LeahThe3th
A beautiful remaster to one of the best point and click series ever, if you like your black comedy light and your antics zany, there's no better series than this.
The perfect conclusion to the Telltale Sam & Max series, It improves on the other games in gameplay and scope incredibly while doubling down on the charm that made people fall in love with the series in the first place, may we meet again some day, Freelance Police!
An adventurous yet genre-savvy point and click filled with incredibly funny moments that'll truly stick with you, Monkey Island 1 is the game all point and clicks need to take inspiration from, start to finish this game is just a wonderful journey.
And remember, never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game.
And remember, never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game.
If you're looking for outside of the box JRPGS, there's no better place to go than TWEWY, a wonderfully gripping narrative paired with a gameplay mechanic that really takes advantage of its system making heavy use of the touch screen and dual screens, it's a true one of a kind experience.
Dead Rising 2 Off The Record is a combination of what made the first Dead Rising a bit of a hidden gem classic, as well as what made 2 an accessible yet endlessly fun co-op game, bringing Frank West back from the original game and throwing Chuck Greene from the sequel in as the co-op partner, having pretty much every voice actor come back to do a whole set of new lines for what is just an enhanced edition was unheard of then and still is now.
Just between you and me, I want to pretend this is the canon version of this game.
Just between you and me, I want to pretend this is the canon version of this game.
This game has it all, beautiful art, wonderful characters and an incredibly intriguing world that keeps you asking for more, but it falls short because it simply can't deliver on all that, the only answers this game gives you are on the main story about something that happened before the events of the game, and you probably won't care about it as you were being carelessly lead on by the stories of another character.
Maybe I just chose the wrong characters to be interested in, because all of the ones I tried to find out about left me with a dead end and a mildly happy ending.
Maybe I just chose the wrong characters to be interested in, because all of the ones I tried to find out about left me with a dead end and a mildly happy ending.
2012
A game that might as well go as a companion piece for any old school Resident Evil fan, Devil May Cry is a solid hack and slash that really digs its heels in that classic adventure throughout a mansion, and just like its sister series it manages to find a good balance of seriousness and humour.
Tight controls and smooth gameplay make point to point gameplay very fun but boss fights varying heavily in difficulty and quality leads to some moments of frustration.
Even if this lives in the shadow of its sequels excluding 2, it is still a must play for any fan of the series.
Tight controls and smooth gameplay make point to point gameplay very fun but boss fights varying heavily in difficulty and quality leads to some moments of frustration.
Even if this lives in the shadow of its sequels excluding 2, it is still a must play for any fan of the series.
1997
This is really one of those games you have to really sit on if you aren't getting immediately, it's this fine line danced between the "less is more" simple adventure typical of the JRPG genre of the time, while balancing that with deeper themes, well explored characters, subversive but still coherent narratives and strong cinematics scenes.
The gameplay can be very filtering due to how outdated the formula for these types of games are nowadays, particularly with random encounters and poor balancing incentivizing you to burn hours grinding, but past those issues is a game with well fleshed out gameplay mechanics like Materia that make it hold up quite well.
The soundtrack in this game is simply fantastic, one of the best of any game of its time, and all the sound effects are incredibly well done, feeling either accurate or satisfying, whichever is more important in said instance.
It all just comes together to create an experience that can mystify you regardless of nostalgia,.
The gameplay can be very filtering due to how outdated the formula for these types of games are nowadays, particularly with random encounters and poor balancing incentivizing you to burn hours grinding, but past those issues is a game with well fleshed out gameplay mechanics like Materia that make it hold up quite well.
The soundtrack in this game is simply fantastic, one of the best of any game of its time, and all the sound effects are incredibly well done, feeling either accurate or satisfying, whichever is more important in said instance.
It all just comes together to create an experience that can mystify you regardless of nostalgia,.
2023
A great attempt at remaking to one of the best survival horror games of all time, the remake fails in some regards as it loses a lot of the "action movie" style for a more gritty realistic story, and it ends up working in similar success to 8, which is to say it has a completely inconsistent tone, and its strongest points are when it just tries to stick to either being scary, or being really actiony.
There are many points on which this drags on by just extending out the length of other scenes from the original, but all of the brand new stuff is mostly very welcome.
Movement feels a bit oddly weighty, and the accuracy system is just plain terrible and feels totally unwelcome on MKB, and animations are over-polished to a point where it can be frustrating to try and hit some enemies.
However, past all these problems, you've got an amazing game that works great as a companion piece to something like RE2Make, but in no way will ever replace the original 4, I do recommend it, but only if you've played the original.
There are many points on which this drags on by just extending out the length of other scenes from the original, but all of the brand new stuff is mostly very welcome.
Movement feels a bit oddly weighty, and the accuracy system is just plain terrible and feels totally unwelcome on MKB, and animations are over-polished to a point where it can be frustrating to try and hit some enemies.
However, past all these problems, you've got an amazing game that works great as a companion piece to something like RE2Make, but in no way will ever replace the original 4, I do recommend it, but only if you've played the original.
A true classic of a spectacle fighter, this game has it all, tight controls, variety, over-the-top acting that still manages to keep you hooked on the story, great bosses and a stellar soundtrack.
It can manage to drag on near the end, especially with how much content it recycles, and how tight some bosses weaknesses can be, especially with some weapons being vastly weaker than their counterparts, but it's not major enough to pull away from the experience.
Camera is even more of a problem than it was in the first game, doesn't pan out far enough to see most enemies you're fighting in even some decently small rooms and the adjustable camera is rare enough for the camera changes to be majorly seen as a negative, and it can make it irritating to point towards or away from enemies to do certain attacks, especially on ones who move around you frequently.
Over-all, a must play for anyone into anything that can be considered a part of the genre, like Bayonetta or MGR:R.
It can manage to drag on near the end, especially with how much content it recycles, and how tight some bosses weaknesses can be, especially with some weapons being vastly weaker than their counterparts, but it's not major enough to pull away from the experience.
Camera is even more of a problem than it was in the first game, doesn't pan out far enough to see most enemies you're fighting in even some decently small rooms and the adjustable camera is rare enough for the camera changes to be majorly seen as a negative, and it can make it irritating to point towards or away from enemies to do certain attacks, especially on ones who move around you frequently.
Over-all, a must play for anyone into anything that can be considered a part of the genre, like Bayonetta or MGR:R.
Easily probably the most well rounded Postal game in terms of gameplay, humor, and well, functioning.
Brain Damaged is the perfect spin-off to the Postal series that I didn't know I wanted, Unfortunately it continues series trends of comedy where it throws everything at the wall to see if it sticks, leaving you with a lot of drawn out dull jokes, which hurts especially when it's the theme of the level.
Level design is a highlight, having a good mix of retro design, modern linearity and levels that actually look like places instead of labyrinths, and the creativity over-all just makes it fun to go through, but falls apart later on with more and more levels just being awkward or annoying to navigate, though rarely ever being confusing.
Boss levels are a particular low point, none of the boss fights present much of a challenge and can be cleared easily within a few minutes, with the final boss by far being the worst by trying to band-aid fix these problems by making the attacks frustrating and inconsistent.
Enemy design is pretty standard, nothing noteworthy and everything just checks off boxes for solid enemy design.
Weapon design ranges from fun, to weak, to completely being outclassed by future unlocks, the shovel's block feature was completely made useless by the addition of having the parry on the kick to make it similar to games like Ultrakill, and the nailgun is a waste of a slot the moment you get the gatling gun, and the cat thrower was just very unsatisfying and weird to use.
Numerous times I had bugs impacting my playthrough, 3 times I was stuck on an object and had to reload a save, and near the end of the game I had about 3 soft-locks on the final boss after reloading a save, one where he wouldn't jump off the platform but would still attack, and 2 where he just completely de-spawned.
Over-all, I would recommend the game for any fan of the postal series or retro shooters, but it can be very hard to recommend to any other party due to all the major issues, and not being the best show of the genre.
Brain Damaged is the perfect spin-off to the Postal series that I didn't know I wanted, Unfortunately it continues series trends of comedy where it throws everything at the wall to see if it sticks, leaving you with a lot of drawn out dull jokes, which hurts especially when it's the theme of the level.
Level design is a highlight, having a good mix of retro design, modern linearity and levels that actually look like places instead of labyrinths, and the creativity over-all just makes it fun to go through, but falls apart later on with more and more levels just being awkward or annoying to navigate, though rarely ever being confusing.
Boss levels are a particular low point, none of the boss fights present much of a challenge and can be cleared easily within a few minutes, with the final boss by far being the worst by trying to band-aid fix these problems by making the attacks frustrating and inconsistent.
Enemy design is pretty standard, nothing noteworthy and everything just checks off boxes for solid enemy design.
Weapon design ranges from fun, to weak, to completely being outclassed by future unlocks, the shovel's block feature was completely made useless by the addition of having the parry on the kick to make it similar to games like Ultrakill, and the nailgun is a waste of a slot the moment you get the gatling gun, and the cat thrower was just very unsatisfying and weird to use.
Numerous times I had bugs impacting my playthrough, 3 times I was stuck on an object and had to reload a save, and near the end of the game I had about 3 soft-locks on the final boss after reloading a save, one where he wouldn't jump off the platform but would still attack, and 2 where he just completely de-spawned.
Over-all, I would recommend the game for any fan of the postal series or retro shooters, but it can be very hard to recommend to any other party due to all the major issues, and not being the best show of the genre.
While the development efforts for this and the balance mods hosted on it are commendable, they're usually fun for about 30 minutes, and then you have to watch as they each go through the same "Who knew!" motions every time a balance decision like having any weapon without damage fall-off blows up in their face, especially when it's on a class like Engineer, Yes, I'm sure it SOUNDS cool, but it plays like dogshit, and I'm tired of every other weapon halving TTK while also getting me sniped from across the map.
By a heavy.
By a heavy.
What an unfortunately placed entry in the series, by itself it's not that bad, but compared to the game that came before it, it's lacking in several areas, Nero's playstyle is just not as interesting as Dante's, Dante's arsenal is at its worst in this entry, with really dull weapons that feel awkward to use and the fun ones being ones that have just returned from past games.
The level design is just mediocre being awkward and confusing at times, with very dull and uninteresting puzzles littered with enemies that range from useless cannon fodder to frustrating timewaster enemies that test your patience.
Boss design is just okay, but they're all really easy or have some awkward annoying mechanics, but they really wear out their welcome with the next problem.
This game has a massive lack of content, the moment you get to Dante you're just playing through the same levels all over again but in reverse order and slightly remixed, the boss battles and enemies now feel really clunky to deal with as they're all designed around Nero's grab ability, but are possible to get by with just how much power and variety Dante has, afterwards you get to the final 2 levels as Nero and you're face to face with... A recycled mechanic involving RNG leading to a re-fight of every boss in the game, and an underwhelming final boss that's also recycled, with 1 new extremely punishing attack.
Over-all the game is fun purely for continuing the loop that was set up with 3, and the new ideas are commendable, but there's a lot of problems that make this a bit of a weak entry.
The level design is just mediocre being awkward and confusing at times, with very dull and uninteresting puzzles littered with enemies that range from useless cannon fodder to frustrating timewaster enemies that test your patience.
Boss design is just okay, but they're all really easy or have some awkward annoying mechanics, but they really wear out their welcome with the next problem.
This game has a massive lack of content, the moment you get to Dante you're just playing through the same levels all over again but in reverse order and slightly remixed, the boss battles and enemies now feel really clunky to deal with as they're all designed around Nero's grab ability, but are possible to get by with just how much power and variety Dante has, afterwards you get to the final 2 levels as Nero and you're face to face with... A recycled mechanic involving RNG leading to a re-fight of every boss in the game, and an underwhelming final boss that's also recycled, with 1 new extremely punishing attack.
Over-all the game is fun purely for continuing the loop that was set up with 3, and the new ideas are commendable, but there's a lot of problems that make this a bit of a weak entry.
This review contains spoilers
MGS3 is by all means a great follow up to the masterpiece that was Metal Gear Solid 2 doubling down on all the things that made the gameplay fun while also coming up with new ideas that feel incredibly welcome, and a perfect way to end off the trilogy while also get gears turning for more.
Level design is pretty strong with the levels feeling like these jungle environments and military bases while still being linear enough to consistently know where to go, and every single part of the level is designed with all the mechanics in mind and are full of secrets to look for.
New mechanics like the CQC, Camo, Stamina/Hunting and durability all work quite well, CQC (outside of control issues that come with the PS2/3 versions exclusively) feels great to use and feels a lot more natural than just slamming the guy to the ground and then moving him every time.
The Camo system is absolutely stellar albeit it'd be nice to have some more exact numbers on what the percentages mean for enemy visibility ranges,
Stamina works surprisingly well and feels totally natural for the series and the hunting is a really fun mechanic especially due to how game-like it really is, no handicaps due to realism or anything.
The durability just works fine, It prevents the game from being entirely cheesed if you just hit tranq shots over and over, adding some sort of punishment for spamming shots and not looting at all, It can feel a bit frustrating losing all suppressed weapons though as looting becomes vastly harder and can feel very tedious.
Boss fights are really fun, challenging you to master certain mechanics of the game such as stealth, aiming and general weapon handling, though the final few are a bit more frustrating and dull.
Story is just amazing, you can really feel the Bond style coming from every little beat, but still keeping the military espionage, plot twists, emotional moments, politics symbolism, and humor that makes the series so great.
Over-all the game has a very consistent quality, but continues the trope of having the final act filled with the worst moments of the game, MGS1 had the backtracking and waiting with the keycards leading up to the very irritating or boring final boss fights, MGS2 had the part where you run around naked and unarmed and then the miserable boss fight with all the Metal Gear Rays, and MGS3 leaves it off the worst with a boss fight where you just wait for the boss to turn around and shoot, then a car chase, into another fight where you wait for the boss to be spun around and shoot him in the back, but this time with 2 separate phases, and THEN the horrible escort with EVA, and THEN finally the worst boss in the game, The Boss, who throws away everything you've learned about the game to instead force you to run around in circles, attempt a counter that you're not even told exists, and then spam buttons if that doesn't work and then shoot when they're on the ground, rinse and repeat (as well as being not only one of the few areas in the game with a forced fixed camera, but a bad one at that!) thankfully the game has about an hour left of story afterwards to settle any frustrations from that point though, and leaves you off with some of the best scenes in the series.
Overall, as with everything in the trilogy, a must play even for non series fans.
Level design is pretty strong with the levels feeling like these jungle environments and military bases while still being linear enough to consistently know where to go, and every single part of the level is designed with all the mechanics in mind and are full of secrets to look for.
New mechanics like the CQC, Camo, Stamina/Hunting and durability all work quite well, CQC (outside of control issues that come with the PS2/3 versions exclusively) feels great to use and feels a lot more natural than just slamming the guy to the ground and then moving him every time.
The Camo system is absolutely stellar albeit it'd be nice to have some more exact numbers on what the percentages mean for enemy visibility ranges,
Stamina works surprisingly well and feels totally natural for the series and the hunting is a really fun mechanic especially due to how game-like it really is, no handicaps due to realism or anything.
The durability just works fine, It prevents the game from being entirely cheesed if you just hit tranq shots over and over, adding some sort of punishment for spamming shots and not looting at all, It can feel a bit frustrating losing all suppressed weapons though as looting becomes vastly harder and can feel very tedious.
Boss fights are really fun, challenging you to master certain mechanics of the game such as stealth, aiming and general weapon handling, though the final few are a bit more frustrating and dull.
Story is just amazing, you can really feel the Bond style coming from every little beat, but still keeping the military espionage, plot twists, emotional moments, politics symbolism, and humor that makes the series so great.
Over-all the game has a very consistent quality, but continues the trope of having the final act filled with the worst moments of the game, MGS1 had the backtracking and waiting with the keycards leading up to the very irritating or boring final boss fights, MGS2 had the part where you run around naked and unarmed and then the miserable boss fight with all the Metal Gear Rays, and MGS3 leaves it off the worst with a boss fight where you just wait for the boss to turn around and shoot, then a car chase, into another fight where you wait for the boss to be spun around and shoot him in the back, but this time with 2 separate phases, and THEN the horrible escort with EVA, and THEN finally the worst boss in the game, The Boss, who throws away everything you've learned about the game to instead force you to run around in circles, attempt a counter that you're not even told exists, and then spam buttons if that doesn't work and then shoot when they're on the ground, rinse and repeat (as well as being not only one of the few areas in the game with a forced fixed camera, but a bad one at that!) thankfully the game has about an hour left of story afterwards to settle any frustrations from that point though, and leaves you off with some of the best scenes in the series.
Overall, as with everything in the trilogy, a must play even for non series fans.
MGS2, One of the best games of all time and underrated in its own time, the perfect game to show off what makes the series so great as well as just what makes games as a medium so much more engaging than any other, It takes the cake for the most consistent game in the series.
Gameplay, It's a perfect growth from what was started with MGS1 but refining and adding on top of it, There's now a first person aiming system and outside of some awkwardness due to controllers being awful at precision aiming it feels great to use and adds a lot of depth to every combat encounter, hand to hand combat is now not only better but you can take out guards without having to either slam them to the ground where they stand or sniping them with a suppressor due to the changes to how guard alerts work, they no longer alert just because you grabbed them immediately notifying all the other guards in the area to close in on you immediately, and you don't get instantly failed for getting spotted by a guy who you could barely see due to the radio system, Guards need to radio in to HQ before alerts are set off, but if they're in progress of sounding the alarm OR are an officer who consistently checks in for status reports a search team is sent to check, and if the guard spotted you before getting knocked out the guards will go into a Caution phase for a while, this adds a lot of depth to the otherwise quite simple (and easy) systems from the first game.
Level design is just a massive step up from the first game, taking what worked from the original by having you navigate through a facility back and forth without feeling like you're constantly backtracking, you're constantly unlocking new areas without needing to trudge through a completely alien environment, and being a simple facility means it's easy to set up all sorts of hidden goodies and places to hide yourself or any victims bodies.
Bosses are incredibly fun, switching from this tactical espionage to this almost ninja like combat, and all the bosses have very interesting unique mechanics that practice core elements of the game, Fat Man being my favorite of them all, though the fight with the Rays near the end of the game is incredibly irritating.
Story is master class, balancing greatly written characters, interesting narratives and plot twists, and all the politics and deeper symbolism of it all wrapped in a nice bow
It's in an incredibly consistent game, probably the most consistent in the trilogy with only having one major snag with the pacing near the end, the game had my attention and I was all for it from start to finish, even with what we know now with the continuations of the story in MGS4 (and how a lot of them were explanations where they weren't needed or originally intended) the story feels perfect for bookending the story from MGS1.
It's one of the first games in a long time where I came out of it thinking to myself "I cannot wait to play this game again" and I consider that a massive praise by my own standards.
A must play, as is with all the games in the trilogy, but this is the game where it absolutely peaks and needs to be seen.
Gameplay, It's a perfect growth from what was started with MGS1 but refining and adding on top of it, There's now a first person aiming system and outside of some awkwardness due to controllers being awful at precision aiming it feels great to use and adds a lot of depth to every combat encounter, hand to hand combat is now not only better but you can take out guards without having to either slam them to the ground where they stand or sniping them with a suppressor due to the changes to how guard alerts work, they no longer alert just because you grabbed them immediately notifying all the other guards in the area to close in on you immediately, and you don't get instantly failed for getting spotted by a guy who you could barely see due to the radio system, Guards need to radio in to HQ before alerts are set off, but if they're in progress of sounding the alarm OR are an officer who consistently checks in for status reports a search team is sent to check, and if the guard spotted you before getting knocked out the guards will go into a Caution phase for a while, this adds a lot of depth to the otherwise quite simple (and easy) systems from the first game.
Level design is just a massive step up from the first game, taking what worked from the original by having you navigate through a facility back and forth without feeling like you're constantly backtracking, you're constantly unlocking new areas without needing to trudge through a completely alien environment, and being a simple facility means it's easy to set up all sorts of hidden goodies and places to hide yourself or any victims bodies.
Bosses are incredibly fun, switching from this tactical espionage to this almost ninja like combat, and all the bosses have very interesting unique mechanics that practice core elements of the game, Fat Man being my favorite of them all, though the fight with the Rays near the end of the game is incredibly irritating.
Story is master class, balancing greatly written characters, interesting narratives and plot twists, and all the politics and deeper symbolism of it all wrapped in a nice bow
It's in an incredibly consistent game, probably the most consistent in the trilogy with only having one major snag with the pacing near the end, the game had my attention and I was all for it from start to finish, even with what we know now with the continuations of the story in MGS4 (and how a lot of them were explanations where they weren't needed or originally intended) the story feels perfect for bookending the story from MGS1.
It's one of the first games in a long time where I came out of it thinking to myself "I cannot wait to play this game again" and I consider that a massive praise by my own standards.
A must play, as is with all the games in the trilogy, but this is the game where it absolutely peaks and needs to be seen.