Leos
I miss when developers genuinely learned what was good about their games and leaned into it instead of appealing to the horrors of the mass market.
Coming from Codename 47, Silent Assassin delivers more of what made the best levels from that game great. Offering the player a variety of interesting environments to explore and more ways to approach targets than the last game. Guns blazing, poisoning, a sniper from a distance, the choice is yours, and the game will even award you with a title and stats based on your performance.
Instead of a semi-determined screen of weapons to choose from with cash limits, Silent Assassin allows players to equip any weapons they have taken from previous levels (or unlocked from completing missions in the stealthiest way possible, only eliminating the target) to really give a player not just a more personalized way of taking down marks, but also offering a fun side challenge of collecting weapons to have a full arsenal.
From the cold streets of St Petersburg to the arid markets of Afghanistan. Hitman 2 offers an even more diverse range of levels that offer unique challenges to the player every step of the way.
While the story is quite barebones, same as the last entry, it is at least interesting enough to keep the player engaged. Being said, its also completely possible to ignore it if you wanted to.
The game also manages to surprise you, especially near the end with some twists that took me by surprise so much that I thought I was experiencing bugs. The return to St Petersburg will be burned into my mind forever as a time I was genuinely trolled by a video game in such a way that you really don't expect to get messed with.
That being said, Silent Assassin still has many flaws that will need tweaking going forward. I ended up not playing on the highest difficulty as I found guards were WAY too jumpy over my actions, even if I was mirroring the pattern and behaviors of the man I replaced. I understand a game demanding perfection. But I really don't find it fun when a game turns from reasonable challenge with fair rules to a game where I couldn't tell you how or where I fucked up if I wanted to. I am a masochist sure, but I prefer the kind of struggle I can work with and understand rather than the pain of being black bagged and gang beat in an alley at seemingly random. This could just be a skill issue on my part, but this is a sentiment I have seen around.
This concludes the first 2 Hitman games that I was told to skip before starting the series. I can understand why people are told to skip the first two games. They are clunky, awkward, and sometimes don't work quite the way you expect them to, but they are 100% worth a try if you are willing to put up with their unique quirks.
Coming from Codename 47, Silent Assassin delivers more of what made the best levels from that game great. Offering the player a variety of interesting environments to explore and more ways to approach targets than the last game. Guns blazing, poisoning, a sniper from a distance, the choice is yours, and the game will even award you with a title and stats based on your performance.
Instead of a semi-determined screen of weapons to choose from with cash limits, Silent Assassin allows players to equip any weapons they have taken from previous levels (or unlocked from completing missions in the stealthiest way possible, only eliminating the target) to really give a player not just a more personalized way of taking down marks, but also offering a fun side challenge of collecting weapons to have a full arsenal.
From the cold streets of St Petersburg to the arid markets of Afghanistan. Hitman 2 offers an even more diverse range of levels that offer unique challenges to the player every step of the way.
While the story is quite barebones, same as the last entry, it is at least interesting enough to keep the player engaged. Being said, its also completely possible to ignore it if you wanted to.
The game also manages to surprise you, especially near the end with some twists that took me by surprise so much that I thought I was experiencing bugs. The return to St Petersburg will be burned into my mind forever as a time I was genuinely trolled by a video game in such a way that you really don't expect to get messed with.
That being said, Silent Assassin still has many flaws that will need tweaking going forward. I ended up not playing on the highest difficulty as I found guards were WAY too jumpy over my actions, even if I was mirroring the pattern and behaviors of the man I replaced. I understand a game demanding perfection. But I really don't find it fun when a game turns from reasonable challenge with fair rules to a game where I couldn't tell you how or where I fucked up if I wanted to. I am a masochist sure, but I prefer the kind of struggle I can work with and understand rather than the pain of being black bagged and gang beat in an alley at seemingly random. This could just be a skill issue on my part, but this is a sentiment I have seen around.
This concludes the first 2 Hitman games that I was told to skip before starting the series. I can understand why people are told to skip the first two games. They are clunky, awkward, and sometimes don't work quite the way you expect them to, but they are 100% worth a try if you are willing to put up with their unique quirks.
2000
This review contains spoilers
I think prior to this review, I should give a bit of context to my review and what I was thinking of going into playing this game
Many dedicated hitman fans have advised I skip the first 2 games and start at Contracts. I understand that Contracts is supposed to be a remake of the first game but I wanted to play Codename 47 because, as someone who wanted to really get into the series, I wanted to see where it started.
Codename 47 at times feels clunky, it feels alot like a tech demo in many ways as not only is it short, it tries to do alot of stuff in its first outing. There is a sense while playing it that the developers wanted to see what worked and what didnt, and considering Contracts later refined these levels and even cut one, I am going to go out on a limb and say they managed to refine their formula quite well at that point.
The game has about 12 levels, taking place across 4 hits. The first job, Hong Kong, taking up about 1/3rd of the game, with the other jobs having less levels.
Hong Kong its definetly the best in terms of refinement, I think its the games best foot forward. Offering a variety of ways to complete its levels and rewarding the player snooping around and investigating. Hitman as a series doesnt really want you to figure out how to do a job on your first playthrough, the game rewards a player being open minded and experimenting with different ways of killing the target, different disguises or entrances, I often found myself being so surprised with the variety of approaches that I would feel a it silly for not seeing an option so obviously. The game, at its best, rewards you for thinking realistically in a way I don't think many games do nowadays or maybe even did in 2000.
This, sadly, turns into a bit of a mess in the next level.
Columbia sucks, Its an endurance test for getting torn to shreds by guys you cant see with little to no options for recovery if things go wrong. The games low draw distance and lack of good checkpoints make each level a test in perfection, (especially if you play on Hard like I did) and not in a really satisfying way. Failure results in a single "revive" that doesn't give you a new disguise, doesn't fully give back armor, spawns you in the dumbest location and expects you to just un-fuck your situations while everyone is hunting you down already. I honestly would be less mad if I wasn't given checkpoints as it feels more like a waste of time when I use them unless I am literally naruto-running to the end.
Budapest is a breif, but welcome, return to the kind of gameplay in Hong Kong, rewarding patience and research of the area to dispatch the target and steal an item before escape. I honestly don't even know if I found all the ways you can get the key off the Dentist but I can tell you that its very entertaining to explore the map and see your options.
Rotterdam at first is promising aswell, but then turns into a level on par in terms of frustration with Columbia, requiring perfection as to even get close to the target without them escaping before you get a chance to finish the job. The game does reward you for exploration once again with the option of a Car Bomb, but its so out of the way and a pain in the ass to get to that frankly, you could always just wait by the car and murder him before he escapes.
The final level is kind of surreal, Its hard to put into words but there is a really odd feeling to it. Killing the target and stealing his uniform make you basically immune in a level that, without it, is a constant assault of SWAT units. Then its traversing the maze of a map trying to find out what you're even supposed to do in the first place. Ending in a boss fight that is really more of a gauntlet (that you can 100% cheese) than a real fight.
Codename 47 is a fine game, I wouldn't recommend it unless you really want to experience the series first attempts, especially at the 11 CAD price tag on steam.
You aren't missing out on much dodging this one, however.
Fuck Pablo and his lame fuckin lab.
Many dedicated hitman fans have advised I skip the first 2 games and start at Contracts. I understand that Contracts is supposed to be a remake of the first game but I wanted to play Codename 47 because, as someone who wanted to really get into the series, I wanted to see where it started.
Codename 47 at times feels clunky, it feels alot like a tech demo in many ways as not only is it short, it tries to do alot of stuff in its first outing. There is a sense while playing it that the developers wanted to see what worked and what didnt, and considering Contracts later refined these levels and even cut one, I am going to go out on a limb and say they managed to refine their formula quite well at that point.
The game has about 12 levels, taking place across 4 hits. The first job, Hong Kong, taking up about 1/3rd of the game, with the other jobs having less levels.
Hong Kong its definetly the best in terms of refinement, I think its the games best foot forward. Offering a variety of ways to complete its levels and rewarding the player snooping around and investigating. Hitman as a series doesnt really want you to figure out how to do a job on your first playthrough, the game rewards a player being open minded and experimenting with different ways of killing the target, different disguises or entrances, I often found myself being so surprised with the variety of approaches that I would feel a it silly for not seeing an option so obviously. The game, at its best, rewards you for thinking realistically in a way I don't think many games do nowadays or maybe even did in 2000.
This, sadly, turns into a bit of a mess in the next level.
Columbia sucks, Its an endurance test for getting torn to shreds by guys you cant see with little to no options for recovery if things go wrong. The games low draw distance and lack of good checkpoints make each level a test in perfection, (especially if you play on Hard like I did) and not in a really satisfying way. Failure results in a single "revive" that doesn't give you a new disguise, doesn't fully give back armor, spawns you in the dumbest location and expects you to just un-fuck your situations while everyone is hunting you down already. I honestly would be less mad if I wasn't given checkpoints as it feels more like a waste of time when I use them unless I am literally naruto-running to the end.
Budapest is a breif, but welcome, return to the kind of gameplay in Hong Kong, rewarding patience and research of the area to dispatch the target and steal an item before escape. I honestly don't even know if I found all the ways you can get the key off the Dentist but I can tell you that its very entertaining to explore the map and see your options.
Rotterdam at first is promising aswell, but then turns into a level on par in terms of frustration with Columbia, requiring perfection as to even get close to the target without them escaping before you get a chance to finish the job. The game does reward you for exploration once again with the option of a Car Bomb, but its so out of the way and a pain in the ass to get to that frankly, you could always just wait by the car and murder him before he escapes.
The final level is kind of surreal, Its hard to put into words but there is a really odd feeling to it. Killing the target and stealing his uniform make you basically immune in a level that, without it, is a constant assault of SWAT units. Then its traversing the maze of a map trying to find out what you're even supposed to do in the first place. Ending in a boss fight that is really more of a gauntlet (that you can 100% cheese) than a real fight.
Codename 47 is a fine game, I wouldn't recommend it unless you really want to experience the series first attempts, especially at the 11 CAD price tag on steam.
You aren't missing out on much dodging this one, however.
Fuck Pablo and his lame fuckin lab.
This review contains spoilers
Well its been a bit since I did a review, lets get back on track, shall we?
Bit of background, I initially played this game when I was about 8, on the original Xbox. One of the first things I noticed is how the game felt like it skipped a whole level, turns out the console versions had an additional prologue level, who knew!
I remember liking this game as a kid, so revisiting it I expected to have a good time going in, it has Wolfenstein in the name! Its gotta be good!
RtCW is fine
The story is not super deep. Bj Blazkowicz returns to kill Nazis, discovering an operation to resurrect Heinrich, an ancient dark knight empowered by black magic, and use him in combination with an army of cyborg super soldiers to win the war. Yes the story is dumb, its played so honestly and you could honestly blink and miss it and it wont affect how the game plays out. Yes, in-game documents exist to deepen the world but in truth, you wont get much from them besides "I just hope X doesn't do something stupid", and rest assured, X did the stupid thing.
Music is fine, the game has some memorable tracks that are stuck in my head for sure. (The track Action! is one I like a lot actually: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zly9d5_8zpI) But truth be told I dont know if the music is like, That amazing? Its just fine.
Visually, the game is aging like dirt. Everything is kinda awkwardly blocky and some of the vista's and valleys give me an eerie vibe, like I am in gm_flatgrass or something. enemy models like the sexy black witch lady towards the end show their age big time. Though, I do think the Super Soldiers are very unique! I like the knight aesthetic they have combined with their robotic bits, drives the whole cross between old magic and new tech home nicely and I kinda wish we saw more of that. Graphics are serviceable and if you aren't a fetish for HD textures, they serve the game just fine.
Gameplay wise, the game is, and I hate to keep using this word, fine. You got a good variety of weapons and while some end up falling off like the hand guns, you end up having a decent arsenal of weapons towards the end. That being said, this arsenal is hardly unique either, with the only weapon of note I remember being the Fg42 which became my workhorse weapon towards the end of the game. Even the tesla canon or the Minigun come across as kinda meh, they are the kind of guns you only pull out on a boss or big encounter and while ammo is plentiful for them in the last few levels, their range and accuracy made it so that I was just better off sniping guys off with the Fg42 anyway. All the guns feel samey, serviceable, but kinda samey. The game lacks a Shotgun, which I am taking half an entire star off for that alone. What the fuck.
Level consist of you killing your way to an exit, sometimes you gotta not trigger an alarm, sometimes you gotta backtrack and hunt a guy, one time you even escort a tank (for 2 seconds). Levels are surprisingly varied, though some do end up feeling samey towards the end and while there are secrets to find it doesn't shake much up. Maybe at the time it didn't need to.
For more context, I played on the second highest difficulty because I found early on it was very easy for you to die with little reaction time, turns out the console ports made the game easier. Once I got into the flow of the game it wasn't really hard, just a few parts where you had to deal with enemies that killed you really fast with little way to stop them if you don't react fast enough (The Lopers are probably the worst for this, constantly jumping your rockets and gunfire, actually they were the most fearsome enemies in my opinion and they were gone quick)
RtCW is the Maple Bacon Quarter Pounder from McDonalds for me. I had it once, really liked it, and when it comes out every year or so, consider getting it, maybe I do, maybe I don't, I don't lose sleep over missing out. Now that I just got my burger again, I recall that it is just McDonalds with a fun sauce. Its fine, I'm not offended or angry, but I am not impressed. It hasn't aged that bad, but I don't know if McDonalds Burgers really age anyway, maybe something they put in the meat, maybe the game was so simple that age wasn't gonna bother it much.
Don't lose sleep on skipping this one, Don't spend over 5 dollars for it either. Its just fine.
Update: apparently a shotgun exists in the console port. The fuck?
Bit of background, I initially played this game when I was about 8, on the original Xbox. One of the first things I noticed is how the game felt like it skipped a whole level, turns out the console versions had an additional prologue level, who knew!
I remember liking this game as a kid, so revisiting it I expected to have a good time going in, it has Wolfenstein in the name! Its gotta be good!
RtCW is fine
The story is not super deep. Bj Blazkowicz returns to kill Nazis, discovering an operation to resurrect Heinrich, an ancient dark knight empowered by black magic, and use him in combination with an army of cyborg super soldiers to win the war. Yes the story is dumb, its played so honestly and you could honestly blink and miss it and it wont affect how the game plays out. Yes, in-game documents exist to deepen the world but in truth, you wont get much from them besides "I just hope X doesn't do something stupid", and rest assured, X did the stupid thing.
Music is fine, the game has some memorable tracks that are stuck in my head for sure. (The track Action! is one I like a lot actually: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zly9d5_8zpI) But truth be told I dont know if the music is like, That amazing? Its just fine.
Visually, the game is aging like dirt. Everything is kinda awkwardly blocky and some of the vista's and valleys give me an eerie vibe, like I am in gm_flatgrass or something. enemy models like the sexy black witch lady towards the end show their age big time. Though, I do think the Super Soldiers are very unique! I like the knight aesthetic they have combined with their robotic bits, drives the whole cross between old magic and new tech home nicely and I kinda wish we saw more of that. Graphics are serviceable and if you aren't a fetish for HD textures, they serve the game just fine.
Gameplay wise, the game is, and I hate to keep using this word, fine. You got a good variety of weapons and while some end up falling off like the hand guns, you end up having a decent arsenal of weapons towards the end. That being said, this arsenal is hardly unique either, with the only weapon of note I remember being the Fg42 which became my workhorse weapon towards the end of the game. Even the tesla canon or the Minigun come across as kinda meh, they are the kind of guns you only pull out on a boss or big encounter and while ammo is plentiful for them in the last few levels, their range and accuracy made it so that I was just better off sniping guys off with the Fg42 anyway. All the guns feel samey, serviceable, but kinda samey. The game lacks a Shotgun, which I am taking half an entire star off for that alone. What the fuck.
Level consist of you killing your way to an exit, sometimes you gotta not trigger an alarm, sometimes you gotta backtrack and hunt a guy, one time you even escort a tank (for 2 seconds). Levels are surprisingly varied, though some do end up feeling samey towards the end and while there are secrets to find it doesn't shake much up. Maybe at the time it didn't need to.
For more context, I played on the second highest difficulty because I found early on it was very easy for you to die with little reaction time, turns out the console ports made the game easier. Once I got into the flow of the game it wasn't really hard, just a few parts where you had to deal with enemies that killed you really fast with little way to stop them if you don't react fast enough (The Lopers are probably the worst for this, constantly jumping your rockets and gunfire, actually they were the most fearsome enemies in my opinion and they were gone quick)
RtCW is the Maple Bacon Quarter Pounder from McDonalds for me. I had it once, really liked it, and when it comes out every year or so, consider getting it, maybe I do, maybe I don't, I don't lose sleep over missing out. Now that I just got my burger again, I recall that it is just McDonalds with a fun sauce. Its fine, I'm not offended or angry, but I am not impressed. It hasn't aged that bad, but I don't know if McDonalds Burgers really age anyway, maybe something they put in the meat, maybe the game was so simple that age wasn't gonna bother it much.
Don't lose sleep on skipping this one, Don't spend over 5 dollars for it either. Its just fine.
Update: apparently a shotgun exists in the console port. The fuck?
2013
I actually dont hate this game?
To most people, Dead Rising 3 is the beginning of the end of the franchise, a final deathrattle before the release of 4. Or its just painfully average, and its not particularly hard to see why.
The defining features of Dead Rising 1, in some ways refined or dumbed down in 2, are made so casual that the "nightmare mode" is not a challenge in the slightest.
the timer is very generous, the missions so easy that their is no completionist goal tied to completing all the survivor missions or even letting them survive at all. I would complain that a good chunk of the bosses literally beat themselves due to a series lack of intelligent arena design but that's something every game in the series does so I wont add it as a negative here.
Their is little to no reason to invest time into DR3 past the credits unless you really like achievement hunting and as someone who usually likes to get 100% in his games, this also leaves a lot to be desired as the games hardest achievement is not itself a challenge, but a test in frustration as it demands you to do each skill finisher 50-100 times each, ontop of other tedius challenges, which gets very fucking boring very fucking fast.
But I still like this game.
I like the combo weapons, even if the system is dumbed down alot compared to 2 (though some designs are wilder and more fun). Killing zombies in this game can be actually pretty fun at some points, I really like Nick's character and how he is developed even if it is rushed alot.
I think if you can get this game on sale you could have a bit of fun with it, but its not challenging in the slightest. alot of things in this game make me wish for something more, and not the lost episodes bullshit that feels like last minute recycling of ingame content. The game has alot of cool things going on but it all feels rushed or lost in the mix, Dead Rising 3 is an awkward experimental phase of the franchise that wanted to do a lot of stuff differently, (both willingly and unwillingly) and it suffers because of that. Especially because it seems like the developers took the few good ideas and burned them when they moved on to make 4.
Dead rising 3 to me is like a baby with crackhead parents. I am not surprised that it turned out so bad in the slightest. It feels rushed, unpolished, a few of the "cooler" features are locked behind the fucking Kinect and a (as far as I can tell) bugged phone app that hasn't been updated since release almost a decade ago. And to top it all off, Super Ultra Dead Rising 3' Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX + α , a mode that I think would be great to keep around as a fun way to play with friends was an Xbox exclusive, guaranteeing that as a PC player, I have no chance of finding more goofy fun in this game (And I would wager its probably also a dead mode on Xbox One anyway)
Maybe I should of took more time to write this review but frankly I have waited too long anyway. This review really shouldn't be 3 stars, but I consider 3 stars to be "fine". I still like the game, I think some people are certainly too harsh on it, but their complaints aren't without merit.
Much like this review, Dead Rising 3 is unfocused, all over the place, lacking in content and begging for context. But I already wasted at least an hour of my mortal life I wont get back crafting balls of literal garbage to chase an achievement only to give up on it, and I wont waste any more time.
To most people, Dead Rising 3 is the beginning of the end of the franchise, a final deathrattle before the release of 4. Or its just painfully average, and its not particularly hard to see why.
The defining features of Dead Rising 1, in some ways refined or dumbed down in 2, are made so casual that the "nightmare mode" is not a challenge in the slightest.
the timer is very generous, the missions so easy that their is no completionist goal tied to completing all the survivor missions or even letting them survive at all. I would complain that a good chunk of the bosses literally beat themselves due to a series lack of intelligent arena design but that's something every game in the series does so I wont add it as a negative here.
Their is little to no reason to invest time into DR3 past the credits unless you really like achievement hunting and as someone who usually likes to get 100% in his games, this also leaves a lot to be desired as the games hardest achievement is not itself a challenge, but a test in frustration as it demands you to do each skill finisher 50-100 times each, ontop of other tedius challenges, which gets very fucking boring very fucking fast.
But I still like this game.
I like the combo weapons, even if the system is dumbed down alot compared to 2 (though some designs are wilder and more fun). Killing zombies in this game can be actually pretty fun at some points, I really like Nick's character and how he is developed even if it is rushed alot.
I think if you can get this game on sale you could have a bit of fun with it, but its not challenging in the slightest. alot of things in this game make me wish for something more, and not the lost episodes bullshit that feels like last minute recycling of ingame content. The game has alot of cool things going on but it all feels rushed or lost in the mix, Dead Rising 3 is an awkward experimental phase of the franchise that wanted to do a lot of stuff differently, (both willingly and unwillingly) and it suffers because of that. Especially because it seems like the developers took the few good ideas and burned them when they moved on to make 4.
Dead rising 3 to me is like a baby with crackhead parents. I am not surprised that it turned out so bad in the slightest. It feels rushed, unpolished, a few of the "cooler" features are locked behind the fucking Kinect and a (as far as I can tell) bugged phone app that hasn't been updated since release almost a decade ago. And to top it all off, Super Ultra Dead Rising 3' Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX + α , a mode that I think would be great to keep around as a fun way to play with friends was an Xbox exclusive, guaranteeing that as a PC player, I have no chance of finding more goofy fun in this game (And I would wager its probably also a dead mode on Xbox One anyway)
Maybe I should of took more time to write this review but frankly I have waited too long anyway. This review really shouldn't be 3 stars, but I consider 3 stars to be "fine". I still like the game, I think some people are certainly too harsh on it, but their complaints aren't without merit.
Much like this review, Dead Rising 3 is unfocused, all over the place, lacking in content and begging for context. But I already wasted at least an hour of my mortal life I wont get back crafting balls of literal garbage to chase an achievement only to give up on it, and I wont waste any more time.
2021
This review contains spoilers
Frankly, I wish I didn't have to put the spoiler warning on this review as this game is difficult to review correctly without directly addressing the story, less because of the details of the story (which I will talk about) but more so how progression through the story affects gameplay in ways I frankly think are to the games detriment.
The game is divided into 3 Acts, Act 1 in Leshy's Cabin, Act 2 in the "real" Inscryption world and Act 3 in PO-3's world.
Act 1 is when the game is at its strongest all around, the roguelike gameplay of building your deck as you progress towards bigger challenges, unlocking secrets and hidden items around the cabin, unraveling this mysterious plot involving the talking animal cards, all while this darkened figure addresses you like some twisted mix between friend and prey. The atmosphere is so strong here, it blended a card game based around sacrifice and brutality with this "escape room" type scenario.
I found this part of the game to be the most addicting to play, The mechanics had a fair amount of depth to them which I made building my deck and finding the most abusable combination of cards really exciting! I think one of the best parts is how the scales health system really encouraged you to think on your feet. A good player will not only know when to not play a card, take a hit, and counter on the backswing, but also how to put the opponent to the lowest health possible in order to maximize overkill damage to profit.
The ending to this Act really excited me, Taking Leshy's picture was cool and all but I didnt know who these animals were, I didnt know what the main character, Luke, was getting himself into. as soon as the game forced me to exit out and the "new game" option opened up, I was really excited to see what would happen next.
Act 2 was a lot less atmospheric compared to Act 1, but it expanded the lore a lot more as well as the possible depth to the gameplay. Learning Leshy was only 1 of 4 Scrybes in a power struggle made me really interested to see what would happen next, would I be taking the other 3 on in a similar room scenario? Meeting these new personalities and finding ways to out play them? I had a lot of questions that I was excited to find answers to, there was this realization of "Holy shit, something big is coming up, the game is really going whole hog on me now". In a word, Act 2 gave the game "Potential". Potential to expand in ways I was excited to see, and the gameplay was a mirror to this.
Gameplay was no longer 3d but it played like a 2d JRPG in terms of moving around the map, gameplay was still the same, but with a few new core mechanics. Now some cards didn't require sacrifices or bones, but Energy or Mox (the former system playing alot like Hearthstones Mana system and the latter being a direct reference to MTG, something this game does is reference actual card game mechanics and names/phrases in alot of places. Its a homage, I wont mark it up or down on it, I will say that it doesn't force them down your throat which is good). The card pool had expanded monstrously, combining different card mechanics with new and interesting ways to play the game, it felt like I had been hit with 3 new expansions and the possibilities could be endless.
But I will admit, this huge assortment of cards doesnt really mean that I took a ton of advantage of them, mostly because they got dumped on me all at once and in my haste to see what happened next, I didnt get enough time to delve into all these new cards as much as I wanted to. My deck was basically the Magic starter deck with a few Mantis God's tossed in (Always choose Mantis God). This is a major detriment to this part of the game because while giving me all of these options is nice, you don't really get a lot of places to genuinely experiment with them. And now, Training dummy doesn't count, that isn't engaging gameplay when there is no risk of losing.
Act 2 wraps up in a big twist where P0-3 betrays the sages and uses the games Mcguffin to take the world over similar to what happened with Leshy. This happens at a point where you barely had time to appreciate all the new mechanics and potential the game tosses at you and as a result, leads to one of the weakest parts of the game.
Act 3 basically says "I hope all of that cool shit was fun, because we are just focusing on the Robot energy mechanic now"
This isnt bad per se, if anything I actually had alot of fun playing through this part, some people say its long and I can get that, I think its mostly because the pace of the Energy-based gameplay combined with the map taking more time to explore makes it all seem like more of a chore. Act 1 you didnt explore the game map as much and Act 2 the map was really small, so the difference is noticeable.
The atmosphere of P0-3's lab was actually really cool, I liked finding stuff in the lab and discovering its secrets, I liked how it was the same but different from Leshy's cabin. my thought process was "Oh, I guess we do this 2 more times and get 2 more big bads to defeat, that would be really cool"
Gameplay wise it does feel kind of a slog at some parts, because the main mechanic of playing creatures is more deterministic and less snowbally as earlier, cards that could end the fight really fast are costed high and it forces you to play a more slow and defensive game to reach your big late game plays. The game uses a few new mechanics to spice up deck building but frankly, I assumed at this point that experimenting wouldn't be too useful if I knew that the core mechanics were just about to change next Act anyway. I did experiment with the gem cards a bit, but I still felt there was less a need to get too big-brain on the game when it was all going to change anyway right? Why struggle with the pressure of trying all the new mechanics when they are just going to change, right?
Right?
The bosses of this part are really cool to play against aswell, I would say this part of the game has the best bosses in terms of crazy shit they make you do, from deleting files on your PC to letting you beat the boss for free if you send someone else playing at the time a card that helps them win that same boss.
The culmination of events at the end of Act 3 excited me, learning that the other 3 Scrybes had plans to intervene the plans of P0-3 made me excited to see which one I would be forced to fight next, I was ready to see what the game had in store for me after this.
And then it ended.
Cool.
...
This is why Act 3 fails for me. I understand that Inscryption wants to tell this meta story with Luke and this mysterious dead game dev girl and the ARG and all of that. I wont knock an artist for wanting to tell their story, even if that story locks pieces behind another random game I never heard of but I digress.
The end of P-03 and the deletion of the game marks the end of the game. I had gotten 15 hours of playtime at this point, while I didn't buy the game and a friend did on sale, the price was still well worth it for what I got in terms of hours of fun-to-dollar ratio.
But what about all that potential?, What about the 2 other Scrybes I barely got to know that well. What about the fact that I am supposed to feel something when Magnificus and Grimora both die and my gut reaction is "There could of been game here". There could of been something more interesting going on but no, we had to stop because our story demanded it. I felt no real emotion to these characters dying besides disappointment at wasted potential.
And on the flip side, the part with Leshy is jammed between Grimora and Magnificus's cutscenes and its the one that made me actually feel something. I felt bad for Leshy, he didnt have any real machinations besides his love of his game. I felt like I actually knew the guy because I was given a lot of exposure to him, time for him to really grow on me. Leshy's end was the payoff of not just the gameplay he provided, or the atmosphere he came with, but the combination of them to create the character of Leshy. He was the result of excellent use of his potential.
This is the real problem with Inscryption, the part that makes it really hard to make a good and proper review for without spoiling the admittedly cool story to people (even if it does heavily resemble old video game creepy pastas like Ben Drowned and things like that). The gameplay of Inscryption is greatly affected by the pace of the story and where it does and doesn't want to go, it leaves a lot to be desired, a lot of "what could of been" to be imagined. And frankly, I give the game this score because its really hard to give it much more when it squanders its gameplay potential the way it does.
Inscryption is a good game, a really good game at some spots, but the only way I can reccomend it to someone without talking about the story directly in an accurate way would be "The first part is good, but the story railroads a lot of the potential towards the end"
And does that sound like a good review to you?
UPDATE: Kaycees Mod
Kaycees mod adds new content to the game in the form of an actual roguelike mode based on part one, in addition to new cards and mechanics being explored, the player is now able to choose between challenge modes and starter decks. The play also receives lore in the form of "developer logs" as they complete challenges, though I understand none of it is truly new lore and are just around to bridge the gap between people who just played the game and people who were into the ARG.
I am adding another star to the review, this is pretty much exactly what I wanted from Inscryption. I am also going to be pouring more time as I try to complete all the additional challenges I am sure to come across on my quest to 100% the game. Frankly, I hope we see more additions to the game, but I can understand if the developer is ready to walk away from this one.
The game is divided into 3 Acts, Act 1 in Leshy's Cabin, Act 2 in the "real" Inscryption world and Act 3 in PO-3's world.
Act 1 is when the game is at its strongest all around, the roguelike gameplay of building your deck as you progress towards bigger challenges, unlocking secrets and hidden items around the cabin, unraveling this mysterious plot involving the talking animal cards, all while this darkened figure addresses you like some twisted mix between friend and prey. The atmosphere is so strong here, it blended a card game based around sacrifice and brutality with this "escape room" type scenario.
I found this part of the game to be the most addicting to play, The mechanics had a fair amount of depth to them which I made building my deck and finding the most abusable combination of cards really exciting! I think one of the best parts is how the scales health system really encouraged you to think on your feet. A good player will not only know when to not play a card, take a hit, and counter on the backswing, but also how to put the opponent to the lowest health possible in order to maximize overkill damage to profit.
The ending to this Act really excited me, Taking Leshy's picture was cool and all but I didnt know who these animals were, I didnt know what the main character, Luke, was getting himself into. as soon as the game forced me to exit out and the "new game" option opened up, I was really excited to see what would happen next.
Act 2 was a lot less atmospheric compared to Act 1, but it expanded the lore a lot more as well as the possible depth to the gameplay. Learning Leshy was only 1 of 4 Scrybes in a power struggle made me really interested to see what would happen next, would I be taking the other 3 on in a similar room scenario? Meeting these new personalities and finding ways to out play them? I had a lot of questions that I was excited to find answers to, there was this realization of "Holy shit, something big is coming up, the game is really going whole hog on me now". In a word, Act 2 gave the game "Potential". Potential to expand in ways I was excited to see, and the gameplay was a mirror to this.
Gameplay was no longer 3d but it played like a 2d JRPG in terms of moving around the map, gameplay was still the same, but with a few new core mechanics. Now some cards didn't require sacrifices or bones, but Energy or Mox (the former system playing alot like Hearthstones Mana system and the latter being a direct reference to MTG, something this game does is reference actual card game mechanics and names/phrases in alot of places. Its a homage, I wont mark it up or down on it, I will say that it doesn't force them down your throat which is good). The card pool had expanded monstrously, combining different card mechanics with new and interesting ways to play the game, it felt like I had been hit with 3 new expansions and the possibilities could be endless.
But I will admit, this huge assortment of cards doesnt really mean that I took a ton of advantage of them, mostly because they got dumped on me all at once and in my haste to see what happened next, I didnt get enough time to delve into all these new cards as much as I wanted to. My deck was basically the Magic starter deck with a few Mantis God's tossed in (Always choose Mantis God). This is a major detriment to this part of the game because while giving me all of these options is nice, you don't really get a lot of places to genuinely experiment with them. And now, Training dummy doesn't count, that isn't engaging gameplay when there is no risk of losing.
Act 2 wraps up in a big twist where P0-3 betrays the sages and uses the games Mcguffin to take the world over similar to what happened with Leshy. This happens at a point where you barely had time to appreciate all the new mechanics and potential the game tosses at you and as a result, leads to one of the weakest parts of the game.
Act 3 basically says "I hope all of that cool shit was fun, because we are just focusing on the Robot energy mechanic now"
This isnt bad per se, if anything I actually had alot of fun playing through this part, some people say its long and I can get that, I think its mostly because the pace of the Energy-based gameplay combined with the map taking more time to explore makes it all seem like more of a chore. Act 1 you didnt explore the game map as much and Act 2 the map was really small, so the difference is noticeable.
The atmosphere of P0-3's lab was actually really cool, I liked finding stuff in the lab and discovering its secrets, I liked how it was the same but different from Leshy's cabin. my thought process was "Oh, I guess we do this 2 more times and get 2 more big bads to defeat, that would be really cool"
Gameplay wise it does feel kind of a slog at some parts, because the main mechanic of playing creatures is more deterministic and less snowbally as earlier, cards that could end the fight really fast are costed high and it forces you to play a more slow and defensive game to reach your big late game plays. The game uses a few new mechanics to spice up deck building but frankly, I assumed at this point that experimenting wouldn't be too useful if I knew that the core mechanics were just about to change next Act anyway. I did experiment with the gem cards a bit, but I still felt there was less a need to get too big-brain on the game when it was all going to change anyway right? Why struggle with the pressure of trying all the new mechanics when they are just going to change, right?
Right?
The bosses of this part are really cool to play against aswell, I would say this part of the game has the best bosses in terms of crazy shit they make you do, from deleting files on your PC to letting you beat the boss for free if you send someone else playing at the time a card that helps them win that same boss.
The culmination of events at the end of Act 3 excited me, learning that the other 3 Scrybes had plans to intervene the plans of P0-3 made me excited to see which one I would be forced to fight next, I was ready to see what the game had in store for me after this.
And then it ended.
Cool.
...
This is why Act 3 fails for me. I understand that Inscryption wants to tell this meta story with Luke and this mysterious dead game dev girl and the ARG and all of that. I wont knock an artist for wanting to tell their story, even if that story locks pieces behind another random game I never heard of but I digress.
The end of P-03 and the deletion of the game marks the end of the game. I had gotten 15 hours of playtime at this point, while I didn't buy the game and a friend did on sale, the price was still well worth it for what I got in terms of hours of fun-to-dollar ratio.
But what about all that potential?, What about the 2 other Scrybes I barely got to know that well. What about the fact that I am supposed to feel something when Magnificus and Grimora both die and my gut reaction is "There could of been game here". There could of been something more interesting going on but no, we had to stop because our story demanded it. I felt no real emotion to these characters dying besides disappointment at wasted potential.
And on the flip side, the part with Leshy is jammed between Grimora and Magnificus's cutscenes and its the one that made me actually feel something. I felt bad for Leshy, he didnt have any real machinations besides his love of his game. I felt like I actually knew the guy because I was given a lot of exposure to him, time for him to really grow on me. Leshy's end was the payoff of not just the gameplay he provided, or the atmosphere he came with, but the combination of them to create the character of Leshy. He was the result of excellent use of his potential.
This is the real problem with Inscryption, the part that makes it really hard to make a good and proper review for without spoiling the admittedly cool story to people (even if it does heavily resemble old video game creepy pastas like Ben Drowned and things like that). The gameplay of Inscryption is greatly affected by the pace of the story and where it does and doesn't want to go, it leaves a lot to be desired, a lot of "what could of been" to be imagined. And frankly, I give the game this score because its really hard to give it much more when it squanders its gameplay potential the way it does.
Inscryption is a good game, a really good game at some spots, but the only way I can reccomend it to someone without talking about the story directly in an accurate way would be "The first part is good, but the story railroads a lot of the potential towards the end"
And does that sound like a good review to you?
UPDATE: Kaycees Mod
Kaycees mod adds new content to the game in the form of an actual roguelike mode based on part one, in addition to new cards and mechanics being explored, the player is now able to choose between challenge modes and starter decks. The play also receives lore in the form of "developer logs" as they complete challenges, though I understand none of it is truly new lore and are just around to bridge the gap between people who just played the game and people who were into the ARG.
I am adding another star to the review, this is pretty much exactly what I wanted from Inscryption. I am also going to be pouring more time as I try to complete all the additional challenges I am sure to come across on my quest to 100% the game. Frankly, I hope we see more additions to the game, but I can understand if the developer is ready to walk away from this one.
2010
This is the game that got me hooked on the Fallout series as a whole.
The world has a very lived in feel which, admittedly, is not what most people would consider to be very much a selling point for a post-apocalypse. But I think thats alright, New Vegas definitely knows it is different and plays to the strengths of its unique flavor of environment.
The many factions and endings may be simply a part of RPG's nowadays, but something I really do enjoy about New Vegas is how, for a large portion of quests, characters and factions, you get to hear how your actions affected them and how the Mojave Wasteland was changed. Right down to your Karma, the game represents one of the most complete and whole feelings of completion I have ever felt after I had completed every quest and go tot sit through a nice, long, montage of everything I had done.
The games writing in my humble opinion is quite strong, I wouldnt say its award winning but many lines and characters are memorable well after you finish the game. The story works for what it is and while it does keep you interested to its end, the real meat and potatoes of this game come from the stories surrounding your main questline rather then the events in the questline itself.
There is a large variety of builds and character types you can create. A personal favorite of mine being the Unarmed combat build. The game really does reward you for experimenting and trying new ways of accomplishing your goals on each play through.
If I would talk about flaws, I would point out that technically, it runs poorly and can crash very often without the right suite of mods installed. I also find that the games combat is never really difficult even on its highest setting with Hardcore mode enabled, This is only a bad thing if you like good challenges however, as raising the difficulty just turns enemies into damage sponges. Hardcore mode is also so irrelevant that you will likely forget you are playing on it until your status bar flashes red to inform you that you are tired/hungry/thirsty.
I hold this game in high regard, and I am likely to comeback to this review and update it with new thoughts as time progresses. I am not a number ratings guy but I understand that this site seems to have a fixation on it. I give it a 4/5 because it holds great sentimental value to me personally, and its open world, stories and characters are amazing.However, it has technical problems that can ruin your experience even if you do everything right, as well as lacking any truly difficult combat scenarios.
The world has a very lived in feel which, admittedly, is not what most people would consider to be very much a selling point for a post-apocalypse. But I think thats alright, New Vegas definitely knows it is different and plays to the strengths of its unique flavor of environment.
The many factions and endings may be simply a part of RPG's nowadays, but something I really do enjoy about New Vegas is how, for a large portion of quests, characters and factions, you get to hear how your actions affected them and how the Mojave Wasteland was changed. Right down to your Karma, the game represents one of the most complete and whole feelings of completion I have ever felt after I had completed every quest and go tot sit through a nice, long, montage of everything I had done.
The games writing in my humble opinion is quite strong, I wouldnt say its award winning but many lines and characters are memorable well after you finish the game. The story works for what it is and while it does keep you interested to its end, the real meat and potatoes of this game come from the stories surrounding your main questline rather then the events in the questline itself.
There is a large variety of builds and character types you can create. A personal favorite of mine being the Unarmed combat build. The game really does reward you for experimenting and trying new ways of accomplishing your goals on each play through.
If I would talk about flaws, I would point out that technically, it runs poorly and can crash very often without the right suite of mods installed. I also find that the games combat is never really difficult even on its highest setting with Hardcore mode enabled, This is only a bad thing if you like good challenges however, as raising the difficulty just turns enemies into damage sponges. Hardcore mode is also so irrelevant that you will likely forget you are playing on it until your status bar flashes red to inform you that you are tired/hungry/thirsty.
I hold this game in high regard, and I am likely to comeback to this review and update it with new thoughts as time progresses. I am not a number ratings guy but I understand that this site seems to have a fixation on it. I give it a 4/5 because it holds great sentimental value to me personally, and its open world, stories and characters are amazing.However, it has technical problems that can ruin your experience even if you do everything right, as well as lacking any truly difficult combat scenarios.