68 reviews liked by Junus
I played The Callisto Protocol with a lot of quality-of-life patches applied to the game. While I had an okay time with the game, it’s not often I play a game that make me feel a lot of potential had been squandered.
The visual presentation seems to be where most of the time and effort has gone into the game. The graphical fidelity and animation are some of the best that I have seen for the 9th generation of games. The detail of the facial features and animation is excellent, and I believe The Callisto Protocol has set a new bar of technical quality that other games should aspire for.
I did like the game went for a melee brawler combat system rather than opting for the over-the-shoulder shooter that has been done so many times now. I know some people had issues with the combat system, but I found it worked fine for the most part, most likely due to the patches that were released for the game. I liked that you had to use the left stick to dodge enemy attack and wait for an opening to bonk them on the head with the stand baton.
Sadly, the gameplay loop doesn’t evolve beyond hitting zombies with your baton and occasionally shooting them with your sidearm. Most zombies you’ll come across are human like, so combat encounters will work the same regardless of what you are fighting.
The art design feels uninspired. You’ll navigate through medical wings, prison cells, hydroponics centres, and mining towns. However, with everything being so dark and the walls being covered in metal and pipework, the levels rarely feel distinct from one another.
Levels are linear in their design. Being linear isn’t really the problem. The issue I had that, while the levels themselves can be very detailed, there was very little reason to explore the immediate environment that you were in. There’s rarely any loot that is hidden away in a nook somewhere. You do occasionally come across optional route that will lead you to a loot chest but it’s never clear if the path you’re on is the main path or the optional one.
The story is nothing to write home about. You’ll probably guess where the story is going after the first hour of playing. You’ll collect audio logs to get more backstory on what’s going on but even they are not worth listening to. It’s not like the original Dead Space or System Shock 2 where you’re piecing together the story of the events that happened have occurred before. The audio logs could be completely omitted from the game and the very little would have been lost from the removal.
My review probably gives the impression that I had a terrible time with the game but that’s not the case; the game is fine, but it should have been a solid first entry to a new series in the action-horror genre. It is a difficult game for me to recommend to others to play, at least as a full price game. The takes around 10 hours to complete, so if you see it bundled as part of PlayStation Plus or Xbox Game Pass, or you see it going cheap on a sale, I think it’s worth giving it a go.
The visual presentation seems to be where most of the time and effort has gone into the game. The graphical fidelity and animation are some of the best that I have seen for the 9th generation of games. The detail of the facial features and animation is excellent, and I believe The Callisto Protocol has set a new bar of technical quality that other games should aspire for.
I did like the game went for a melee brawler combat system rather than opting for the over-the-shoulder shooter that has been done so many times now. I know some people had issues with the combat system, but I found it worked fine for the most part, most likely due to the patches that were released for the game. I liked that you had to use the left stick to dodge enemy attack and wait for an opening to bonk them on the head with the stand baton.
Sadly, the gameplay loop doesn’t evolve beyond hitting zombies with your baton and occasionally shooting them with your sidearm. Most zombies you’ll come across are human like, so combat encounters will work the same regardless of what you are fighting.
The art design feels uninspired. You’ll navigate through medical wings, prison cells, hydroponics centres, and mining towns. However, with everything being so dark and the walls being covered in metal and pipework, the levels rarely feel distinct from one another.
Levels are linear in their design. Being linear isn’t really the problem. The issue I had that, while the levels themselves can be very detailed, there was very little reason to explore the immediate environment that you were in. There’s rarely any loot that is hidden away in a nook somewhere. You do occasionally come across optional route that will lead you to a loot chest but it’s never clear if the path you’re on is the main path or the optional one.
The story is nothing to write home about. You’ll probably guess where the story is going after the first hour of playing. You’ll collect audio logs to get more backstory on what’s going on but even they are not worth listening to. It’s not like the original Dead Space or System Shock 2 where you’re piecing together the story of the events that happened have occurred before. The audio logs could be completely omitted from the game and the very little would have been lost from the removal.
My review probably gives the impression that I had a terrible time with the game but that’s not the case; the game is fine, but it should have been a solid first entry to a new series in the action-horror genre. It is a difficult game for me to recommend to others to play, at least as a full price game. The takes around 10 hours to complete, so if you see it bundled as part of PlayStation Plus or Xbox Game Pass, or you see it going cheap on a sale, I think it’s worth giving it a go.
Doom
2016
Becomes repetitive fast.
Feeding Frenzy
2004
I wish I could feel the things i used to when I’d take turns passing the controller between me and dad back in our tiny apartment playing on that gigantic bulk of a tv. This game is forever engraved in the deepest, warmest crevices of my memory
Super Mario Bros. 35
2020
I really want to talk to the 43 people who have this backlogged, like who's gonna tell them
Gears 5
2019
First of all, I have to say how incredible this game is on Xbox Series X with Dobly Vision and Dobly Atmos. The cinematics are beautiful.
...But... It has some problems.
The story made me fell kind of lost. I only played Gears 4, so maybe that's the reason but what the hell is CGO? It's the same problem that I saw on Gears 4. Could you take a moment just to explain me this universe? I know there's a flashback right in the beginning but wasn't enough to make me understand everything that I needed.
The gameplay is really cool and I undestand why this franchise is so import for the game industry. It has one of the best cover systems that I ever see. It's really fun to move fast from a wall to another one.
By the way, Kate is so much better than JD. I really liked the fact we play with her in this one.
It's a really nice game but I had headackes sometines when I was playing with headphones. Pay attention if you usually have this problem!
You'll probaly have fun with Gears 5 if you like third person shooter games games but something is missing to make Gears 5 special and unforgettable.
...But... It has some problems.
The story made me fell kind of lost. I only played Gears 4, so maybe that's the reason but what the hell is CGO? It's the same problem that I saw on Gears 4. Could you take a moment just to explain me this universe? I know there's a flashback right in the beginning but wasn't enough to make me understand everything that I needed.
The gameplay is really cool and I undestand why this franchise is so import for the game industry. It has one of the best cover systems that I ever see. It's really fun to move fast from a wall to another one.
By the way, Kate is so much better than JD. I really liked the fact we play with her in this one.
It's a really nice game but I had headackes sometines when I was playing with headphones. Pay attention if you usually have this problem!
You'll probaly have fun with Gears 5 if you like third person shooter games games but something is missing to make Gears 5 special and unforgettable.
Beyond Eyes
2015
For what should've been a beautiful little game with interesting ideas turns into an activity equally compared to watching paint dry for an hour.
I may be the person who has played this game the most on the planet. Or at least top 0.1%. it is a forgotten entry in the Civ series but one that I love dearly - it was my first ever turn based strategy game and whilst it is overly simple at times it is a great "casual" strategy experience. I have cheesed so many deity victories and seen everything that the game has to offer but I would love if they made another (real) sequel - Sid Meier's if you're reading this I have ideas please talk to me baby...
I also want to mention the fantastic music and art styles, I'm happy Civ 6 went a bit cartoony as it felt similar to this one in tone.
I also want to mention the fantastic music and art styles, I'm happy Civ 6 went a bit cartoony as it felt similar to this one in tone.
and you know you want to
shake it up and pour it on you
you know you want to
wear the purp
don't ya
ok honestly i know this game is not good and also honestly i was never able to play it because i could never get it to work for me however i thought it was silly how two white mfs just starting singing
even their "rap" names are awful everything about it is just not great and kind of cringe especially now after many years have passed.
shake it up and pour it on you
you know you want to
wear the purp
don't ya
ok honestly i know this game is not good and also honestly i was never able to play it because i could never get it to work for me however i thought it was silly how two white mfs just starting singing
even their "rap" names are awful everything about it is just not great and kind of cringe especially now after many years have passed.
My Name is Mayo 3
2022
The original My Name Is Mayo is pretty much the poster child of the easy trophy genre. Trophies are a great way to increase your playtime with games and it turns out that little dopamine hit you get with every "ding!" can be quite addicting for some. It did not take very long for developers to capitalize on it. The trophy hunting crowd is surprisingly big and full of everyone from casuals to of course "hardcore gamers" who get mad at people who don't solely go for "Beat the game without dying while you're blinded and dismembered" type of trophies. Its a sizeable crowd of addicts and makes it easy for publishers to take one of two routes. They can shit out shovelware asset flips for like two bucks. Or they can use the promise of easy trophies (that often unlock far before completion of the game) to get hunters to try out an obscure indie game and maybe even like it enough to beat it. I chose to believe the second option was done the most. Even if most of the games end up being cheaply made or bad, with how some hunters even buy the same game in different regions or across systems to stack I can't deny how enticing the profit sounds. However overtime it quickly became a lot more of the first option. You couldn't look at the new games section on PS5 without being spammed with shit like "Hot Dog Jump" and "Hot Dog Turbo Jump" and it was actually insulting. Sony never bothered before because its more money for them but it got so bad they actually did something for once and delisted most games like that.
So, that's all the background information you really need about these types of games. My Name is Mayo is the most popular one. You simply click X a few thousand times and boom that's 50 trophies for you. For every couple milestones you'd get a little random fact. Or you could do some side stories (if you can really even call them that) that would maybe put your mayo in a costume or do something silly with the background with every new milestone you reached. Basically the very bare minimum to even call it a game, its pretty lazy even for a clicker game. But the sillyness and quickness of just tapping a jar of food a bunch made it become both popular and infamous. The sequel, My Name Is Mayo 2, was surprisingly an improvement. It's still pretty terrible but it looked better, had a few minigames and was a little funnier too. Unfortunately 3 feels like a step down.
It is funny to me that this series falls into the common trilogy trap of the 2nd being the best and the third being kinda uninspired. This is certainly the best looking of the three, it tries to go for like a 60s vibe. But everything else leaves a bit to be desired, even for a game of this quality. The little side stories are dull and sometimes even derivative of previous entries, and only once do something interesting with the background. But after you've gone through all of those you unlock a bonus final story. Now you are no longer tapping the jar, but instead holding up the left stick as you peacefully walk up a randomly generated forest. With a goal of making it ten miles. Each mile you unlock a trophy and a little blurb like usual. Along the trail you can find different types of mushrooms. These will either change the visuals in a psychedelic way which is cute, or will throw you into a random minigame. Before you start it briefly shows you what buttons are used but it never tells you what they do or what you're supposed to do. All of these minigames are terribly designed, terribly explained and feel terrible to play. What's worse is for the little story bits it tries to be a solemn reflection on the titular Mayo's father passing. This would of been a great opportunity to reflect on trophies or something in a meta way, but they try to do some wholesome "spend time with your loved ones thing" and with how its framed - you being a fucking jar of mayo, for one - it comes off like a really longwinded, out of touch and borderline disrespectful joke. Good intentions or not it just feels gross and cheap. It soured the already lackluster experience to begin with. This is the worst one yet.
Nancymeter - 30/100
Time Played - 1 hour 25 minutes
Trophy Completion - 100% (51/51) Platinum #226
Game Completion #8 of December
Game Completion #154 of 2022
So, that's all the background information you really need about these types of games. My Name is Mayo is the most popular one. You simply click X a few thousand times and boom that's 50 trophies for you. For every couple milestones you'd get a little random fact. Or you could do some side stories (if you can really even call them that) that would maybe put your mayo in a costume or do something silly with the background with every new milestone you reached. Basically the very bare minimum to even call it a game, its pretty lazy even for a clicker game. But the sillyness and quickness of just tapping a jar of food a bunch made it become both popular and infamous. The sequel, My Name Is Mayo 2, was surprisingly an improvement. It's still pretty terrible but it looked better, had a few minigames and was a little funnier too. Unfortunately 3 feels like a step down.
It is funny to me that this series falls into the common trilogy trap of the 2nd being the best and the third being kinda uninspired. This is certainly the best looking of the three, it tries to go for like a 60s vibe. But everything else leaves a bit to be desired, even for a game of this quality. The little side stories are dull and sometimes even derivative of previous entries, and only once do something interesting with the background. But after you've gone through all of those you unlock a bonus final story. Now you are no longer tapping the jar, but instead holding up the left stick as you peacefully walk up a randomly generated forest. With a goal of making it ten miles. Each mile you unlock a trophy and a little blurb like usual. Along the trail you can find different types of mushrooms. These will either change the visuals in a psychedelic way which is cute, or will throw you into a random minigame. Before you start it briefly shows you what buttons are used but it never tells you what they do or what you're supposed to do. All of these minigames are terribly designed, terribly explained and feel terrible to play. What's worse is for the little story bits it tries to be a solemn reflection on the titular Mayo's father passing. This would of been a great opportunity to reflect on trophies or something in a meta way, but they try to do some wholesome "spend time with your loved ones thing" and with how its framed - you being a fucking jar of mayo, for one - it comes off like a really longwinded, out of touch and borderline disrespectful joke. Good intentions or not it just feels gross and cheap. It soured the already lackluster experience to begin with. This is the worst one yet.
Nancymeter - 30/100
Time Played - 1 hour 25 minutes
Trophy Completion - 100% (51/51) Platinum #226
Game Completion #8 of December
Game Completion #154 of 2022
It's basically Quick time Events-The Game but for an interactive documentary... it's far from bad but it's also far from good. Legends of Wrestlemania lets you play some matches from Wrestlemania 1 to 15. Kinda cool to see how the showcase mode as a concept came to life here before establishing itself in WWE 13. The roster is also pretty good although some wrestlers like Roddy Piper look weird.
All in all... I had a bit fun with it but it fades in comparison to the SvR-Series, which is actually a totally different game with a different system.
All in all... I had a bit fun with it but it fades in comparison to the SvR-Series, which is actually a totally different game with a different system.