this because of one particular 'little moment' where attention to detail was lost:
While speaking to Jack Cabot upon arriving at his home, he asks the player character if they believe in other intelligent life in the universe. An hour before I began this quest, I killed a 'little green man' extraterrestrial and then took its little Alien Blaster in which I had it equipped at the moment of chatting with Mr. Cabot. None of that reflected a dialogue choice with him that not only do I believe in them, I straight-up shredded one into the ground.
Had this been a moment in Fallout 1 / 2 / New Vegas, there's a really good chance you'd have been able to go "Well shit yeah I do, his green goo-blood is under my fucking boot!" or something of the sort haha.
Alas...
2018
I enjoyed this one fairly enough but this is not my genre.
For people this kinda genre/game appeals to, I wager this is among their very favorites and rock on! For me? Ugh, maybe I'm just getting old but I don't have the patience for the perma-death thing and having to start over from the beginning for the next 'run'.
For people this kinda genre/game appeals to, I wager this is among their very favorites and rock on! For me? Ugh, maybe I'm just getting old but I don't have the patience for the perma-death thing and having to start over from the beginning for the next 'run'.
2010
If I had Musk money, I would contact Obsidian and offer to fully fund a proper remake of this game.
If I had my wish for any game getting a remake, it's this game. I play it to this day because there's simply nothing quite like it. It's singular. That said, it's also very fucking janky and often can be a pain in the ass at times mechanically ... but what it's doing, not many games exist like it.
If I had my wish for any game getting a remake, it's this game. I play it to this day because there's simply nothing quite like it. It's singular. That said, it's also very fucking janky and often can be a pain in the ass at times mechanically ... but what it's doing, not many games exist like it.
When it suddenly hit me that Knights of the Old Republic is old enough to buy a beer this year, I got a tad bit emotional lol.
1997
I believe it was Boyarsky that came up with the whole "What would the 1950's idea of the future be like" concept that would go on to define for me, the best aesthetic in video games.
I played this game first time a little over a year after it released in 1998 and I never beat it but I remember being floored by the concepts / ideas and around this time, I used to play DnD with friends but this game would go on to define what a computer role-playing game is for me. You suddenly had a influx of CRPGs and many of which were set in DnD worlds with DnD rulesets and man, Fallout was still better because it was defined by its own in-house system.
Many of those DnD crpgs of that era are games I adore. Hell, Planescape: Torment very well may be the greatest RPG ever made -- I still prefer Fallout (and Arcanum).
I eventually beat this a few years later after that first time and yeah, Fallout reigns supreme for me. Extremely happy to see the series getting so much love this week thanks to the TV series (I like it).
I played this game first time a little over a year after it released in 1998 and I never beat it but I remember being floored by the concepts / ideas and around this time, I used to play DnD with friends but this game would go on to define what a computer role-playing game is for me. You suddenly had a influx of CRPGs and many of which were set in DnD worlds with DnD rulesets and man, Fallout was still better because it was defined by its own in-house system.
Many of those DnD crpgs of that era are games I adore. Hell, Planescape: Torment very well may be the greatest RPG ever made -- I still prefer Fallout (and Arcanum).
I eventually beat this a few years later after that first time and yeah, Fallout reigns supreme for me. Extremely happy to see the series getting so much love this week thanks to the TV series (I like it).
2010
My favorite video game of all-time:
You play as a mailman who becomes a victim of attempted murder. You spend a bunch of time tracking down your killer who turns out to be Rat-Pack Bugsy Siegel.
You're then thrusted into fighting in a war between the United States Military, the Roman Army, Howard Hughes and an Artificial Intelligence.
On the side of all that, you hang out and help a bunch of Republican Boomers, Mongolian warriors, Technocratic xenophobic monks and many more.
Finally, a lot of the bad shit happening to you is actually inadvertently caused by another pissed off mailman who is obsessed with you.
Madness.
You play as a mailman who becomes a victim of attempted murder. You spend a bunch of time tracking down your killer who turns out to be Rat-Pack Bugsy Siegel.
You're then thrusted into fighting in a war between the United States Military, the Roman Army, Howard Hughes and an Artificial Intelligence.
On the side of all that, you hang out and help a bunch of Republican Boomers, Mongolian warriors, Technocratic xenophobic monks and many more.
Finally, a lot of the bad shit happening to you is actually inadvertently caused by another pissed off mailman who is obsessed with you.
Madness.
Skyrim is like the Casablanca of video games. No matter what flaws or issues you find with it, it's simply just hard to resist its charms.
It's fantasy at a pop-blockbuster level. A behemoth of a video game with true staying power and lasting impact. A game so iconic, it naturally brings every bit of blacklash you can imagine and none of it can stop it from remaining a staple of pop culture with a legacy rarely matched.
Skyrim pisses me off for so many reasons Bethesda continues to piss me off every game in some way or another, yet here I am with it forever remaining installed on my PC in case I just feel like jumping back in for another adventure.
It's fantasy at a pop-blockbuster level. A behemoth of a video game with true staying power and lasting impact. A game so iconic, it naturally brings every bit of blacklash you can imagine and none of it can stop it from remaining a staple of pop culture with a legacy rarely matched.
Skyrim pisses me off for so many reasons Bethesda continues to piss me off every game in some way or another, yet here I am with it forever remaining installed on my PC in case I just feel like jumping back in for another adventure.
I'm only a rough 4 hours or so in right now since it was released for PC this week. One thing I've noticed with late PS5 games is just how horrid they are for the incessant need to hold your hand and tell you what you 'should do' after even what feels like 5-10 seconds. Uncharted 4 had a really quality system with this and why the hell don't more people use it? When you were stuck on something, Uncharted 4 would flash a button prompt asking if you needed a hint. I'm one of those stubborn assholes who won't fucking do it though. I'll stay stuck on a section for a week until I figure it out.
...and it's great to give people that OPTION when they don't feel like being stuck forever on a puzzle etc etc. With many PS5 games the last few years now, you don't get that option. They just tell you ... after like 10 seconds.
...and it's great to give people that OPTION when they don't feel like being stuck forever on a puzzle etc etc. With many PS5 games the last few years now, you don't get that option. They just tell you ... after like 10 seconds.
I had a buddy mention that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater II has the best soundtrack of all-time and ... yeah, ok. That's an incredible soundtrack but I said it's not my #1 and when he asked me, it was a flat-out easy answer: San Andreas. This is the only GTA game ever made where every single station and every single song on every station ... I enjoy.
Playback FM: 80's golden age hip-hop hosted by Chuck D? Aces.
K-Rose: Classic country? Aces.
K-DST: Classic rock hosted by dickhead Axl Rose? Aces
Bounce FM: Funk/R&B/Soul/Disco hosted by George Clinton? Aces.
SF-UR: House music? Aces
Radio Los Santos: 90's West Coast Hip-Hop hosted by Julio G? Aces.
CSR 103.9: New Jack Swing / Soul hosted by Michael Bivins? Aces
K-JAH West: Reggae, Dub and Dancehall? Aces
Master Sounds 98.3: Classic Funk / Soul? Aces
and for me, the king of all:
Radio X: 90's Alt-Rock / Metal. Every single song on this radio station, I own the album lol. Aces x2
No video game before or since has had a better soundtrack and I'm not really sure how it's possible on my end for it to be topped since it took some serious black-fucking-magic for every single song being one I enjoy.
Playback FM: 80's golden age hip-hop hosted by Chuck D? Aces.
K-Rose: Classic country? Aces.
K-DST: Classic rock hosted by dickhead Axl Rose? Aces
Bounce FM: Funk/R&B/Soul/Disco hosted by George Clinton? Aces.
SF-UR: House music? Aces
Radio Los Santos: 90's West Coast Hip-Hop hosted by Julio G? Aces.
CSR 103.9: New Jack Swing / Soul hosted by Michael Bivins? Aces
K-JAH West: Reggae, Dub and Dancehall? Aces
Master Sounds 98.3: Classic Funk / Soul? Aces
and for me, the king of all:
Radio X: 90's Alt-Rock / Metal. Every single song on this radio station, I own the album lol. Aces x2
No video game before or since has had a better soundtrack and I'm not really sure how it's possible on my end for it to be topped since it took some serious black-fucking-magic for every single song being one I enjoy.
2023
I was already mostly sure even before release what this was and immediately disappointed by it. I've been playing Counter-Strike since 2001 and each new game felt genuinely NEW and built from the ground up. You can call this CS2 but it's just CSGO 2.0.
I imagine the reason for this is skins. People around the world would riot in the streets if suddenly a new CS game came out and all their skins were gone lol.
Likely will be playing until I'm an old man (although being the age I am now which is over 30, I'm considered 'elderly' in CS standards lol). Yup, I remember the Heaton 'flash' or Pubmasters.
I imagine the reason for this is skins. People around the world would riot in the streets if suddenly a new CS game came out and all their skins were gone lol.
Likely will be playing until I'm an old man (although being the age I am now which is over 30, I'm considered 'elderly' in CS standards lol). Yup, I remember the Heaton 'flash' or Pubmasters.
So what can I really say that other people in this particular camp haven't about this fucking hilarious, broken, enthrallingly charming game? Bethesda will (likely) never make a video game that is as good as Morrowind again. Oblivion is my favorite.
Walk into a damn tavern in the Imperial City in the evening and just sit down. It'll take approximately 5 seconds before you're in tears. Those mudcrabs are filthy creatures. Also, those boycotts led by those syndicates of wizards on those Imperial goods. This is a game where so much has aged 'terribly' great. I do not get the same sense of amusement in any other Bethesda game that I do from this one.
This is also a game that aged ... terribly awful even on release! I don't have the patience to explain the Leveling + Level Scaling but just google that and you'll find threads dating back to the stone age in bewilderment that certainly the team was cracked out making this one that they didn't take into account how horribly fucking awful it is. There's various ways to mitigate it but it sucks.
This is also a game where it feels quest after quest generally has a real interesting concept/narrative around it. Yeah, the guild quests are often seen as the games highlight and yeah, I do feel they suffer from the Skyrim problem of wanting to give players no opportunity to miss out on content so you kinda become the master of all, but when they are as compellingly interesting as they are, it's hard to be too bothered. Add in a bunch of super amusing Daedric quests, and general MISC quest around the world that rival any game. There's a particular side quest involving a painting that to this day, I might be out buying some groceries or at the bar grabbing a drink and it 'pop' into my head and I'm like aahhhh, that Oblivion. What a game.
The world gets flak for being more 'generic LOTR-inspired fantasy' and sure, it's not the volcanic alien wasteland of the former but the almost atherial quality of the lighting, the high-saturated pallete of the world lends a real charm to the rolling hills and forests. There's an almost soft haze to everything and I adore it. God-awful potato faces and all.
Another favorite is, while I love the slow-burn deliberate pacing of the narrative of Morrowind, I also really appreciate in Oblivion that you're not the 'Chosen One'. Sir Patrick Stewart certainly saw you had a very important role to play in the days ahead, but it's not you who is ultimately the big hero. I have only about 5 hours in Arena and around 20 in Daggerfall so I'm unsure, but I feel Bethesda has never really done that before this and certainly not after. Praise be to Martin!
Add on top of that, one of my all-time favorite expansions to any game with Shivering Isles. If you ask someone who their favorite Daedric Prince is and they answer back in 0.5 seconds SHEEEEOOOOGORATH! There's a damn good reason for it. It involves cheese.
It's a game for people in the chess club. Who's laughing now?
Walk into a damn tavern in the Imperial City in the evening and just sit down. It'll take approximately 5 seconds before you're in tears. Those mudcrabs are filthy creatures. Also, those boycotts led by those syndicates of wizards on those Imperial goods. This is a game where so much has aged 'terribly' great. I do not get the same sense of amusement in any other Bethesda game that I do from this one.
This is also a game that aged ... terribly awful even on release! I don't have the patience to explain the Leveling + Level Scaling but just google that and you'll find threads dating back to the stone age in bewilderment that certainly the team was cracked out making this one that they didn't take into account how horribly fucking awful it is. There's various ways to mitigate it but it sucks.
This is also a game where it feels quest after quest generally has a real interesting concept/narrative around it. Yeah, the guild quests are often seen as the games highlight and yeah, I do feel they suffer from the Skyrim problem of wanting to give players no opportunity to miss out on content so you kinda become the master of all, but when they are as compellingly interesting as they are, it's hard to be too bothered. Add in a bunch of super amusing Daedric quests, and general MISC quest around the world that rival any game. There's a particular side quest involving a painting that to this day, I might be out buying some groceries or at the bar grabbing a drink and it 'pop' into my head and I'm like aahhhh, that Oblivion. What a game.
The world gets flak for being more 'generic LOTR-inspired fantasy' and sure, it's not the volcanic alien wasteland of the former but the almost atherial quality of the lighting, the high-saturated pallete of the world lends a real charm to the rolling hills and forests. There's an almost soft haze to everything and I adore it. God-awful potato faces and all.
Another favorite is, while I love the slow-burn deliberate pacing of the narrative of Morrowind, I also really appreciate in Oblivion that you're not the 'Chosen One'. Sir Patrick Stewart certainly saw you had a very important role to play in the days ahead, but it's not you who is ultimately the big hero. I have only about 5 hours in Arena and around 20 in Daggerfall so I'm unsure, but I feel Bethesda has never really done that before this and certainly not after. Praise be to Martin!
Add on top of that, one of my all-time favorite expansions to any game with Shivering Isles. If you ask someone who their favorite Daedric Prince is and they answer back in 0.5 seconds SHEEEEOOOOGORATH! There's a damn good reason for it. It involves cheese.
It's a game for people in the chess club. Who's laughing now?
2022
I see this as FromSoftware's Greatest Hits game. It's every Soulsborne rolled into a single work.
...which is also precisely why for me, it's the most decidedly flawed work they have done in this series of games. So many different design ideas pulled from every past game worked into one core game and so much of that ends up in conflict with itself. The general design philosophy that FromSoftware is known for and then breaking open into an open-world game is itself in conflict with how they design levels and their encounters.
It's the same issue I have with the new God of War games but I still think Elden Ring manages its goal a far bit better overall and the experience outweighs the issues overall that I have. It's in equal measure a game of breathtaking experiences moment to moment; frustrating and messy and bloated in others.
...which is also precisely why for me, it's the most decidedly flawed work they have done in this series of games. So many different design ideas pulled from every past game worked into one core game and so much of that ends up in conflict with itself. The general design philosophy that FromSoftware is known for and then breaking open into an open-world game is itself in conflict with how they design levels and their encounters.
It's the same issue I have with the new God of War games but I still think Elden Ring manages its goal a far bit better overall and the experience outweighs the issues overall that I have. It's in equal measure a game of breathtaking experiences moment to moment; frustrating and messy and bloated in others.
2024
One of the modern cash-cow genres of video game: Every 2-3 weeks, there's some new incredibly bland survival game populating the gaming world that gets endless hype in which it's often forgotten shortly after.
I'll never understand the appeal of this kind of game. Go to work, come home, jump on your PC and go ... back to work. I don't get it.
I'll never understand the appeal of this kind of game. Go to work, come home, jump on your PC and go ... back to work. I don't get it.
2020
I've been letting some patches come through for a re-play to start so a good amount so far convinced me to jump back in this weekend. This is going down as an iconic blockbuster game that shattered the industries expectations and will likely influence many many games going forward, but it also wasn't perfect, and Act III was a bit messy. Official Release ---> Definitive Edition (it's likely) will, based on Larian's track record / history, be a significant difference from start to finish.
I absolutely hope they continue their style of what I can only really describe as Roleplaying Immersive Sim games. I think it has given them a pretty tremendously unique voice in the industry.
I've also installed the Native Camera Tweaks in conjunction with the WASD Movement mod and now I'm playing a more complex Dragon Age: Origins lol. (That's not a knock on DA:O, that game might have made things more broad/accessible to players of the era but I don't think that's a bad thing. That game rocks still).
I absolutely hope they continue their style of what I can only really describe as Roleplaying Immersive Sim games. I think it has given them a pretty tremendously unique voice in the industry.
I've also installed the Native Camera Tweaks in conjunction with the WASD Movement mod and now I'm playing a more complex Dragon Age: Origins lol. (That's not a knock on DA:O, that game might have made things more broad/accessible to players of the era but I don't think that's a bad thing. That game rocks still).